Ship burial
Encyclopedia
Burial
Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
in which a ship
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
or boat
Boat
A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
is used either as a container for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave. This style of burial was used among the Germanic peoples
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
, particularly by Viking Age
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
Norsemen.
A unique eye-witness account of a a 10th-century ship burial among the Volga Vikings is given by Arab traveller Ibn Fadlan.
Viking Age ship burials
Scandinavia- LadbyLadby shipThe Ladby ship is a major ship burial, of the type also represented by the boat chamber grave of Hedeby and the ship burials of Oseberg, Borre, Gokstad and Tune in South Norway, all of which date back to the 9th and 10th centuries. It is the only ship burial discovered in Denmark...
- from KertemindeKertemindeKerteminde , is a town in central Denmark, located in Kerteminde Municipality on the island of Funen. The town has a population of 5,698 . It is a small harbor town surrounded by farms...
on the island of FunenFunenFunen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
, Denmark - GokstadGokstad shipThe Gokstad ship is a Viking ship found in a burial mound at Gokstad farm in Sandar, Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway.-Discovery:The place where the boat was found, situated on arable land, had long been named Gokstadhaugen or Kongshaugen , although the relevance of its name had been discounted as...
- from Kongshaugen, VestfoldVestfoldis a county in Norway, bordering Buskerud and Telemark. The county administration is in Tønsberg.Vestfold is located west of the Oslofjord, as the name indicates. It includes many smaller, but well-known towns in Norway, such as Larvik, Sandefjord, Tønsberg and Horten. The river Numedalslågen runs...
, Norway - OsebergOseberg shipThe Oseberg ship is a well-preserved Viking ship discovered in a large burial mound at the Oseberg farm near Tønsberg in Vestfold county, Norway.-Burial mound:...
- from Oseberg farm near TønsbergTønsbergis a city and municipality in Vestfold county, southern Norway, located around north-east of Sandefjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg....
in VestfoldVestfoldis a county in Norway, bordering Buskerud and Telemark. The county administration is in Tønsberg.Vestfold is located west of the Oslofjord, as the name indicates. It includes many smaller, but well-known towns in Norway, such as Larvik, Sandefjord, Tønsberg and Horten. The river Numedalslågen runs...
, Norway - TuneTune shipThe Tune ship is a Viking era ship exhibited in the Viking Ship Museum in Bygdøy, Oslo.The "karv" type ship was found at Haugen farm on Rolvsøy in Tune, Østfold, Norway. The ship was built around AD 900, and is made of clinkered oak planks. It was found in a boat burial mound...
- from Haugen farm on RolvsøyRolvsøyRolvsøy is an island and a former municipality in Østfold county, Norway.It was created by a split from Tune on 1 January 1911. At that time Rolvsøy had a population of 2,381. On 1 January 1994 Rolvsøy was incorporated into the municipality of Fredrikstad, the neighboring municipality to the south...
in TuneTuneTune may refer to:* A melody* A tune-family* A tune , a short piece of instrumental music, usually with repeating sections, and often played a number of times* British slang term, often said when referring to a piece of music that is enjoyed...
, ØstfoldØstfoldis a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden , while Buskerud and Vestfold is on the other side of the bay. The seat of the county administration is Sarpsborg, and Fredrikstad is the largest city.Many manufacturing facilities are situated here. Moss and...
, NorwayNorwayNorway , 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... - ValsgärdeValsgärdeValsgärde or Vallsgärde is a farm on the Fyris river, about three kilometres north of Gamla Uppsala, the ancient centre of the Swedish kings and of the pagan faith in Sweden. The present farm dates from the 16th century. The farm's notability derives from the presence of a burial site from the...
- from a farm on the FyrisFyrisFyrisån is a river in the Swedish province of Uppland, which passes through the city of Uppsala and ends in Lake Mälaren....
River, Gamla UppsalaGamla UppsalaGamla Uppsala is a parish and a village outside Uppsala in Sweden. It had 16,231 inhabitants in 1991.As early as the 3rd century AD and the 4th century AD and onwards, it was an important religious, economic and political centre...
, Sweden - VendelVendelVendel is a parish in the Swedish province of Uppland.The village overlooks a long inland stretch of water, Vendelsjön, near which the Vendel river has its confluence with the river Fyris. The church was established in 1310...
- from Ottarshögen (the mound of OhthereOhthereOhthere, Ohtere , Óttarr, Óttarr vendilkráka or Ottar Vendelkråka was a semi-legendary king of Sweden who would have lived during the 6th century and belonged to the house of Scylfings...
) in UpplandUpplandUppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea...
, Sweden - AnundshögAnundshögAnundshög is a tumulus near Västerås in Västmanland, the largest in Sweden. It has a diameter of and is about high.Assessments of the era of the mound vary between the Bronze Age and the late Iron Age...
