A research group claims to have solved one of history’s oldest mysteries – the discovery of the legendary Viking King Harald Bluetooth, who ruled Denmark and Norway from 935 AD.
According to Ancient Origins, while much is known about Harald’s life, his final resting place has remained a mystery, with Nordic scientists striving to find it.
A satellite image utilizing ground-penetrating radar technology has inadvertently uncovered what is likely a well-hidden burial mound atop a hill near the village of Wiejkowo in the Gmina Wolin district, Kamień County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northwestern Poland.
The satellite image shows a mysterious “shadow” on the hilltop, where the church and the portrait of the missing king, Viking King Harald Bluetooth, are located – (Photo: ANCIENT ORIGINS)
Archaeologist and author Marek Kryda, the head of the satellite remote sensing project in Poland, stated that the potential burial site of this Viking king is one of the oldest mysteries in history.
The research team applied a set of satellite remote sensing tools to the massive mound in Wiejkowo and concluded that it was indeed built for the 10th-century king of Denmark and Norway, Harald Gormsson Bluetooth, commonly referred to as Harald Bluetooth.
Earlier, in 2014, a girl living in Malmö presented her teacher with a small gold plate brought to Sweden by her Polish grandmother.
The legendary gold plate and the girl who brought the plate to her teacher – (Photo: ANCIENT ORIGINS).
The so-called Curmsun Plate was discovered alongside other Viking artifacts beneath an ancient church on the outskirts of Wiejkowo. A Latin inscription on the plate refers to the Viking king as “the ruler of Denmark, Scania, and the Viking fortress of Jomsborg”, which is present-day Wolin, located just 3.5 miles west of the famous Viking burial site in Wiejkowo.
The plate, along with the rest of the Viking treasure, was left in a tomb beneath the church until 1945 when Stefan Sielski, a Polish army lieutenant colonel, seized it.
It was then kept in a button box until 2014 when Sielski’s 11-year-old granddaughter brought it to school and showed it to her history teacher.
Karen Schousboe, a Danish anthropologist and editor-in-chief of the Medieval History Journal, concluded that the Curmsun Plate “could be” a wedding gift in Harald Bluetooth’s second marriage.
These clues suggest that the mound on which the Wiejkowo Church stands is indeed the burial mound of Harald Bluetooth. However, more evidence is needed for a definitive conclusion, so the research team decided to use satellites equipped with radar that can “see through” the ground.
The ancient church believed to be the burial site of Viking King Harald Bluetooth – (Photo: RADOSLAW DROZDEWSKI).
They discovered a structure resembling a burial mound, similar to Viking burial mounds, hidden just beneath the ancient church.
Researcher Kryda stated that this new satellite study has completely confirmed the existence of a burial mound. However, to achieve official confirmation, they will need further field studies – excavating and finding a set of remains or at least a bone fragment containing DNA.
