Norway: Discovering a 1,000-year-old ship of the Vikings underground

A ship about 20 meters long, newly discovered buried underground in an ancient Viking ceremony.

According to the Daily Star, ground-based radar identifies an ancient ship at a depth of about half a meter. Archaeologists found the ship in Halden, about 144km from Oslo, Norway.

'Obviously there is a ship there. But it doesn't seem to be intact. We need more research to verify what the ship has left , 'said local official Morten Hanisch.

Photograph of ancient ships via underground radars.

Norwegian houses have planned research around the area to find out more information. They don't want to rush the ship off the ground because artifacts can be destroyed. But experts also do not rule out the possibility of future excavation.

'I think this is the discovery of the century,' said archaeologist Jan Bill, who is in charge of Viking ships at the Oslo Museum of Culture. 'Very amazing discovery under an archaeological perspective'.

Only 3 Viking ships in their entirety were found by Norwegian archaeologists so far. All are displayed at the Oslo museum.

The ship is buried underground under the ancient customs of the Vikings. It is a burial place whenever a king or queen dies.

The Vikings were famous as sea warriors, appearing in Northern Europe from 793-1043. When the leaders or kings passed away, they would take the boat to the land of burial with the dead.

"The boat was then acting as an important role ," said Kurt Paasche, head of the archeology department, in charge of cultural studies at the Norwegian Institute.