The Oseberg ship is a Viking ship discovered in Norway in the early 20th century. It is considered a masterpiece of Viking shipbuilding, with ornate carvings and built using clinker construction. The ship and its grave goods, including tools, jewelry, and animal sacrifices, were buried in an elaborate ceremony. The ship was meticulously rebuilt but is now brittle. The find led to Norway outlawing the export of antiquities to protect national treasures.
The Oseberg ship is a Viking ship discovered in a Norwegian cemetery in the early 20th century. The vessel is on display in Oslo, along with an assortment of artifacts found with the vessel, and many people consider the Oseberg ship to be a masterpiece of Viking shipbuilding. It is quite large and covered in stunning and ornate carvings that have been carefully preserved for people to examine.
Studies of the Oseberg ship suggest that it was built in the early 800s AD and probably used for several years before being included in a ceremonial burial. The Oseberg vessel was built using clinker construction, where planks are stacked on top of each other and riveted together. This technique was developed by both the Vikings and the Chinese and revolutionized shipbuilding for these peoples, allowing them to travel farther than ever before. The Oseberg ship has a high prow that curls into a spiral, and the entire ship is covered in ornate carvings of plants, animals, and geometric figures.
The Vikings believed that the dead should be provided with any items for which they might be useful in the afterlife; without grave goods such as tools, servants, and so on, someone would not have access to these things in the afterlife. As a result, Viking funerals involved a large number of items. The Oseberg ship and her grave goods were undoubtedly buried in an elaborate ceremony that included animal sacrifices and food offerings to the dead.
In the case of the Oseberg ship, the grave goods included the ship itself, along with a huge number of items, ranging from sledges to cooking utensils. Archaeologists working at the site have found textiles, tools for various tasks, cups, plates, jewelry, carts, beds, chests, and an assortment of other items. The Oseberg ship also contained the bodies of horses, oxen and other animals, along with the bodies of two women; one woman is assumed to have been a servant, while the other may have been a priestess or high-ranking individual, as she was wrapped in rare blue silk for burial.
When the vessel was unearthed, it was meticulously rebuilt, with conservators attempting to use as little new material as possible when reconstructing the vessel. Unfortunately, wood preservation techniques were quite primitive in the early 20th century and the wood became extremely brittle, along with some of the grave goods. As long as the flimsy ship can stand still, it will likely last for some time and have a permanent home in the Viking Ship Museum in Norway.
While the conservation techniques used to preserve the Oseberg ship may not have been exceptional, the find motivated the Norwegian government to protect its national treasures. Norway was one of the first governments to outlaw the export of antiquities as a direct result of concerns over the sale of objects of immense cultural value to the highest bidder.
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