Day 14, 05.07.2018

Today we had the most incredible viking experience – we were invited to Tønsberg and welcomed on board of the Saga Oseberg. This ship is a reconstruction of the famous Oseberg ship, that was built in AD 820 and served as a grave good alongside many riches  for two women in a big grave mound.

Before we got on board the Saga Oseberg, we had an introduction into ship building and the challenges of reconstructing viking ships in general. Therefor we met Jan Knutsen, who is respronsible for the great reconstruction of the Klåstadskipet (a 10th century trading ship) that takes place right in the heart of Tønsbergs harbor. 

After a short introduction into rowing we left the harbor of Tønsberg and took the impressive viking ship on a cruise. The rowing was quite fun, but also really exhausting for unexperienced Austrians like us (we barely managed to coordinate the oars…) At sea we took a little break and our captain gave us an interesting lecture about the Oseberg ship and its reconstruction.

Unfortunately, we did not have the time to pillage and plunder England or Ireland, but we did get a good impression of what a viking cruise would have felt like. 

Day 13, 04.07.2018, Part II

Tonight we had the honor to celebrate our excavation feast at the great Gildenhall at Borre Park. The buildings size is derived from geomagnetic data of a great viking mead hall at Borre itself. The halls‘ construction is based on results of archaeological prospection and excavations. Historic and poetic sources from the Viking Age have also been taken into account (like Beowulf, a tale that is also depicted on one of the hand carved posts inside the hall). 

We celebrated this succesful weeks of our excavation together with our colleagues from Kulturarv/Vestfold fylkeskummune. Wolfgang and Kari served us some traditional food that was inspired by ingredients the vikings themselves would have used (yes, we also drank wine and beer like real vikings). Of course we ate and drank out of viking- or medieval-style dishes. While some of us were having  interesting conversations outside, the others were at the fireplace, singing along to Valentina who played the guitar for all the guests.

Today we spent a really nice and sunny day in Oslo – and of course we paid a visit to the Viking Ship Museum and the Historical Museum. Inside this stunning museum you can find the famous graves of Oseberg and Gokstad. In the two large burial mounds the deceased were buried in large Viking ships together with numerous valuable grave goods. Due to the good preservation conditions in the burial mounds, objects made of wood and textile have been preserved.