- the mound of Anund just outside VästeråsVästeråsVästerås is a city in central Sweden, located on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province Västmanland, some 100 km west of Stockholm...
in VästmanlandVästmanland' is a historical Swedish province, or landskap, in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland.The name comes from "West men", referring to the people west of Uppland, the core province of early Sweden.- Administration :...
, SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
British Isles
- SnapeSnape boat graveThe Snape ship burial is a 6th century boat grave found at Snape Common, near Aldeburgh in Suffolk, East Anglia.-History:This was the first boat grave of its kind discovered in England , and foreshadowed the discovery of the two large ship burials, one of them...
- from Snape Common in SuffolkSuffolkSuffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, East AngliaEast AngliaEast Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, England - Sutton HooSutton HooSutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
- Anglo-Saxon burial site near Woodbridge, SuffolkWoodbridge, SuffolkWoodbridge is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. It is in the East of England, not far from the coast. It lies along the River Deben, with a population of about 7,480. The town is served by Woodbridge railway station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Woodbridge is twinned with...
, England - Balladoole and Knock-e-Dooney - Viking ship burials on the Isle of ManIsle of ManThe Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
- Port an Eilean MhòirPort an Eilean Mhòir ship burialThe Port an Eilean Mhòir ship burial is a Viking ship burial site in Ardnamurchan, Scotland, the most westerly point on the island of Great Britain. Dated to the 10th century, the burial consists of a Viking boat about long by wide in which a man was laid to rest with his shield, sword and spear...
- the mound was found in 2006 and excavated in 2011
Eastern Europe
- Salme shipsSalme shipsThe Salme ships are two pre-Viking era clinker-built ships that were discovered in 2008 near Salme village in Saaremaa, Estonia. Both ships were used for ship burial around AD 750 and contained the remains of more than 40 warriors killed in battle, as well as numerous weapons and other artifacts.-...
- from the island of SaaremaaSaaremaaSaaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring 2,673 km². The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago...
, EstoniaEstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies... - Rurikovo Gorodishche - situated on an island on the Volkhov RiverVolkhov RiverVolkhov is a river in Novgorod Oblast and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia.-Geography:The Volkhov flows out of Lake Ilmen north into Lake Ladoga, the largest lake of Europe. It is the second largest tributary of Lake Ladoga. It is navigable over its whole length. Discharge is highly...
near Veliky NovgorodVeliky NovgorodVeliky Novgorod is one of Russia's most historic cities and the administrative center of Novgorod Oblast. It is situated on the M10 federal highway connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg. The city lies along the Volkhov River just below its outflow from Lake Ilmen...
, Russia - Sarskoye GorodishcheSarskoye GorodishcheSarskoye Gorodishche or Sarsky fort was a medieval fortified settlement in the Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia. It was situated on the bank of the Sara River, a short distance from Lake Nero, to the south of modern Rostov, of which it seems to have been the early medieval predecessor.- Exploration :The...
- from a medieval fortified settlement in Yaroslavl OblastYaroslavl OblastYaroslavl Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Vologda Oblasts. This geographic location affords the oblast the advantages of proximity to Moscow and St. Petersburg...
, Russia - TimerevoTimerevoTimerevo is an archaeological site near the village of Bolshoe Timeryovo, seven kilometers southwest of Yaroslavl, Russia, which yielded the largest deposits of early medieval Arabic coins in Northern Europe.- Description and history :...
- from site near the village of Bolshoe Timeryovo, YaroslavlYaroslavlYaroslavl is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historical part of the city, a World Heritage Site, is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl Rivers. It is one of the Golden Ring cities, a group of historic cities...
, Russia - Black GraveBlack GraveThe Black Grave is the largest burial mound in Chernihiv, Ukraine. It is part of the National Sanctuary Chernihiv Ancient and is the Monument of Archeology of national importance.-Description:...
- from the largest burial mound in ChernihivChernihivChernihiv or Chernigov is a historic city in northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Chernihiv Oblast , as well as of the surrounding Chernihivskyi Raion within the oblast...
, Ukraine
See also
- Norse funeral
- Ímar Ua DonnubáinÍmar Ua DonnubáinÍmar Ua Donnubáin or Ivor O'Donovan, and possibly nicknamed Gilla Riabach, was a legendary and celebrated petty king, navigator, trader, and reputedly necromancer of 13th century Ireland belonging to the O'Donovan family. He may or may not have been the second son of Cathal, son of Crom Ua...
, legendary Irish navigator of partial Norse descent - Stone shipStone shipThe Stone ship or ship setting was an early Germanic burial custom, characteristically Scandinavian but also found in Germany and the Baltic states. The grave or cremation burial is surrounded by tightly or loosely fit slabs or stones in the outline of a ship...
- Chariot burialChariot burialChariot burials are tombs in which the deceased was buried together with his chariot, usually including his horses and other possessions....
(Iron Age tradition) - Solar barge (Bronze Age tradition)
- Khufu shipKhufu shipThe Khufu ship is an intact full-size vessel from Ancient Egypt that was sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2500 BC. The ship was almost certainly built for Khufu , the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt...
(Ancient Egypt)