The Salme ships are two

clinker-built Clinker built (also known as lapstrake) is a method of boat building where the edges of hull (watercraft), hull planks overlap each other. Where necessary in larger craft, shorter planks can be joined end to end, creating a longer strake or hull ...

ships of Scandinavian origin discovered in 2008 and 2010 near the village of Salme on the island of

Saaremaa Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring . The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and west of Muhu island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago. The capital of the island i ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. Both ships were used for

ship burial A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as the tomb 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 pr ...

s here around AD 700–750 in the

Nordic Iron Age Iron Age Scandinavia (or Nordic Iron Age) was the Iron Age, as it unfolded in Scandinavia. Beginnings The 6th and 5th centuries BC were a tipping point for exports and imports on the European continent. The ever-increasing conflicts and wars ...

and contained the remains of 41 warriors killed in

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, as well as 6 dogs, 2 hunting hawks and numerous

weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

s and other artifacts.

Discovery and excavation

The first ship was discovered in 2008 during earth removal for infrastructure construction. An archaeological expedition has been working on the site since 2008. The second ship was discovered in 2010. There is some indirect evidence pointing to the possibility that at least one more ship is yet to be discovered during future excavations.

Location

The ships were located near the ancient coastline, about above water level. The location is from the present coastline and above present water level.

Description

Both Salme ships are

and archaeologists have estimated their time of construction to be AD 650–700, and the most likely site of construction in what is now Sweden. There are signs indicating they had been repaired and patched for decades before making their final voyage. One of the ships is long and wide, the second one more than long and wide. Outline of the keel of the larger vessel was preserved in

humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...

, leading to the conclusion that it used a sail. In addition to the discovery of the keel, the irregular rows of strong rivets found on the bottom of the ship also indicate that the ship used sails. This makes it the oldest known vessel to use sails in the Baltic Sea region.

Human remains

Skeletal remains A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

from at least 42 individuals were discovered in the two ships. Most of them belonged to 30–40 year old males who had been killed in

Isotope analysis Isotope analysis is the identification of isotopic signature, abundance of certain stable isotopes of chemical elements within organic and inorganic compounds. Isotopic analysis can be used to understand the flow of energy through a food web ...

of some of the teeth, combined with the design of the buried artifacts, suggest that the men came from central Sweden. The smaller ship contained the skeletal remains of 7 individuals. There were at least 36 individuals buried in four layers in the large ship. Analyses of haplogroup testing defined the individuals as having the Y-chromosome haplogroup R1a1a1b, N1a1a1a1a1a1a, I1-M253 and mtDNA haplogroup T2b5a, V, J2a1a1a2, H10e, K1c1h, W6a, and U3b1b.''Ashot Margaryan'' et al
Population genomics of the Viking world
2020
bioRxiv
The DNA analysis showed that four of the men were brothers and they were related to a fifth man, perhaps an uncle.

Grave goods

Fragments of more than 40

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

s of various types, remains of

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

heads and dozens of

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...

s were found in the burial. Most of them had been deliberately deformed, perhaps to discourage

grave robbery Grave robbery, tomb robbing, or tomb raiding is the act of uncovering a grave, tomb or crypt to steal commodities. It is usually perpetrated to take and profit from valuable artefacts or personal property. A related act is body snatching, a term ...

. Smaller objects included one small socketed axe,

knives A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...

, whetstones, a bone comb with ornaments, a bear-claw

necklace A necklace is an article of jewellery that is worn around the neck. Necklaces may have been one of the earliest types of adornment worn by humans. They often serve Ceremony, ceremonial, Religion, religious, magic (illusion), magical, or Funerary ...

, and hundreds of gaming pieces made of whale bone and antler with six

dice Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing g ...

. The skeletal remains of two ritually

sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

s as well as

hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

s used for

falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

were found in the burial.

