Ship burial

Ship burial of Igor the Old in 945, depicted by Henryk Siemiradzki (1843-1902)
Model of the Sutton Hoo ship's structure as it might have appeared, with chamber area outlined

A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as a container for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave. This style of burial was used among the Germanic peoples, particularly by Viking Age Norsemen.

A unique eye-witness account of a 10th-century ship burial among the Volga Vikings is given by Arab traveller Ibn Fadlan.[citation needed]

Viking Age ship burials

Scandinavia

British Isles

Viking/Norse burial

Anglo-Saxon

Eastern Europe

↑Jump back a section

See also

↑Jump back a section
Last modified on 12 March 2013, at 11:09