TRØNDELAG COUNTY, NORWAY—The grave of a Viking Age woman has been unearthed on private land in central Norway, Live Science reports. It was discovered after a metal detectorist alerted archaeologists upon finding an oval-shaped brooch at the site. Raymond Sauvage of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and his colleagues have dated the burial to the ninth century a.d. based upon the style of the woman’s clothing and jewelry. She had been interred wearing an outer dress fastened near her shoulders with two oval brooches, while the neck opening of her inner dress was fastened with a small ring brooch. The jewelry suggests that she was a married free woman, perhaps the mistress of a farm, Sauvage said. A bowl-shaped buckle and bird bones were also found in the burial. “The most striking feature is two scallop shells placed by the mouth of the deceased, a practice previously unknown from pre-Christian graves in Norway,” he added. Further analysis of the shells may reveal if they were part of an artifact. “It is likely that the scallop shells had a symbolic meaning intended to be communicated to those witnessing the burial; unfortunately it is difficult to guess what this meaning could have been,” Sauvage concluded. For more on Viking burials, go to "Setting Sail for Valhalla."
