50 Bodies Recovered From ‘Rare’ and ‘Unusual’ Viking Burial Site

Archaeologists in Denmark have unearthed 50 “almost intact” human bodies from a “rare” and “unusual” Viking Age burial site, Live Science reported.

Experts with the Museum Odense spent the last six months excavating the site near the small village of Åsum, on the island of Funen, after a crew preparing to lay electrical cables came across the astonishing find. The Viking Age lasted in Åsum from the late 700s until the late 900s, but due to the acidity of Scandinavian soil, which eats away at human bones, it’s tremendously rare to find any burials from the era.

"It is really unusual to find so many well-preserved skeletons at the same time as those found in Åsum," explained Michael Borre Lundø, a curator with the museum and an archaeologist who worked on the excavation. "This discovery offers extraordinary opportunities to perform a wide range of scientific analyses, which can reveal more about the general health, diet, and origins of those buried."

Borre Lundø and the rest of the museum’s team believe that those buried at Åsum were wealthy based on the burial tokens found in their coffins. The remains of a female Viking were particularly telling. "The woman was buried in the wagon she likely traveled in," Borre Lundø said. "She was given a beautiful glass bead necklace, an iron key, a knife with a silver-threaded handle, and, most notably, a small shard of glass that may have served as an amulet."

The woman was also interred with a small, bejeweled wooden crate, which scientists have yet to open. Another grave contained a brass dress buckle and a small piece of rock crystal, something not typically found in the region. "Rock crystal does not occur naturally in Denmark and was likely imported from Norway," Borre Lundø said. "Several items from the many graves in Åsum indicate that the buried Vikings were connected to international trade networks that developed during the Viking Age."

Borre Lundø and the rest of the team are currently conducting further analyses which “might reveal whether the buried Vikings were related, which would be particularly significant, as this has never been examined in similar graves,” he explained.