挪威挖掘的三座维京坟墓中藏有来自遥远土地的硬币和一块雕刻得像女性生殖器的奇怪象征性石头

金属探测器在挪威西海岸发现了这些坟墓，这些坟墓似乎都属于女性。

Three Viking graves discovered on the west coast of Norway have yielded coins from distant lands and an oddly symbolic stone carved to look like female genitalia.

在挪威西海岸发现的三座维京坟墓中出土了来自远方的硬币和一块雕刻得像女性生殖器的奇怪象征性石头。

The graves, all of which seemed to belong to women, were found by metal detectorists and date back to the early 800s A.D., during the Viking Age (A.D. 793 to 1066), head archaeologist Søren Diinhoff of the University Museum of Bergen told sciencenorway.no.

卑尔根大学博物馆首席考古学家 Søren Diinhoff 告诉《科学挪威》，这些坟墓似乎都属于女性，由金属探测器发现，其历史可以追溯到公元 800 年代初的维京时代（公元 793 年至 1066 年）。不。

"From a research perspective, this is a small treasure trove," Diinhoff said.

“从研究的角度来看，这是一个小宝库，”迪因霍夫说。

A metal detector survey suggests that the graves are just three of perhaps 20 at the site, which is at a place called Skumsnes in the municipality of Fitjar. Though the bones of the inhabitants have long since disintegrated, their grave goods — broaches, glass beads, coins, and stones arranged in the shape of a boat — remain. Some of the jewelry and coins originated as far away as Ireland, England and the Frankish Empire, which covered much of Western Europe at the time. Most striking was a rare coin from southern Denmark stamped with a Viking boat on one side and a stag on the other.

金属探测器调查显示，该地点大约有 20 个坟墓，其中只有 3 个，该地点位于菲贾尔市一个名为 Skumsnes 的地方。尽管居民的骨头早已分解，但他们的陪葬品——胸针、玻璃珠、硬币和排列成船形的石头——仍然存在。一些珠宝和硬币起源于遥远的爱尔兰、英格兰和法兰克帝国，这些帝国覆盖了当时西欧的大部分地区。最引人注目的是一枚来自丹麦南部的罕见硬币，一侧印有维京船，另一侧印有雄鹿。

The find reveals the long-distance trade and migration occurring in Viking societies at the time. The women in the graves had some connection to continental Europe, Diinhoff said.

这一发现揭示了当时维京社会中发生的长途贸易和移民。迪因霍夫说，坟墓中的妇女与欧洲大陆有某种联系。

"It's probably no coincidence," he said. "Perhaps they came from abroad and married into the local community."

“这可能不是巧合，”他说。 “也许他们来自国外，并融入了当地社区。”

Skumsnes was a farm at the time, which probably belonged to a local king, according to the researchers. It wasn't far from the coast and may have been a waypoint for travelers. One of the women was buried with rocks in the shape of a 13-foot-long (4 meter) boat to accompany her to the afterlife. At the spot where the mast would be, archaeologists found a stone shaped like a vulva, which may have been used to symbolize the woman buried in the grave. It's possible, Diinhoff said, that the woman wasn't buried there at all, but that the grave was a cenotaph, or a memorial without a body. It's difficult to say, Diinhoff said, because the soil in western Norway does not preserve organic materials very well.

研究人员称，斯库姆斯内斯当时是一个农场，可能属于当地国王。它距离海岸不远，可能是旅行者的一个中转站。其中一名妇女被埋葬在一艘 13 英尺长（4 米）船形状的岩石中，以陪伴她到来世。在桅杆所在的地方，考古学家发现了一块形状像外阴的石头，这可能是用来象征埋在坟墓里的女人的。迪因霍夫说，这名女子可能根本没有埋在那里，但这座坟墓是一个纪念碑，或者是一个没有尸体的纪念碑。迪因霍夫说，这很难说，因为挪威西部的土壤不能很好地保存有机物质。

The boat grave also included wool shears, a hetchel (a comb to prepare fibers for spinning and weaving), a spindle whorl and a weaving sword, all items used to make textiles, as well as a bronze key. This suggests that the woman this grave was dedicated to was of high-status: Textile-making was prestigious, and the key indicates she was head of a household.

船墓还包括羊毛剪、一把梳子（一种为纺纱和编织准备纤维的梳子）、一个纺锤螺纹和一把织剑，所有用于制造纺织品的物品，以及一把青铜钥匙。这表明这座坟墓所供奉的女性地位很高：纺织业享有盛誉，钥匙表明她是一家之主。

Unn Pedersen, an archaeologist from the University of Oslo, told sciencenorway that textile-making was a path to wealth and security for Viking-era women.

奥斯陆大学考古学家翁恩·佩德森 (Unn Pedersen) 告诉《科学挪威》，纺织业是维京时代女性通往财富和安全的途径。

"If not members of the elite, these women were certainly high up in the social and economic hierarchy," she said.

“如果不是精英成员，这些女性肯定在社会和经济阶层中处于较高的地位，”她说。