eri ngute VStll shy~ rodiosilsinikll ringute kH Udll lSI ise nii noor 11ili si asulAkohshy inon lde k iiigus imalik ka o]ushyooni maksim ushysgr~ssiOlt)n i lja] pohjusr1h iljem iut nt ukLi ivse

nrh ll sulakoshymist on viiikese ~ gtlt 1i m s uur u shy)viaukudes t koshyz varvi kohalik piilenud 100mBshy

sliae daLeerida ncent on vastuolu

leb III asu lakoshyh61 111ab u 50 x ub kun i 25 em (ikke sisa lda v8

10 mis paikneb tt unud u 05 m Bukudest saadi lIme nou tukid un val mistatu cl

pindade jfu-gi Isckiil)elt 0

Illgtl nivendiliRe ud radios ii s inj shyl it Ulrkihti on

tud (r abel 1 5) Iri da vaga ii1 shy

~lS riibele puu shyluuajast nooreshy

gain JiWSU Ii N ~ 9 I~ Kult uurshyr ituh ncilgalt

IClltludcga kihi Proovinuklllesi lkilcl sh 7 savishyupoundusl s ilu tud

oll de~t I)) is on n- KeraFllnika In vilga iiJdiselt pte puuchm use OoTem9k~_ Oks if kn ajalooliRcl

ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELDWORK IN ESTONIA 2008

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

MARGE KONSA RAIL ALLMAE LflNA MALDRE margekonsa(a utee railia l lmaelaquol~aiee Liin(L1naLdre(ci aiee

Tartu U1ikool Toliml-O V1ikoo Ajllloo In8 tii1Aut (University of Tar t-u) (Instit1(te of History Lossi 3 51003 Tartu n tlinn UnilJl1Si ty) Estonia RiiiWi 6 10130 TaUi1~n Estonia

JOm VASSlLJEV jytivassibev[l giee

TaUinna Tehnikaitlikoo (Institute of Geology Tallinn UniveT~itll of Thehnology) Ehi tojate tee 5 19016 Tallinn E~lonia

In Septemher 2008 an illuminated cycling track was going to be built along the Sarve road between Tehumardi and Salme on the island of Saaremaa While an electrical cable trench was being dug for the lighting of the track a large n umber of human bones were foun d near the border of the 8a1me village In addition to the bones the workers fo und a spearshyhead a sword blade a knife some gaming pieces two dice l and half a dozen of iron rivets_ The construction work was stopped and rescue excavations financed by the Natjon al Heritage Board and arranged by Saaremaa Museum were initiated The excavabons directed by J iiri Peets (AI) and Kiilli Rikas (SMI) later by Marg-e Konsa (TO) revealed the remains of a 7th century ship The workers digging the cable ditch had dug into t he stern of the shlp

ON BOAT-GRAVES IN ESTONIA AND ELSEWHERE Burials in boats became more and more COlllluon among the elite of northshyem Europe from the 61l century AD as a way of burial suitable for the noble social standing There were different ways of conducting such burials_ The most common way was burying an unburned boat in a trench or placing it on the ground with supports_ The boats were either covered wi th wood to form a flat surface Or covered with a barrow (Miiller-Wille ] 974 197) Usually the body was placed in the middle of the boat sometimes a lso into a specially built cha mber with r ich grave goods - weapons household items horses dogs and othel animals and birds The most famous boat buri als of Vendel Era (in Estonian perjodisation also Pre-Viking Age) are Viilsgiirde

Unfortuna tely SOffit schoolboys r- howin t hu ir interest to the finds lost the die

53

MARGE KONSA RAILI ALLMAE LIINA IVIALDRE amp rURT VASSILTEV

and V nd 1in eastern Sweden and the royal nh c n tury boat burial of Sutshyt n Hoo in England The greate Dllmb l r lleh burial h s b n dis ovshyered on the fjord-rich rwegian coastl ine Th numb r of inhum tion and cremation burials from the Vendel Era is mot or le~s equal but during th foil wing Viking Age th cremation is dominant in such grave All the Venshyuel Ela boa bmials known in Finland are cremations (AndelBOn 1963 5)

There ar approximately 40 PI hi toric burial sites along Estonia n Coa iline and on the islands where iron rivets hav b n found U ushyally the numher of riv t colle ted from a site is very small The minishymum Dumber of riv ts ne es ary t build boat is 50 (Mlill r -Will e 1 974 191) and th Je al less than 10 bUI ial sites in Estonia from which u h a number bas been found Among th e sites a remarkablgt one is Viltina stone grave field in aaremaa Dllling the excavation of the it m l

than a thou and r ivets were found half of which wet collected from a ton middotfree area abou 1 metres long and 2 metres wide (Vassar 19 0) R gr tfully th h pc and po ibl con middottruction of th b a t ha remain ed unkn own Ther w r no artefa 01 burials cl ady r lated to the boat and so the da in of the boat has remained Lllcertain a well

The be t r-pre erved ship-finds from E tonia Ill from a later era A cog ound from the Piirnu R i e1 ha b en dated to lat 13 h to arLy 14th cntur The Maa nilinna shipwr ck that was laised IT m the strait vmiddotike Vin n a1 aaremaa origin tes fiom th 16th century (R io 2006) This means that th Salm shjp i th oldest of a kind in Estonia and in several aspects a1 0 a remarkabl find in th wider ntext of the cul tLUal and maritime history of the Ba] ti ea

LOCATION OF SALME SHIP-FIND The Salme ship was locat d 200 m to th north of the Salm River which separat s Sorve Peninsula from th south-we tern Saaremaa The site situated about 23 111 way from the cont mporary coa tal une middot3lld 45 m above the lev L The water leve l recon tructions for Saareshymaa bas d on th databases of shor lil and buried orrranic sediments data (Saarse et al 200 2 06) ineticat thFll the sea level in th 7th censhytury AD aruemaa may have e n no mol ilian 27 lU higher tha n in Ct UT nt time a nd 0 th ~ bottom f th a Lm ship (3 89 m abov presentshyday sea leve) wa b u t 12 m ab ve th a leveL H n lh sea w t y-auld reach t he Salme shjp on1 during s arm In th 7 h c ntury orv

Peninsula was an is land eparated from Saaremaa by a narrow about 70 to 100 ill wide trait (F ig I ) The Salme ship was situated in the vertex of a headlan d which wa juttin rr awards from the ea Lern peak of aaremaa To the asl of th h adland wa L i onian Bay and to the west the Gulf of ArL te whi h extended 0 an area that now a h ayfie l i b hind th Salm schooIhou e 200 mast from lb ship

Th boat wa buried in he d im ntary sand of -~ former sea flo l nel situated in the E-SW direction wi h an absol ute bearing of 435 It is

comman that thp which e tntly h ticed thAL Lhl stern of the boat lik [y thallhe p~

DATA ABO When the XCltlHI

wide was eXlanl a - 01 pipe of Tbi pi ee mad tht orientation jiv t found frol1 had be n pre erv

us w 11 a~ the tit by th ) constllwti only a couple of (

The wondcl lome v ry th in ltshy

of th frame rna shape and the r

The lip cies VII It

54

uial of Sutmiddot )een discovmiddot malion and L during Lh All the Yenmiddot on 1963 II Estonian ound Usushy

iltina ultE more cted [om a Issar 1940)tS remained to the boat

later era b efll1y 14th fi t lrul Viiik( 2006) Tbls

Hi in severa1 ultulal and

Ri ver which la o The s itL al line Hnd Ior Saareshyic sediment s the 7th cunshyhcl than in love presentshy~ sea watershyntmy Sorve ow about 70 le vertex of a )f Saaremna t the Gulf of Jd the Salme

ea floor ~nd )f 43 5deg It is

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

Fi g 1 The l()(utiol o[ lhe S ube sh ip-jind

JrI 1 Same iaelJutiu aSiCcolet D rmuinf) Jormis Juri V(I$i ljeu

IIUm

1tJm

1IIfI U1

7 - rn

6U m

~ - l rn

(IU m

~ 5 m

~ IJ m

Ir--JI conHlmiddot lilllt 70U A D I ranflajooll 7()O pK)

)1llitnt COllst middotlintgt I ranJ1r1J oon tiiJl p~iPvaJ

p l~fl1l mAd I liil1gtlpacvaJ1P m AIU1tee

(omOlon that jhe prow of the boats in th~ boa t-graves pointed northWArds which evidently ha d ideological and ll~ligi ouf mea nings It has a]so been nomiddot ticed t ha t the weapons especially spea rs ha ve often been found (rom 111e tem of Lhe boat (Larsson 2007 275) Con s iderin g ~mjJar examples it is ik~ly lhat the prow of the Salme srup was poi nted to nor th-east

DATA ABOUT THE SHIP When t he excavation s bega n a parL of tbe prow a hou t 7 111 long a n cll j 111

wide was extant Digging the trench h ad clcstroYEd th e stern L uckily a 15 em piece of the ste)npoRt ha d been spared in one Ri de Qf the trench This piece ronde it possible to determine the length of 1h e ship a n d he orie n ta bon of its hor izontal axis Th e endmost distance between Lho 11 V(I foun d fr(lm t he prow and fro m th e Lclll was 10 m The amidships had been pre$elved for abou t 05 m in height The lnrt of th ship above it as well as th e sLem had been destroyed In the stp]npost pu t u ntouched by the Lonstruction workers th e rivets were ~ilu aLed r ight below the t urf only a C()UV1c of centimetres deeper

The wooden h ull of the srup was almost comp1etely dey-rotten Onl some very thin fl LllpS of softwood plank and pieces of Lhe support heam of the frame made of pine~ had bee n preserved MosL of Lhe data about t h sha pe an d tb e construction of the shl p were gath ered by taking bearings

Th perie wu~ determilll d by Hegino Kas k from E~t onin UniwtmiddotiLv IIf riff SciP l1ces

55

MA RGE KONSA RAJLI ALLMAE U lNA MALDRE amp JURI VASSfLJEV

Fig 2 teu) towards prO lL at see ) T he sappon beam of lhefrfthfrante hl tlte Joregromtd

In 2 Vaade valjapuitastatud laevale ahtri$L voori suunas Esipiaardl on nCiha 1tendo kaare tugi Lala

Photo I Foto MaW Ro io

56

of the out1in r ivets in he i te (F

ltog other 2 v t i n The exact ed Following the q et i t an be aid tl that lh e were join lng in which the q oth r The ri l w tha t the planks u ill thickness In Lhl ~ rup th er e was a k towards the prow W r r iv ted- a ke straka ad d to it

Vello Mass (L

struction of the v bull alme ship ll1iht mum width of 2 hip with a Jow sk

h eight of tb boa rd Th IOW of r ive t s how d tha t thE and po sibly ven i had i ITh fru m lashing By it t P ing h ip its ()phi a d the vikin~ middoth characteristic to i

11 easily manoel exampl of thp B nol gy and tr diti

ARTEFAcn Most of the artefao the st rn from al ga ther d b sh ifti trench and so th l

unlmown Th WE

two spea he d (l

Fig 3 RecQrt lm cLiOl hulls sLOpe rhe locnrioll oj numbers 1Iark at tlte excavot

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

of the outline of the ship and he placement of th rivets in the site (Fig 2)

