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The ground-penetrating radar car drives over the land at Utstein Gard on Klosterøy.   Source: Grethe M. Pedersen, AM / University of Stavanger

Archaeologists Find Evidence of a Viking Age Marketplace in Norway

By Andreas Vikøren / UNIVERSITY OF STAVANGER Klosterøy is an island in southwestern Norway known for its rich cultural heritage. Here, you can find Norway's most well-preserved medieval monastery,...
When reindeer ruminate, aka chew, they are actually catching up on their sleep, claims new study. Source: Leo Rescia / Current Biology / Furrer et al.

Scientists Discover A Reindeer Superpower - Ruminating is a Naturally Restful Sleep Hack!

Throughout history, reindeer have woven themselves into the fabric of Arctic society, mythology and folklore. Reindeer have also found their way into popular culture, prominently featuring in the...
New excavations of the 1,300-year-old pre-Viking ship burial, referred to as Herlaugshaugen. Source: Hanne Bryn / NTNU Science Museum

1,300-Year-Old Pre-Viking Ship Burial Rewrites History

The identification of a pre-Viking ship burial unearthed in Norway is helping rewrite history. A previously excavated mound, containing remnants of the oldest large ship ever buried, on the island of...
The horse bridle was made up of both a bit and leather straps which were once fastened to the horse’s head, which makes it possible to date it. Source: Espen Finstad / Secrets of The Ice / Innlandet County Municipality

Ancient Horse Bridle Emerges from Melting Ice Along Viking Trade Route

A rare Viking Age artifact has melted from its icy-mountain tomb after 1,200 years. Discovered at 2,000 meters above sea level, this timeworn horse bridle whispers of ancient high-altitude traders...
The Aasvik family discovered the Jomfruland artifacts while hunting for their mother’s earing in the garden. Source: Vibeke Lia Vestfold and Telemark County Municipality

Jomfruland Detectorist Unearths Viking Relics During Lost Earring Hunt

A family living on the island of Jomfruland just off the southeast coast of Norway recently made a most notable historical discovery. While searching for a lost golden earring with a metal detector...
5 gold foil pieces found in the dig in Norway. Right; Kathrine Stene, the archaeologist and project leader, proudly displays one of the five newly unearthed gold foil pieces.  Source: Nicolai Eckhoff/Facebook

Enigmatic Gold Foil Pieces Found in Norway Link to 1400-Year-Old Temple

A treasure trove of 5 gold foil pieces, the size of fingernails, have been found near the roadside in southeast Norway, dated to 1,400 years ago. Described as not getting “more spectacular than this...
Right: The gold hoard photographed shortly after Erlend Bore found it in the ground with a metal detector. Source: Museum of Archaeology/UiS

Norway’s “Gold Find of the Century” Uncovered, Including Rare Cache of Medallions

On the Norwegian island of Rennesøy, an impressive hoard of ancient gold items, weighing over 100 grams, has been uncovered. The cache includes nine coin-like gold pendants or medallions, with rare...
Facial reconstruction of Vistegutten by forensic artist Oscar Nilsson. Source: Oscar Nilsson

Meet Vistegutten: AI Resurrects Face of Stone Age Teen Found in Norway

In 1907, the remains of a teenage boy who lived over 8,300 years ago were discovered in a Mesolithic cave located in Randaberg on the west coast of Norway. Dubbed as “one of the oldest skeletons ever...
The excavation site at Sem where the large Viking Longhouse has been detected. Source: Frank Rødberg / County Municipality

Remarkably Massive Viking Longhouse Discovered in Norway

While excavating near the ruins of a 17th century royal estate near the village of Sem in the Eiker district of southeastern Norway, archaeologists unearthed dozens of ancient postholes spread around...
Anne and Oddbjørn Holum Heiland have discovered a Viking age burial with weaponry and jewelry from about 1200 years ago during a home renovation. Source: Joakim Wintervoll/Science Norway

Viking Burial, Sword, and Treasure Unearthed During Home Remodeling Excavation

Little did Oddbjørn Holum Heiland know what he would find when he embarked on a Friday night project, commencing excavation work behind his 1740 Setesdalshouse alongside his wife, Anne. Long story...
Elise, an 8-year-old student, found the Neolithic stone dagger while playing near her school in Norway.           Source: Vestland County Municipality

Eight-Year-Old Norwegian Girl Finds 3,700-Year-Old Stone Dagger at School

An eight-year-old girl from Vestland county in southwestern Norway was playing outside at her school when she found something unusual lying in a rocky section of the play yard. It was not a toy or...
Viking ship burial mound discovered at Salhushaugen, Norway.          Source: Museum of Archaeology, University of Stavanger/Science Norway

1,200-Year-Old Viking Ship Burial Found in Supposedly Empty Mound

A large Viking burial mound found on the island of Karmøy off Norway’s western coast was long thought to be empty. Excavations that opened the Salhushaugen mound in 1906 were launched in the belief...
1,000-year-old iron bars found in Norway. Source: Mildri Een Eide/ Innlandet County Municipality

Norwegian Basement Yields Norse Iron Treasures, Museologists Ecstatic!

