Archaeology, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 12, 2017

Scans of Viking Swords Reveal a Slice of Norse Culture

High-tech scans of Viking swords are revealing details of how the weapons were made and how their role changed in Viking society over time. A new analysis of three Viking swords has found that, as fearsome as these seafaring people were, these specific weapons were probably not sturdy enough for...

May 25, 2017

Vikings Wintered and Planned Raids at 9th-Century English Site

A spot in England where thousands of Viking warriors and their families spent their winter months was bigger than most contemporary English towns. The camp, positioned near Torksey along the River Trent in Lincolnshire, was a major base for Viking raiders in the late ninth century. Archaeologists first found hints...

Sep 14, 2017

Viking 'Warrior' Presumed to Be a Man Is Actually a Woman

A high-status Viking warrior who was thought to be a man turns out to be a woman, a new DNA analysis finds. The remains of the warrior were buried with an array of warlike accessories, including arrows, swords and warhorses. The findings raise questions about the role of women in...

Sep 20, 2017

Early Viking Boat Grave Discovered in Norway

Archaeologists excavating a market square in Trondheim, Norway, have discovered the remains of a boat grave and possible human remains dating to around the time the Vikings started exploring and raiding lands across Europe. The boat was at least 13 feet (4 meters) long and was buried in the ground...

Sep 29, 2017

Photos: Viking-Age Fortress Unearthed in Denmark

Viking history (Image credit: Peter Jensen/Aarhus University)Archaeologists are uncovering the mysteries of a Viking-age fortress at Borgring, on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, which is thought to have been built late in the 10th century by the Danish king Harald Bluetooth. Until a few years ago, just four...

Sep 29, 2017

Viking Fort Reveals Secrets of Danish King's Elaborate Military Network

The discovery of a Viking-age fortress in Denmark has shed new light on a network of military sites built by the 10th-century Danish king Harald Bluetooth, according to archaeologists. Bluetooth — for whom the eponymous digital network technology is named — is credited with building several large, circular fortresses, or...

Nov 14, 2017

Early Medieval Farming Village Unearthed Near Famed Viking Site

Archaeologists in Denmark have unearthed the remains of a 1,500-year-old farming village near the famed Viking site of Jelling in central Jutland. The excavated village contains traces of up to 400 farm buildings, including several longhouses that would have each formed the center of a family farm. Based on the...

Dec 5, 2017

Viking-Era Stone Carved with Runes Found in Norway

A stone carved with symbols known as runes and dating to the Middle Ages has been discovered during an excavation ahead of a railway-construction project in Oslo, Norway. The runes, which were found engraved on a whetstone (a stone used for sharpening knives), date to sometime around 1,000 years ago...

Jan 24, 2018

Medieval Text Resolves Mystery of Viking-Irish Battle

The famous Irish king, Brian Boru, is widely credited with defeating the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf more than 1,000 years ago. But not everyone heaps praise on the king. For the past 300 years, historians have cast doubt on whether Boru's main enemies were the Vikings, or his...

Feb 5, 2018

Mystery Behind Mass Grave of Viking Warriors Finally Solved

Archaeologists could barely believe their luck when they uncovered a mass grave in the 1980s that appeared to be filled with the remains of more than 200 warriors from the Viking Great Army. But subsequent radiocarbon dating cast doubt on this idea, showing that some of the remains dated to...

Mar 6, 2018

Archaeologists Closer to Finding Lost Viking Settlement

A lost Viking settlement known as Hóp, which has been mentioned in sagas passed down over hundreds of years, is said to have supported wild grapes, abundant salmon and inhabitants who made canoes out of animal hides. Now, a prominent archaeologist says the settlement likely resides in northeastern New Brunswick....

Apr 12, 2018

How Human Error Led the Vikings to Canada

Viking navigators guided by mysterious crystal sunstones may have accidentally sailed on to the mainland of North America while looking for Greenland, according to new research. The new study shows that so-called sunstones — crystals of translucent minerals like Iceland spar, which split the polarization of light passing through them...

Jun 28, 2018

Photos: Vikings accessorized with tiny metal dragons

Dragonhead (Image credit: Photograph by Lena Holmquist; Antiquity 2018)Archaeologists discovered a Viking dragonhead pin made out of lead in Birka, a Viking archeological town in Sweden, in 2015. Amazingly, the newfound pin nearly matches a soapstone mold of a dragonhead found by a Swedish farmer in 1887. [Read more about...

Jun 28, 2018

Discovery of Rare Viking Dragon Pin Solves 130-Year-Old Mystery

More than 130 years ago, a Swedish farmer discovered a black dragon — or, that is, a Viking carving of one that had a pointy horn on its head and a curled mane down its neck. The soft soapstone carving looked like a mold for casting metals, but the farmer...

Jul 23, 2018

How on Earth Did These Burials of Viking Descendants Wind Up in Sicily?

The discovery of 10 burials near a medieval church in Sicily has led to a rare finding: the skeletal remains of the descendants of Vikings. Archaeologists found the 800-year-old burials near the church of San Michele del Golfo near Palermo. The buried individuals were likely Normans, a group that arose...