{"id":491208,"date":"2026-06-09T19:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T19:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/491208\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T19:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T19:58:14","slug":"achaeological-dig-to-shine-light-ireland-and-norways-shared-viking-past-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/491208\/","title":{"rendered":"Achaeological dig to shine light Ireland and Norway\u2019s shared Viking past – News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A sod turning event marking the opening of a targeted excavation at the Woodstown Viking Site in County Waterford took place on Monday, June 8.<\/p>\n

A team of archaeologists from Ireland and Norway will be working together to uncover more of the two nations’ shared Viking past.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"MayorMayor Of Waterford City & County tuning a sod at at the Woodstown Viking Site. Photo: John Power<\/p>\n

With the support of the Royal Irish Academy and Waterford City and County Council, the team will be composed of archaeologists and researchers from Abarta Heritage, The Discovery Programme: Centre for Archaeology and Innovation Ireland, and Norway\u2019s University and Museum of Stavanger.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"MayorMayor Of Waterford City & County Cllr. Seamus Ryan turning asod at the Woodstown Viking Site with Neill Jacjman and Deise Medieval Re-Enactors Barbara Power, Deirdre Burke, Shay Cashman and Miche\u00e1l \u00d3’Cadhla. Photo: John Power<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Waterford City & County Council said work will focus on what researchers think are the foundations of a significant structure at the heart of this Viking-period site. “This structure was revealed during the geophysical surveys and is of considerable size,” she said.<\/p>\n

“If confirmed, this may be the largest Viking structure identified so far in Ireland, possibly the remains of a longhouse or hall,” she added.<\/p>\n

\"AttendingAttending were Mary Conway, Senior Librarian, WCCC and Waterford Heritage Forum and Dr. Kristin Armstrong-Oma, Museum Director, Archaeology Museum, Stavanger, Norway. Photo: john Power<\/p>\n

“The excavation seeks to better understand this building and its role in the settlement, and to gain insights about how it was built.”<\/p>\n

In recent years, Woodstown has undergone a series of detailed geophysical and other non- invasive surveys.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ArchaeologistArchaeologist Kristoffer Hillesland, James Eogan, Senior Archaeologist, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Bernadette Guest, Heritage Officer, WC&CC, Neil Jackman, Director, Abarta Heritage Photo: John Power<\/p>\n

That work was guided by an expert steering committee, with the surveys developed as a collaboration between leading geophysicists in Ireland and Norway.<\/p>\n

\"AttendingAttending were Gavan Murphy, Sean Denham, David Stone, Edward Pollard and Kr\u00edstoffer Hillesland. Photo: John Power<\/p>\n

“Together they have combined a variety of approaches to develop a deeper sense of what lies beneath the surface of these quiet fields beside the Suir,” said the spokesperson.<\/p>\n

\"AttendingAttending were Eddie Cantwell and Chrissie Knight, Waterford County Museum and R\u00f3is\u00edn Burke, Abarta. Photo: John Power<\/p>\n

“The combined evidence from these surveys, in addition to the previous excavations, suggest that Woodstown was not just a base for raiding and plundering the surrounding countryside; it was a substantial settlement and, a centre for trade, commerce and industry,” she added.<\/p>\n

\"AttendingAttending were Deirdre Burke and Miche\u00e1l \u00d3’Cadhla. Photo: John Power, Deis\u00e9 Medieval. Photo: John Power<\/p>\n

The excavation is currently taking place and will continue until June 19.<\/p>\n

\"AttendingAttending were Shea Cashman and Barbara Power. Photo: John Power<\/p>\n

There will be an opportunity to visit the site on Saturday, June 13, and booking details can be found at https:\/\/vikingwoodstown.ie\/events\/<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

\n Funded by the Local Democracy Scheme\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sod turning event marking the opening of a targeted excavation at the Woodstown Viking Site in County…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-491208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}