In 1903, a close-to-perfect preserved Viking ship was found near Tønsberg in Vestfold, Southeast Norway. The land had recently been purchased by Oskar Rom. Once he started digging on the property, he soon realized the great find that he had on his hands. This led him to the city of Oslo to ask for the help of archaeologist Professor Gustafson, who was working at the University Museum of National Antiquities. Further excavations revealed the sheer scale of the ship, which, once fully uncovered, was 17.8 feet long and 16.7 feet wide. The blue clay and turf that covered the entire ship helped to perfectly preserve the ship’s wood and the intricate carvings engraved.
Rather than sail, the ship, with its beautiful detailing, was custom-built as a grave for two women. The grave had been robbed at some point in the past with much of the bones, jewelry, and other adornments stolen. Krud Krogh has proposed this follows the features of an early Christian practice that involved finding and reburying pagan queens. Along with the women were numerous goods and animals, including horses, at the fore of the ship. The other items comprised beds, tapestries, clothes, combs, farming tools, tents, and beauty supplies. The sheer amount of goods that were buried with the women has led to one main conclusion being drawn: they were prominent in their society. One of the women is approximately 40 to 50 years old while the other is 70 to 80 years old. Other than the younger one having signs of a broken collarbone, there were no obvious injuries to either of the individuals. Because the older wore a red woolen dress with a lozenge twill pattern while the younger wore a simple blue woolen dress with a wool veil, it is theorized that the younger was a servant. On August 29, 1948, the women were reburied.
Some objects buried with the women have led to questions about their potential origin. These artifacts are the Buddha Bucket and the silk fragments. The Buddha Bucket is a wooden bucket that has a handle that has been decorated to display two figures sitting in a lotus position. Because this type of iconography is not normally seen in Northern Europe, it is believed the Buddha Bucket was gained through trade. While the term “Buddha Bucket,” suggests an East Asian origin, the truth is that there is no definitive answer as to what route the artifact took that led it into the Norse grave. Another possibility is that the bucket has a Celtic root. One specific Celtic ritual involved people being sacrificed in a lotus position before being mummified, mirroring the Buddha Bucket’s art.
The silk is in fragments and has needle marks which implies that it was previously sewn onto another piece of fabric, such as wool. However, there were no local sources of silk. Instead, according to Agnes Geijer, the majority of the Norwegian and Swedish silk fabrics appear to be a specific type known as “samitum.” Samitum was only manufactured in Byzantium and the Middle East during the Viking period. Thus, the silk was likely imported from one of these areas. Another factor that supports this theory is the presence of a shahrokh in the silk pattern, a bird that was regarded as a symbol of royal blessings in Persian mythology. Silk has been found in several sites along with Oseberg, including Gokstad, Negre Haugen, and Birka. Vedeler, author of the book Silk for the Vikings, agrees that this trade and production was likely set forth from Byzantium and Persia, traveling through Central Europe before reaching Norway or moving along the Russian rivers Dnepr and Volga.
The presence of imports in the Oseberg burial gives credence to the idea that these women were important figures in their society. They were at least important enough to be buried with such prestigious grave goods, especially ones as rare as those that would result from long-distance trade. These findings lead to further questions about the establishment, prominence, and extent of Viking trade routes.
There are some more theories surrounding who these women were. The first is that the older woman may be Queen Åsa. This theory was proffered by Anton Wilhelm Brøgger, based on a legend that stated Queen Asa was buried nearby. Queen Asa was the grandmother of Harald Fairhair, the first king to rule a united Norway in A.D. 860-940. Others have pointed out the potential errors in chronology with this theory. The older woman was radiocarbon dated to be around 770 to 880 while the younger was dated somewhere between 680 and 900 A.D. When you factor in potential dates of birth, it is unlikely that either of the women fit the timing of Queen Åsa. The overall date for the ship was determined through radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology to be 834 A.D.
If she was a queen, there are some inferences that can be made about the potential life she would have lived. Firstly, during this period there was uncertainty about what the titles “queen” and “king” fully meant. There were questions regarding their relationship with one another and the full extent of their power. This uncertainty brewed from the different words that different areas had for king and queen and how those areas’ definitions differed. Women were vital in keeping power both for herself and her husband. This was because they allowed the succession to be in one family. Women, queens in particular, wielded power by controlling the households or in rare cases stepping up to take the throne when there was no other option. While a woman stepping up to rule may have been seen as a last option they were not thought of as incapable of ruling. In fact, they were seen as trustworthy and there was a habit of relying on the wisdom of women’s counsel. Queens would have also been the main people ensuring good relations between the nobility. Analysis of the younger woman reveals she regularly used a toothpick to clean her teeth, leaving them in remarkably good condition. This led some researchers to believe she was much younger than the age that was later proven. Some people have used this habit to argue that she would have been the high-status individual and that the older woman was her servant. The analysis of the older woman also reveals that she likely had a condition that would have made her grow a beard.
While it is unlikely that one of the women at the site is the fabled Queen Åsa they are still an extraordinary find. They highlight some of the highest levels of Viking culture, specifically the use and access of traded goods, and those who sat at the top. Their grave is one in which we can see snapshots into the daily lives of the Vikings. We may never be able to definitively answer the question of who the Oseberg women were, but we can say that we know at least a little about their lives through their deaths.
Further Reading (Books):
Theresa Earenfight Queenship in Medieval Europe New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
Marianne Vedeler Silk for the Vikings Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2019.
Articles:
https://owlcation.com/humanities/The-Mysterious-Women-of-the-Oseberg-Viking-Burial-Ship
http://www.forest.gen.nz/Medieval/articles/Oseberg/textiles/TEXTILE.HTM
https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/26632/Ruffoni_Master.pdf