Workers were taken aback after discovering a 1,300-year-old fragment from a Viking ship during a drainage excavation project in the Netherlands.
The employees had been replacing a sewer system in Wijk bij Duurstede when they discovered a wooden beam protruding from the pavement, Jam Press reported.
While it initially appeared to be an ordinary piece of timber, volunteer and amateur archaeologist Danny van Basten recognized the significance of the artifact and flagged the find to experts.
Specialists from maritime foundation Stichting Beheer Vikingschip and Museum Dorestad arrived to inspect the piece, which measured 10 feet in length and sported cut notches, shaping marks and other worked surfaces indicative of shipbuilding methods.
The features suggested it could be part of a ship’s frame, according to shipbuilder Kees Sterrenburg.
Based on its orientation and nearby pottery shards, experts deduced that the beam dated back to the Carolingian period (circa 700 to 800 A.D.) — a watershed epoch defined by fledgling medieval trade routes and the expansion of Northern European power, Arkeonews.net reported.
During this period, Frankish king Charlemagne and his successors exerted their influence over Western and Central Europe, notably conquering Gaul, Germany and Italy.
The era also saw rivers like the Rhine serve as important arteries for commerce with Dorestad — the ancient hub on which Wijk bij Duurstede sits — becoming a riverine trading mecca that linked ancient France with Scandinavian and North Sea trade routes.
According to researchers, the beam could also be linked to the uptick in Viking activity, as during that time, Norse sea raiders traded with and sometimes raided Carolingian communities.
Another possibility is that the framework could be part of a cog ship — a medieval trading vessel — which suggested it could have been from much later, circa 1,300 A.D.
To nail down the timber’s provenance, the beam will need to be cleaned and its rings analyzed so they can gauge its exact age, per municipal archaeologist and investigation leader Anne de Hoop.
This process, along with documentation, could take several months.
This wasn’t the first potential Viking discovery to rock the archaeological world of late.
Earlier this month, independent researcher Steve Dickinson claimed he found a Viking Ship burial that may hold the lost grave of Ivar the Boneless, the Viking leader who died around 873 A.D.
“This is rare, and, should my theory prove to be correct, it is the first such Viking ship burial to be found in Britain,” he said.
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