For over 100 years human remains recovered from the famous Bjerringhøj Viking Age burial in Denmark have been missing. But now, a collection of Viking bones and textiles that were recovered from “a misplaced box” in the National Museum of Denmark has been confirmed as belonging to the Bjerringhøj burial. And these are not just any Viking bones: they are a world-famous collection that is now even more complete.
The team of Danish researchers describe their latest work as “an archaeological detective story” and they demonstrate the importance of modern in-depth re-investigations of old finds, and the importance of “source-critical approaches” when dealing with museum collections.
In a new paper, lead author Charlotte Rimstad from the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, presents new skeletal and comparative textile analyses, radiocarbon and date interpreting, revealing an entirely new layer of data pertaining to “Viking Age clothing,” including the news that Viking men wore “long trousers”.
