The case in summary: Over 80 fragments from textiles and tapestries have been found in the Oseberg ship, and artificial intelligence is now being used to uncover their stories. The fragments are fragile and have been ravaged by grave robbers and pressed together under tons of soil. Artificial intelligence can help tell which fragments belong together, and researchers at NTNU Gjøvik have developed software for this purpose. The textiles, which were probably used to decorate for festive occasions, will become part of the new Viking Age Museum, which will open in 2027. The aim is to get as much information as possible from the fragments in order to get the reconstruction as close to reality as possible. Techniques such as good photographs and technical tools will be used to give the public a better understanding of what they are looking at in the museum. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. The two women who were buried in the Oseberg ship had taken a wealth of textiles with them in the grave. But the 1,200-year-old unique carpets have been ravaged by grave robbers and pressed together under tons of soil. About 80 fragile fragments are left that hint at rich and diverse stories that we have not been able to fully decipher. Artificial intelligence now gives new hope that we can get clearer answers to what the small pieces actually show. Facts about the Oseberg ship Photo: Olav Væring / Cultural History Museum, UiO The Oseberg find is the most famous and most spectacular of the ship graves from the Viking Age, and the most richly equipped grave from the period in Europe. The discovery was made in the burial mound Revehaugen on the farm Oseberg in Tønsberg in 1903 and excavated the following year. The grave contained the skeletons of two women and their grave goods, buried in a Viking ship. The Oseberg ship is, together with the Gokstad ship and the Tune ship, one of the world’s three best-preserved Viking ships. All three are located in the Viking Ship House on Bygdøy in Oslo. Source: Store Norske Leksikon “Show-off” with magical horses Marianne Vedeler points to one of the better-preserved parts, a skirt, narrow piece of delicate cloth. – Here we see a lady in this procession. She has a red cape, a white braid and some strange white thing on her head. Below her we see the rear of a horse and a rather nice carriage, the professor describes. And the horses right here are huge and oversized. – There could be many reasons, but the horse was an important and magical animal in the Viking Age. – As a researcher, you can’t help but be very fascinated, and admire the wonderful craftsmanship, says Marianne Vedeler, who has also published a book about the Oseberg ship and the enigmatic tapestries. Photo: Knut Røsrud / news The carpets were probably hung up to decorate for festive occasions, as a kind of “show-off”, explains Vedeler. – But also to tell society’s great stories. That is why we think it is important to get to the bottom of it: What kind of stories are these really? The fragile textile fragments from the Oseberg ship have fascinated her for many years. And then the stories, the ones that hide behind the various parts. – It’s a huge trigger, of course! Hocus, pocus, artificial intelligence? But not only are the pieces of fabric fragile. The ravages of time have crumbled large parts that are missing between the pieces left behind. This is where artificial intelligence (AI) comes in. – Initially, we had imagined that we would get a program that almost did this by itself, says Vedeler about the dream that AI would be able to reveal the complete picture. The researchers are now piecing together pieces of fabric from textiles found in the Oseberg ship in 1904. Photo: George Alexis Pantos, Museum of Cultural History – It can’t be done. And we understand that too. But AI can be used to tell which fragments belong together, according to researcher Davit Gigilashvili. Gigilashvili compares the technology to old-fashioned puzzle pieces. First, researchers try to put the pieces together to reconstruct what the original story looked like. To achieve this, they have to sort which “pieces” belong to which picture. Photo: Knut Røsrud / news At NTNU Gjøvik, researchers have developed a software where the archaeologists can upload photographs of the fragments, and puzzle them together on a virtual canvas. A bit like a digital puzzle. – The archaeologists believe there are at least three different objects, but we don’t quite know which fragment belongs to which. I hope we will have at least ten fragments that we can be absolutely sure are part of the same scene and the same object. The dream of reconstruction In the past, artists have attempted what Gigilashvili calls fictional reconstructions, where the missing parts have been painted in based on what is believed to be missing. Animals, people, wagons and houses characterize the tapestry made by the Vikings. This is a reconstruction where the colors are fictitious. Photo: Drawing: Stig Saxegaard – Will we ever be able to get the full picture of what the carpets actually show? – Most of the information is lost forever, unfortunately. Gigilashvili says the aim of the researchers is to get as much information as possible from the fragments they have. – So we get the reconstruction as close to reality as possible. The Oseberg ship is today on display in the Viking Ship Museum on Bygdøy in Oslo. Illustration: AART Architects New way of communicating In 2027, the doors to the new Viking Age Museum are scheduled to open. The textiles from the Oseberg ship are a natural part of the museum. But the existing pieces do not give an immediate understanding of what you are looking at, like that at first glance. – That’s why we also need great photographs and great technical tools to give the audience a better experience, so they understand more of what they see. We hope that in this project we can help with that, says Marianne Vedeler. Published 02.10.2024, at 12.52
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Putting together pieces of 1,200-year-old fabric from the Oseberg ship
