In September 2024, archaeologists in Denmark announced a remarkable find: more than 50 Viking Age skeletons at Åsum, just east of Odense, uncovered during work on the national power grid by the utility Energinet. The grave goods show how far these people’s connections reached, and the site confirms Åsum as an important settlement near Odense. But the real prize is the bones themselves, which are extraordinarily well preserved.
“The graves in Åsum are so well-preserved that it may be possible, for the first time, to conduct special aDNA analyses on most of the skeletons—meaning DNA analyses on ancient material,” says Sarah Croix, associate professor in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at Aarhus University, in a press release.
Archaeologist and museum curator Michael Borre Lundø from the Museum Odense says that the chalk soil content and the time the area spent under water helped to preserve the bones. The “extremely well-preserved” remains could allow archeologists to discover family ties amongst those interred. The skeletal remains could also reveal nutrition, types of diseases the Vikings may have had, and where the people came from before they ended up in Asum.
Upper Class Graves
Lundø says the graves likely belonged to the upper class. One held a woman buried in a wagon.
“She was given a beautiful glass bead necklace, an iron key, a knife with a silver-threaded handle, and, most notably, a small shard of glass that may have served as an amulet,” says Lundo. “At the foot of the wagon, there was a finely decorated wooden chest, the contents of which we still do not know.”
Viking International Trade
In a separate grave, archaeologists found a fine bronze trefoil (three-lobed) brooch, an iron knife and a small piece of rock crystal. The deceased wore a red glass bead on a cord around the neck.
“Rock crystal does not occur naturally in Denmark and was likely imported from Norway,” says Lundø. Other finds point the same way: these people were part of a trading world that stretched far beyond Funen.
The burial ground covers about 2,000 square meters (21,500 square feet), dates to the 800s and 900s, and includes five cremation graves alongside the burials. It is a vivid reminder that the Viking Age isn’t finished revealing itself, and that the next discovery might turn up under a power line.
