Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a Viking warrior during excavations on a building site in the Irish capital, Dublin. A skeleton was found with an iron shield and what appeared to be a dagger in a shallow grave near the centre of Dublin, said archaeologist Linzi Simpson. The site is near the 9th-century settlement of Dubh Linn, a Gaelic phrase denoting "black pool", from which Dublin gets its name. "It is a fantastic find. It is very, very exciting and very rare," Ms Simpson told Ireland's RTE state radio. It is only the second time the remains of a Viking warrior have been excavated in Dublin. Ms Simpson made a similar find last year. "That one was in a very bad condition. This one is much better preserved," she said. The burial site of the warrior, now nicknamed Eric by archaeologists, appears to have been disturbed at some stage in the past and his sword is missing.

Ms Simpson believes he may have been part of an early raiding party that arrived about 40 years before a Viking settlement was established in Dublin. The site is close to where there had been a monastery. "I have no doubt that this guy was a member of a raiding party probably doing something nasty to the monastery," she said.

View: Full Article | Source: smh.com.au

I always like hearing that one of my possible ancestors has been found. They were all over the place back then. Now if we can just find cousin Johann...


Thanks, Althalus.

I love this sort of thing, and what it makes me wonder most, is how much stuff is actually buried under somewhere like the British Isles (or any other continuously and heavily populated country); I mean how many bodies or temples or houses are actually down there. I remember once in Newcastle they were laying the foundations for a new building and they found a plague pit, piled high with bodies, and the whole area was sealed for weeks while lots of people trudged around in white suits and gas-masks checking that there was nothing harmful still there. Fabulous.