Archaeologists Find 50 ‘Exceptionally Well-Preserved’ Viking-Era Skeletons

Archaeologists in central Denmark have unearthed a rare Viking Age burial site containing what they called around 50 “exceptionally well-preserved” skeletons.

This significant discovery could provide new insights into the Viking era, according to the team behind the excavation.

“This is such an exciting find because we found these skeletons that are so very, very well preserved,” said archaeologist Michael Borre Lundø, who led the six-month excavation. “Normally, we would be lucky to find a few teeth in the graves, but here we have entire skeletons.”

The discovery, made on the outskirts of Aasum, northeast of Odense, Denmark’s third-largest city, was attributed to favorable soil conditions, including chalk and high water levels, which helped preserve the bones. The site was originally found last year during a routine survey ahead of power line renovation work.

Experts from Museum Odense, which supervised the excavation, believe the burial ground may offer valuable clues about life during the Viking Age, which lasted from 793 to 1066 A.D. DNA analyses could potentially reconstruct detailed life histories, providing information on kinship, migration patterns, and social structures.

“This opens a whole new toolbox for scientific discovery,” Borre Lundø said. “Hopefully we can make a DNA analysis on all the skeletons and see if they are related to each other and even where they come from.”

Newsweek has reached out to the Museum Odense for comment via email.

The Viking Age is known for large-scale raids and trade across Europe, with the Vikings even reaching North America. However, Borre Lundø believes the Aasum skeletons likely belonged to a farming community rather than warriors. The site, spanning 2,000 square meters (21,500 square feet), holds remains of men, women, and children, as well as some cremated bodies.

In one notable grave, a woman was buried in a wagon, with the upper part of a Viking cart used as a coffin. This suggests she was from the “upper part of society,” Borre Lundø explained. Besides skeletons, the dig also revealed brooches, necklace beads, knives, and a small shard of glass, which may have served as an amulet.

The designs of the brooches suggest the burials took place between 850 and 900 A.D. “There’s different levels of burials,” Borre Lundø said. “Some have nothing with them, others have brooches and pearl necklaces.”

The artifacts uncovered at the site provide evidence of Viking trade routes extending far beyond Denmark’s borders. A brooch from Gotland, Sweden, and whetstones pointing to Norway and Sweden were among the findings.

The excavation, which began in April and ended Friday, yielded numerous boxes of artifacts now being analyzed at Museum Odense’s preservation labs. Conservator Jannie Amsgaard Ebsen hopes the soil might have preserved additional organic materials, such as fibers on the backs of brooches or knife handles.

“We’re really hoping to gain the larger picture,” Ebsen said. “Who were the people that were living out there? Who did they interact with? It’s a little bit like a jigsaw puzzle: all the various puzzle parts will be placed together.”

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press