Oseberg Ship

[1] Excavation of the ship from the Oseberg burial mound (Norwegian: Oseberghaugen ved Slagen from the Old Norse word haugr meaning kurgan mound or barrow) was undertaken by Swedish archaeologist Gabriel Gustafson and Norwegian archaeologist Haakon Shetelig in 1904–1905.

With a likely sail area of 90 square metres (970 sq ft), the ship could have achieved a speed of up to 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

As part of that process, highly detailed photographic and laser scans of both the exterior and interior of the ship were made.

Using timber from Denmark and Norway and utilizing traditional building methods from the Viking Age, this newest Oseberg ship was successfully completed.

The younger woman had a broken collarbone, initially thought to be evidence that she was a human sacrifice, but closer examination showed that the bone had been healing for several weeks.

[10][failed verification] Dendrochronological analysis of timbers in the grave chamber dates the burial to the autumn of 834.

[11] Although the high-ranking woman's identity is unknown, it has been suggested that she is Queen Åsa of the Yngling clan, mother of Halfdan the Black and grandmother of Harald Fairhair.

Recent tests of the women's remains suggest that they lived in Agder in Norway, as had Queen Åsa.

[14] Three subsequent studies failed to confirm these results, however, and it is likely that the bone samples contain little (if any) original DNA or have been contaminated through handling.

These included four elaborately decorated sleighs, a richly carved four-wheel wooden cart, bed-posts, and wooden chests, as well as the so-called "Buddha bucket" (Buddha-bøtte), a brass and cloisonné enamel ornament of a bucket (pail) handle in the shape of a figure sitting with crossed legs.

The bucket is made from yew wood, held together with brass strips, and the handle is attached to two anthropomorphic figures compared to depictions of the Buddha in the lotus posture, although any connection is most uncertain.