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Museum of Cultural History

A microscopic image of wood from the Gjellestad ship shows the fungal damage (in black) to the vessel’s remains that prompted the unexpected excavation.

While the tomb was plundered in antiquity—possibly by the forces of Harald Bluetooth—small items like these beads were left behind.

Excavation members clean a piece of keel (the ship’s “spine”) preserved on the Gjellestad ship.

While most of the wooden ship eroded away over the centuries, preserved iron rivets (marked in white) will enable researchers to reconstruct the 60-foot-long vessel, which was built at the time when Viking ships began to be powered by sail as well as oar.