Altogeth er 275 rivets were found during the excashyvations The exact 1ocation of 159 oftbem was pinpointshyed Following the distance between the rows of the rivshyets itcan be sa id hat 30cm wide planks were used and that lhese were joined with iron r ivets by clinker plankshying in which the edge of one plank slightly overlays tbe other The rivets were about 3-4 cm long wruch means that the planks used were very thin about ] 5- 2 cm in thickness I n the middle of the northern plllmiddott of the ship there was a keel about 15 cm wide and narrowing towards the pr ow On both sides of the prow plankl were riveted - a keel stTakC next to the keel and a sid strake added to it

Vello Mass (2008 2009) who analyzed the con shytruction of the vessel came to a conclusion that the

Salme ship might have been J 15 m long with a maxishymum width of 2 m (Figs 3 4) The sea gauge of th ship with a low skid keel may have been 04 m and th height of the boardside in the middle of the ship 075 m The rows of rivets on Lhe u pper edge of the side strake showed that the ship had also had a tb ird side strake and possibly even a fourth one-a wash-strake Th e ship had eigh t frames a nd Lhese were probably attached b lashing By jts type the Salme ship is a twelve-oar rowshying ship its sophistication ranging between the log boat and the viking srup The shape of the Salme ship was characteristic to a military vessel - it was fast light and easily manoeuvrab le 1t can be considered to be an xample of tho Baltic Sea east coast shipbuilding techshy

nology a nd trarution

ARTEFACTS Most of the artefacts and human bones were collected from the stern from about 35 m long area These objects wer gathered by sh ifting through the soil removed from the trench and so the exact locations of the artefacts remain unknown The weapon finds from the stern consisted of two spelllheads (Fig 5) and artefacts related to swords

Fig 3 Reconstruction oJ the I n 3 SuLme laeva kuju hullbull shape Crossebull mark rpkonstruktsioon the location of rIVets and Ristidega on tahistatud numbers mark thefra11Us neetide rul lw ll ad ja at the excavated mmiddoten 1Lumbritegn kaa1ed

kuevotud alai

~

middotmiddot middotmiddot bull JI

I K bull

middot - I( b

2

~

middot 3

middot middot middot 4

5

-shy -

I) 1 m I bull I

Drawi11U I JooTi Marge KonsCt

1

57

MARGE KONSA RAILI ALLMAE LIINA IVIALDRE amp rURT VASSILTEV

and V nd 1in eastern Sweden and the royal nh c n tury boat burial of Sutshyt n Hoo in England The greate Dllmb l r lleh burial h s b n dis ovshyered on the fjord-rich rwegian coastl ine Th numb r of inhum tion and cremation burials from the Vendel Era is mot or le~s equal but during th foil wing Viking Age th cremation is dominant in such grave All the Venshyuel Ela boa bmials known in Finland are cremations (AndelBOn 1963 5)

There ar approximately 40 PI hi toric burial sites along Estonia n Coa iline and on the islands where iron rivets hav b n found U ushyally the numher of riv t colle ted from a site is very small The minishymum Dumber of riv ts ne es ary t build boat is 50 (Mlill r -Will e 1 974 191) and th Je al less than 10 bUI ial sites in Estonia from which u h a number bas been found Among th e sites a remarkablgt one is Viltina stone grave field in aaremaa Dllling the excavation of the it m l

than a thou and r ivets were found half of which wet collected from a ton middotfree area abou 1 metres long and 2 metres wide (Vassar 19 0) R gr tfully th h pc and po ibl con middottruction of th b a t ha remain ed unkn own Ther w r no artefa 01 burials cl ady r lated to the boat and so the da in of the boat has remained Lllcertain a well

The be t r-pre erved ship-finds from E tonia Ill from a later era A cog ound from the Piirnu R i e1 ha b en dated to lat 13 h to arLy 14th cntur The Maa nilinna shipwr ck that was laised IT m the strait vmiddotike Vin n a1 aaremaa origin tes fiom th 16th century (R io 2006) This means that th Salm shjp i th oldest of a kind in Estonia and in several aspects a1 0 a remarkabl find in th wider ntext of the cul tLUal and maritime history of the Ba] ti ea

LOCATION OF SALME SHIP-FIND The Salme ship was locat d 200 m to th north of the Salm River which separat s Sorve Peninsula from th south-we tern Saaremaa The site situated about 23 111 way from the cont mporary coa tal une middot3lld 45 m above the lev L The water leve l recon tructions for Saareshymaa bas d on th databases of shor lil and buried orrranic sediments data (Saarse et al 200 2 06) ineticat thFll the sea level in th 7th censhytury AD aruemaa may have e n no mol ilian 27 lU higher tha n in Ct UT nt time a nd 0 th ~ bottom f th a Lm ship (3 89 m abov presentshyday sea leve) wa b u t 12 m ab ve th a leveL H n lh sea w t y-auld reach t he Salme shjp on1 during s arm In th 7 h c ntury orv

Peninsula was an is land eparated from Saaremaa by a narrow about 70 to 100 ill wide trait (F ig I ) The Salme ship was situated in the vertex of a headlan d which wa juttin rr awards from the ea Lern peak of aaremaa To the asl of th h adland wa L i onian Bay and to the west the Gulf of ArL te whi h extended 0 an area that now a h ayfie l i b hind th Salm schooIhou e 200 mast from lb ship

Th boat wa buried in he d im ntary sand of -~ former sea flo l nel situated in the E-SW direction wi h an absol ute bearing of 435 It is

comman that thp which e tntly h ticed thAL Lhl stern of the boat lik [y thallhe p~

DATA ABO When the XCltlHI

wide was eXlanl a - 01 pipe of Tbi pi ee mad tht orientation jiv t found frol1 had be n pre erv

us w 11 a~ the tit by th ) constllwti only a couple of (

The wondcl lome v ry th in ltshy

of th frame rna shape and the r

The lip cies VII It

54

uial of Sutmiddot )een discovmiddot malion and L during Lh All the Yenmiddot on 1963 II Estonian ound Usushy

iltina ultE more cted [om a Issar 1940)tS remained to the boat

later era b efll1y 14th fi t lrul Viiik( 2006) Tbls

Hi in severa1 ultulal and

Ri ver which la o The s itL al line Hnd Ior Saareshyic sediment s the 7th cunshyhcl than in love presentshy~ sea watershyntmy Sorve ow about 70 le vertex of a )f Saaremna t the Gulf of Jd the Salme

ea floor ~nd )f 43 5deg It is

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

Fi g 1 The l()(utiol o[ lhe S ube sh ip-jind

JrI 1 Same iaelJutiu aSiCcolet D rmuinf) Jormis Juri V(I$i ljeu

IIUm

1tJm

1IIfI U1

7 - rn

6U m

~ - l rn

(IU m

~ 5 m

~ IJ m

Ir--JI conHlmiddot lilllt 70U A D I ranflajooll 7()O pK)

)1llitnt COllst middotlintgt I ranJ1r1J oon tiiJl p~iPvaJ

p l~fl1l mAd I liil1gtlpacvaJ1P m AIU1tee

(omOlon that jhe prow of the boats in th~ boa t-graves pointed northWArds which evidently ha d ideological and ll~ligi ouf mea nings It has a]so been nomiddot ticed t ha t the weapons especially spea rs ha ve often been found (rom 111e tem of Lhe boat (Larsson 2007 275) Con s iderin g ~mjJar examples it is ik~ly lhat the prow of the Salme srup was poi nted to nor th-east

DATA ABOUT THE SHIP When t he excavation s bega n a parL of tbe prow a hou t 7 111 long a n cll j 111

wide was extant Digging the trench h ad clcstroYEd th e stern L uckily a 15 em piece of the ste)npoRt ha d been spared in one Ri de Qf the trench This piece ronde it possible to determine the length of 1h e ship a n d he orie n ta bon of its hor izontal axis Th e endmost distance between Lho 11 V(I foun d fr(lm t he prow and fro m th e Lclll was 10 m The amidships had been pre$elved for abou t 05 m in height The lnrt of th ship above it as well as th e sLem had been destroyed In the stp]npost pu t u ntouched by the Lonstruction workers th e rivets were ~ilu aLed r ight below the t urf only a C()UV1c of centimetres deeper

The wooden h ull of the srup was almost comp1etely dey-rotten Onl some very thin fl LllpS of softwood plank and pieces of Lhe support heam of the frame made of pine~ had bee n preserved MosL of Lhe data about t h sha pe an d tb e construction of the shl p were gath ered by taking bearings

Th perie wu~ determilll d by Hegino Kas k from E~t onin UniwtmiddotiLv IIf riff SciP l1ces

55

MA RGE KONSA RAJLI ALLMAE U lNA MALDRE amp JURI VASSfLJEV

Fig 2 teu) towards prO lL at see ) T he sappon beam of lhefrfthfrante hl tlte Joregromtd

In 2 Vaade valjapuitastatud laevale ahtri$L voori suunas Esipiaardl on nCiha 1tendo kaare tugi Lala

Photo I Foto MaW Ro io

56

of the out1in r ivets in he i te (F

ltog other 2 v t i n The exact ed Following the q et i t an be aid tl that lh e were join lng in which the q oth r The ri l w tha t the planks u ill thickness In Lhl ~ rup th er e was a k towards the prow W r r iv ted- a ke straka ad d to it

Vello Mass (L

struction of the v bull alme ship ll1iht mum width of 2 hip with a Jow sk

h eight of tb boa rd Th IOW of r ive t s how d tha t thE and po sibly ven i had i ITh fru m lashing By it t P ing h ip its ()phi a d the vikin~ middoth characteristic to i

11 easily manoel exampl of thp B nol gy and tr diti

ARTEFAcn Most of the artefao the st rn from al ga ther d b sh ifti trench and so th l

unlmown Th WE

two spea he d (l

Fig 3 RecQrt lm cLiOl hulls sLOpe rhe locnrioll oj numbers 1Iark at tlte excavot

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

of the outline of the ship and he placement of th rivets in the site (Fig 2)

Altogeth er 275 rivets were found during the excashyvations The exact 1ocation of 159 oftbem was pinpointshyed Following the distance between the rows of the rivshyets itcan be sa id hat 30cm wide planks were used and that lhese were joined with iron r ivets by clinker plankshying in which the edge of one plank slightly overlays tbe other The rivets were about 3-4 cm long wruch means that the planks used were very thin about ] 5- 2 cm in thickness I n the middle of the northern plllmiddott of the ship there was a keel about 15 cm wide and narrowing towards the pr ow On both sides of the prow plankl were riveted - a keel stTakC next to the keel and a sid strake added to it

Vello Mass (2008 2009) who analyzed the con shytruction of the vessel came to a conclusion that the

Salme ship might have been J 15 m long with a maxishymum width of 2 m (Figs 3 4) The sea gauge of th ship with a low skid keel may have been 04 m and th height of the boardside in the middle of the ship 075 m The rows of rivets on Lhe u pper edge of the side strake showed that the ship had also had a tb ird side strake and possibly even a fourth one-a wash-strake Th e ship had eigh t frames a nd Lhese were probably attached b lashing By jts type the Salme ship is a twelve-oar rowshying ship its sophistication ranging between the log boat and the viking srup The shape of the Salme ship was characteristic to a military vessel - it was fast light and easily manoeuvrab le 1t can be considered to be an xample of tho Baltic Sea east coast shipbuilding techshy

nology a nd trarution

ARTEFACTS Most of the artefacts and human bones were collected from the stern from about 35 m long area These objects wer gathered by sh ifting through the soil removed from the trench and so the exact locations of the artefacts remain unknown The weapon finds from the stern consisted of two spelllheads (Fig 5) and artefacts related to swords

