Researchers discover the oldest drawing in Iceland: a stone with a Viking ship (photo)
Archaeologists in Iceland have discovered a sandstone depicting a Viking ship that may be the oldest image ever found in the country. The stone was found at the Sted archaeological site in Eastern Iceland.
The discovery was made in a long house, which is believed to have originated before the permanent settlement of the island. It is reported by Iceland Review.
The first exploratory excavations were made in 2015, and since then, archaeologists have returned every summer to continue excavations at the site. The long house is one of the largest found in Iceland, measuring 31.4 meters long.
In Scandinavia, only the farms of the chieftains had long houses larger than 28 meters. It is also the richest long house ever excavated in Iceland.
A small but amazing sandstone depicting a Viking ship with its sails unfurled was found in the walls of an older longhouse estimated to date back to around 800 AD.
Such carvings of ships, made on bone, wood and stone, are a fairly common artifact in Scandinavian countries, but this is the first image found in Iceland and probably the oldest image of any kind found on the island.
As a reminder, a mausoleum dating back to the Roman era was unearthed in London, where the rich were buried.
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