Qualla: Borre Mound Cemetery

Borre Mound Cemetery: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Hans A. Rosbach, CC BY-SA 3.0. Road builders started it. In 1851, workers quarrying gravel from one of the large mounds at Borre discovered they were digging through a richly furnished grave built around a Viking ship. By the time antiquarian Nicolay Nicolaysen arrived to examine what remained, much of the burial had been destroyed. What survived, however, was extraordinary -- weapons, riding equipment, and decorative metalwork so distinctive that it gave its name to an entire artistic tradition. The Borre style, with its intricate animal and knot ornaments, is now recognized as one of the signature aesthetics of the Viking Age.

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Image: Hans A. Rosbach | CC BY-SA 3.0

Borre Mound Cemetery: A Power Center on the Fjord

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Parsley, CC BY-SA 3.0. Borre mound cemetery sits within Borre National Park at Horten, on the western shore of the Oslofjord in Vestfold. The park covers 45 acres and contains seven large mounds, one cairn, and at least 25 smaller cairns -- though the cemetery was likely larger before modern developmen...

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Image: Parsley | CC BY-SA 3.0

Borre Mound Cemetery: The Art That Bears Its Name

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Johannes Flintoe, Public domain. The craft work recovered from the 1851 excavation -- despite the destruction caused by the gravel quarrying -- proved to be among the finest examples of Viking decorative art ever found. The interlacing animal figures and symmetrical knot patterns became the defining characterist...

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Image: Johannes Flintoe | Public domain

Borre Mound Cemetery: What Radar Revealed

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Knut Riksen jr, CC BY-SA 3.0. The mounds visible on the surface are only part of the story. In October 2007, ground-penetrating radar surveys conducted by the Swedish Central National Heritage Board discovered the buried remains of two prehistoric hall buildings -- the first substantial building remains found...

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Image: Knut Riksen jr | CC BY-SA 3.0

Borre Mound Cemetery: Walking Among the Dead

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wolfmann, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Midgard Viking Center, opened in 2000 as part of the Vestfold Museum, offers exhibitions and guided tours of the national park. A reconstructed Viking feast hall near the park gives visitors a sense of the scale and atmosphere of the buildings that radar has revealed beneath ...

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Image: Wolfmann | CC BY-SA 4.0