Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - I. Findestedet og fundets historie / Description of the place and mode of the discovery
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udgravningen, har det som bekjendt engang været den
sedvanligste fremgangsmaade og er det endnu, naar ar-
beidet foretages uden sagkyndig ledning, at man, ligesom
senest ved denne haug, begynder fra toppen. Men dette
er dobbelt forkasteligt. Ikke alene kommer man derved
i strid med de praktiske hensyn, som fremstille sig ved
en saadan jordgravning, idet navnlig bortskaffelsen af den
fremkomne fyld vanskeliggjøres, men det risikeres ogsaa,
at man aldeles ikke træffer de i haugen nedlagte sager,
eller, om det sker, at de blive ødelagte. Det eneste
rette er derfor at begynde ved foden og under hele grav-
ningen følge haugens bund, forsaavidt omstændighederne
ej maatte kræve, at der gaaes dybere ned. Det er her-
ved ligegyldigt, fra hvilken side af haugen man begynder,
da de regler, som engang opstilledes om, at man skulde
gaa fra nord til syd eller fra vest til øst, have vist sig
aldeles vilkaarlige. Fuld vished for, at alt, hvad der har
arkæologisk betydning, bringes for dagen, opnaaes selv-
følgelig kun ved at haugen gjennemgraves i sin helhed.
Naar jeg desuagtet ved nærværende leilighed besluttede
mig til foreløbig kun at gjøre en skjæring gjennem hau-
gens midte, var dette, dels fordi det, hvis skjæringen ikke
blev altfor smal, maatte vise sig, om haugen indeholdt
nogen begravelse, dels fordi en fuldstændig gjennemgrav-
ning paa grund af haugens størrelse vilde overstige sel-
skabets indskrænkede midler og til slutning maaske være
spildt arbeide, da det oftere har vist sig, at netop de største
hauger enten intet frembyde med arkæologisk interesse
eller i alle fald forholdsvis heist ubetydeligt. Naar jeg
derhos vilde begynde haugens udgravning fra sydsiden,
havde jeg alene for øje, dels at adgangen til haugen der-
ved blev lettest, da denne side, som før bemerket, ligger
nærmest vejen, dels at det vilde gjøre den mindst mulige
skade paa de omliggende jorder. Hertil kom, at hvis
det maatte blive nødvendigt i midten af haugen at udvide
skjæringen, vilde en god hjelp dertil faaes i den senest
oparbeidede aabning paa vestsiden. Af alle disse hensyn
lod jeg derfor ved haugens fod og gjennem midten paabe-
gynde en skjæring fra syd til nord med en brede af 2.50 m.
Allerede før den anden arbeidsdag var til ende, saaes
det til alles overraskelse ikke alene, at spidsen af en skibs-
stavn dukkede op af jorden, men ogsaa, at stavnen, der
senere viste sig at være fartøjets forstavn, nøjagtig indtog
midten af skjæringen og stod i samme retning som denne.
Dette var et merkeligt lykketræf, som baade sparede
meget arbeide og gav en sikker vejledning for den føl-
gende fremgangsmaade. Først maatte da skjæringen til
vation, it is a thing well known, that in earlier times
and even now, when excavations are not conducted in a
scientific way, the most common practice has been to begin
from the top. But this is wrong for two reasons. In this
way, a practical difficulty is met, as the getting away of
the soil dug up, is made more difficult. But on the
other hand you then also risk, that you do not at all
find things laid down in the mound, or if you do find
them, that they are ruined. The only right way is the-
refore to begin at the foot and, during the whole
time of the excavation, to follow the base of the
mound, if circumstances do not compel you to dig deeper
down, but, whether you begin from one side of the
mound or from the otheris of no importance. The rules
once established, that you must begin from the north and
proceed towards south, or from the west towards east, have
shown themselves to be quite arbitrary. A full certainty
that every thing of archeological importance will be
brought out, can therefore only be obtained by digging
out the whole of the mound. When I however on the
present occasion resolved only to form a passage right
through the middle of the mound, I did so, partly because
if this passage were not made too small, we should see
whether the mound was really a barrow, and partly because,
on account of the size of the mound, the limited means
of our society would not allow us to dig out the whole
mound, and lastly because such an entire digging out,
perhaps might be labour lost, as most frequently just the
largest mounds have always been found hitherto to contain
nothing or next to nothiug of archeological interest. Besi-
des when I resolved to begin the digging of the mound
from the southern side, I had but the object partly to
make the access to the mound easier, that side, as I
have before stated, lying nearer the road, and partly, as
in this way it would do least damage to the surrounding
fields. Add to this that, if it should be found necessary to
widen the passage cut, we should for this have purpose good
help from the opening last made on the western side. For
all these reasons, I began the cutting from South towards
North, atthe base of the mound and through its middle,
making the passage 2.50 m. wide.
Already before the second working day was over
we were greatly surprised to find not only the point of
a stem rise out of the soil, but also, that this stem which
later appeared to be the stem of the ship, stood exactly
in the middle of the passage cut, and that it was lying
in the same direction as the latter.
This was indeed a very. lucky hit, that saved a
great deal of work and showed to a certainty in what
way we were proceed. We were then first obliged to widen
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