Friday 24 July 2009

1000-Year-Old Cowshed Discovered

Archeological research undertaken earlier this summer in Keldudalur in Skagafjördur has brought to light an unusually well-preserved cowshed from the 10th century; the first one to be unearthed in Northern Iceland, archeologist Ragnheidur Traustadóttir told mbl.is.

Remains from man-made structures from the 11th and the 12th century were also discovered.

The cowshed surfaced just west of the living quarters of cow farmers Thórarinn Leifsson and Gudrún Lárusdóttir at Keldudalur. Research has been ongoing there since the year 2002. An ancient burial ground has been found there and it has been known since 2007 that ancient man-made structures existed.

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Monday 20 July 2009

Jorvik Viking Centre set for £1million upgrade

A MILLION pound redevelopment of the Jorvik Viking Centre is expected to be announced tomorrow by Culture Minister Barbara Follett.

The decision by York Archaeological Trust to revamp the hugely popular attraction will include an underfoot reconstruction of the original Coppergate excavation, state of the art animatronics and the reconstruction of a new Viking-age house and backyard. The Minister for Culture, Creative Industries and Tourism said: “This is a major boost for tourism in Yorkshire. “The Jorvik Viking Centre is without doubt one of the region’s flagship attractions.

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Medieval massacre site found in Dorset

In June archaeologists and workers expanding a road in Dorset discovered the site of a grizzly medieval massacre, which perhaps was the result of Viking raids in the tenth or early eleventh century.

They found the skeletal remains of fifty-one men, all decapitated before their bodies were thrown in a pit. Their heads were also found, stacked to one side.

At first, the bodies were believed to have been from people who lived in ancient or Roman times, but radio-carbon dating revealed that they were killed between 890 and 1034, when the South of England was pillaged by Viking raiders from Scandinavia.

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Vinland Map is authentic, expert confirms

The 15th century Vinland Map, the first known map to show part of America before explorer Christopher Columbus landed on the continent, is almost certainly genuine, a Danish expert said Friday.

Controversy has swirled around the map since it came to light in the 1950s, many scholars suspecting it was a hoax meant to prove that Vikings were the first Europeans to land in North America -- a claim confirmed by a 1960 archaeological find.

Doubts about the map lingered even after the use of carbon dating as a way of establishing the age of an object.

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