Archaeologists have discovered several Iron Age Viking longhouses in Gjellestad, a village about 100 kilometres south-southeast of Oslo (Norway), thought to be a place of great importance during the Iron Age which lasted from around 1200 to 600 BCE. Out of the five longhouses identified using ground-penetrating radar, the biggest measured 60 metres long and 15 metres wide, making it one of the largest known in Scandinavia. A typical Iron Age longhouse from is believed to have measured 20 to 30 metres. The size of a longhouse corresponds with the wealth and influence of its owner, further proving this site was one of great importance.
     Several burial mounds were also found, along with a ship burial reserved for the most important nobles in Viking society. Referred to as the Gjellestad ship, the vessel would have either been commandeered or specially constructed and brought onto land, the deceased placed on the boat along with funerary offerings, and all interred together. One of few surviving examples, the ship will be the first that Norway has excavated in 100 years.

Edited from ARTnews (6 December 2021), Life in Norway (7 December 2021)