2019

A unique find of two boat burials from the Viking Age (800–1 050 AD) have been uncovered in Uppsala. One of the two graves was intact with remains of a man, a horse and a dog.

A boat burial or ship burial was a specific funeral practice in which the dead person was placed in a ship or boat often along with gifts like jewellery or sets of weapons and other objects. Normally the practice was to cremate the dead, but not in these cases. The two boat burials were found during an excavation at the vicarage in Old Uppsala (Gamla Uppsala) an area outside of the town of Uppsala. A cellar and a well from the Early Modern Period were excavated in 2018 and then one of the boats was observed nearby the more modern structures.