An international team of archaeologists from Norway and the United Kingdom has uncovered Viking burial structures in central Norway dating from around 500 to 950 AD. The researchers describe these sites as specialized buildings crafted for particular burial ceremonies. The study appears in the scientific journal MediArch, short for Medieval Archaeology.
The team notes that the burial houses stand out from similar buildings across Scandinavia because they did not house permanent burials. Unlike typical tombs, these structures seem to function as temporary spaces linked to ritual practices rather than long-term internment.
Excavators observed doorways and signs of ongoing visits by the living, including well-trodden soil in front of the entrances, suggesting regular human activity and maintenance around the sites.
Each structure appears to have remained in use for roughly 100 to 200 years, implying that ceremonial space played a persistent and evolving role in regional funerary traditions even as specific rites shifted over time.
Although no burials were discovered inside the buildings, other finds such as bone fragments, arrowheads, and nails have aided scholars in interpreting their function and significance within the broader ritual landscape.
Experts propose that these burial houses were temporary shelters for bodies while preparations for cremation or other funeral rites were carried out. The artifacts imply that the deceased were kept there briefly, serving as a transitional space before moving toward the afterlife.
In related work, earlier archaeologists documented a remarkable grave, the Grave of a Stone Age shaman, in Turkey, highlighting how burial practices across regions reveal shared concerns about preparation, memory, and the journey after death.