Ship burials date back to before the Viking Age

In a mound explored last June in Norway, the remains of a ship built before the Viking Age were found. Archaeologists believe this is the oldest known ship burial in Scandinavia, Viking Archeology Blog reported.
Archaeologists carried out the survey at Herlaugshagen in Lekka, which is located in Trøndelag County in Central Norway. It was carried out by the Science Museum and the Municipality of Trøndelag County and was funded by a grant of NOK 100,000 from the National Antiquities Agency of Norway. The aim was to establish a more detailed dating of the burial mound and possibly confirm whether it contained a ship. Archaeologists found iron rivets, a horse tooth, preserved remains of wood and charcoal.
The rivets allow researchers to date the object.
"The mound was built around 700 AD," says Geir Grønesby, an archaeologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's University Museum.
"This is called the Merovingian period and it precedes the Viking Age. This dating is really exciting because it pushes the whole tradition of ship burials quite far back in time," Grønesby added. /BGNES