The case in summary: The Gjellestad ship, a Viking ship found in Halden, is about to rot away. Fungal attack has worsened the condition, and the wood has a consistency almost like butter. The excavation of the ship was led by the Museum of Cultural History and financed through extra appropriations in the state budget. County mayor Sindre Martinsen-Evje believes it is a state task to preserve cultural monuments for posterity, and is asking for funds from the state budget to secure the find. It is hoped to create a visitor center to convey the Viking heritage, and the ship could be the key for Norway to apply for World Heritage status for the Viking heritage. Archaeologist Sigrid Mannsåker Gundersen believes that a visitor center on the site will make the Viking heritage more accessible to people. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. It used to be a joke among the archaeologists in the county who are out investigating large and small things of possible conservation value: “We won’t find a Viking ship here, in any case” Then, one afternoon in 2018 on the way to pick up from the kindergarten, a SMS to archaeologist Sigrid Mannsåker Gundersen in Østfold county municipality: “We have a little sensation here…”. News around the world The county had received an application from a landowner who wanted to drain a piece of land close to the E6 at Gjellestad in Halden. It then became the archaeologists’ job to investigate whether there were traces of the past worth preserving first. A completely ordinary mission on a slightly unusual ground. The archaeologists had been and dug a bit in the edge of the field earlier in Gjellestad, because the area was known for cultural monuments. Since the area was known for cultural monuments from before, they hired a ground-penetrating radar to investigate the soil thoroughly. But no one had imagined what then revealed itself: The outline of an entire Viking ship in the earth. – It was incredibly unexpected. And a lot of fun, says Gundersen. The news went around the world. The archaeologist has been interviewed on Japanese TV and seen a number of international TV crews come travelers to film from the find. In 2020, for the first time in over 100 years, a large-scale excavation of a Viking ship was launched in Norway. The money came from extra allocations in the state budget and the Museum of Cultural History led the work. The dating of the Gjellestad ship is not quite precise so far, but it is from between 780-830, early Viking times, according to the Museum of Cultural History. The excavation was carried out with the aim that what was left behind could be preserved and displayed in a visitor centre. Among other things, each of the over 1,300 ship rivets has been extracted in a way that allows them to be put back in the correct place in the ship footprint. But the actual impression of the wooden ship is in the process of completely rotting away. Fungal infestations have made the situation worse. Fungal infestation – The remains of wood lying in the soil have a consistency almost like butter. They cannot be lifted out. It is more like soil with a wood color and wood structure, Gundersen describes. After the excavation, these remains were covered with soil and plastic to slow down decomposition. Sigrid Mannsåker Gundersen, archaeologist. Photo: Viken County Municipality The leader of the excavation at the Cultural History Museum, Christian Løchsen Rødsrud, estimated to forskning.no that they had around ten years from the time the excavation was finished until everything would be gone. The estimate is uncertain, but that clock has already been ticking and going for a few years. In the first instance, a conservation building is needed to ensure that what is left does not completely rot away in the coming years. Next, the hope is to be able to create a visitor center to convey Viking heritage: – We have several ship burial mounds in Norway. But at Gjellestad you have the opportunity to see something that cannot be found anywhere else. It could be a very nice and special place to visit, the archaeologist believes. Asking the state to pay County mayor Sindre Martinsen-Evje says it must be a state task to preserve cultural monuments for posterity: – We believe the financial cost of securing this find for all future is a state task, says the county mayor. Earlier in June, he visited the Østfold bench in the Storting with the same message together with the mayor of Halden and the archaeologist who led the excavations for the Museum of Cultural History. The message was that it is urgent. – The condition of the ship is critical, there are not many millimeters left of those planks, says the county mayor. The hope is to get funds from the state budget. The case has also been discussed in Halden Arbeiderblad. – The find is unique in a world context, and the key if Norway is now to apply for world heritage status for the Viking heritage, says Martinsen-Evje. However, Climate and Environment Minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen has no millions to pledge to conservation. Eriksen says it is a very exciting find, where the state has already contributed over NOK 30 million to excavation, documentation and safeguarding of the find. – When it comes to preserving the remaining footprint of the ship, the Ministry of Climate and Environment does not currently have any plans to make a government contribution to this, says the minister. Part of the keel of the Gjellestad ship is lifted out of the ground. Photo: Martin Tangen Schmidt/news World Heritage opportunity For an archaeologist, it is a “once in a lifetime” experience to discover that the remains of a Viking ship lie just below the surface on the nearest land at E6. For Norway, the Viking find may also be the puzzle piece that has been missing in the Viking heritage it sits on. The Viking monuments can be added to Unesco’s world heritage list, which gathers important world monuments such as the Acropolis, the Pyramids and the Bryggen in Bergen. This is a task the National Archives is currently working on. – The National Antiquities Agency is working to assess the professional basis for a possible nomination, says Climate and Environment Minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen. – In order to end up on the Unesco world heritage list, cultural monuments must have been preserved in their original location. The existing Viking ships in Norway have been excavated and moved, archaeologist Gundersen points out. She believes that a visitor center on the site where the remains of a real Viking ship actually lie will make the entire Viking heritage more accessible to people. It can be communicated in connection with the finds on display at the new Viking Age museum in Oslo. – This does not have to be a competition. I think all the various Viking finds will lift each other up if we get the opportunity to show people where these ships actually come from. Published 02.07.2024, at 05.28
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Viking ships rot away in Halden – news Østfold – Local news, TV and radio
