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tons of iron rivets scattered around a farmer ’s domain in Norway could be part of aVikingship burial , archaeologists say .
In 2015 , a metal detectorist fall upon three of the rivet while explore Jarlsberg Manor in southeasterly Norway . After the detectorist alerted authorities to the discovery , a squad of archaeologists equip with metal - find equipment descended on the field and unearthed seven more rivets , Science Norwayreported .
Examples of some of the iron rivets archaeologists discovered in the field.
Now , well-nigh nine years later , archaeologist have excavate a total of 70 rivets . Based on the size of it of the metal pieces , researchers think the rivets were used to throw together woodwind instrument planks measuring about 8 invertebrate foot ( 2.5 meters ) long , evoke a fairly big Viking Age ship was swallow up there .
" We ’ve found a great variation of rivet , with the foresighted ones so big that they must have come from a tumid ship , " mining leaderChristian Løchsen Rødsrud , an adviser for the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo in Norway , told Live Science . " The turgid ones are like to other inter ships we ’ve found at Gokstad andOseberg , " two other site with burial mounds in Norway .
Rødsrud reckon that the ship was between 49 and 75 foot ( 15 and 23 m ) long . However , investigator can not estimate a date for the ship because there is no survive organic matter they canradiocarbon - date .
The excavation site is located in a farmer’s field in Norway.
Related : Oldest known ship interment disclose in Norway predate Vikings
" We ’ve try out the topsoil but have n’t found anything yet , " Rødsrud aver . " I would gauge that it ’s from sometime between A.D. 750 and 1000 . "
In addition to the rivet , archaeologists discovered two gymnastic horse crampoon — spikes that would have been attached to the animals ' hoof for traction in " icy conditions . " Researchers are n’t surprised that they found equestrian items at the site , considering that horses buried alongside ships is a " resort paper in Viking Age burial customs duty and are a distinctive phenomen[on ] one would expect in a ship burial , " Science Norway reported .
In fact , there have beennumerous accountsof archeological excavations in whichVikings have been buried with their trusty steeds .
There are about 15 get it on Viking ship burials in Norway . Although there ’s no definitive consensus on why Vikings buried their ship , they may have believe that the vessel could be used in the afterlife , concord to theUniversity of Cambridge ’s Department of Anglo - Saxon , Norse and Celtic .
— Seemingly ' empty ' burial hillock is hiding a 1,200 - year - honest-to-goodness Viking ship
— busted musical composition of rarefied Viking sword reunited after 1,200 year apart
— Viking brand with ' very uncommon ' inscription discovered on family farm in Norway
It ’s too former in the investigation to know who the ship belonged to , Rødsrud say , but some grounds points to a Viking king .
" The ship could have been Bjørn Farmann ’s , who was the king of Vestfold , " Rødsrud order .
Between 1917 and 1918 , Norse archeologist A.W. Brøgger discovered a different burial cumulus on the other side of the field and dubbed it the Farmann mound . He was convinced that a ship was eat up here , but he uncovered only spades and a copestone during his excavation , Science Norway reported .
But whether Brøgger ’s suspicion was right remains to be seen . " It ’s too presently to tell , " Rødsrud said .
