Boat builders of the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum will soon start a new experimental archeological project – the construction of a full-scale replica of the Viking ship Skuldelev 5.
The original Skuldelev 5 ship can be seen in the museum’s Viking Ship Hall. The process of constructing the replica will last between four and five years, The Viking Herald reports.
The project is likely to attract boat building and Viking Age enthusiasts, as Skuldelev 5 is a rather unusual ship find compared to other ship finds from the Viking Age.
The original ship
The ship was built in Denmark around ca. 1030 AD. It is 17.3 meters long and 2.5 meters wide – a long and narrow ship equipped with 26 oars and a mainsail, built for fast and efficient transport of warriors in times of conflict.
What makes Skuldelev 5 so interesting is the way the ship is built. It is one of the few ship finds from the Viking Age built with recycled timber – from the first construction phase. It is also the only Danish ship from the Viking Age that has traces of carved ornaments in addition to the usual chopping marks found on planks, floor timber, etc.
A small Ringerike-style carving can be seen on one of the recycled planks – possibly part of a larger cut-out on the original ship, which was then incorporated into Skuldelev 5’s mixture of old and new timber.
So far, the boat builders have put up a template of the ship’s keel and bow on the shipyard site to get an idea of how big the ship will actually be and to signal that they will soon start building another reconstruction of Skuldelev 5 out in the yard.
The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde
The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde exhibits five 1000-year-old original ship finds from the Viking Age, the so-called Skuldelev ships. It also hosts a fleet of sailing reconstructions.
The permanent exhibitions in the museum are focused on the five Skuldelev Ships.
The exhibits tell the story of these ships and the related Nordic maritime adventures during the Viking Age.
Source: The Viking Herald / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayTravel
Do you have a news tip for Norway Today? We want to hear it. Get in touch at [email protected]
Norway should be doing a replica like this where museum visitors can clamber aboard and get a feeling what being a rower was like.
Also, there should be play viking ships for kids.
Creativity is needed.