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c. 750 CEReputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Two ship crews are buried at Salme, Estonia

A violent voyage half a century before Lindisfarne, dug up by accident in 2008

On the timeline · around c. 750 CE · Before LindisfarneBefore LindisfarneTwo ship crews are buried at Salme, Estonia720 CE730 CE740 CE750 CE760 CE770 CE780 CE

Quick facts

Location
Salme, Saaremaa, Estonia
Date
c. 750 CE
Remains found
41 men in two boats
Likely origin
Malaren region, central Sweden

What happened

Road workers on the Estonian island of Saaremaa struck human bone in 2008 and archaeologists excavated two buried boats containing the remains of 41 men. The crews had died violently, many with sword and arrow wounds, and were buried together with weapons, gaming pieces, and dogs and hawks around the year 750. Strontium isotope analysis of the men's teeth points to the Lake Malaren region of central Sweden as their most likely home. The rich weapons and the scale of the burial suggest an armed expedition, not a stray trading party.

Why it matters

The find pushes the start of organized, armed Scandinavian seaborne activity back nearly half a century before the 793 raid on Lindisfarne that conventionally opens the Viking Age. It shows raiding parties crossing open water and dying far from home well before the word 'Viking' appears in any English chronicle.

How we know

Uppsala University's Viking Phenomenon project, which helped fund the Estonian excavation led by Juri Peets of Tallinn University, published isotopic and osteological analysis of the remains alongside the original 2008-2012 dig records.

Sources

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Two ship crews are buried at Salme, Estonia · The Vikings · SourcedStory