What would life be like if you were a man in Scandinavia between 750 CE and 1100 CE? At some point you would have gone to sea – or gone “a-viking” – for an adventure. You would have felt safe on your ship. Viking vessels were the best of their time.
How do we know what Viking ships looked like? They sailed the seas over 1,000 years ago. But a few have been found buried in large mounds. Some were discovered in the British Isles. Others were found near the fjords (coastal inlets) of Norway and Denmark. The wet weather in those places helped keep the ships in good shape. Vikings had a custom (tradition) of burying rich people in ships. Their things were buried with them. People thought the ships would take the dead to Viking heaven. The buried items let the person live the same life in the next world.
Let’s go back in time and see some Viking vessels.
