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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sin oprindelige stilling, istedenfor at det ved jordtrykket
var bøjet indover i næsten en ret vinkel og saaledes
undgik at komme op i det fortærende jordlag. Hvad der
endelig maa have bidraget til nogenlunde at bevare grav-
kammerets træverk trods dets højde over skibets kanter,
var, at største delen bestod af svære runde stokker, dæk-
kede med flere lag næver.
En ulempe ved det tørre vejr var det dog, især da so
lens skin blev stærkere, at alt træverk derved udsattes for
at beskadiges. For at undgaa dette, maatte skibet selv og
de løse træsager en eller to gange om dagen oversprøites
med vand og desuden dækkes med granbar. Desuagtet
undergik de gjenstande, som ikke vare af ek, nogen for-
andring ved indsvinden, hvilket dog ikke saameget viste
sig ved gjenstande af fure- eller grantræ, skjønt det sidste,
da det kom frem af jorden, var ganske svampagtigt,
næsten som sæbe, derimod mest med nogle mindre sager
af løvtræ, som dog heldigvis vare aftegnede, før foran-
dringen fandt sted.
Efterat skibet indvendig havde faaet den nødvendige
forstærkning og udvendig var forsynet med krabber og
slæde, blev det hele hævet op i højde med jordsmonnet
udenfor gravens aabning. Kun én hindring viste sig endnu
for skibets uddragning i et lidet skjær, som stak op ved
underkanten af 5te spant fra agterenden. Men dette blev
ved et par skud mineret bort.
Det stod nu igjen at afgjøre, hvad der videre skulde
foretages med skibet. Her fremstillede sig to alternativer:
enten at indkjøbe haugen, lade skibet staa, hvor det var,
og foretage en hel del nødvendige gravninger og byg-
ningsarbeider, eller at flytte skibet til universitetets tomt
og, ligesom i sin tid med Tuneskibet, opføre et skur der-
over. Interessen for det første alternativ viste sig, som
rimeligt var, meget stor i Sandefjordsegnen, hvor der
ogsaa tidligere af flere privatmænd velvillig var gjort et
ikke ubetydeligt sammenskud som bidrag til at dække
udgifterne ved gravningsarbeidet. Men hvis dette alter-
nativ valgtes, kunde det hverken opnaaes, at skibet blev
saa let tilgjængeligt for den store almenhed, heller ikke
tilvejebringes saa stor sikkerhed for skibets fremtidige
bevarelse og en saadan vejledning for de besøgende, som
naar det hele fund blev sat i forbindelse med universi-
doubt have taken place with the rest of the upper part
of the vessel, along both sides, and more particularly the
part above the top of the frames if it had kept its original
position, but it had, through the pressure of the soil,
been bent more inward at almost a right angle, in conse-
quence of which it did not come into the destructive layer
ofearth. What had also contributed to the wood part of
the sepulchral chamber being tolerably preserved, in spite
of its height over the edge of the vessel, was partly that
the greater portion of it consisted of large round logs and
partly that it had been covered with several layers of
birch-bark.
The dry weather had however one draw-back which
was, that when the sun-shine became stronger, all the
wood-work was more liable to damage. To avoid
this, the vessel itself and the loose wooden things con-
tained in it, were sprinkled with water, once or twice a
day, and also covered over with leaves of the spruce.
Objects not of oak, were also a little changed through
shrinking, which however did not appear so much in
objects of fir and spruce, though the latter when
coming out of the ground, were quite spongy and
looked almost like soap; those most changed were some
smaller objects of foliferous tree but most fortunately a
drawing had been made of these things before the change
took place.
When the vessel had been inwardly strengthened and
on the outside provided with stocks and a sledge, the
whole was lifted up to the height of the ground outside
the opening of the excavation. Now nothing pre-
vented the vessel from being dragged out but a
rocky projection at the underline of the 5th frame
from the stern. We however soon mined away this
hindrance.
It remained yet to be settled, what was to be done
with the vessel. Here there were two alternatives; either
to buy the mound, let the ship stand where it was, and
then, to a great extent, undertake some necessary dig-
ging and building, — or to remove the vessel to the
ground of the university and build a shed over it, as also
had been done with the vessel from Tune. It was reason-
able enough, that people in the neighbouring parishes of
Sandefjord, felt a great interest in the first of these alter-
natives. Some private gentlemen had also here earlier
very kindly subscribed to no inconsiderable extent on
purpose to assist in covering the expenses of the work.
But had this alternative been chosen, the vessel would
not be accessible to the public at large, and so great
a security would not be obtained for the future preser-
vation of the vessel, nor could visitors be so well infor-
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