Archaeologists discover remains of a man buried in a thousand year-old Viking ship surrounded by valuable items in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands.
The 16ft-long grave on the west coast's Ardnamurchan peninsula contained the remains of the high-status Viking, laid to rest inside his boat and buried with an axe, a sword and a spear. He was surrounded by valuable artefacts including a knife, a whetstone from Norway, a ring-pin from Ireland as well as Viking pottery.
"They probably belonged to him many of them, but certainly what they really tell us is about what the people who buried him thought of him," said Dr Oliver Harris from the University of Leicester, who co-led the excavation.
"What did they want him to be remembered as and what did they think he would need for the afterlife, and they thought this guy would need weapons.He needed his axe, his sword, his spear, his shield; he needed things that he could defend himself with and attack others.So he was obviously someone of really high status to have all these different kinds of weapons. Someone really important in his local community."
Most of the body parts have decomposed over the years. Only two teeth and a few bone fragments are still intact.
Dr Harris described the discovery as a "dream come true for an archaeologist."
The 16ft-long grave on the west coast's Ardnamurchan peninsula contained the remains of the high-status Viking, laid to rest inside his boat and buried with an axe, a sword and a spear. He was surrounded by valuable artefacts including a knife, a whetstone from Norway, a ring-pin from Ireland as well as Viking pottery.
"They probably belonged to him many of them, but certainly what they really tell us is about what the people who buried him thought of him," said Dr Oliver Harris from the University of Leicester, who co-led the excavation.
"What did they want him to be remembered as and what did they think he would need for the afterlife, and they thought this guy would need weapons.He needed his axe, his sword, his spear, his shield; he needed things that he could defend himself with and attack others.So he was obviously someone of really high status to have all these different kinds of weapons. Someone really important in his local community."
Most of the body parts have decomposed over the years. Only two teeth and a few bone fragments are still intact.
Dr Harris described the discovery as a "dream come true for an archaeologist."
Question 1. Indicate whether these sentences are true or false. Justify your answers with evidence from the text.
a) Ardnamuchan peninsula is in Norway.
b) Dr. Oliver Harris is the only leader of the excavation.
c) It is not sure the things around the Viking were his.
d) All Vikings had a good variety of weapons.
Question 2. Answer the following questions in your own words.
a) What have archaeologists just discovered?
b) Why, according to Dr. Harris, were there weapons surrounding the body?
Question 3. Find a word or a phrase in the text that means the same as:
a) tomb (par.2) b)world beyond death (par.4) c) complete, entire (par.5)
Question 4. Rewrite the following sentences without changing the meaning.
a) Archaeologists discover remains of a man buried in a ship.
Remains ......................
b) “The weapons probably belonged to him. He needed them to defend himself.”
Dr. Harris said that ..........................................
c) He was buried with valuable items. He was a man of high status.
If he had ..........................
Question 5. Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:
Would you like to discover something?
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