Ancient Norse Mortuary House Found

VINJEØRA, Norway – Archaeologists have found the remains of a “mortuary house” from the Viking age. Vinjeøra is in central Norway, 377.7 km (234.7 miles) northwest of Oslo. When a house-like structure functions as a coffin to indefinitely contain a corpse, people label it a “mortuary house.”

In Norway, Pagan Viking culture lasted throughout the Viking age, from 750 to 1050 C.E. As such, this mortuary house would have materially expressed Norse Pagan beliefs and practices about death.

Read more at source: Wild Hunt.org

Callisto said:

VINJEØRA, Norway – Archaeologists have found the remains of a “mortuary house” from the Viking age. Vinjeøra is in central Norway, 377.7 km (234.7 miles) northwest of Oslo. When a house-like structure functions as a coffin to indefinitely contain a corpse, people label it a “mortuary house.”

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It's an interesting find reminiscent of the Ahmad Ibn Fadlan story of the temporary burial of the dead cheiftain of the Rus until proper funerary rites can be organised. Love it when archeological finds support written accounts.

Or it could be another type of burial we are not yet familiar with, there was certainly a variety of burial practices among the Vikings.