ARCHAEOLOGISTS have unearthed the remains of a 1,000-year-old Viking Age person, who was buried with a small dog at their feet.
The human and the canine were buried together in an 18-foot-long “sewn boat” in around 900 to 950 CE, according to experts from the Arctic University Museum of Norway.
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While the boat has nearly all but collapsed away – some of the woodwork is still visible as a thin, dark strip.
What archaeologists are most excited about is the small dog’s remains.
“[The pet] appears to have been placed with real care,” Anja Roth Niemi, an archaeologist with the Arctic University Museum of Norway who helped excavate the site, told Science Norway.
“There are stories of prominent people doing everything in their power when their dog became ill.
“So even back then, people had deep bonds with their animals.”
Like today’s pet owners, it is well documented that the Viking’s loved their dogs.
Numerous animal remains, including horses, have been found buried alongside their presumed owners in Viking Age graves.
“We get very close to those who lived long ago,” added Niemi.
Archaeologists began excavating the site last month, two years after the burial was first discovered by metal detectorists exploring a field on Senja, an island above the Arctic Circle in northern Norway.
While the sex of the remains is yet to be revealed through DNA testing, archaeologists suspect the grave belongs to that of a woman.
Treasures found inside the grave include two bronze oval-shaped brooches, a ring-shaped pendant attached to her ear or to a headpiece.
The oval brooches were decorated with silver thread.
Archaeologists also found two beads made of either amber or bone, a whetstone made of slate and an iron sickle, and artefacts they suspect may have been used for textile production.
One elongated tool suspected to be made from a whale bone may have been a weaving sword, according to experts, while the other appears to be a spindle whorl.
Such decorated brooches have never been found in the graves of Viking Age men, while textile production was a skill spearheaded by women.
Viking women would spin sheep’s wool and plant fibers into yarn or thread, they would then use a spindle whorl to make it into a fabric to make clothes.
The possessions suggest the woman had significant local or regional status, according to experts.
“She wasn’t at the very top of the social ladder, but she was clearly an important figure,” Niemi said.
Archaeologists found the woman buried with her knees bent up against one side of the boat and her arms gathered in front of her pelvis, according to a Facebook post from the Arctic University Museum of Norway.
Fragments of the individual’s garments may offer more insights into Viking funerary practices in Norway.
Once the excavations are complete, archaeologists will transport the grave’s contents to a laboratory in Tromsø for further documentation and testing.
Further analysis of the human remains is required to understand their age, height, health and lifestyle.
“We’ll learn about the kind of work she did, whether she went through periods of poor nutrition and whether she lived in different places during childhood and adulthood,” added Niemi.
Archaeologists believe there may be more undiscovered Viking burials in the area.
A Viking Age brooch was found several feet away from the recently excavated grave, which could indicate that the burial is part of a larger grave site.
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