Metal detectorists stumble on treasure — and locate Viking boat grave. See it
On a remote island in northern Norway, metal detectorists stumbled upon a pair of bronze treasures. The small artifacts sparked a larger investigation and led archaeologists to find a Viking boat grave of a woman and dog.
Metal detectorists visited a low embankment on Senja island a few years ago and unearthed two bronze buckles shaped like bowls. In the process, they also exposed some rib bones, the Arctic University Museum of Norway said in a May 31 Facebook post.
Archaeologists initially suspected the site might be a Viking-era grave but didn’t know for sure — until now.
In May, a team excavated the Senja site and identified it as a roughly 1,000-year-old Viking boat grave, the museum said. Photos show the exposed burial.
The wooden boat was about 18 feet long, mostly built without iron rivets and poorly preserved, archaeologists said. In the center of the boat were two skeletons.
The larger skeleton belonged to a deceased woman, the museum said. She was buried on her side with her knees bent and her arms in front of her. At her feet is the skeleton of a small dog, possibly her pet or companion.
Dog skeletons have been found in Viking graves before but are generally not common, archaeologist Anja Roth Niemi told Science in Norway.
Excavations also uncovered an iron sickle, stone tool, bronze pendant, a pair of beads possibly made of amber and a whalebone tool, the museum said.
The artifacts suggest the ancient woman was considered high status and important but not among the highest tier of elites, Niemi told Science in Norway.
Archaeologists plan to remove the Senja grave’s contents, store their finds and eventually analyze the remains in a laboratory, the museum said.
Senja is an island off the northern coast of Norway and a roughly 1,000-mile drive northeast from Oslo.
Facebook Translate and Google Translate were used to translate the Facebook post from the Arctic University Museum of Norway. Google Translate was also used to translate the article from Science in Norway.
This story was originally published June 4, 2025 at 9:48 AM with the headline "Metal detectorists stumble on treasure — and locate Viking boat grave. See it."
