Skeppsbegravning funnen i Estland.

[Oingo Boingo]

Skeppsbegravning av män som troligtvis dött under plundringståg funnen i Estland.

Another ship burial discovered this year in the village of Salme may turn out to be a pre-viking era battleground burial, an unparalleled find in Europe. So far, 16 skeletons of men killed in battle have been discovered on the site.

There is no doubt that a fierce struggle took place some 1,250 years ago near what is now the village of Salme on the island of Saaremaa, said Jüri Peets, professor of archaeology at Tallinn University. "Our estimate is 30 casualties, plus the same amount of injured. The skeletons bear sword marks. This shows the battle took place on land - you can't reach the enemy with a sword from a boat. There were also arrowheads found in the skeletons and in a shield."

The remains of the men-at-arms have been preserved as if by a miracle - at some point, three cable pipes were laid straight through the hull, narrowly missing the ancient treasure.

Such a mass grave of warriors from that period has never before been discovered anywhere in Europe. This, and the large amount of artifacts found, make the discovery exceptional, said Peets.

The foreign warriors were buried with their belongings. For example, the findings included a gilded bronze sword handle. The archaeologists plan to extract a tooth from one of the skulls and submit it to a DNA-analysis to find out where the unwelcome visitors might have arrived from.
The estimated length of the ship is 18 meters and the width 3.5 meters. The excavations will continue next year by the village schoolhouse, where the bow of the ship is expected to be.

In 2008, a smaller ship with an estimated length of 10 meters was discovered during excavations in Salme.

http://news.err.ee/culture/0bcffca2-67c ... 898ec74b40

Fynd av praktsvärd i skepssbegravningen

Salme Burial Site Yields Luxury Sword

The double-edged sword, dating from about 750 A.D., was broken in pieces and buried alongside its owner. "This has to have been a very wealthy man. This type of sword was carried by high-ranking aristocrats," said professor of archaeology, Jüri Peets.

Other swords found at the site have been missing handles, but the one found now is complete with a bronze handle decorated with ornaments and covered with a thin layer of gold.

[Jens Yde]

Øen Øsel - sagaernes Eysýsla - ved Estland hørte sammen med Gotland under Danmark i en periode frem til 1638.

Det fundne skib blev gravlagt sammen med 35 besejrede skandinaviske krigere, og det er nu klarlagt, at det havde sejl.

"It is thought that sails were first introduced in the North Sea and Baltic Sea region at about 700 A.D., which is the conventional date. Our ship dates from the year 750. The ship from the year 700 was from the North Sea region, near Norway. However, here in the Baltic Sea region, this is without a doubt the oldest sailing ship that has been found," siger Peets, professor i Tallinn.

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