The Oseberg Ship: Buried, Reconstructed, Preserved

In 1903 a Norwegian farmer digging into a mound on his land at Oseberg struck something extraordinary: the best-preserved Viking ship ever found. It had been buried in 834 as the centerpiece of a grand funeral. Blue clay and turf heaped over it crushed the hull but sealed it from the air, and so preserved the ship and a trove of wooden treasures for more than a thousand years.

The Oseberg Ship at a Glance

The Oseberg Ship

At 71 feet long and 17 feet wide (about 22 by 5 meters), the Oseberg ship also has 15 oar holes on each side and a mast about 30 feet (9 meters) tall. Most of it is oak, but the deck was made of pine. Its oars were also made of pine and had traces of paint on them; in fact, the lack of wear on them suggests they were created for the burial. (How such a ship was built and sailed is the subject of Viking Ships: How the Longship Changed Norse Seafaring.)

Buried with the Ship

Two women were buried with the ship in 834. The older woman appears to have suffered from osteoporosis and died from cancer at the age of 80. In contrast, the younger woman was around 50 years old; the cause of her death is unknown. She also seems to have had a good diet and used a metal pick, a luxury for Vikings, to keep her teeth clean.

Grave robbers had broken in long before, probably hunting for precious metals. Still, what they left behind transformed our understanding of the Viking age. It included fifteen horses, six dogs, and two oxen, likely sacrificed to accompany the women; four sledges; a richly carved wooden cart; beds, textiles, combs, and kitchen gear.

Reconstructed and Preserved

After a treatment of alum, linseed oil, and lacquer, the Viking Ship Museum at the University of Oslo put the Oseberg ship on display as its inaugural exhibit. Then, in the 1950s, the ship received a coating of resin to help preserve its condition.

By the 1990s, scientists found the Oseberg ship’s wood and iron were deteriorating, and the “Saving Oseberg” project began. In February 2023, construction started on a new Museum of the Viking Age in Oslo, designed to slow that decay, and by spring 2026 the ships and the Oseberg sledges were safely in place inside it. (We reported on the ship’s move to the new museum, and talked with the museum in our Interview with Museum of the Viking Age.) The museum is scheduled to open in 2027. In fact, about 90 percent of the ship is original material.

Treasures like Oseberg are why we’re building Asgard Alaska: to bring the Viking age off the museum wall and into your hands. Join Axe and Anchor, Asgard Alaska’s Newsletter, to follow our progress. Our museum is not open yet, so we are raising the Land Fund to buy the site, Phase 1 of our Roadmap.