50 Viking Age skeletons discovered in Denmark

Archaeologists in Denmark have unearthed a Viking Age burial ground containing some 50 “exceptionally well-preserved” skeletons.

The remains were preserved thanks to favourable soil chemistry, particularly chalk and high water levels, experts said.

The burial site was discovered last year during a routine survey, ahead of infrastructure work near Aasum, on the outskirts of Odense, Denmark’s third-largest city.

Experts hope to conduct special DNA analyses and maybe reconstruct detailed life histories as well as looking into social patterns in Viking Age, such as kinship, migration patterns and more.

Michael Borre Lundo, who led the six-month dig, said: “This is such an exciting find because we found these skeletons that are so very, very well preserved.

“Normally, we would be lucky to find a few teeth in the graves, but here we have entire skeletons.”

Experts hope to conduct DNA analyses and possibly reconstruct detailed life histories, as well as looking into social patterns in Viking Age, such as kinship, migration patterns and more.

“This opens a whole new toolbox for scientific discovery,” said Mr Borre Lundo as he stood on the muddy, wind-swept excavation site. “Hopefully we can make a DNA analysis on all the skeletons and see if they are related to each other and even where they come from.”

During the Viking Age, considered to run from 793 to 1066AD, Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raids, colonising, conquering and trading throughout Europe, even reaching North America.

The Vikings unearthed at Aasum likely were not warriors. Mr Borre Lundo believes the site was probably a “standard settlement”, perhaps a farming community, located around three miles from a ring fortress in what is now central Odense.

The 21,500sq ft burial ground holds the remains of men, women and children. Besides the skeletons, there are a few cremated bodies.

In one grave, a woman is buried in a wagon – the higher part of a Viking cart was used as a coffin — suggesting she was from the “upper part of society”, Mr Borre Lundo said.

Archaeologists also unearthed brooches, necklace beads, knives, and even a small shard of glass that may have served as an amulet.

Mr Borre Lundo said the brooch designs suggest the dead were buried between 850 and 900AD.

“There’s different levels of burials,” he explained. “Some have nothing with them, others have brooches and pearl necklaces.”

Archaeologists say many of the artefacts came from far beyond Denmark’s borders, shedding light on extensive Viking trade routes during the 10th century.

“There’s a lot of trade and commerce going on,” said Mr Borre Lundo. “We also found a brooch that comes from the island of Gotland, on the eastern side of Sweden, but also whetstones for honing your knife … all sorts of things point to Norway and Sweden.”

The burial site was discovered last year, and the dig, which started in April, ended on Friday. Boxes of artefacts have shipped to Museum Odense’s preservation labs for cleaning and analysis.

Conservator Jannie Amsgaard Ebsen hopes the soil may also hold other preserved organic material on the backs of brooches or knife handles.

She said: “We’re really hoping to gain the larger picture. Who were the people that were living out there? Who did they interact with?

“It’s a little bit like a jigsaw puzzle: all the various puzzle parts will be placed together.”