Fig 3 Reconstruction oJ the I n 3 SuLme laeva kuju hullbull shape Crossebull mark rpkonstruktsioon the location of rIVets and Ristidega on tahistatud numbers mark thefra11Us neetide rul lw ll ad ja at the excavated mmiddoten 1Lumbritegn kaa1ed

kuevotud alai

~

middotmiddot middotmiddot bull JI

I K bull

middot - I( b

2

~

middot 3

middot middot middot 4

5

-shy -

I) 1 m I bull I

Drawi11U I JooTi Marge KonsCt

1

57

uial of Sutmiddot )een discovmiddot malion and L during Lh All the Yenmiddot on 1963 II Estonian ound Usushy

iltina ultE more cted [om a Issar 1940)tS remained to the boat

later era b efll1y 14th fi t lrul Viiik( 2006) Tbls

Hi in severa1 ultulal and

Ri ver which la o The s itL al line Hnd Ior Saareshyic sediment s the 7th cunshyhcl than in love presentshy~ sea watershyntmy Sorve ow about 70 le vertex of a )f Saaremna t the Gulf of Jd the Salme

ea floor ~nd )f 43 5deg It is

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

Fi g 1 The l()(utiol o[ lhe S ube sh ip-jind

JrI 1 Same iaelJutiu aSiCcolet D rmuinf) Jormis Juri V(I$i ljeu

IIUm

1tJm

1IIfI U1

7 - rn

6U m

~ - l rn

(IU m

~ 5 m

~ IJ m

Ir--JI conHlmiddot lilllt 70U A D I ranflajooll 7()O pK)

)1llitnt COllst middotlintgt I ranJ1r1J oon tiiJl p~iPvaJ

p l~fl1l mAd I liil1gtlpacvaJ1P m AIU1tee

(omOlon that jhe prow of the boats in th~ boa t-graves pointed northWArds which evidently ha d ideological and ll~ligi ouf mea nings It has a]so been nomiddot ticed t ha t the weapons especially spea rs ha ve often been found (rom 111e tem of Lhe boat (Larsson 2007 275) Con s iderin g ~mjJar examples it is ik~ly lhat the prow of the Salme srup was poi nted to nor th-east

DATA ABOUT THE SHIP When t he excavation s bega n a parL of tbe prow a hou t 7 111 long a n cll j 111

wide was extant Digging the trench h ad clcstroYEd th e stern L uckily a 15 em piece of the ste)npoRt ha d been spared in one Ri de Qf the trench This piece ronde it possible to determine the length of 1h e ship a n d he orie n ta bon of its hor izontal axis Th e endmost distance between Lho 11 V(I foun d fr(lm t he prow and fro m th e Lclll was 10 m The amidships had been pre$elved for abou t 05 m in height The lnrt of th ship above it as well as th e sLem had been destroyed In the stp]npost pu t u ntouched by the Lonstruction workers th e rivets were ~ilu aLed r ight below the t urf only a C()UV1c of centimetres deeper

The wooden h ull of the srup was almost comp1etely dey-rotten Onl some very thin fl LllpS of softwood plank and pieces of Lhe support heam of the frame made of pine~ had bee n preserved MosL of Lhe data about t h sha pe an d tb e construction of the shl p were gath ered by taking bearings

Th perie wu~ determilll d by Hegino Kas k from E~t onin UniwtmiddotiLv IIf riff SciP l1ces

55

MA RGE KONSA RAJLI ALLMAE U lNA MALDRE amp JURI VASSfLJEV

Fig 2 teu) towards prO lL at see ) T he sappon beam of lhefrfthfrante hl tlte Joregromtd

In 2 Vaade valjapuitastatud laevale ahtri$L voori suunas Esipiaardl on nCiha 1tendo kaare tugi Lala

Photo I Foto MaW Ro io

56

of the out1in r ivets in he i te (F

ltog other 2 v t i n The exact ed Following the q et i t an be aid tl that lh e were join lng in which the q oth r The ri l w tha t the planks u ill thickness In Lhl ~ rup th er e was a k towards the prow W r r iv ted- a ke straka ad d to it

Vello Mass (L

struction of the v bull alme ship ll1iht mum width of 2 hip with a Jow sk

h eight of tb boa rd Th IOW of r ive t s how d tha t thE and po sibly ven i had i ITh fru m lashing By it t P ing h ip its ()phi a d the vikin~ middoth characteristic to i

11 easily manoel exampl of thp B nol gy and tr diti

ARTEFAcn Most of the artefao the st rn from al ga ther d b sh ifti trench and so th l

unlmown Th WE

two spea he d (l

Fig 3 RecQrt lm cLiOl hulls sLOpe rhe locnrioll oj numbers 1Iark at tlte excavot

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

of the outline of the ship and he placement of th rivets in the site (Fig 2)

Altogeth er 275 rivets were found during the excashyvations The exact 1ocation of 159 oftbem was pinpointshyed Following the distance between the rows of the rivshyets itcan be sa id hat 30cm wide planks were used and that lhese were joined with iron r ivets by clinker plankshying in which the edge of one plank slightly overlays tbe other The rivets were about 3-4 cm long wruch means that the planks used were very thin about ] 5- 2 cm in thickness I n the middle of the northern plllmiddott of the ship there was a keel about 15 cm wide and narrowing towards the pr ow On both sides of the prow plankl were riveted - a keel stTakC next to the keel and a sid strake added to it

Vello Mass (2008 2009) who analyzed the con shytruction of the vessel came to a conclusion that the

Salme ship might have been J 15 m long with a maxishymum width of 2 m (Figs 3 4) The sea gauge of th ship with a low skid keel may have been 04 m and th height of the boardside in the middle of the ship 075 m The rows of rivets on Lhe u pper edge of the side strake showed that the ship had also had a tb ird side strake and possibly even a fourth one-a wash-strake Th e ship had eigh t frames a nd Lhese were probably attached b lashing By jts type the Salme ship is a twelve-oar rowshying ship its sophistication ranging between the log boat and the viking srup The shape of the Salme ship was characteristic to a military vessel - it was fast light and easily manoeuvrab le 1t can be considered to be an xample of tho Baltic Sea east coast shipbuilding techshy

nology a nd trarution

ARTEFACTS Most of the artefacts and human bones were collected from the stern from about 35 m long area These objects wer gathered by sh ifting through the soil removed from the trench and so the exact locations of the artefacts remain unknown The weapon finds from the stern consisted of two spelllheads (Fig 5) and artefacts related to swords

Fig 3 Reconstruction oJ the I n 3 SuLme laeva kuju hullbull shape Crossebull mark rpkonstruktsioon the location of rIVets and Ristidega on tahistatud numbers mark thefra11Us neetide rul lw ll ad ja at the excavated mmiddoten 1Lumbritegn kaa1ed

kuevotud alai

~

middotmiddot middotmiddot bull JI

I K bull

middot - I( b

2

~

middot 3

middot middot middot 4

5

-shy -

I) 1 m I bull I

Drawi11U I JooTi Marge KonsCt

1

57

MA RGE KONSA RAJLI ALLMAE U lNA MALDRE amp JURI VASSfLJEV

Fig 2 teu) towards prO lL at see ) T he sappon beam of lhefrfthfrante hl tlte Joregromtd

In 2 Vaade valjapuitastatud laevale ahtri$L voori suunas Esipiaardl on nCiha 1tendo kaare tugi Lala

Photo I Foto MaW Ro io

56

of the out1in r ivets in he i te (F

ltog other 2 v t i n The exact ed Following the q et i t an be aid tl that lh e were join lng in which the q oth r The ri l w tha t the planks u ill thickness In Lhl ~ rup th er e was a k towards the prow W r r iv ted- a ke straka ad d to it

Vello Mass (L

struction of the v bull alme ship ll1iht mum width of 2 hip with a Jow sk

h eight of tb boa rd Th IOW of r ive t s how d tha t thE and po sibly ven i had i ITh fru m lashing By it t P ing h ip its ()phi a d the vikin~ middoth characteristic to i

11 easily manoel exampl of thp B nol gy and tr diti

ARTEFAcn Most of the artefao the st rn from al ga ther d b sh ifti trench and so th l

unlmown Th WE

two spea he d (l

Fig 3 RecQrt lm cLiOl hulls sLOpe rhe locnrioll oj numbers 1Iark at tlte excavot

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

of the outline of the ship and he placement of th rivets in the site (Fig 2)

Altogeth er 275 rivets were found during the excashyvations The exact 1ocation of 159 oftbem was pinpointshyed Following the distance between the rows of the rivshyets itcan be sa id hat 30cm wide planks were used and that lhese were joined with iron r ivets by clinker plankshying in which the edge of one plank slightly overlays tbe other The rivets were about 3-4 cm long wruch means that the planks used were very thin about ] 5- 2 cm in thickness I n the middle of the northern plllmiddott of the ship there was a keel about 15 cm wide and narrowing towards the pr ow On both sides of the prow plankl were riveted - a keel stTakC next to the keel and a sid strake added to it

Vello Mass (2008 2009) who analyzed the con shytruction of the vessel came to a conclusion that the

Salme ship might have been J 15 m long with a maxishymum width of 2 m (Figs 3 4) The sea gauge of th ship with a low skid keel may have been 04 m and th height of the boardside in the middle of the ship 075 m The rows of rivets on Lhe u pper edge of the side strake showed that the ship had also had a tb ird side strake and possibly even a fourth one-a wash-strake Th e ship had eigh t frames a nd Lhese were probably attached b lashing By jts type the Salme ship is a twelve-oar rowshying ship its sophistication ranging between the log boat and the viking srup The shape of the Salme ship was characteristic to a military vessel - it was fast light and easily manoeuvrab le 1t can be considered to be an xample of tho Baltic Sea east coast shipbuilding techshy

nology a nd trarution

ARTEFACTS Most of the artefacts and human bones were collected from the stern from about 35 m long area These objects wer gathered by sh ifting through the soil removed from the trench and so the exact locations of the artefacts remain unknown The weapon finds from the stern consisted of two spelllheads (Fig 5) and artefacts related to swords

Fig 3 Reconstruction oJ the I n 3 SuLme laeva kuju hullbull shape Crossebull mark rpkonstruktsioon the location of rIVets and Ristidega on tahistatud numbers mark thefra11Us neetide rul lw ll ad ja at the excavated mmiddoten 1Lumbritegn kaa1ed

kuevotud alai

~

middotmiddot middotmiddot bull JI

I K bull

middot - I( b

2

~

middot 3

middot middot middot 4

5

-shy -

I) 1 m I bull I

Drawi11U I JooTi Marge KonsCt

1

57

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

of the outline of the ship and he placement of th rivets in the site (Fig 2)

Altogeth er 275 rivets were found during the excashyvations The exact 1ocation of 159 oftbem was pinpointshyed Following the distance between the rows of the rivshyets itcan be sa id hat 30cm wide planks were used and that lhese were joined with iron r ivets by clinker plankshying in which the edge of one plank slightly overlays tbe other The rivets were about 3-4 cm long wruch means that the planks used were very thin about ] 5- 2 cm in thickness I n the middle of the northern plllmiddott of the ship there was a keel about 15 cm wide and narrowing towards the pr ow On both sides of the prow plankl were riveted - a keel stTakC next to the keel and a sid strake added to it

Vello Mass (2008 2009) who analyzed the con shytruction of the vessel came to a conclusion that the

