Archaeologists unearth Viking boat burial in Scottish Highlands

Skooter reporting 10/20/11

A 1,000-year-old boat burial of a Viking warrior was discovered by British archaeologists in the Scottish Highlands on the remote Ardnamurchan Peninsula, west coast. The Viking warrior was laid to rest inside his boat, around him was an elaborately -decorated sword, a shield, a spear and an ax, all of which implies he was an important figure or of high status. This is said to be the first intact grave of its kind on the UK mainland and the most significant Viking sites, experts said.

For the past six years, archaeologists from various universities have been carrying out digs at a number sites on the remote Ardnamurchan Peninsula. Earlier excavations have uncovered a Neolithic tomb nearby, a Bronze Age monument, and a 19th century site linked to the Highland Clearances.

Other ancient items found with the Viking warrior were a knife, flints, a bronze ring pin said to be from Ireland, a whetstone from Norway, pieces of pottery from the Hebrides, and hundreds of metal rivets, which they thought would have hold together the Viking's boat. The wooden structure of the boat had rotten away over the centuries.

The archaeologist are planning to return to the site again next summer to carry out further investigations.

source: CNN