Organization:Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research
The Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (Norwegian: Norsk institutt for kulturminneforskning, NIKU) is a cultural heritage research institute based in Oslo, Norway.
Organization
The institute has nearly 80 employees and regional offices in Bergen, Trondheim, Tønsberg and Tromsø.[1] It consists of six research departments:[2]
- Archaeological Excavations
- Digital Documentation
- Conservation
- Buildings
- Heritage and Society
- High North
The chair is Torger Ødegaard and the deputy chair is Mette Bye[3] The current director general is Kristin Bakken.
NIKU was created in 1994 as a split from the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage.[1] From 1994 to 2003, the institute shared a board of directors with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research under the moniker NINA•NIKU.[4]
In 2019, archaeologists from NIKU, using large-scale high-resolution georadar technology, determined that a 17-meter-long Viking ship was buried beside Edøy Church on the island of Edøya. Traces of a small settlement were also found. NIKU estimates the ship's age as over 1,000 years: from the Merovingian or Viking period. The group plans to conduct additional searches in the area. A similar buried ship was found previously by a NIKU group in 2018, in Gjellestad.[5]
Gjellestad ship burial
The Gjellestad[6] (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈjɛ̂lːəˌstɑː]) ship burial, also spelt Jellestad, is the remains of a Viking age longship found at the farm of Gjellestad in Halden municipality in Norway in 2018 by the archeologists Lars Gustavsen and Erich Nau. An ancient well-preserved Viking cemetery for more than 1000 years was discovered using ground-penetrating radar. Archaeologists also revealed at least seven other previously unknown burial mounds and the remnants of five longhouses with the help of the radar survey.[7][8][9][10] The discovery of extensive Bronze Age remains at Gjellestad has led archaeologists to speculate that it had been a sacred site for centuries before the Viking era.[11]
A 2019 examination by the University of Oslo has dated it to AD 733, at the earliest.[12] Originally interred beneath a burial mound, in the present day the ship lies 50 centimetres below the topsoil due to years of plowing.[13]
Due to extensive fungus damage to the hull caused by field drainage, drought and exposure to the air, archaeologists called for an immediate dig to save the ship.[14] Excavation of the ship at Gjellestad began in June 2020,[15] overseen by Professor Knut Paasche from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research. It is estimated to be over 20 metres long, although only parts of the keel have survived.[16] This would mean that the boat is of a similar size to the Gokstad ship.[17] The identity of the boat's occupant has not yet been confirmed, but experts have speculated that it may have belonged to a king or queen.[18]
By July 2021, archaeologists had exposed the keel of the ship[19] and discovered the remains of a Viking axe.[20] As of December 2021, exploratory excavations and metal detecting surveys in the surrounding area have revealed the existence of a Viking longhouse,[21] a feasting hall, a Norse pagan ritual site,[22] and metal artefacts including an Arabic dirham and three belt buckles.[23]
By December 2022, the archaeological team had completed the excavations. The remains of the keel will be preserved with water-soluble wax. Although most of the wood had disintegrated, the surviving nails will be used to create a 3d reconstruction of the boat. Objects of particular interest included a large amber bead, a spindle whorl, a bracelet, horse and cattle bones, human remains, a comb, a whetstone, fragments of a wooden chest, and two Viking axe heads.[24] The soil from the excavation will be X-rayed and CT scanned before being sifted.[25] The Viken and Halden municipalities intend to open a visitor centre at Gjellestad for viewing the outline of the ship.[26] Meanwhile, the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research has begun a research project called Viking Nativity to investigate the land surrounding the Gjellestad ship burial.[27]
See also
- Norges kirker – church building documentation project affiliated with the institute
- Engagement, Sustainability and Diversity: examining recent heritage policy in Norway
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Henriksen, Petter, ed (2007). "Norsk institutt for kulturminneforskning" (in no). Store norske leksikon. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. http://www.snl.no/Norsk_institutt_for_kulturminneforskning. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
- ↑ "About NIKU" (in en-US). https://www.niku.no/en/about-niku/.
- ↑ "Styret" (in no). Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research. https://www.niku.no/om-oss/styret/.
- ↑ "NINANIKU - Årsmelding 2002" (in no). NINA-NIKU. http://www1.nina.no/arsmeldinger/2002/Styrets_beretning/Styretdetaljer.htm.
- ↑ "Ancient Viking ship discovered buried next to church using breakthrough georadar technology". The Independent. 27 November 2019. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/viking-ship-burial-mound-found-norway-church-georadar-archaeology-a9218911.html. "This will certainly be of great historical significance, archaeologists say"
- ↑ "Gjellestadskipet". https://www.sprakradet.no/Vi-og-vart/hva-skjer/Aktuelt-ord/gjellestadskipet/.
- ↑ "Viking ship burial discovered in Norway just 50cm underground" (in en). 2018-10-15. http://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/oct/15/viking-ship-burial-discovered-in-norway-just-50cm-underground.
- ↑ Starr, Michelle. "A Rare Viking Ship Burial Was Just Discovered in Norway, Less Than 2 Feet Underground" (in en-gb). https://www.sciencealert.com/jellestad-ship-viking-burial-iron-age-jelle-mound-ground-penetrating-radar-norway.
- ↑ McGreevy, Nora. "For the First Time in a Century, Norway Will Excavate Viking Ship Burial" (in en). https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-time-century-norway-will-excavate-viking-ship-burial-180974854/.
- ↑ miljødepartementet, Klima-og (2020-05-12). "Vil grave fram det første vikingskipet på 100 år" (in nn-NO). https://www.regjeringen.no/nn/aktuelt/gjellestadskipet/id2701917/.
- ↑ What kind of place was Gjellestad?
- ↑ "Skipsgraven fra Gjellestad – ny viten om datering og bevaringstilstand - Kulturhistorisk museum". https://www.khm.uio.no/om/presse/skipsgraven-fra-gjellestad.html.
- ↑ Jellestad Ship
- ↑ Science Norway
- ↑ Gjellestad excavation
- ↑ BBC News
- ↑ Historic excavation now underway
- ↑ SFL Times
- ↑ Science Norway
- ↑ KHM Advent Calendar
- ↑ Longhouse at Gjellestad
- ↑ Longhouse, feasting hall and temple unearthed at Gjellestad
- ↑ Viking ship museum Gjellestad
- ↑ 12 most exciting finds
- ↑ Science Norway
- ↑ Gjellestad ship latest
- ↑ Viking Nativity
External links
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