602 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 



to the starboaid side, the second horse and do,;;' near thei)()rt side, the 

 third horse also ou this side, but outside of the boat. 



A second excavation was tlien undertaken with a view of learning 

 particulars of the shape and size of the ship, a point of so much more 

 interest, as little was known of the size of ancient ships. 



Attention having been called to a layer of coal, about one-half of 

 an inch thick and extending across the mound, and that former finds 

 had tirst been made at that depth, everything above this layer was re- 

 moved. Just under the coal layer ship nails were found in both direc- 

 tions, horizontally and vertically; but it was soon discovered that the 

 mound had been so disordered by the lirst excavati(m that the present 

 object could not be attained, since the whole aft end, and with exception 

 of about 2 feet distance from the prow, the entire port side, was torn 

 away. It could only be ascertained that the ship stood toward west- 

 southwest and with the prow up toward the land ; that by its sharp- 

 built fore part it much resembled the present Sogne or northern coasting 

 vessels, and that it, like those latter, was riveted, four boards in height, 

 each board 8 inches wide. Asa tolerably large piece of wood Avith a 

 nail had before been found, with which also the tar on the outer side 

 and a piece of the oakum between the planks was preserved, the thick- 

 ness of the latter could be estimated. It came to about 1 inch be- 

 tween the inner side of the nail's head and the riveting plate, but as 

 the head of the nail is driven somewhat within the outer side of the 

 plank, each of them must have been half an inch thick. It was hardly 

 possible to determine the ship's breadth. Its length, from the prow to 

 the hindermost nail, measured 38 feet, and judging from the piece of 

 mound which lay behind this nail, the length of the whole ship can 

 hardly have been more than 50 to 54 feet. 



Of other things were found only a fragment of the forementioned 

 glass jug, one of the usual beads of white crystal, probably belonging 

 to a feminine neck ornament, together with a soapstone knob, pre- 

 sumably of a sj)indleor distaff. 



Considering all these circumstances, this funeral seems to have taken 

 l)lace in the following manner: After the place had been determined 

 and the upper layer of earth to the gravel carried away, the ship was 

 dragged u]) there placed in position, and sand thrown up around it. 

 The interior of the ship was then filled with a liner kind of sand, espe- 

 cially in the vicinity of the articles and animals deposited in it, but so 

 as to leave open a space for the kettle. The litter with the dead bodies 

 was then placed on the flat side of the pile, and after they were burned 

 the ashes and bones were collected, placed in the kettle, and deposited 

 with the other articles in the ship ; thereui)on the hole was filled with 

 sand and a layer of the remnants of the i)yre spread over the whole 

 mound, which was next given its complete form to the top. 



According to the Saga,' as related by iSnorre and his informant, 



Yuglinga .Saga, c. li. 



