PREHIISTORIC NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. 605 



Reciilver, Kent;' in Kent;^ at Chatteris, Isle of Ely;^ at Selzeu, near 

 tlie Rliiue/ and at Douvrend, in Normandy.^ 



The most interesting circumstance connecte<l with tliis find, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Davidson, is that a body was deposited in the boat. He says 

 that this has received special mention from Mr. Worsaae, who remarks^ 

 that no instance of sucli Imrial has been brought to light in Denmark, 

 although in Sweden and Norway fragments of wood have been occa- 

 sionally found in barrows which have been presumed to be portions of 

 boats.^ 



Among the ship graves in which cremation of the dead formed part 

 of the ceremony, Moiitelius" mentions that discovered in 1884 by S. 

 Sodcrberg and C. Follin ui)on the island of Oeland;^ further, one exca- 

 vated at Ekrem, Romsdale district,'" and the ship found near Koald's 

 church, in Sondmcire, " of which the keel and i)art of the bottom were 

 Avell preserved, while of the sides the rivets only were left; aft of the 

 mast a heap of burned bones and two iron axes were discovered. The 

 boat of Bjornes, Xorth Throndhjem district, ^^ can be traced in outline 

 by the rivets lying in rows as they had fallen out of the sides of the 

 boat; bones, nails, coal ashes, an iron arrowhead, scales of bronze, and 

 glass i)earls constituted its inventory. 



Of ship burials in mounds tvithout cremation mention is made in the 

 Sagas,'-'' and it is to these graves that we must look for confirmation of 

 the various accounts given us of the ships of the ])eople of the north. 



A large number of tombs have been brought to light,'^ but in almost 

 every case the woodwork had, for the greater part, decayed by its long 

 rest in the earth, so that but insufficient information would be collected 

 as to the precise form and dimensions of the sepulchral ships or their 

 position relative to the sea. 



Only in two cases have tlie ships, together with their boats, been 

 sufiticieutly preserved to permit of restoration, and these ships will be 



' Ackermanii's Pagan Saxondom. 



-Now iu the British Museum. 



•''Gent. Mag., 1766, pt. L. 



* Lindenschmit: Todtenliiger hei Solzen; iu Coll. Aut., Vol. ii, p. 51. 



6 Cochet : Normandie Souterraine, p. 390. 



" Worsaae: Primeval Antiquities of Denmark, p. 102. 



^Guide to North. Antiq., p. 30; Worsaae: Zur Alterthnmskunde des Nonleus. 



^Moiitelii(f<, O. : Om hogsiittning i skepp under vikinga tiden. 



^SiUlcrhrrf/, S. : Beskrifning ofver deu undersokuingsresa som han 1884 med auslag 

 afVittorhets Akademien foretog pii Oland. 



'"Aarslier. for 1880 af Foren. til Norske Fortidsm. Bev., p. 45. 



^^ Uiraitgc, A.: I Aarsbcr for 1874 af Foren. til Norske Fortidsm. Bev., i)p. 37,38,88. 



'^Aarsher. for 1874 af Foreu. til Norske Fortidsm. Bev., pp. 47, 48. 



'^An Bogoveigi Saga, c. vi; Ilakou tlu> Good Saga, c. xxvii, xxxiii. Laxdala, c. 

 vili; Landnama.ii; Vatusda-la, e. xxii ; Harold Haarfager, c.42,45,46; OlafTrygva- 

 son. Saga c. Ixxix; Ynglinga, c. Lii. 



'^N. Fornlevn, pp. 20, 179, 245, 551 ; Aarsber. f. Norske Fortidsmindesm. Bev., 1869, p. 

 94; 1879, p. 292; 1880, p. 45; O. Itiigh : faste forulevn og Oldsager i uordre og s^ndre 

 Throndhjems Amt, p. 241. 



