(Sarah Paris)
A spectacular Viking boat burial was uncovered this year on the coast of Ardnamurchan, a remote region of western Scotland, the first such burial to be found on the British mainland. The Viking, who is thought to have perished over 1,000 years ago, was most likely a high-ranking warrior. He was buried lying in a 16-foot-long boat, with artifacts including a sword with silver inlay on the hilt, a shield, a spear, an ax, and a drinking horn. "The level of preservation of the objects and the range of grave goods make this one of the most important Viking burials found in the U.K.," says Colleen Batey, a Viking specialist from the University of Glasgow.
Although the location is isolated today, at the time of the burial, it was right on the main north-south seafaring route between Ireland and Norway. No Viking dwellings have been found in Ardnamurchan, but Vikings are known to have inhabited the nearby islands of the Hebrides. "We don't know why they chose this location for the burial, but the Neolithic and Bronze Age burial mounds there may have made it an important place for them," says Oliver Harris, project co-director from the University of Leicester. Isotope analysis of the Viking's teeth may eventually help the scientists pin down where he was from.
