The unique find was made during archaeological excavations in the Lakhdenpohskiy region of Karelia.
Ladoga archaeological expedition of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography named after Peter the Great, the Russian Academy of Sciences conducted excavations this summer at the burial ground "Kalmaniemi 1" (from Finnish - "Cape of Death") in the Lakhdenpohsky region of Karelia, reports TASS. Scientists were lucky to make a unique find - an ancient burial in a boat.
According to the head of the expedition Stanislav Belsky, presumably the burial was built in a depression at the edge of the cliff. Above it, keel upwards, there is a small vessel, approximately 7-8 m in length. The wooden parts of the boat have not survived. But many different types of rook rivets were found.
In addition to them, an important find confirming the theory that the Vikings could have been buried here was a complex of weapons characteristic of their era. It included a spearhead, two battle axes, three whip tops with rustling pendants. In addition, several glass and one stone beads were found. Archaeologists believe that they visited a funeral pyre.
This open burial complex, according to scientists, is unique not only for the Northern Ladoga region, where an object of this kind was first discovered and studied, but also for Northern Russia as a whole.
Such burials are typical of the Scandinavian tradition. And they, as experts note, serve as confirmation of the early presence of Scandinavians on the northern coast of Lake Ladoga. And they can also be evidence of the information of a number of sagas about hiking in Kiryalabotnir (Karelian bays).
