The Gjellestad Ship confirmed to be from the Viking Age
The Gjellestad Ship is quite clearly from the Viking Age, the Museum of Cultural History said today. “The investigations happily confirm our hypothesis from 2018, when we found the ship by ground-penetrating radar (GPR),” says Knut Paasche, head of NIKU’s department of digital archaeology.
In was an international news item when NIKU found traces of the ship at Gjellestad with the use of GPR in 2018. Today the results of the preliminary archaeological investigations carried out by the Museum of Cultural History and Viken county authority were announced.
The conclusion is that the ship dates to the early Viking Ages, as it was built from wood felled between the end of the 7th and the start of the 9th Century A.D. Knut Paasche, who in addition to leading NIKU’s department of digital archaeology also has a doctorate in Viking ships, is enthusiastic.
“We were right! Ever since NIKU discovered the ship we have pointed out that it must be from the Viking Age. In the context of other, earlier ship discoveries near the Oslo Fjord, both the shape of the ship and its placement indicate the Viking Age. It is a pleasure to have this confirmed through dendrochronological dating.”
Lars Gustavsen, who found the ship, is satisfied to see the accordance between archaeological excavations and the geophysical results.
“This shows that GPR is a good tool for verification of archaeological underground structures, and therefore an important tool for the research and management of cultural monuments and heritage.”
A georadar from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural heritage Research (NIKU) revealed a Viking ship in 2018, as well as a number of burial mounds and Iron-age houses near Jellhaugen in Halden Municipality.
In 2018 the Museum of Cultural History and Østfold county authority carried out archaeological investigation of the area.