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Ship burial

A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as a container for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave. This style of burial was used in the Vendel era and by the Anglo Saxons, the Merovingians, the Vikings and occasionally the Ancient Egyptians. This burial was seen as a way for the dead to sail to Valhalla; ship burial was a high honour.

Examples of ship burials

• Khufu ship, Giza pyramids complex (Fourth Dynasty)
• Gokstad, Norway
• Ladby, Denmark
• Oseberg, Norway
• Snape, East Anglia, England
• Sutton Hoo, East Anglia, England
• Balladoole and Knock-e-Dooney Viking ship burials on the Isle of Man
• Tune, Norway
• Valsgärde, Sweden
• Vendel, Sweden
• Rurikovo gorodishche near Novgorod
• Sarskoye Gorodishche near Rostov
• Timerevo near Yaroslavl
• Black Grave near Chernigov
• Ibn Fadlan gives an eye-witness account of a 10th century ship burial.

See also

• Stone ship
• Solar barge
• Chariot burial