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1,000-year-old Viking boat found buried on Norwegian island

The georadar system pictured here in front of the Edoy Old Church on the island of Edoy, Norway, discovered a 1,000-year-old Viking ship buried on the island. Photo by Manuel Gabler/Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research
The georadar system pictured here in front of the Edoy Old Church on the island of Edoy, Norway, discovered a 1,000-year-old Viking ship buried on the island. Photo by Manuel Gabler/Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research

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May 29 (UPI) -- Officials in a Norwegian county announced a 1,000-year-old Viking ship has been found buried on the same island where a ship of similar vintage was found six months earlier.

The More and Romsdal County Council said the eight-oared vessel measuring just under 40 feet long was found buried on the island of Edoya, less than 500 feet from where a Viking ship from the same time period was found buried in late 2019.

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The ship was located via georadar survey, officials said. The survey also identified two houses and five burial mounds.

"This helps strengthen our impression of Edoya as a power center in the Iron Age," Bjorn Ringstad, county conservator for More and Romsdal, said in a news release.

Ringstad said the burying of Viking boats was part of a funeral tradition for the wealthiest members of a community.

"They took a ship or a boat with them into their tomb," he said.

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