14 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A Viking ship discovered at Salhushaugen Cemetery in Norway

Archaeologists in Norway, a 20-meter-long Viking ship has been discovered using georadar on a mound previously believed to be empty.

“This is a spectacular find which sheds light on the earliest Viking kings”, says archaeologist Håkon Reiersen.

The mound was explored a little over a hundred years ago by archaeologist Haakon Shetelig. The result was just 15 wooden spades and some arrowheads.

The archaeologist Haakon Shetelig was incredibly disappointed when he did not find a Viking ship during an excavation of the Salhushaugen gravemound in Karmøy in Western Norway. And nothing more was done with this mound.

In June 2022, archaeologists decided to search the area using ground-penetrating radar or georadar – a device that uses radio waves to map out what lies below the surface of the ground.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



However, georadar results revealed that Shetelig simply did not dig deep enough.

The Storhaug ship burial as it might have appeared in 779. (Illustration: Eva Gjerde (c) Museum of Archaeology, University of Stavanger)
The Storhaug ship burial as it might have appeared in 779. (Illustration: Eva Gjerde (c) Museum of Archaeology, University of Stavanger)

“We’ve been working on this for a year, so we feel pretty confident about our findings,” says Reiersen, who was project manager for the field work.

Publications are yet to come, but the data from the georadar surveys are quite clear, according to Reiersen.

“The georadar signals clearly show the shape of a 20-metre-long ship. It’s quite wide and reminiscent of the Oseberg ship,” he says.

The Oseberg ship is about 22 metres long and a little over 5 metres wide.

Furthermore, the ship-shaped signals are located in the mound’s center, exactly where the burial ship would have been. The likely explanation being that it is in fact the burial ship.

The ship is also reminiscent of yet another Viking ship found on Karmøy in 1886, the Storhaug ship, and finds made in connection to the excavation of this.

“Shetelig found a large circular stone slab, which may have been a sort of altar used for sacrifice. A very similar slab was found in the Storhaug mound, and this ties it to the Storhaug ship in time,” Reiersen says.

The archaeologists intend to conduct a verification excavation to examine the conditions and possibly obtain a more precise dating.

A historic powerhouse on Norway’s southwest coast for over 3,000 years, Karmøy now has three Viking ships with this latest find.

Cover Photo: Museum of Archaeology, University of Stavanger

Related Articles

Ancient Rome’s city borders were discovered in a rare stone

17 July 2021

17 July 2021

Archaeologists unearthed a rare stone outlining ancient Rome’s city borders during excavations for a new sewage system. The stone comes...

148 Ancient Tombs Spanning 2,100 Years Unearthed in the Construction Area of the Zoo

18 August 2024

18 August 2024

An ancient burial site with 148 tombs,  spanning over 2,100 years, has been discovered on the construction site of the...

Dutch Shrimp Fishermen caught a centuries-old carved wooden statue off the coast of Texel

17 August 2022

17 August 2022

A carved wooden statue in exceptional condition has been attached to fishing nets off the coast of Texel, one of...

Mythical Viking stronghold Jomsborg could be on Hangman’s Hill near Wolin, archaeologist say

14 July 2023

14 July 2023

A new hypothesis about the location of the mythical Viking stronghold on Hangman’s Hill near Wolin (West Pomerania) has been...

Hunting tools Dating Back 1900 Years Found inside a Cave in Querétaro, Mexico

27 January 2024

27 January 2024

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) found hunting weapons dating back approximately 1,900 years in a...

One of Andalusia’s Most Monumental 5,000-Year-Old Prehistoric Tombs Unearthed in Teba (Malaga)

23 September 2025

23 September 2025

A team of archaeologists from the University of Cádiz has uncovered one of Andalusia’s most monumental and best-preserved prehistoric tombs:...

Archaeologists find rare treasure in Suzdal of Russia

15 August 2021

15 August 2021

The twentieth season of fieldwork brought an unexpected discovery to the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences....

Bronze Age women’s jewelry set discovered in Güttingen carrot field, Swiss

17 October 2023

17 October 2023

A set of Bronze Age women’s jewelry was discovered by archaeologists in Güttingen, Thurgau canton, northeastern Switzerland, in a freshly...

An ancient necropolis and coins discovered in Kastel Fortress, a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina

11 November 2024

11 November 2024

During excavations at Kastel Fortress, the national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, students and professors of Archaeology and History found...

Albastı “A Mother’s Nightmare “

5 February 2021

5 February 2021

Albastı is one of the bad characters in Turkish mythology. The fearful dream of puerperal women and babies, Albastı continues...

Southwest Germany’s Oldest Gold Artifact Found

28 May 2021

28 May 2021

Archaeologists discovered the 3,800-year-old burial of a woman who died when she was around 20 years old in what is...

Medieval double grave discovered with majestic objects inside the circular ditch

22 August 2022

22 August 2022

An early medieval double grave was discovered in Kirchheim am Neckar Friedrichstrasse, southern Germany, during excavations supervised by the State...

A princely tomb discovered in the infrastructure project of the A7 Ploieşti-Buzău highway in Romania

20 December 2022

20 December 2022

An impressive archaeological discovery took place on the Ploiești-Buzău section of the Moldova Highway. The excavations uncovered a princely tomb,...

Croatian Team Finds a Way to Effectively and Permanently Preserve Stuka Aircraft Wreck Under the Sea

11 December 2024

11 December 2024

 The ICUA Zadar team of conservators and archaeologists carried out in situ underwater conservation of the wreckage of the Junkers...

Hidden Treasure from the Thirty Years’ War: Rare Silver Coins Found in Copper Cauldron in Brandenburg

21 July 2025

21 July 2025

A rare archaeological discovery in Germany has captivated historians: Silver coins dating back to the early 17th century have been...