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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begge sider betydelig udvides, saaledes at den overalt
fik en større brede, end fartøjet antoges at have. Dernæst
maatte baade skibet og det dertil, som det senere viste
sig, hørende gravkammer afdækkes, endvidere begge be-
fries for sit indhold og gravkammerets tømmer borttages,
og endelig al jordfyld mellem fartøjets sider og skjæringens
vægge fjernes, saa at skibet kunde staa frit. Derved til-
trængtes foreløbig ikke nogen afstøtning, da saadan fore-
fandtes i tykke runde stokke, som med visse mellemrum
paa begge sider vare lagte horisontalt mod skibets øverste
kant. Hele arbeidet blev begunstiget af ualmindelig tørt
vejr, saa at der ikke faldt en draabe regn før langt ud i
juni maaned. Da derhos fylden i skjæringens vægge var
meget haard, lod det sig gjøre kun at borttage madjorden
og give væggene en ubetydelig skraaning, uden at der
behøvedes stiver for at hindre nedrasning. En undtagelse
herfra fandt kun sted paa et kort, skarpt begrænset strøg
lidt nordenfor midten af østre væg, hvor der et par gange
foregik mindre betydelige nedrasninger, fordi jordmassen
Heraf i forbindelse
med den oven omtalte fordybning paa haugens overflade
her var løsere end andre steder.
maatte det saaledes kunne sluttes, at der engang, men
langt op i tiden, omtrent mod midten af skibets bagbord-
side og østenfra var foretaget en gravning, hvis øjemed
ogsaa blev klart nok af den gjennemhugning paa det an-
førte sted og den forstyrrelse af gravkammeret, som senere
kom for dagen.
Paa disse undtagelser nær havde fartøjet holdt sig
ualmindelig godt, og dette skyldtes alene den dybde,
hvori det var sat. Haugen havde en højde af 5 m. og
bestod under madjorden af sandblandet ler. ligetil bunden,
som ved et af en ingeniør foretaget nivellement viste sig
at ligge kun 30 fod (9.40 m.) over havfladen. Under
bunden fandtes blaaler, og heri var skibet nedgravet 4
fod (1.26 m.) og tillige indvendig fyldt dermed, hvorhos
der over blaaleret var lagt mose og faskiner af hassel-
grene. Saa langt op, som dette lag gik, var derfor alt
træverk vel bevaret, medens skibets højeste del, der saa-
ledes strakte sig op i det sandblandede lerlag, og navnlig
det øverste af for- og agterstavnen med de dertil stødende
planker og tilhørende ræling var bortraadnet. Det samme
vilde uden tvil ogsaa have fundet sted med hele den
øvrige overkant af skibet langs begge sider og navnlig med
stykket ovenfor spanternes top, hvis dette havde bibeholdt
the passage very considerably on both sides so that it
had everywhere a breadth somewhat larger than the
vessel was supposed to have. Then the soil covering the
vessel, and what afterwards appeared as the sepulchral
chamber, had to be taken away; the contents besi-
des to be taken out of both, the timber of the sepul-
chral chamber also carried away, and all the soil,
between the sides of the vessel and the walls of the
passage, removed, so that the ship could stand quite free,
For this purpose no supporting pillars were needed,. as
such were found in round thick logs that at certain inter-
vals were laid on both sides horizontally against the
upper part of the vessel. We were during the whole
work favoured by uncommonly dry weather, so that not
a drop of rain fell before the month of June was far ad-
vanced. As also the clay, in the walls of the passage
cut, was very hard, it was possible to take away only the
cultivable ground and to make the walls very little slanting,
without it being necessary to put up stays in order to
prevent the falling down of the clay. There was only
“one exception to this in a short space, abruptly beginning
and ending a little more north than the middle of the
eastern wall, where there, a couple of times, were some
lesser falls of earth, because the soil was here looser than
in other places. From this and also from the recess
on the surface of the mound, above mentioned, it was
possible to come to the conclusion, that once, but far back
in ancient times, towards the middle of the larboard side
of the vessel and from the east, a digging had been
tried, the object of which was made clear enough by
the cutting through, at the place stated, and by the
disturbance of the sepulchral chamber, afterwards dis
covered.
These places only excepted, the vessel appeared un
commonly well preserved, which was to be ascribed to
the depth, at which it had been placed. The mound had
a height of 5 m. and consisted, under the cultivable
ground, of clay mixed with sand, all the way to the
bottom, that, through a levelling made by an engineer,
was found to lie but 30 feet (9.40 m.) over the surface
of the sea, Under the bottom, blue clay was found, in
which the vessel had been put 4 feet (1.26 m.) down
and with which it also had been filled on the inside,
whilst moss and fascines of hazel-branches had been laid
over the blue clay. As high up, as this layer, all
the woodwork was well preserved, whilst the higher
part of the vessel lying in the clay mixed with
sand, and more particularly the upper part of the stem
and of the stern with the adjoined planks and the gun-
wale appurtenant were rotted away. This would also no
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