- Text
Rare Viking burial site found in Scotland
LONDON - Archaeologists said Tuesday they have discovered the remains of a Viking chief buried with his boat, ax, sword and spear on a remote Scottish peninsula — one of the most significant Norse finds ever uncovered in Britain.
The 16-foot-long grave is the first intact site of its kind to have been discovered on mainland Britain and is believed to be more than 1,000 years old. Much of the wooden boat and the Viking bones have rotted away, but scraps of wood and hundreds of metal rivets that held the vessel together remain.
The archeologists also unearthed a shield boss — a circular piece of metal attached to the middle of a shield — and a bronze ring-pin buried with the Viking. They also found a knife, a whetstone to sharpen tools, and Viking pottery on the site on the Ardnamurchan peninsula on Scotland's west coast.
The boat and its contents were discovered by a team of archeologists from Manchester and Leicester universities working with the cultural heritage organization Archaeology Scotland and consultants CFA Archaeology.
Hannah Cobb, co-director of the project, said the discovery had exceeded expectations.
"A Viking boat burial is an incredible discovery, but in addition to that the artifacts and preservation make this one of the most important Norse graves ever excavated in Britain," she said.
The team of archeologists had been digging on the Ardnamurchan peninsula to learn more about social change in the area.
Vikings from Scandinavia made frequent raids on Scotland and what is now northeast England in the 8th and 9th centuries, and many Vikings set up settlements in the area.
- After toddler is left to die, China disquieted
- Libyan officials: Qaddafi killed in Sirte
- GRAPHIC VIDEO: Qaddafi's bloody body
- "Don't shoot": Qaddafi's last moments
- GRAPHIC VIDEO: Chinese girl hit by truck, ignored by passers-by
- GRAPHIC VIDEO: Qaddafi wounded but alive
- Clinton sees Qaddafi news on BlackBerry
- With warped vision, Qaddafi maddened Libya, West
- Rare Viking burial site found in Scotland
- Austrian women allege mass rapes at foster home
- Violence erupts amid massive Greece strike
- 23 women convicted of child pornography in Sweden
- Cockpit error sent 737 into Pacific nose dive
- Backpack drone a "magic bullet" for U.S. troops?
- Qaddafi hometown falls to Libya fighters
- Israelis 'shocked' at Egypt TV Schalit interview
- Libya: Qaddafi son dead, another son captured
- How the major stock indexes fared Thursday
- Bolivian Indian protesters set up camp at palace
- SanDisk 4Q earnings beat Street; shares rise
- Asian carp DNA found in Mississippi River in Mpls
on Facebook
- Qaddafi dead after Sirte battle, PM confirms
- Libyan officials: Qaddafi killed in Sirte
- Sheriff: Missing Ohio monkey believed eaten
- Sheriff: Big cat bit owner's head after suicide
- GRAPHIC VIDEO: Qaddafi's bloody body
on CBS News
