During a regular inspection conducted in advance of infrastructure construction outside the village of Aasum, near Odense, Denmark’s third-largest city, the 21,500 square foot site was discovered.
High levels of chalk and water in the local soil, according to experts, helped preserve the remains so well that they are hoping to do DNA tests on the corpses.
Their life stories may be revealed by the DNA study, along with information about kinship, migratory patterns, and other facets of Viking Age life.
The six-month dig’s leader, Michael Borre Lundo, described the skeletons’ “very, very well preserved” condition as a “exciting” discovery.
Archaeologists would normally “be lucky to find a few teeth in the graves, but here we have entire skeletons,” according to Mr. Borre Lundo.
According to him, DNA testing could reveal their origins and whether they are related.
Mr. Borre Lundo stated that the location, which is in what is now central Odense, was likely a “standard settlement” or possibly an agricultural community. It is about three miles from a ring fortification.
