VIKING BURIAL SHIP

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 November 1939, Page 2

VIKING BURIAL SHIP

ISLE OF MAN DISCOVERY LONDON, September 14. The fragile remains of a. Viking burial ship have been unearthed beneath a large mound on the Isle of Man. The discovery, of great archaeological value, is the first to be made there. After a month's work a large part of the old vessel was exposed, but the site has now been covered over until after the war. Museum authorities, assisted by Manchester University students, at first found only a number of neolithic flint instruments. In a thick layer of ,

clay were found signs- of wood crushed by the weight of tons of sand and clay and almost disintegrated by the damp. Working very carefully with trowels and nail files, and even blowing away fragments with bicycle pumps, the excavators at length came upon iron holts, wooden stakes and a massive wooden stern post. Mr. R. D. Farrant, chairman of the Manx Museum Trustees, stated yesterday that it will not be possible Io remove the wood until it has been treated in the way Scandinavian archaeoligists deal with, burial ships found on their shores. “We do not. expect to find any treasure when the work is continued." he said. “We may find a brooch or two, the warrior’s iron sword, and other articles.”