The Medieval Cemetery

When you walk along the path between the Medieval Museum and Sunnmøre Museum, you cross the old cemetery which in the Middle Ages lay below St. Peter’s Church towards Katavågen. Excavations in this area started in 1965. Around 300 graves have been found here. They are tightly spaced and several deep. The graves have an East to West orientation, and this together with a coin found in one of the graves has led archeologists to date the graves to the 1000s, early Christian times. Contents of graves can tell us a lot about how society at that time took care of their dead. We can get an insight into faith and traditions through the burial customs. We can also learn a little about social ranking, through the location and form of the graves. Through examinations of skeletons and teeth we can learn something about living conditions, sickness and general health at that time. This is something that the Borgund kaupang project will give us an insight into. Casts were made of many of the graves, with thought for later dissemination. These casts are kept in a store at the University Museum in Bergen.