Salme ship might have been J 15 m long with a maxishymum width of 2 m (Figs 3 4) The sea gauge of th ship with a low skid keel may have been 04 m and th height of the boardside in the middle of the ship 075 m The rows of rivets on Lhe u pper edge of the side strake showed that the ship had also had a tb ird side strake and possibly even a fourth one-a wash-strake Th e ship had eigh t frames a nd Lhese were probably attached b lashing By jts type the Salme ship is a twelve-oar rowshying ship its sophistication ranging between the log boat and the viking srup The shape of the Salme ship was characteristic to a military vessel - it was fast light and easily manoeuvrab le 1t can be considered to be an xample of tho Baltic Sea east coast shipbuilding techshy

nology a nd trarution

ARTEFACTS Most of the artefacts and human bones were collected from the stern from about 35 m long area These objects wer gathered by sh ifting through the soil removed from the trench and so the exact locations of the artefacts remain unknown The weapon finds from the stern consisted of two spelllheads (Fig 5) and artefacts related to swords

Fig 3 Reconstruction oJ the I n 3 SuLme laeva kuju hullbull shape Crossebull mark rpkonstruktsioon the location of rIVets and Ristidega on tahistatud numbers mark thefra11Us neetide rul lw ll ad ja at the excavated mmiddoten 1Lumbritegn kaa1ed

kuevotud alai

~

middotmiddot middotmiddot bull JI

I K bull

middot - I( b

2

~

middot 3

middot middot middot 4

5

-shy -

I) 1 m I bull I

Drawi11U I JooTi Marge KonsCt

1

57

MARGE KONSA RATLl ALLMAE LIINA MALDRE amp JURI VAS ILJEV

Fig 4 The cross-section qf the ship of the th ird Jm))1e Th rgt height of the nllet is in m tel above sea Ie el

In 4 Ristwige 10 vast 3 kaO kohal Neetide korgus ri on m lrites u le ere pinna

Drawing Joo1tis Marge Konsa

n 1ttfl

f---l

Fig 5 S pearh eadlrom oterI

j(mnd by the workers J 5 Tee totilisle leilud odaors

laeva ahtlist (SM 10601 1) Photo I FOlo Mija Ots

Fig 6 Sword hilt f ound from sten

I n 6 Meeya kCiepide laeva ahtrist (SM 10601 228) Photo I Foto MiTja Dts

58

4162 (m)4 15

3988 3916 3917 4 036

1272 em

The art fact included a sword hilt with three-sid d pomshyme l F ig 6 a U-shaped scabbrud nd an frag m nt middot of two sword blades (on with a doubJe-ed r d blade an anshyth l with a ne- dg d blade) F rom th 8 kni found

from the hip L w re Crom the trench as weU a fi ve ut of eigh t wh t lon and tbre anowh middot ds out of s ix Th two die Fig 7 1) and most of t he gaming piece were a lso from th stern The actual numb r of dt e in Ih hip r m ins Ll nclear but the preserved ones are 1 ngated and rectangular in shap all of thei r sides n arked it h an e e molif (two cit Ie inside one another) The halfshypher hap d gaming pieces are made of bovine bone

and whal bon The set of g mil1g pi C COil i ts of 7 0- aile arrior pi ces and one king pi c This gaming

pi ce i d cara t d with an int r-twined ornament and has an im ere of a man cul in to i t (Fig 7 )

Th cxacL location of the ar fa ts a d bone in the rest of th ship has been urnen Led ~ ft r its eli ovshyery Prior to that h upp r hor izontalla cr orthe ship about 20 ern t hic wa~ dug off Above the sixth frame f the hip in the ba nk of t he trench thre skulls with ome bon s of lppel bo h be n 1 flo An accumushy

la tion of human bones wa also di red in the area b tween the third a nd the Durth n me Ab e th third frame 267 em fr m t he bottom of th hoat a lab of limes one (40 em in diam tel) with an unkn wn fun shytion was discovered Th er was a human skull next to it

During thl

a 10-14 em I of h e boat and matt r overlal of t h board ~ lay r containi

The art fa co ereci n ar tl a knife fr m a amm yiece third ass mbl fourth and th ] 5 7 m in lena i 1 diaro t ) W

frame port J were found in l 25 ill in lngtb ilie fth Dam

in the st ih turf and r sid d comb W I

ornament (Fig Several it

p ie es anu mel nia but chars (e g Am 193 grave guod uj

na menLS hor uf t h 10 al eli

quipm nt n

PRELIlt Unfor unal I bones was n(

4162 (01)

~

Jtlemiddotsided pom middot d fragments of blade and aumiddot kniveR fo u nd

well as five ou t out of six The 19 pieces were lice in the shj p are elongated

marked with ~er) The ballmiddot If bovine bone consists of 72 This gamin g

ment and hM

d bones in the er its discovmiddot ar of the ship e sixth fram e he skulls with An accum umiddot 1d in the area hove the th ird oat a slah of hknown funcmiddot kull next to it

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDELERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

Fig 7 Dice (1) and game piece with hmnaH figure (2)

Jll 7 Taring (1) ja inimese kujuLisega mii1tJUllUPP (2)

(SM 10601 211 222) Photo I FoLo Mi1ja Ots

Dwmiddotjng the excavation of the inside layer the ship (30 em thick) a 10-14 cm layer of gravel was discovered It had settled into the bottom of the boat and contained no artefacts A thm dark brown layer of organic matter overlaid it The dalk brown layer may have been the remains of the boards of a hillial p latform Above tlris layer there was a grave] layer con taining artefact s and anima l bones

The artefacts were situated in tluee zones Two arrowheads were dismiddot overed near the first frame of the prow starboard and a whetstone and a knife from the port side Next to the abovementioned limestone slab a gaming piece a dice an arrowhead and four pieces ofBint were found The tbird assemblage of artefacts was found amidships jn the area between the fourth and the fifth frame A knife and a somiddotcalled sword-sh arpening stone 157 em in length were discovered there Near these a piece ofresln 53 cm in diameter was found a piece of plain weave stuck to it Next to the fifth frame port side a small Don tool with a socket was fo und Animal hones were found ill smaller or bigger accumulations in the bow on an area about 25 m in length There was also a clearer accumulation of animal bones near the fifth frame where two pieces of iron and a bronze fitting were fo und

In the stern post of the ship two knives were found from under the turf and pieces of a comb 10 em below them It was a tlUee-part onemiddot sided comb with wide joining plates decorated with an eye motif and line ornament (Fig 8)

Several items like the swordmiddotsharpening gttone or the set of gaming pieces and dice rue unique among the artefacts from Middle Iron Age Estoshyrna but characteristic to the grave goods of elite boatmiddotgraves in Scandinavia (eg Arne 1934 Arwjdsson 1954 Stolpe amp Arne 1912 Whittaker 2006) The grave goods of tho Salme boatmiddotgrave lack any household items pottery Ofmiddot

naments horse harness etc that are cbruacteristic to the boatmiddotgrave burials of the local elite The wholp assemblage ofthe artefacts can be related to tb equipment needed by armed seafarers

PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF OSTEOLOGIC ANALYSES Unfortunately during the rescue excavations the exact location of human bones was not fixed Thus most of the buman bones were commingled

59

MARGE KONSA RAlU ALLMAE LIINA MALDRE amp JURI VASSILJEV

Fig 8 Fragm lts oJcombJound nearby sternpost

Jll 8 A htertii (ivi juur t leitud Immmi katlcelld~d

( M 1D6Q1 272 271) Photo I Folo Mirja Oes

n 1 ( 111

I---t

anywa bull only few p rts of skel tons were intact [t is difficul to ay wh n th sk 1 ton were dis turbed b caus l h rc h ve bee n ~ everal for mer r ad con ITU tions an d cabling WO I s arried out in th ) past During he archaeological exca va tions i wa noti ed that h1 m a n bones w re

in somewhat hig b r 1 vel i n compari on with t n imal bonc of co urse we can not say anyt hing abou t th bone in the cable trench area whieh w 1e

colle ted before archae logi al resell excava ions Th bon matel-ia l wa main fragm ntary e peciall cran ium a nd long bone were broken

Pr limi nary 0 t 10 ic an aJyses of the h nnan bon oUe ted main shyly f1 m the able tr nch a nd oil h ap weI ondu ted on the 3rd of No e mber 2 on site (b for the b ginninO of arch eol gicnl r ue ex shyavation ) The results of preliminary l ologi analy e lt~ferred to at

least the skel tal rem ains f fi people Lmiddot er on following th res u excavation and in la boralor conditi ns two addjtional skal tons wer detelmin d

Hene the resul of 0 teologie anaJy cs indi a ted t h emains of v n men in ide he hip c ntotll The numhel of m n was det r mined on lhe b sis f fac ial palmiddott of craniums hip bones tibial bone a nd h el-bon s Th usual method f r current hon fragment was u -ed whi h i om mon for n ly ing omrningled bon s

The number of human sk J t ns - 7 - found in ide one burial boat is exceptional Prior to Lhe a lme bo - gra e there i no information bout burial boa ts with inhumation in E tonia

Until tod y onJy two burial boats are known in northern Europe wh 1e the n umb r of kelelons fou nd in is more han two Th first is th boal-grav of Nabberor d iscov red i 193 n th l si nei of OJand in S den (Lamm 002 47 ) wb re k I ton w 1e found in ide th boat and he s cond is he Viking Ag 0 t urial fO W1d in Scar Orkn ~ in c t land in 19 1 where h skel ton f thr e peopl were found insid the b at remains ( I ham- ampbell amp Bate 1998la9)

Th animal bones w 1e colle ted from th e preserved p r t of th Salme ship nd from the cable trench area 0 a nimal hon wer found outside the hip contour nOT in the profil s made aroW1d th sh ip thus we may coo shyd ud t hat all th an imal bone were originall insid th hip

The prclil f

reI ains f dome ies) oat (Capra hon ~s were pr s of th oa t i ll thl

-h eep I goal were fO W1d only lhe p cass s were pia e

Thelc is a r tmial f Sw di middot Sw dish Vond a 109-11 3 Arwidll 1912) hy (Arb the b ne of dogs the b nes of dog

RADIOCAR A pi of wo d ship wa dat d i the in used fo( Th e weight d aVI

was tak n fro a w ith the weighte ples~ of hun ao b f 954 both sa

Atmospheric data from

Hela-1918 1831

Hela-1917 139

Hela-1915 1321

Hela-1916 131

Hela-1914 128

HcJa-1917 bulln la middot 191 G

60

when oJmer lur ing I wer se we 1 weI Iwa

oken mainshyrd of

lle ex-to at

escue were

ins of Icd on lones lUnon

l boat abou

lUope st is nd in boat

kney nside

ialrn

id on middot

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

The preliminary arch aeo-zoological analyses indicated mainly the remains of domesticated animals bovine (Bas taurus) sheep (Ovis arshyies) goat (Capra hircus) and pig (Sus scrota domestica) but also bird bones were present The bovine bones dominated in the preserved part of the boat in the cable trench area (the disturbed area) - the bones of heep goat were most common No complete skeletons of animals were

found only the parts of skeletons which indicated that th e hashed carshycasses were placed into the boat

There is a remarkable difference between the archaeo - ~oological mashyterials of Swedish hoat-graves and the Salme boat-grave In nearly all

wedish Vendel and Viking Age boat-graves- Valsgarde (Arwidsson 1942 109-113 Arwidsson 1954 120--121 Fridell 1930) Vendel (Stolpe amp Arne 1912) Arby (Arbman 1936 249-251) and Tuna in Alsike (Arne 1934) shythe hones of dogs and horses have been found in the Salme ship remains the bones of dogs and horses are totally absent

