Archaeologists say they have discovered more than 50 well-preserved Viking skeletons in the past six months, providing a rare insight into how the maritime society lived and traveled.
“This discovery offers extraordinary opportunities to carry out a wide range of scientific analyses, which can reveal more about the general health, diet and origins of those buried,” said Michael Borre Lundø, archaeologist and curator of the Museum of ‘Odense, in a press release.
He added that it was “really unusual” to find so many well-preserved skeletons at once.
The 2,000 square meter Viking cemetery was used in the 9th and 10th centuries. It was discovered on the southern outskirts of the village of Åsum.
Odense Museum
The skeletons are so well preserved that archaeologists believe they can extract DNA samples for scientific analysis. Further analysis could reveal whether some of the buried Vikings were related – something that had never been examined in similar finds, Borre Lundø said.
“It will be incredibly exciting to find out where these people came from and whether the same families were buried here over multiple generations,” said Sarah Croix, an associate professor at Aarhus University in Denmark.
Several of the skeletons enjoyed a high position in society, archaeologists said, as evidenced by the fact that one of the women was buried in the shell of a train car – likely the train car in which she was traveling. She was buried with a magnificent necklace of glass beads, an iron key, a knife. with a silver threaded handle and a small shard of glass that could have served as an amulet.
There was a finely decorated wooden chest at the foot of the cart. Archaeologists don’t know what was inside the chest, but imagine that the woman was buried with all of her finest things.
Other skeletons were found buried with jewelry, including a woman with a metal ring around her neck, another with a single red glass bead hanging from a cord, and another with a special buckle.
Recent Viking discoveries include nearly 300 silver coins believed to be over 1,000 years old, which were discovered in 2023 near a Viking fortress site in northwest Denmark. And a large Viking burial site was discovered in 2020 by Norwegian archaeologists.
