Viking Boat-Burial Excavation

Boat-grave cemetary survey of Skamby.
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I spent a month in Skamby, situated in Östergötland (Sweden), where I assissted in the excavation of a Viking age boat-burial.

The cemetary is roughly situated between two cities, Norrköping and Söderköping, and roughly a 15 minute walk from our house at Kapperstad. It was situated on a granite ridge with fertile valleys directly surrounding it to the south, west, and east. It would have been a focal point in the landscape, and in addition to this, it’s boat shape may have been appealing to contemporaries. By waterway, the site is 7km away from the Slätbaken inlet which leads into the Baltic Sea, and only 4km away if geography isn’t taken into account. During Viking times, the sea level would have been 2.5m higher than present day, and a nameless stream approximately .5km from the site would have been the most likely mode for transporting boats to the cemetery (if they were not made nearby for the purpose of burial).

During the excavation, we found the largest and most complete set of Scandinavian amber gaming peices ever to be discovered.

Some of the cheaper concoctions from Soderkoping's famous ice-cream parlor. In order: Joe, Bryn, and Adele.
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    During the excavation, we found the largest and most complete set of Scandinavian amber gaming peices ever to be discovered (to this date), but overall preservation on the site was poor, and most of the grave-goods had deteriorated.

    The excavation was an AMAZING experience, b-u-t after spending months researching, excavating, and writing papers on it...it gets a little old. I spent most of my time in Sweden cursing the Weather Gods, rolling in mud, and examining rocks...but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. It changed my definition of what "clean clothes" were, what "dirty hands" really means, and that you can co-exist with insects peacefully...including those killer Swedish mosquitos! I swear you could lasso a Swedish mosquito and ride it home if you were brave enough to try!

Me wet-sieving for metal tacking
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    I lived in a farm-house with several British and Swedish archaeologists (either professional or recently graduated), and another university student. My house-mates were very informative in teaching me everything from special excavation tricks to key Swedish curses! We spent our weekends and the majority of our free-time exploring the archaeological sites surrounding us...including overgrown hill-forts, half buried monuments, and rune-stones in the middle of random cow pastures. I must say, Swedish sheep are very friendly...but I recommend staying away from the cows! I saw over 43 rune-stone (at which point I lost count), and countless other areas of interest. I liked the little local churches the most, and of course the huge sites...like Gamla Uppsala.

Some of the amber gaming pieces found in the boat-grave at Skamby.
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    The near-by cities of Norkoping and Soderkoping were very interesting, but not tourist fare. For that, I would recommend Linkoping or (of course) Stockholm. But, if you ever are passing by the little town of Soderkoping for any reason, you MUST (must, must, must) stop by the famous Smultron Stallet for an ice-cream! It is horrendously expensive (as everything in Sweden is), but it is also amazing, and well worth the experience. On hot summer days, people will queue for ages to get inside. It was definatly the most impressive bowl of ice-cream I have ever had!

Me sporting a beautiful rune-stone!
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    Norkoping is considered a 'dirty' city by Swedish standards...meaning it is immaculantly clean! It has several HUGE shopping centers that are connected by air bridges. We walked through a few of them in search for food and some special maps, but didn't have time to wander properly. The people at Norkoping were dressed as if they had came straight out of a fashion magazine which made us feel very out of place in our old excavation clothes! Most importantly, Norkoping was how to the closest library (and therefore, it was a prime time to check my email). There were a lot of places I would have liked to go inside and explore, but our time was always limited.