RADIOCARBON DATINGS A piece of wood that had preserved of a plank on the port board 01 the slup was dated in the radiocarbon AMS method The results showed that the pine used for the plank was cut down between 600-670 AD (Fig 9) The weighted average of t he caliblated date is 639 AD Another sample was taken fro m a t ibia of a bovine (Bos taurus) and dated to 656-773 AD with the weighted average of the calibrated date of 709 AD Also Lwo samshyples ofhuman bon es were dated by the AMS method With the probability of 954 both samples indicated that human burials dated trom

Atmospheric data from Reimer et al (2004) OxCal v310 Bronk Ramsey (2005) cub r5 sd12 prob usp[chron]

Hela-1918 183530 Hela-1917 1395130 ampAHela-1915 1320plusmn30

shy

Hela-1916 1310plusmn30 Hela-1914 1285plusmn30 I jL_L- I

Cal BCCalAD 500 CalAD 1000 CalAD

Calibrated date Fig 9 Rodiocarbol1 datings In 9 Radiostisiniku dateenngltd

3 Hela-Hll 7 Hclamiddot1916

61

MA RGE KONSA RAILI ALLMAE LUNA MALDRE amp fURl VASSILJEV

the period 650-7 For both ampl s the fir t p ak of calibrated dating was of higher probability 414 518 respe tiv ly) in compalison with the econd and any lat 1 one (268 164 r spec(jvel ) thumiddot the most piau ible calibrated dating of human bon s is betwee n 650-720 AD m conclusion considering the results of arb n dating and the chronomiddot logy of he artefacts the Salme boatmiddotgrav originates from the Vendel Era (PImiddotemiddotViking ge) probably from th p rio 50-720 AD 1he ship us d for the burial was probably built in the fu l half of the 7th century end had had its hare of voyages befor coming to its final por in SaIme

Ano her a mple was taken from outside tit ship from a coal fo und in a tbin layer of clay 20 em below the bottom of the ship The r sult was 2- 3 c nturies AD when shallow water COy red th sit

CONCLUSIONS Compar d 0 other known boat-gr ves from he Vendel Era and th Viking Age th Salme ship-find ha s v ral differ nt characteristics The most obvious one i th gt gr at n umb r o middot human skeletons found in ilie boatshygrave Anoth r is the ab ence of anim common in Sw dish boat-grave shyhoI e and dog Al 0 the assemblage of artefacts middot sp cific a nd an be reshyla t d to the equipment used by a warship cr w

Th events sWrounding the men who found their burial plae in Sal me Ie unknown Whether they wer local or foreigners di d by acci shyd nt diseas or violence a1 questions not yet answered The grave good 1e mbling those from S andinavia as well as th way 0 burial differshyent from other Estonian hoat-graves of the period (cremations in on graves) may r fer to people fr m vel eas At the sa m tim th boat itself seems to be constructed more according to the ship-building tradition of th eastern shore of the Baltic Sea Also the ccurr n e f Scandinavian artefacts n Saaremaa i in no way exc ptionaJ Th oei Ly of Saar maa b had internati nal characteristics and be n r lat d to differ nt cultural tradition for a long time Thus th local origin of the d cea ed or mourner can n t be xcl uded Hopefully t h result of ongoin analysi will soon en shyable to shed more light on th myst ry 0 the Salme boat-grave

AcknOIlledgcments th is study WIl supported by the Europeall Union hroll~h lite Europeall Regional Development Pund (Center (I( Excellence C CT) aJld by the research grants (rom Es tonlafl Science Foundation (110 6899 af~d 6736)

Hclamiddot1914 Hela- l 91 5 on la191

62

References

Anderson G 19631 llome n Mll po LXX

Arbman H 1936 B i Rllsbkil $Clcke n UN n 21 9-~5 1

Arne T J 1934 00 in Als ikc U pplanJ K~ Antilltvilets AIadlmicl Arwidsson G 1J42 fund middot von Valsgarde I Seplcntr i(J na iium HI I Upp ale ArwidssoD G 1954 fllnclc von Va bgt11dr II -iept(middotntriona lillm Rpgil f Uppsala forideU Al930 Den I b-nr de i Gllmla p psula 217- 237 GrahammiddotCampbell J Vikings in cot land an Edinlmrgh Un iVerSIty 1 Lamm J P 2002 III g(rmani chen Iterturn n eue n ieh H StUrf De Gruy Lwmiddot 47 179 Larsson G 2007 Shir idlology in Late Iron Uppsala Mil s V 2008 Sal me la i nterpreta t io()n (Mall~~

httpl po iL ( la ul~elmiddot

100(200

4162 (01)

~

Jtlemiddotsided pom middot d fragments of blade and aumiddot kniveR fo u nd

well as five ou t out of six The 19 pieces were lice in the shj p are elongated

marked with ~er) The ballmiddot If bovine bone consists of 72 This gamin g

ment and hM

d bones in the er its discovmiddot ar of the ship e sixth fram e he skulls with An accum umiddot 1d in the area hove the th ird oat a slah of hknown funcmiddot kull next to it

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDELERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

Fig 7 Dice (1) and game piece with hmnaH figure (2)

Jll 7 Taring (1) ja inimese kujuLisega mii1tJUllUPP (2)

(SM 10601 211 222) Photo I FoLo Mi1ja Ots

Dwmiddotjng the excavation of the inside layer the ship (30 em thick) a 10-14 cm layer of gravel was discovered It had settled into the bottom of the boat and contained no artefacts A thm dark brown layer of organic matter overlaid it The dalk brown layer may have been the remains of the boards of a hillial p latform Above tlris layer there was a grave] layer con taining artefact s and anima l bones

The artefacts were situated in tluee zones Two arrowheads were dismiddot overed near the first frame of the prow starboard and a whetstone and a knife from the port side Next to the abovementioned limestone slab a gaming piece a dice an arrowhead and four pieces ofBint were found The tbird assemblage of artefacts was found amidships jn the area between the fourth and the fifth frame A knife and a somiddotcalled sword-sh arpening stone 157 em in length were discovered there Near these a piece ofresln 53 cm in diameter was found a piece of plain weave stuck to it Next to the fifth frame port side a small Don tool with a socket was fo und Animal hones were found ill smaller or bigger accumulations in the bow on an area about 25 m in length There was also a clearer accumulation of animal bones near the fifth frame where two pieces of iron and a bronze fitting were fo und

In the stern post of the ship two knives were found from under the turf and pieces of a comb 10 em below them It was a tlUee-part onemiddot sided comb with wide joining plates decorated with an eye motif and line ornament (Fig 8)

Several items like the swordmiddotsharpening gttone or the set of gaming pieces and dice rue unique among the artefacts from Middle Iron Age Estoshyrna but characteristic to the grave goods of elite boatmiddotgraves in Scandinavia (eg Arne 1934 Arwjdsson 1954 Stolpe amp Arne 1912 Whittaker 2006) The grave goods of tho Salme boatmiddotgrave lack any household items pottery Ofmiddot

naments horse harness etc that are cbruacteristic to the boatmiddotgrave burials of the local elite The wholp assemblage ofthe artefacts can be related to tb equipment needed by armed seafarers

PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF OSTEOLOGIC ANALYSES Unfortunately during the rescue excavations the exact location of human bones was not fixed Thus most of the buman bones were commingled

59

MARGE KONSA RAlU ALLMAE LIINA MALDRE amp JURI VASSILJEV

Fig 8 Fragm lts oJcombJound nearby sternpost

Jll 8 A htertii (ivi juur t leitud Immmi katlcelld~d

( M 1D6Q1 272 271) Photo I Folo Mirja Oes

n 1 ( 111

I---t

anywa bull only few p rts of skel tons were intact [t is difficul to ay wh n th sk 1 ton were dis turbed b caus l h rc h ve bee n ~ everal for mer r ad con ITU tions an d cabling WO I s arried out in th ) past During he archaeological exca va tions i wa noti ed that h1 m a n bones w re

in somewhat hig b r 1 vel i n compari on with t n imal bonc of co urse we can not say anyt hing abou t th bone in the cable trench area whieh w 1e

colle ted before archae logi al resell excava ions Th bon matel-ia l wa main fragm ntary e peciall cran ium a nd long bone were broken

Pr limi nary 0 t 10 ic an aJyses of the h nnan bon oUe ted main shyly f1 m the able tr nch a nd oil h ap weI ondu ted on the 3rd of No e mber 2 on site (b for the b ginninO of arch eol gicnl r ue ex shyavation ) The results of preliminary l ologi analy e lt~ferred to at

least the skel tal rem ains f fi people Lmiddot er on following th res u excavation and in la boralor conditi ns two addjtional skal tons wer detelmin d

Hene the resul of 0 teologie anaJy cs indi a ted t h emains of v n men in ide he hip c ntotll The numhel of m n was det r mined on lhe b sis f fac ial palmiddott of craniums hip bones tibial bone a nd h el-bon s Th usual method f r current hon fragment was u -ed whi h i om mon for n ly ing omrningled bon s

The number of human sk J t ns - 7 - found in ide one burial boat is exceptional Prior to Lhe a lme bo - gra e there i no information bout burial boa ts with inhumation in E tonia

Until tod y onJy two burial boats are known in northern Europe wh 1e the n umb r of kelelons fou nd in is more han two Th first is th boal-grav of Nabberor d iscov red i 193 n th l si nei of OJand in S den (Lamm 002 47 ) wb re k I ton w 1e found in ide th boat and he s cond is he Viking Ag 0 t urial fO W1d in Scar Orkn ~ in c t land in 19 1 where h skel ton f thr e peopl were found insid the b at remains ( I ham- ampbell amp Bate 1998la9)

Th animal bones w 1e colle ted from th e preserved p r t of th Salme ship nd from the cable trench area 0 a nimal hon wer found outside the hip contour nOT in the profil s made aroW1d th sh ip thus we may coo shyd ud t hat all th an imal bone were originall insid th hip

The prclil f

reI ains f dome ies) oat (Capra hon ~s were pr s of th oa t i ll thl

-h eep I goal were fO W1d only lhe p cass s were pia e

Thelc is a r tmial f Sw di middot Sw dish Vond a 109-11 3 Arwidll 1912) hy (Arb the b ne of dogs the b nes of dog

RADIOCAR A pi of wo d ship wa dat d i the in used fo( Th e weight d aVI

was tak n fro a w ith the weighte ples~ of hun ao b f 954 both sa

Atmospheric data from

Hela-1918 1831

Hela-1917 139

Hela-1915 1321

Hela-1916 131

Hela-1914 128

HcJa-1917 bulln la middot 191 G

60

when oJmer lur ing I wer se we 1 weI Iwa

oken mainshyrd of

lle ex-to at

escue were

ins of Icd on lones lUnon

l boat abou

lUope st is nd in boat

kney nside

ialrn

id on middot

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

The preliminary arch aeo-zoological analyses indicated mainly the remains of domesticated animals bovine (Bas taurus) sheep (Ovis arshyies) goat (Capra hircus) and pig (Sus scrota domestica) but also bird bones were present The bovine bones dominated in the preserved part of the boat in the cable trench area (the disturbed area) - the bones of heep goat were most common No complete skeletons of animals were

found only the parts of skeletons which indicated that th e hashed carshycasses were placed into the boat