Interpretations

According to an early interpretation offered by Jüri Peets, the lead archaeologist at the site, the ships and the dead are of

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n origin. According to the most likely scenario, a war party of

ns attempted to carry out a raid against the

Oeselians Oeselians ( la, Oesel, , sv, Ösel, da, Øsel, fi, Saarenmaa) is a term historically applied before the Northern Crusades up to the 13th century to people who were living on the island of Saaremaa or Oesel as it was known back then, an island ...

(

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

inhabitants of the island of Saaremaa), but were attacked by Oeselian ships. The sides of the two ships contain numerous embedded arrowheads, some of which are of the three-pointed type used to carry burning materials to set enemy ships aflame. After losing too many oarsmen to the Estonian

archers Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

, the raiders pulled their ships aground and tried to defend themselves behind them. It appears that after the battle, the Oeselians allowed either the survivors or some other group of Scandinavians to ritually bury their dead. The burial is unusual because the ships were not covered with earth mounds. The site was eventually forgotten by the local inhabitants after it had become overblown by sand and covered with vegetation. The raid-hypothesis has led to a questioning of when the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

began exactly. The Salme event took place 50–100 years earlier than the infamous

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...

Viking raid in England in the summer of AD 793. The original interpretation was called into question after the second, larger, ship was uncovered in 2010. It is likely that the human remains in it belonged to individuals of noble birth, as evidenced by the large number of expensive bronze sword-hilts and the complete lack of weaponry associated with commoners. The presence of dogs and hawks used for falconry indicates that the original purpose of the trip to Estonia may have been

leisure Leisure has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Leisure ...

diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

. Peets suggests that the men may have come on a voyage from Sweden to forge an alliance or establish kinship ties when unknown parties set upon them.''Ancient ships of death: Were they on a mission of politics or plunder?''
USA Today. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.

Legendary background

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ...

relates in his ''

Ynglinga saga ''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into English and published in 1844 ...

'' that the

Swedish king This is a list of Swedish kings, queens, regents and viceroys of the Kalmar Union. History The earliest record of what is generally considered to be a Swedish king appears in Tacitus' work ''Germania'', c. 100 AD (the king of the Suiones). Howe ...

Ingvar Yngvar Harra (or Ingvar; Proto-Norse ''*Ingu-Hariz''; non, Yngvarr ; d. early 7th century) was the son of Östen and reclaimed the Swedish throne for the House of Yngling after the Swedes had rebelled against Sölvi. He is reported to have fa ...

Östen Eysteinn (Swedish: Östen; died ca 600) was the son of Eadgils and Yrsa of Saxony. He was the father of Ingvar. The Eysteinn tumulus ''(Östens hög)'' in Västerås near Östanbro has been linked to King Eysteinn by some popular historians. The ...

's son, was a great warrior who often spent time patrolling the shores of his kingdom fighting

Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

and Estonians. King Ingvar finally came to a peace agreement with the Danes and could take care of the Estonians. He consequently started pillaging in

in retribution, and one summer he arrived at a place called Stein (see also Sveigder). The Estonians (''sýslu kind'') assembled a great army in the interior and attacked King Ingvar in a great battle. Their forces were too powerful and Ingvar fell and the Swedish forces retreated. Ingvar was buried in a mound at a place called ''Stone'' or ''

Hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

'' (''at Steini'') on the shores of ''Aðalsýsla'', that is what is now mainland Estonia.

Citations and references

Cited sources

External links

22. March 2013, CWA 58, Archaeologists in Estonia have discovered the most extraordinary site: a mass grave comprising two Viking ship burials
world-archaeology.com
10. June 2013, The First Vikings/ Two remarkable ships may show that the Viking storm was brewing long before their assault on England and the continent
archaeology.org
17. December 2021, Human remains, context, and place of origin for the Salme, Estonia, boat burials
sciencedirect.com {{coord, 58, 10, 03, N, 22, 15, 02, E, region:EE-74_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Iron Age Archaeological sites in Estonia Saaremaa Parish Viking ship burials Medieval ships 8th century in Europe 2008 archaeological discoveries 2008 in Estonia History of Saaremaa