Grave Of The VikingsAugust 12, 2018

In November 2012, in central Denmark in a small town called Fregerslev, Merethe Schifter Bagge and her team were sent out to do a routine archaeological survey. However, this survey turned out to be anything but routine. They discovered something shiny buried in the soil; one of hundreds of metal pieces from a thousand-year-old horse’s bridle. This bridle was part of one of the largest burials ever found in Denmark and it dates to the beginning of the end of the Viking Age. The bridle was made of priceless metals that must have been imported into Denmark. The placement of the bridle in the grave suggests that this was a rider burial; a type of pagan burial where a wealthy Viking would have been buried with a sacrificed horse. This was the grave of a very important Viking who lived around 950AD. The most bizarre aspect of this burial is that it doesn’t contain a body.

Grave Of The Vikings was broadcast on SBS ONE at Wednesday 24 February 2021, 04:30. This episode was initially placed on Sunday 12 August 2018.