There is a remarkable difference between the archaeo - ~oological mashyterials of Swedish hoat-graves and the Salme boat-grave In nearly all

wedish Vendel and Viking Age boat-graves- Valsgarde (Arwidsson 1942 109-113 Arwidsson 1954 120--121 Fridell 1930) Vendel (Stolpe amp Arne 1912) Arby (Arbman 1936 249-251) and Tuna in Alsike (Arne 1934) shythe hones of dogs and horses have been found in the Salme ship remains the bones of dogs and horses are totally absent

RADIOCARBON DATINGS A piece of wood that had preserved of a plank on the port board 01 the slup was dated in the radiocarbon AMS method The results showed that the pine used for the plank was cut down between 600-670 AD (Fig 9) The weighted average of t he caliblated date is 639 AD Another sample was taken fro m a t ibia of a bovine (Bos taurus) and dated to 656-773 AD with the weighted average of the calibrated date of 709 AD Also Lwo samshyples ofhuman bon es were dated by the AMS method With the probability of 954 both samples indicated that human burials dated trom

Atmospheric data from Reimer et al (2004) OxCal v310 Bronk Ramsey (2005) cub r5 sd12 prob usp[chron]

Hela-1918 183530 Hela-1917 1395130 ampAHela-1915 1320plusmn30

shy

Hela-1916 1310plusmn30 Hela-1914 1285plusmn30 I jL_L- I

Cal BCCalAD 500 CalAD 1000 CalAD

Calibrated date Fig 9 Rodiocarbol1 datings In 9 Radiostisiniku dateenngltd

3 Hela-Hll 7 Hclamiddot1916

61

MA RGE KONSA RAILI ALLMAE LUNA MALDRE amp fURl VASSILJEV

the period 650-7 For both ampl s the fir t p ak of calibrated dating was of higher probability 414 518 respe tiv ly) in compalison with the econd and any lat 1 one (268 164 r spec(jvel ) thumiddot the most piau ible calibrated dating of human bon s is betwee n 650-720 AD m conclusion considering the results of arb n dating and the chronomiddot logy of he artefacts the Salme boatmiddotgrav originates from the Vendel Era (PImiddotemiddotViking ge) probably from th p rio 50-720 AD 1he ship us d for the burial was probably built in the fu l half of the 7th century end had had its hare of voyages befor coming to its final por in SaIme

Ano her a mple was taken from outside tit ship from a coal fo und in a tbin layer of clay 20 em below the bottom of the ship The r sult was 2- 3 c nturies AD when shallow water COy red th sit

CONCLUSIONS Compar d 0 other known boat-gr ves from he Vendel Era and th Viking Age th Salme ship-find ha s v ral differ nt characteristics The most obvious one i th gt gr at n umb r o middot human skeletons found in ilie boatshygrave Anoth r is the ab ence of anim common in Sw dish boat-grave shyhoI e and dog Al 0 the assemblage of artefacts middot sp cific a nd an be reshyla t d to the equipment used by a warship cr w

Th events sWrounding the men who found their burial plae in Sal me Ie unknown Whether they wer local or foreigners di d by acci shyd nt diseas or violence a1 questions not yet answered The grave good 1e mbling those from S andinavia as well as th way 0 burial differshyent from other Estonian hoat-graves of the period (cremations in on graves) may r fer to people fr m vel eas At the sa m tim th boat itself seems to be constructed more according to the ship-building tradition of th eastern shore of the Baltic Sea Also the ccurr n e f Scandinavian artefacts n Saaremaa i in no way exc ptionaJ Th oei Ly of Saar maa b had internati nal characteristics and be n r lat d to differ nt cultural tradition for a long time Thus th local origin of the d cea ed or mourner can n t be xcl uded Hopefully t h result of ongoin analysi will soon en shyable to shed more light on th myst ry 0 the Salme boat-grave

AcknOIlledgcments th is study WIl supported by the Europeall Union hroll~h lite Europeall Regional Development Pund (Center (I( Excellence C CT) aJld by the research grants (rom Es tonlafl Science Foundation (110 6899 af~d 6736)

Hclamiddot1914 Hela- l 91 5 on la191

62

References

Anderson G 19631 llome n Mll po LXX

Arbman H 1936 B i Rllsbkil $Clcke n UN n 21 9-~5 1

Arne T J 1934 00 in Als ikc U pplanJ K~ Antilltvilets AIadlmicl Arwidsson G 1J42 fund middot von Valsgarde I Seplcntr i(J na iium HI I Upp ale ArwidssoD G 1954 fllnclc von Va bgt11dr II -iept(middotntriona lillm Rpgil f Uppsala forideU Al930 Den I b-nr de i Gllmla p psula 217- 237 GrahammiddotCampbell J Vikings in cot land an Edinlmrgh Un iVerSIty 1 Lamm J P 2002 III g(rmani chen Iterturn n eue n ieh H StUrf De Gruy Lwmiddot 47 179 Larsson G 2007 Shir idlology in Late Iron Uppsala Mil s V 2008 Sal me la i nterpreta t io()n (Mall~~

httpl po iL ( la ul~elmiddot

100(200

MARGE KONSA RAlU ALLMAE LIINA MALDRE amp JURI VASSILJEV

Fig 8 Fragm lts oJcombJound nearby sternpost

Jll 8 A htertii (ivi juur t leitud Immmi katlcelld~d

( M 1D6Q1 272 271) Photo I Folo Mirja Oes

n 1 ( 111

I---t

anywa bull only few p rts of skel tons were intact [t is difficul to ay wh n th sk 1 ton were dis turbed b caus l h rc h ve bee n ~ everal for mer r ad con ITU tions an d cabling WO I s arried out in th ) past During he archaeological exca va tions i wa noti ed that h1 m a n bones w re

in somewhat hig b r 1 vel i n compari on with t n imal bonc of co urse we can not say anyt hing abou t th bone in the cable trench area whieh w 1e

colle ted before archae logi al resell excava ions Th bon matel-ia l wa main fragm ntary e peciall cran ium a nd long bone were broken

Pr limi nary 0 t 10 ic an aJyses of the h nnan bon oUe ted main shyly f1 m the able tr nch a nd oil h ap weI ondu ted on the 3rd of No e mber 2 on site (b for the b ginninO of arch eol gicnl r ue ex shyavation ) The results of preliminary l ologi analy e lt~ferred to at

least the skel tal rem ains f fi people Lmiddot er on following th res u excavation and in la boralor conditi ns two addjtional skal tons wer detelmin d

Hene the resul of 0 teologie anaJy cs indi a ted t h emains of v n men in ide he hip c ntotll The numhel of m n was det r mined on lhe b sis f fac ial palmiddott of craniums hip bones tibial bone a nd h el-bon s Th usual method f r current hon fragment was u -ed whi h i om mon for n ly ing omrningled bon s

The number of human sk J t ns - 7 - found in ide one burial boat is exceptional Prior to Lhe a lme bo - gra e there i no information bout burial boa ts with inhumation in E tonia

Until tod y onJy two burial boats are known in northern Europe wh 1e the n umb r of kelelons fou nd in is more han two Th first is th boal-grav of Nabberor d iscov red i 193 n th l si nei of OJand in S den (Lamm 002 47 ) wb re k I ton w 1e found in ide th boat and he s cond is he Viking Ag 0 t urial fO W1d in Scar Orkn ~ in c t land in 19 1 where h skel ton f thr e peopl were found insid the b at remains ( I ham- ampbell amp Bate 1998la9)

Th animal bones w 1e colle ted from th e preserved p r t of th Salme ship nd from the cable trench area 0 a nimal hon wer found outside the hip contour nOT in the profil s made aroW1d th sh ip thus we may coo shyd ud t hat all th an imal bone were originall insid th hip

The prclil f

reI ains f dome ies) oat (Capra hon ~s were pr s of th oa t i ll thl

-h eep I goal were fO W1d only lhe p cass s were pia e

Thelc is a r tmial f Sw di middot Sw dish Vond a 109-11 3 Arwidll 1912) hy (Arb the b ne of dogs the b nes of dog

RADIOCAR A pi of wo d ship wa dat d i the in used fo( Th e weight d aVI

was tak n fro a w ith the weighte ples~ of hun ao b f 954 both sa

Atmospheric data from

Hela-1918 1831

Hela-1917 139

Hela-1915 1321

Hela-1916 131

Hela-1914 128

HcJa-1917 bulln la middot 191 G

60

when oJmer lur ing I wer se we 1 weI Iwa

oken mainshyrd of

lle ex-to at

escue were

ins of Icd on lones lUnon

l boat abou

lUope st is nd in boat

kney nside

ialrn

id on middot

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

The preliminary arch aeo-zoological analyses indicated mainly the remains of domesticated animals bovine (Bas taurus) sheep (Ovis arshyies) goat (Capra hircus) and pig (Sus scrota domestica) but also bird bones were present The bovine bones dominated in the preserved part of the boat in the cable trench area (the disturbed area) - the bones of heep goat were most common No complete skeletons of animals were

found only the parts of skeletons which indicated that th e hashed carshycasses were placed into the boat

There is a remarkable difference between the archaeo - ~oological mashyterials of Swedish hoat-graves and the Salme boat-grave In nearly all

wedish Vendel and Viking Age boat-graves- Valsgarde (Arwidsson 1942 109-113 Arwidsson 1954 120--121 Fridell 1930) Vendel (Stolpe amp Arne 1912) Arby (Arbman 1936 249-251) and Tuna in Alsike (Arne 1934) shythe hones of dogs and horses have been found in the Salme ship remains the bones of dogs and horses are totally absent

RADIOCARBON DATINGS A piece of wood that had preserved of a plank on the port board 01 the slup was dated in the radiocarbon AMS method The results showed that the pine used for the plank was cut down between 600-670 AD (Fig 9) The weighted average of t he caliblated date is 639 AD Another sample was taken fro m a t ibia of a bovine (Bos taurus) and dated to 656-773 AD with the weighted average of the calibrated date of 709 AD Also Lwo samshyples ofhuman bon es were dated by the AMS method With the probability of 954 both samples indicated that human burials dated trom

Atmospheric data from Reimer et al (2004) OxCal v310 Bronk Ramsey (2005) cub r5 sd12 prob usp[chron]

Hela-1918 183530 Hela-1917 1395130 ampAHela-1915 1320plusmn30

shy

Hela-1916 1310plusmn30 Hela-1914 1285plusmn30 I jL_L- I

Cal BCCalAD 500 CalAD 1000 CalAD

Calibrated date Fig 9 Rodiocarbol1 datings In 9 Radiostisiniku dateenngltd

3 Hela-Hll 7 Hclamiddot1916

61

MA RGE KONSA RAILI ALLMAE LUNA MALDRE amp fURl VASSILJEV

the period 650-7 For both ampl s the fir t p ak of calibrated dating was of higher probability 414 518 respe tiv ly) in compalison with the econd and any lat 1 one (268 164 r spec(jvel ) thumiddot the most piau ible calibrated dating of human bon s is betwee n 650-720 AD m conclusion considering the results of arb n dating and the chronomiddot logy of he artefacts the Salme boatmiddotgrav originates from the Vendel Era (PImiddotemiddotViking ge) probably from th p rio 50-720 AD 1he ship us d for the burial was probably built in the fu l half of the 7th century end had had its hare of voyages befor coming to its final por in SaIme

Ano her a mple was taken from outside tit ship from a coal fo und in a tbin layer of clay 20 em below the bottom of the ship The r sult was 2- 3 c nturies AD when shallow water COy red th sit

