Oseberg 156 Chest

The Chest of Oseberg 156 of Awesomeness

Construction photos of The Chest of Oseberg 156 of Awesomeness

by the totally insane Thatshim ( Gary Baker ) & Indunna ( Jenny Baker )

Background history on the Original Chest

In 1904 a remarkable archaeological site was uncovered at Oseberg, Norway.

It consisted of an astonishingly well-preserved Viking ship that contained the remains of two women along with a wide array of accompanying grave goods.

This vessel, which is widely celebrated as one of the finest finds of the Viking Age, had been buried within a large mound or haugr.

The burial mound measured approximately 40m long by 6.5m high and it completely covered the boat.

The conditions within the mound were particularly damp and this meant that the ship and its contents survived nearly intact.

Professor Gabriel Gustafson and the crew. Photo: Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo/ Olaf Væring.

Excavation of the Oseberg ship in 1904. Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo/ Olaf Væring.

You can read more about the Excavation at The Story Begins

Centrally placed on the ship were the skeletons of two women whose remains had been placed in a specially built wooden tent.

One of the woman was in her eighties and this was reflected in the condition of her bones which showed that she had suffered badly from arthritis during her final years. The second woman was younger and had died in her early fifties .

The connection between the two women is unclear; it is possible that they were related or more sinisterly represent the remains of a noble woman interred with her sacrificed slave.

Indeed, some have speculated that one of the women may be Queen Åsa, the grandmother of Norway’s first king, although this remains unproven.

For a List of what was contained with in the Ship Grave By the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo/ Olaf Væring.

Museum photos of the Oseberg 156 Chest

Photos from the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo

Details about the Oseberg chests from Osebergfunnet Vol I ???

Details on the Original 156 Chest

from Catalogue of extant chests and caskets by Sven Skildbiter ( Stephen Wyley)

Oseberg (Norway) Chest No. 156.

Photos of the Original 156 Chest taken by Sharon Turvey - July 2013

Our Reconstruction of the Chest details -

Project started on 11 Aug 2013

Project finished on - Finished 3 April 2014

Special Thank you to

Sven the Merchant / Sven Skildbiter ( Stephen Wyley) , Mike Smith , Stosh Thegan ( Joshua Woods )

& Asea the well Traveled ( Sharon Turvey ) and Budd Weston for their help in the research & construction of this project.

So What is the Difference between the 156 Chest and the 149 Chest ?

To find out what the difference were between the two chest - we drew up two full size spec drawings of the chests

And what we found the differences are :-

Construction Materials Used:

wood - pine from local hardware shop

34 Forged nails - from Talerwin Forge

Lock from Mike Smith

Lock hasps made from squared 3 mm wire - help with the construction of them from Stosh Thegan ( Joshua Woods )

1555 Upholstery tacks from a ebay seller

- Front has 369 tacks,

- Back has 385 tacks,

- Right end has 138 tacks

- Left end has 138 tacks

- Lid has 525 tacks

4 Hinges made from flattened 4 mm wire

Chest dimensions -

Length Front & Back - at top 103 cm & length at bottom 108 cm long

Height 41.5 cm

Width of the ends at top edge 28.5cm at bottom 37cm

Construction photos - The Great work starts ...... or ........ how Gary & Jenny went tacky

Making of the Hasps

But Stosh and us were not 100 percent happy with our 1st attempt at the Hasps

So we asked a friend Budd Weston if he could help us make something better

All finished

We have just finished one of our major projects the Oseberg 156 chest

a very special Thank you to Budd Weston who help us by made the hasps for the chest

Finished 3 April 2014

References:

The Kulturhistorisk museum - the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo

key search words : Osebergfunn = Oseberg Find

The Story Begins Excavation of the Oseberg ship in 1904. Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo/ Olaf Væring.

Oseberg Fundet, Vol. ii & Vol. III- Brogger and Schetelig,

http://archaeology.about.com/od/oterms/g/oseberg.htm