Norway pushes Viking Age burial mounds toward UNESCO World Heritage status

Seven major Viking Age locations in Norway have been officially proposed for the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. The submission lists monumental ship burial mounds around the country considered to be of outstanding historical value.

From Gokstad to Gjellestad

On Monday, December 15, the Norwegian Ministry of Cultural Heritage officially requested that Norwegian Viking heritage be inscribed on Norway's tentative list for World Heritage. The recommendation was made to the Ministry of Climate and Environment and is now under careful consideration.

The seven monumental ship burial mounds included in the recommendation are Gjellestad in Østfold, Borrehaugene, Oseberghaugen, and Gokstadhaugen in Vestfold, Storhaug in Rogaland, Myklebust in Vestland, and Herlaugshaugen in Trøndelag.

As the names suggest, Oseberghaugen and Gokstadhaugen were the sites of the famous Norwegian ship burials of Gokstad and Oseberg.

"The ship burial mounds in Norway are unparalleled in the world," commented National Heritage Commissioner Hanna Geiran in a recent press release. "The seven we have selected are the most important cultural environments from the Viking Age in Norway."

The Gokstad burial mound near Sandefjord is the site where the Gokstad ship was excavated in 1880. Photo: EsP72 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

A key part of Viking history

The 19th- and early 20th-century discoveries of ships such as Gokstad, Oseberg, and Tune provided incredible insights into the lives and traditions of Viking Age Norway.

In more recent years, finds such as Gjellestad have demonstrated the importance of modern archeological techniques like ground-penetrating radar, and also inspired searches for more similar sites.

Given that ships contained in museums, such as the Gokstad and Oseberg, cannot be nominated, it is expected that these newer finds will form a key part of Norway's UNESCO application. Indeed, well-preserved burial sites that have kept the ship in situ, such as Gjellestad, are particularly important.

"UNESCO has strict criteria for World Heritage," explained Geiran on the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage website.

"Only cultural environments and objects that are still at the discovery site can be nominated. The Oseberg ship and the Gokstad ship are in museums and therefore cannot be nominated as World Heritage Sites."

Instead, the mounds where they were excavated are included on the list.

The excavation trench at Myklebust shows the scale of the burial mound that once covered a large Viking ship. Photo: Jan Magnus Weiberg-Aurdal / Riksantikvaren

Connecting landscape with mythology

Several Viking Age locations have already been awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status. These include the Jelling mounds and runic stones in Jutland, Denmark, L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada, and Thingvellir National Park in Iceland.

Now, the Norwegian government will decide whether the Viking burial sites should be considered for Norway's tentative list.

To prepare the application, the Norwegian Ministry of Cultural Heritage has worked with a wide group of experts from the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, the Archaeological Museum in Stavanger, and the Østfold and Vestfold county municipalities.

It is hoped the nomination will help ensure support for the preservation of these historically important sites.

"The ship graves are more than monuments," stated Geiran. "They reflect the power, beliefs, and values of the Viking Age, and give us a unique insight into what people at the time believed was crucial for life after death."

"The burial mounds connect the landscape with stories from mythology and sagas. Many of these stories are still alive, and that makes the ship graves cultural monuments with World Heritage value."

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