CONCLUSIONS Compar d 0 other known boat-gr ves from he Vendel Era and th Viking Age th Salme ship-find ha s v ral differ nt characteristics The most obvious one i th gt gr at n umb r o middot human skeletons found in ilie boatshygrave Anoth r is the ab ence of anim common in Sw dish boat-grave shyhoI e and dog Al 0 the assemblage of artefacts middot sp cific a nd an be reshyla t d to the equipment used by a warship cr w

Th events sWrounding the men who found their burial plae in Sal me Ie unknown Whether they wer local or foreigners di d by acci shyd nt diseas or violence a1 questions not yet answered The grave good 1e mbling those from S andinavia as well as th way 0 burial differshyent from other Estonian hoat-graves of the period (cremations in on graves) may r fer to people fr m vel eas At the sa m tim th boat itself seems to be constructed more according to the ship-building tradition of th eastern shore of the Baltic Sea Also the ccurr n e f Scandinavian artefacts n Saaremaa i in no way exc ptionaJ Th oei Ly of Saar maa b had internati nal characteristics and be n r lat d to differ nt cultural tradition for a long time Thus th local origin of the d cea ed or mourner can n t be xcl uded Hopefully t h result of ongoin analysi will soon en shyable to shed more light on th myst ry 0 the Salme boat-grave

AcknOIlledgcments th is study WIl supported by the Europeall Union hroll~h lite Europeall Regional Development Pund (Center (I( Excellence C CT) aJld by the research grants (rom Es tonlafl Science Foundation (110 6899 af~d 6736)

Hclamiddot1914 Hela- l 91 5 on la191

62

References

Anderson G 19631 llome n Mll po LXX

Arbman H 1936 B i Rllsbkil $Clcke n UN n 21 9-~5 1

Arne T J 1934 00 in Als ikc U pplanJ K~ Antilltvilets AIadlmicl Arwidsson G 1J42 fund middot von Valsgarde I Seplcntr i(J na iium HI I Upp ale ArwidssoD G 1954 fllnclc von Va bgt11dr II -iept(middotntriona lillm Rpgil f Uppsala forideU Al930 Den I b-nr de i Gllmla p psula 217- 237 GrahammiddotCampbell J Vikings in cot land an Edinlmrgh Un iVerSIty 1 Lamm J P 2002 III g(rmani chen Iterturn n eue n ieh H StUrf De Gruy Lwmiddot 47 179 Larsson G 2007 Shir idlology in Late Iron Uppsala Mil s V 2008 Sal me la i nterpreta t io()n (Mall~~

httpl po iL ( la ul~elmiddot

100(200

when oJmer lur ing I wer se we 1 weI Iwa

oken mainshyrd of

lle ex-to at

escue were

ins of Icd on lones lUnon

l boat abou

lUope st is nd in boat

kney nside

ialrn

id on middot

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

The preliminary arch aeo-zoological analyses indicated mainly the remains of domesticated animals bovine (Bas taurus) sheep (Ovis arshyies) goat (Capra hircus) and pig (Sus scrota domestica) but also bird bones were present The bovine bones dominated in the preserved part of the boat in the cable trench area (the disturbed area) - the bones of heep goat were most common No complete skeletons of animals were

found only the parts of skeletons which indicated that th e hashed carshycasses were placed into the boat

There is a remarkable difference between the archaeo - ~oological mashyterials of Swedish hoat-graves and the Salme boat-grave In nearly all

wedish Vendel and Viking Age boat-graves- Valsgarde (Arwidsson 1942 109-113 Arwidsson 1954 120--121 Fridell 1930) Vendel (Stolpe amp Arne 1912) Arby (Arbman 1936 249-251) and Tuna in Alsike (Arne 1934) shythe hones of dogs and horses have been found in the Salme ship remains the bones of dogs and horses are totally absent

RADIOCARBON DATINGS A piece of wood that had preserved of a plank on the port board 01 the slup was dated in the radiocarbon AMS method The results showed that the pine used for the plank was cut down between 600-670 AD (Fig 9) The weighted average of t he caliblated date is 639 AD Another sample was taken fro m a t ibia of a bovine (Bos taurus) and dated to 656-773 AD with the weighted average of the calibrated date of 709 AD Also Lwo samshyples ofhuman bon es were dated by the AMS method With the probability of 954 both samples indicated that human burials dated trom

Atmospheric data from Reimer et al (2004) OxCal v310 Bronk Ramsey (2005) cub r5 sd12 prob usp[chron]

Hela-1918 183530 Hela-1917 1395130 ampAHela-1915 1320plusmn30

shy

Hela-1916 1310plusmn30 Hela-1914 1285plusmn30 I jL_L- I

Cal BCCalAD 500 CalAD 1000 CalAD

Calibrated date Fig 9 Rodiocarbol1 datings In 9 Radiostisiniku dateenngltd

3 Hela-Hll 7 Hclamiddot1916

61

MA RGE KONSA RAILI ALLMAE LUNA MALDRE amp fURl VASSILJEV

the period 650-7 For both ampl s the fir t p ak of calibrated dating was of higher probability 414 518 respe tiv ly) in compalison with the econd and any lat 1 one (268 164 r spec(jvel ) thumiddot the most piau ible calibrated dating of human bon s is betwee n 650-720 AD m conclusion considering the results of arb n dating and the chronomiddot logy of he artefacts the Salme boatmiddotgrav originates from the Vendel Era (PImiddotemiddotViking ge) probably from th p rio 50-720 AD 1he ship us d for the burial was probably built in the fu l half of the 7th century end had had its hare of voyages befor coming to its final por in SaIme

Ano her a mple was taken from outside tit ship from a coal fo und in a tbin layer of clay 20 em below the bottom of the ship The r sult was 2- 3 c nturies AD when shallow water COy red th sit

CONCLUSIONS Compar d 0 other known boat-gr ves from he Vendel Era and th Viking Age th Salme ship-find ha s v ral differ nt characteristics The most obvious one i th gt gr at n umb r o middot human skeletons found in ilie boatshygrave Anoth r is the ab ence of anim common in Sw dish boat-grave shyhoI e and dog Al 0 the assemblage of artefacts middot sp cific a nd an be reshyla t d to the equipment used by a warship cr w

Th events sWrounding the men who found their burial plae in Sal me Ie unknown Whether they wer local or foreigners di d by acci shyd nt diseas or violence a1 questions not yet answered The grave good 1e mbling those from S andinavia as well as th way 0 burial differshyent from other Estonian hoat-graves of the period (cremations in on graves) may r fer to people fr m vel eas At the sa m tim th boat itself seems to be constructed more according to the ship-building tradition of th eastern shore of the Baltic Sea Also the ccurr n e f Scandinavian artefacts n Saaremaa i in no way exc ptionaJ Th oei Ly of Saar maa b had internati nal characteristics and be n r lat d to differ nt cultural tradition for a long time Thus th local origin of the d cea ed or mourner can n t be xcl uded Hopefully t h result of ongoin analysi will soon en shyable to shed more light on th myst ry 0 the Salme boat-grave

AcknOIlledgcments th is study WIl supported by the Europeall Union hroll~h lite Europeall Regional Development Pund (Center (I( Excellence C CT) aJld by the research grants (rom Es tonlafl Science Foundation (110 6899 af~d 6736)

Hclamiddot1914 Hela- l 91 5 on la191

62

References

Anderson G 19631 llome n Mll po LXX

Arbman H 1936 B i Rllsbkil $Clcke n UN n 21 9-~5 1

Arne T J 1934 00 in Als ikc U pplanJ K~ Antilltvilets AIadlmicl Arwidsson G 1J42 fund middot von Valsgarde I Seplcntr i(J na iium HI I Upp ale ArwidssoD G 1954 fllnclc von Va bgt11dr II -iept(middotntriona lillm Rpgil f Uppsala forideU Al930 Den I b-nr de i Gllmla p psula 217- 237 GrahammiddotCampbell J Vikings in cot land an Edinlmrgh Un iVerSIty 1 Lamm J P 2002 III g(rmani chen Iterturn n eue n ieh H StUrf De Gruy Lwmiddot 47 179 Larsson G 2007 Shir idlology in Late Iron Uppsala Mil s V 2008 Sal me la i nterpreta t io()n (Mall~~

httpl po iL ( la ul~elmiddot

100(200

MA RGE KONSA RAILI ALLMAE LUNA MALDRE amp fURl VASSILJEV

the period 650-7 For both ampl s the fir t p ak of calibrated dating was of higher probability 414 518 respe tiv ly) in compalison with the econd and any lat 1 one (268 164 r spec(jvel ) thumiddot the most piau ible calibrated dating of human bon s is betwee n 650-720 AD m conclusion considering the results of arb n dating and the chronomiddot logy of he artefacts the Salme boatmiddotgrav originates from the Vendel Era (PImiddotemiddotViking ge) probably from th p rio 50-720 AD 1he ship us d for the burial was probably built in the fu l half of the 7th century end had had its hare of voyages befor coming to its final por in SaIme

Ano her a mple was taken from outside tit ship from a coal fo und in a tbin layer of clay 20 em below the bottom of the ship The r sult was 2- 3 c nturies AD when shallow water COy red th sit

CONCLUSIONS Compar d 0 other known boat-gr ves from he Vendel Era and th Viking Age th Salme ship-find ha s v ral differ nt characteristics The most obvious one i th gt gr at n umb r o middot human skeletons found in ilie boatshygrave Anoth r is the ab ence of anim common in Sw dish boat-grave shyhoI e and dog Al 0 the assemblage of artefacts middot sp cific a nd an be reshyla t d to the equipment used by a warship cr w

Th events sWrounding the men who found their burial plae in Sal me Ie unknown Whether they wer local or foreigners di d by acci shyd nt diseas or violence a1 questions not yet answered The grave good 1e mbling those from S andinavia as well as th way 0 burial differshyent from other Estonian hoat-graves of the period (cremations in on graves) may r fer to people fr m vel eas At the sa m tim th boat itself seems to be constructed more according to the ship-building tradition of th eastern shore of the Baltic Sea Also the ccurr n e f Scandinavian artefacts n Saaremaa i in no way exc ptionaJ Th oei Ly of Saar maa b had internati nal characteristics and be n r lat d to differ nt cultural tradition for a long time Thus th local origin of the d cea ed or mourner can n t be xcl uded Hopefully t h result of ongoin analysi will soon en shyable to shed more light on th myst ry 0 the Salme boat-grave

AcknOIlledgcments th is study WIl supported by the Europeall Union hroll~h lite Europeall Regional Development Pund (Center (I( Excellence C CT) aJld by the research grants (rom Es tonlafl Science Foundation (110 6899 af~d 6736)

