Mysterious 150-year-old message in a bottle unearthed at Viking graveyard reveals eerie burial secret
AN ARCHAEOLOGIST has discovered a secret message in a bottle from a Viking dig site dating back to 150 years ago.
The bottle was discovered at a known viking burial site in Norway and was originally buried by another archaeologist in 1874.
Norwegian historian Jacob Bresden was the one who made the eerie discovery which had been left behind by Anders Lorange.
The bottle was discovered buried inside the grave of King Audbjorn, who was buried with the world’s largest known Viking ship.
Footage shared by Sagastad, a viking centre in Norway, shows University of Bergen staff unearthing the bottle.
The series of clips were uploaded to Instagram, showing how archaeologists carefully opened the bottle to remove the contents.
Speaking to Newsweek, Bresden said: “We haven’t opened a Viking grave in Norway for the past 100 years.
“It’s quite spectacular that they have opened it at all.
“The main reason they’ve done that is because this specific grave mound was excavated originally in 1874 by the archaeologist who left that message.
“Now, the Norwegian Ministry for Cultural Heritage wants to nominate this grave to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“That requires more detailed excavations than what was done back then.”
Staff from the University of Bergen, Norway carefully removed the bottle and other contents from the dig site – revealing the letter Lorange left behind.
Translated from Norwegian, the letter reads: “This Mound was excavated Anno Domino 1874. Of Anders Lorange, Antiqvarius Norvegiæ.
“The mound is built over fallen men.
“They were burned in their ship with their weapons and decorations. Of Skjold (shield) bulges were 26—of Swords 2—an axe and many arrows—in addition to many other Old Saws.
“The find is handed over to Bergens Museum.”
The eerie discovery comes after a remarkably intact viking burial site with roughly 50 skeletons was discovered in Denmark.
The forgotten cemetery was unearthed on the island of Funen during preparations to lay electrical cables underground.
Archaeologists from Museum Odense have been working to delicately uncover dozens of human remains, as well as rare artifacts over the past six months.
But what makes the discovery “truly unusual”, according to archaeologist Michael Borre Lundø, who was present at the dig, is that there were “so many well-preserved skeletons” in one place.
Finding any human remains from the Viking Age – between around 793 and 1066 AD – is rare.
Though it is especially rare to find such a well-preserved grave in Scandinavia, due to the typically high acid levels in the soil.
Areas where it is highly acidic will completely destroy bones.
“Normally when we excavate Viking graves, we’d be lucky if there were two teeth left in the grave besides the grave goods. But here we have the skeletons fully preserved,” Lundø told Reuters.
He added: “The skeletons are so amazing. They are so well preserved.
“There are five fingers, five toes. And that opens up a whole new set of possibilities for discoveries.”