A Norwegian man made a unique discovery back in the 80s while he was digging out a water well. His daughter was recently cleaning the basement of his house when she rediscovered what turned out to be...
Representative image of a round wooden shield similar to the Viking shields found at Gokstad. Source: Aleksandrs/Adobe Stock

Ceremonial Viking Shields Re-identified as Actual Battle-Worn Armor

A reexamination of 1,100-year-old wooden Viking shields excavated in Norway in 1880 have been used to assert that these round protective devices could very well have been used in hand-to-hand combat...
Digital representation of a trap-feeding humpback, thought to be the phenomenon explaining Hafgufa and other sea monsters. Source: J. McCarthy/Marine Mammal Science

Medieval Sea Monster Was Likely a Whale, New Research Reveals

A team of Australian researchers has come up with an intriguing theory about a gigantic sea creature referenced in 13th century Norse manuscripts. Known as the Hafgufa in Norway, this huge sea...
The mussel shell arrowheads have been found together with shafts and lashings. The scale in the lower edge of the image is millimeters.	Source: Cultural History Museum

Curious Mussel Shell Arrowheads in Norway’s Mountains Confound Archaeologists

It’s not the first time archaeologists in Norway have discovered ancient arrows melting out of mountainsides. But it is the first time arrows made from mussel shells have been found. Another Treasure...
The Bjørnstad Ship carving, Norway. Source: Sarpsborg Turist as/Visit Norway

The Bjørnstad Ship: A Rare Window into the Nordic Bronze Age

Situated near Sarpsborg, Norway, the enigmatic Bjørnstad ship is a fantastic glimpse into the prehistoric, pre-Viking age of Scandinavia. Such ancient carvings are few, and often hard to discover -...
The world’s oldest runestone, just found in Svingerud, Norway. Source: Alexis Pantos/KHM, UiO

Earliest Runic Inscription Discovered in Norway

‘The dream stone of all runologists’ that can potentially provide clues to the origins of Western writing has been discovered in Norway. A runestone with inscriptions dating back to the earliest...
Some of the objects that were dug out from the Viking grave in Oslo. The box on the left contains the remains of the cape brooch with spheres. Source: Byantikvaren in Oslo

Very Rare Viking Grave Excavated in Western Oslo

An exceptionally rare Viking Age grave has been unearthed in Oslo, Norway’s capital city. The Viking Age (793–1066 AD) followed the Migration Period and the Germanic Iron Age in Europe . At this time...
Using torchlight to reveal rock carvings in Norway by night. Source: Fjeld, Klavestad, Tangen / Science in Norway

600 Rock Carvings Found by Clever Inquiry and Torchlight

Three friends in Norway have a remarkable way of spending in their spare time. Armed with torches, they go looking for prehistoric rock carvings, and with singular success. So far, they have helped...
Sonar imagery of the shipwreck discovered in Lake Mjøsa suggests it has a distinct bow and stern with a central rudder, which would make it a medieval boat dating to some time after the 1300s. Source: FFI / NTNU

Sonar Spots Up To 700-Year-Old Shipwreck Deep in Norwegian Lake

Marine archaeologists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have discovered the sunken remains of what looks like a medieval-era shipwreck 1,350 feet (410 m) below the...
The Viking silver hoard from Stjørdal, Norway consists of a total of 46 objects in silver. Source: Birgit Maixner, NTNU Science Museum.

Large Stash of Viking Silver Found in Central Norway

A rare collection of silver objects believed to be from the Viking Age (8th-11th century) has been discovered in central Norway’s Stjørdal, near Trondheim. Buried barely a few centimeters below the...
This 1,000-year-old wooden Viking Age bowl was found in the Glomma River sandbank by a young boy.

Ten-Year-Old Finds Rare, Wooden, Viking Age Bowl in Norway

Rowing out to a swimming spot on the Glomma River with his father, 10-year-old Erik Briskerud noticed what looked like a root in a sandbar. To his delight, the object that he unearthed turned out to...
The Vikings copied the riding spurs from Roman times, and similar spurs have only been found far down in Central Europe. Source: Mårten Teigen/Kulturhistorisk Museum, UiO/CC-BY-SA 4.0

Late Viking Age Grave Imitating A Roman Age Grave, Not Just Allusion to Power

A grave found in Late Viking Age eastern Norway looks uncannily similar to one of the most immaculate graves from the Roman Age in Norway, from the Hunn burial site in Østfold. A rich burial site, it...

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