Hclamiddot1914 Hela- l 91 5 on la191

62

References

Anderson G 19631 llome n Mll po LXX

Arbman H 1936 B i Rllsbkil $Clcke n UN n 21 9-~5 1

Arne T J 1934 00 in Als ikc U pplanJ K~ Antilltvilets AIadlmicl Arwidsson G 1J42 fund middot von Valsgarde I Seplcntr i(J na iium HI I Upp ale ArwidssoD G 1954 fllnclc von Va bgt11dr II -iept(middotntriona lillm Rpgil f Uppsala forideU Al930 Den I b-nr de i Gllmla p psula 217- 237 GrahammiddotCampbell J Vikings in cot land an Edinlmrgh Un iVerSIty 1 Lamm J P 2002 III g(rmani chen Iterturn n eue n ieh H StUrf De Gruy Lwmiddot 47 179 Larsson G 2007 Shir idlology in Late Iron Uppsala Mil s V 2008 Sal me la i nterpreta t io()n (Mall~~

httpl po iL ( la ul~elmiddot

100(200

llibrated Ip ariSOD

thus the 720 AD chlonoshy

ndel Era r ip used century rSalme lal found S11Jt wa

le Vilcing [he most the boat shy-graves shyan be r cshy

place in d by acci shyave goods ial differ shyl in stone

(he boat i (radition ndinavian Saarernaa It cul tural mourners

11 soon en shy

1U(ferences

Anderson G 1963 Boatgraves in F inland shyUOI1lc-n Museo LXX 5-23

Arbman A 1936 Batgrav vid Arby g~rd i Rasbokil soeken Uppland - Fornviinncn 31219-251 Arne T J 1934 OHS Buotgriiberflild von rUn) 1Il Alsike Upplrm d Kungligo Vif lerhcts Historic uel An tilwitII~ Aharielnien 20 Stockholm Arwidsson G 1942 Va lsgirdc 6 Die Griibershyfunde VOtt Valsgiirde I Acto M usel An tiqLit(llum Septentrionaliulfl Rrgiae UnilJlr~itatis (Jpsalien~is 1 UppsuJa Arwidsson G 1954 Valsgii rde 8 Die Griibershyu nde von Valsgiirde n A cta Muse An ~u ifat ll-m

Seplen trionahulII Regiae Un iversitatis [JpsCiliensili 4 Uppsrua Friden A 1930 Den forstn batgraven vld Valsshygardc Gamhl Oppsala socken - Fornviinnen 25 217- 237 Graham-CampbeU J amp Ba tey C E 1998 Vikings in Scotland a n arch ~eologica l survey Edinhurgh University Press Lamm J P 2002 Nabbero - ReuJ lexikon der germwischcm AltertulUskunde Hrsg von H Geck n Ce uenich H Steuer Zweite Aupoundiage Ba nd 20 De Gruytcr 478-479 Larsson G 2007 Ship itnd society Maritime idc()lngy in Late lron Age Sweden (A Wl 2 7) Uppsa la Mass V 2008 Salme Illevaiciu chitU5ttIUloloogilin inlerpretatsioon (Man uscrip t ill Ecsti MerellluU-eum) httplepo it da uteel7EmargekNel lo02120Rpdf 10062009

RESCUE EXCAVATIONS OF A VENDEL ERA BOAT-GRAVE IN SALME SAAREMAA

Mass V 2009 Salme laevale iu teadu slikus t kultuurililwst ja tunnetulliJeu )t HspekList - Eesti laeVtlllduse aasLar03mat 2009 Eesti MCle l1leesl Liit Tallinn 146-1 49 Miiller-WiJle M 1974 Boa t-graws ill northern Europe - The InterlJationru Journal of Nautica l

rchwoiogy a nd Underwater EJioration 1 2 J87-204 Roio M 2006 JIl vestiglltiol1 of undelwa letmiddot h er it ag-e in Estoni a - Archaeological research in Eston ia 1 86~2005 Ed by V Lang amp M Lanpl1lan Estonian Archaeoqgy 1 larlu 301-3 to

aarse L Vassiljev J amp Miidel A 2003 im liJ ation of th e Ba lhe Sea shorelines in Estonia and neighbour ing areas - Journal of Coalt t aJ Research 18 2 261 - 268

aslse L bull Vassiljev J Miidel A amp Niineshymets E 2006 Holocene buried orgonic sedimen in Eston ia - Proceedings of ltl E~Lollian Academy of S~icmiddotnc~s Geology 55 4 290--320

tolpe H amp Arne T J 1912 Craffiiltet vid en dct Klingligo Vitteritlts Historie oeh Antikshy

uitel~ Akailemiel l Stockholm Vassar A 1940 KruvamisaruaruJe P5ide kihk La imjaln vl Vil tiTll kl Peerna tl Rutiriingal 13vI-27vn 1940 (Manus(~ript in AI) Whittaker H 2006 Gamemiddotboards and gamingshypi6s in the Nort hcrn European Iron Age - Nordl il 20 103-112

63

MARGE RONSA RAILI ALLMAE LIINA MALDRE ja JURI VASSILJEV

SALME EELVIlKINGIAEGSE LAEVAMATUSE PAAsTEKAEVAMlSED SAAREMAAL

200 a eptem bris raj ti aaremaul orve maanre iiil r rle l lh llInurd i-alm e vallelise l liiigul v 19ustashyLud jalgra ttateed bull ~Ll ille u ulJt pi iri j uure~ hnkka middot krnbJikraavi kaevamis I viilja tulema middotouke li ilimshylllid Ednsised leetoiid se ll kohas peatuti ning jirgshyn id Muinsuskltu t middot amel i filluntseeritud ja aarmiddot nlaa 1 u useu cui kornJ Ia lud pii~i middottekapvam is d (klCshyva mis tc esim( 5 1 eta pp i jul13tasid J ii r i P ct ja Kii lli Hikas laev vaJjLb e amis-i juhata Ma rge Kousa

alm e Ieuro a leiukoh tjiiiib Sorve pooisanrt Su r rna) cde laosast Iahutavu a line jo middot iiii-d middotellcst 200 rn pi5hj ll pooll (jn 1 10) Laev pailmes Jiivllti ki rmiddot de delamiddotsu una Jj s It tI i muudi middot a 43Fimiddot Ileva voor oli llvatava middotIi suu nahJd kirdesse Kaevamisle albll shyS soli lac ast sWlinud u 7 m pikku ne ja ll m -liune viiii ripooin ker ()sa SaUluti Ii all s 35 em pikkun tGkk laevu a ht r Uiii vi Ulejii ~lnud n a in va ahumiddoti t oli kraavi kaevilmisega purus la tud La va ke ko a oli sii il inud u 50 em korgus lL serIest iilemine OBa

laev8st nagu kn v6ortiiiiv olid havinlld Laev puitshykeTe oli p aaegu tii ieJi kult kiiclunenud iii Iinud olill

a id mClll fd vaga iihuke middot d ribnd okaspu usL planshygn laudad st jn ktlthndi I manni ~t In vakaUI tugishytalast Valdav 0 a nndmetest laeva kuju ja ehi tlls kohla snadi la va jiilj ndi ning La van elide paikneshylUi ( dok llIDenteerirnis abil On 2)

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pikkune su uri ma ll iusegH 2 m (jn 3 4) Laeva stlvis koo madal u pakk-kiiluga vois alia 4() III ning Pfl rshyda korgus 1lt1 va ke kosas 75 (middot 01 Kiiljep la ngu tileshymis I senal aS lLOue needirida 0 utas nt 18 val (iii veel kol m s h ilj plank ja ilms I t kmiddot neIj aski - parmiddot davomiddot Kaari u In vas kaheksa ning need oiid Dr shy

vatava ti k inni tatud sidum is me todil a lme kaheshytcistfler uiis 6 ldolaeva kuju ali sojalaevudeJe iseshyloolDu like omad u l ga see uli kj ir bull kerge ja hasti juhi ulV al

Enamik eselnet Bt js ini mluude-t pilr ines laeva uhtriosaSL Ku na need aadi kraavist viiljatosttlud pinna e liibiv8at ami I si is polmld esernele tapset asukoh ta enam oima lik tuvastada U lejiioflud laoshyva 0 as hlkn li leidudlJ ja Illude lt1Sukohti t iipsolt domiddot kll mcnt ri mil alles pinast laeva avastu rnist e llel eJn6vult- ji)uti horisontaal el t labi kaevnta ligikaudll

20 em paksu no kiht laeva ille rn isest 0 a t Laeva s ishys muse t j iiJgi j1anud kun i 3U CUI pak middotuse k ih i ka shyva misel ilmn ct la va p6hja (Iii R llin lld u 1 - 14 em pnksu nltgt kruusaki hl lUIS leid ei si ~ middotdanud Selle kihi p lt11oli tumlJpruuni viirvi kitsus 0 middotgaani middot kaviirg mi (j is piirmeda lauda cl st IDoodumiddottntud matus plat (lrmist Esem d j 1 ma luud avastnti el lelltgt ~a5ap irula le ladestunud kruusnkibi sL

alme latlvast lc il i k ks oda- jn k uu$ nool otsa mo6kadest oJ i s1i iJinud knks teram ik ku uks k~i pid koo kolmnu rkse n llpu a ning Umiddot kujulin tup otsik (in 5 6) Vliiksematest esemetest oLid vee laevH 18 augn ka hak-sa luisku js r Sll3st putkega toiirii st neli tu lehiviliikki jn viiike pro n1soaast Laev ahtshyrist I iti katkend id sarvest valmi~latud ja si lmashyk L ga I lluisUltud kanl[DIgtit (j n ) Mitmtd eseshymed nagu P tlne t wbsest kivimi 1 moiigai u isk viii miingulluppude Ja t tir ingute komplekt (jn 7 l - 2) on Eesti k ikmi Imiddotauaaja laiuai m es s inulandsed kuie iseJo(lmulik lld panused S lltn ndinaavia e litaarmiddot seteti laevamatu middotLe5 Loomad s l ob alme laevas s iodatlld mse lamba kits ja sea luud samuti uli

linn uillid Ollatuslik ull puud ll id hobuse jn koerrlt IlI ud mis on vags tsvalised Roots i la va matust s

Rudio middotulliniku ja I middotumal rjali date r ingute pohmiddot jal par-in b al mel cvamlltus v ndeli jast ilms It ajavahem iku t 650--720 pKr (j n 9) Matu s ks kasushytatud la v on toonnoJiselL valmistatud 7 saj esi nHshysel poolcl u ing nne 16pl ik k ra ndumi t Salm I joudshyn ud mo nds aega merd kunda

Salme 18 va naal on tegcrn ist Eesli koige vanernH laevaJ iuera mis on mitm te aspeklide pool sl tiih shyl panuvuarne ka luiemas Lruinemeremaade kul tll ushyri- ja mcrendusaja 100 kontekstis

Vorrc lde teisl ten Liaol vate felv iikin [i- jn viishyk ingia seLe laevamatuslega on Sall1[ Jeiu ju uregmiddot koige -ilm atorkavHm urnute S U UT a rv Tavalis Jt on liltgt amatustes vaid ilks vaga rikkalik panu ega korgklassi kuuluuud ini mcn hJJVl on uhes Is vas kolm kuni neJi maetut S a lme la ~v seitsme mcgthe surnukehaga on omail gse l ~ laevamatuste h u lgas era ndlik

RESCUE ALT-LAAj TARTUM

AN11 LILLAK C~lltUillak(r gmai l

TartlL Ulikool ( n iversity oj Tar LQ8Si 351003 Ta r

I n J uJy 2008 Estonia start aarc on the

west of it Th I een remove hearth -p lace h arths The financed by tl

Alt-Laar sum~d t be mall (~bol1t

Rtructures d was pr bab many oilier 1 lb 12th C Q

kants) a1 0 1 n m middot bull tbi ern parl of tl

I finds 1fii

64

ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELDWORK IN ESTONIA

2008

ARHEOLOOGILISED VALITOOD EESTIS

EDITORS I TOLMETAJAD ESTER ORAS ERKl RUSSOW

MUINS USKAITSEAMET

TALLINN 2009