Viking Ships
Sep 07, 2021•36 min•Ep. 33
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Summary
This episode delves into the sensational 2017 discovery of the Gjellestad Viking ship burial in Norway, the first of its scale in over a century. Professor Jan Bill discusses the ship's preliminary dating to around 800 AD, its construction, and the surprising details gleaned from limited grave contents. The conversation also explores the intriguing political motivations behind ancient grave robberies, likely tied to figures like Harold Bluetooth, and the broader symbolism of ship burials as powerful dynastic statements. Finally, they highlight the potential for future research to uncover settlement patterns and trade connections in the region.Episode description
The Vikings are remembered fundamentally as seafaring people, and how could they be so if not for their ships? In this episode, Cat speaks to a world expert on Viking ships, Professor Jan Bill, who introduces us to the incredible remains of a Viking ship discovered in a field in Gjellestad, Norway, in 2017. With the excavations nearly complete, Jan and Cat discuss the remarkable proportions of this Viking ship, the technology used to reveal it, and what it tells us about medieval seafaring as a whole. Jan is a Professor of Viking Age Archaeology at the University of Oslo and curator of the Viking Ship Collection at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo since 2007.
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