<< Our Photo Pages >> Myklebust Round Barrows - Round Barrow(s) in Norway in Sogn og Fjordane
Submitted by kenntha88 on Monday, 08 October 2012 Page Views: 3007
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Myklebust Round Barrows Alternative Name: RundehogenCountry: Norway
NOTE: This site is 18.628 km away from the location you searched for.
Fylke: Sogn og Fjordane Type: Round Barrow(s)
Nearest Village: Nordfjordeid
Latitude: 61.909419N Longitude: 5.989437E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Round Barrows in Sogn og Fjordane
In the small village of Nordfjordeid at an old farm site called Myklebust are two large round barrows. They are called "Rundehogen" and "Skjoratippen". Rundehogen is 30 metres in diameter and around 4 metres in height. Skjoratippen is 32 metres in diameter and 4 metres in height. The site had originally 5 mounds, but three mounds have been lost in later years. In the Rundehogen, the famous Myklebust ship was found.
The largest of the five mounds at Myklebust Nordfjordeid, Rundhogjen, is lying on a flat plain by the sea, visible from the highway. It has been excavated in 1903 by Anders Lorange who found the remains of a fire pit where a boat or a large ship was burned and covered with a mound of 30 metres in diameter and 4 feet in height. Initially there had been a 4 m wide and 1 m deep ditch surrounding the mound that was attached to the ground with a broad soil bench.
Lorange found iron nails, shield bulges, burned weapons that had been destroyed and a large copper kettle that contained the ashes and bones of a male person. Probably this copper kettle is of Irish origin, adorned with three bronze figures. One of these became known as "Myklebust man." He also found the remains of a peacock seen in the excavation of the Gokstad ship, which means it was an exceptionally rich grave.
Wood remains from the Myklebust ship were not found, but the excavations revealed a charred layer, which showed that the ship was about 25 meters long. A rusted lump found in Rundhogjen consisted of 58 shields bulges indicated that it had 29 arms on each side. The discovery is probably from the 800's or 900's. The large amount of shield bulges suggest the ship had a row of shields hanging on each side of the ship.
The better-preserved Viking ships Gokstad and Oseberg led to the Myklebust discovery being overshadowed and forgotten partly because it was so poorly preserved. The estimated length of this ship makes it the largest vessel from the Viking Age which has ever been found in Norway!
It has been suggested that the man who is buried in the ship is King Audbjorn, who, according to the sagas, was killed in the battle of Solskjel year 876. This is just a myth and cannot be proved.
Archaeologist Haakon Shetelig revealed in 1902 two female burials and four digs in Skjoratippen mound which originally was 10 metres in diameter and 3.8 metres high. This mound was used for about 200 years and contained at least six rich burials! About 50 metres east of Skjoratippen was a burial mound that was 27 metres long, in it were found coal and rivets for a boat or a ship that was probably burned by the Vikings. Probably a very similar burial like the one at Rundehogen.
On top of the "Skjoratippen" barrow is a standing stone. This is however not ancient, it was raised as a memory stone after the excavations that took place in 1902.
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