The Lofotr Viking Museum (Lofotr Vikingmuseum) is a historical museum based on a reconstruction and archaeological excavation of a Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

 chieftain's village in the North Norwegian archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

 of Lofoten

Lofoten

Lofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude.-Etymology:...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. It is located in the hamlet of Borg, near Bøstad

Bøstad

Bøstad is a village in Vestvågøy, Norway. Nearby is the hamlet of Borg, which has a historical living museum, Lofotr.- External links :* *...

, Vestvågøy

Vestvågøy

Vestvågøy is an island and a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Lofoten traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Leknes....

.

History

In 1983, archaeologists uncovered the Chieftain House at Borg (På Borg på Vestvågøya i Lofoten), a large Viking Era building believed to have been already established around the year 500 AD. A joint Scandinavian research project was conducted at Borg during 1986-1989. Excavations revealed the largest building ever to be found from the Viking period in Norway. The foundation of the Chieftain House at Borg measured 83 meters long and 9 meters high. The seat at Borg is estimated to have been abandoned around AD 950.

Current operation

After the excavation ended, the remains of what had once been the long-house remained visible. The long-house has been reconstructed slightly to the north of the excavation site. In 1995 the Lofotr Viking Museum was opened. The museum includes a full reconstruction of an 83-meter long chieftain's house, a blacksmith

Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

's forge, two ships and their boathouses, and various re-enactments intended to immerse the visitor in life at the time of the Vikings. The main building was designed by Norwegian architect, Gisle Jakhelln .

The administration of Lofotr Viking Museum is located in the former parsonage of the Borge Church. In September 2006, a planned enlargement of Lofotr was postponed due to archeological finds of 2000 year old cooking sites and pole holes at the site. The plan was to build a large amphitheater into the ground between the reception building and the Chieftain House.

External links

• Lofotr museum website
• Lofotr