Last week archeologists from Trondheim in central Norway made a sensational discovery - a complete Viking grave at Kvam Farm at Fannrem in South-Trøndelag County.
The preliminary investigation only revealed cooking pits and scattered postholes, so finding a funeral pyre at the site proved to be an enormous surprise, the Science Museum reported on its web site.
The farmer was found buried with a double-edged sword, a large spearhead, a shield stud, a bell and a whetstone. Animal teeth were also found at the spot, most likely horse teeth.
The bell was most likely hung on the horse, and it still sounded, a thousand years after its interment with horse and farmer.
The remains of pelvic bone in the ashes indicate that the man was cremated before being placed in the grave and archeologist Preben Rønne from the Science Museum told Aftenposten.no that this appears to have been a wealthy man.
"It indicates that the man we have found had quite high status. If one can afford to bury the man, slaughter his horse and bury it with the owner and all his possessions, then he was a man of means," Rønne said.
"This is a sensational find in local terms. It isn't the Oseberg Ship, but it tells what a local chieftain took with him to his burial. Norway is rich with finds from Viking times but in central Norway such a find is very unusual," Rønne said.
The artifacts are now undergoing preservation and Rønne estimates that it will be several years before they are ready.
