To their complete surprise, a couple renovating their home in Norway recently uncovered not just a few historical artifacts but an entire Viking grave.
A few months ago, Mariann Kristiansen and her husband began renovating their home in Norway. In the family since 1914 when the house was built, as they pulled up the floorboards, they were surprised to find a pile of large stones.
When they started removing the stones and found a glass bead and an axe, they immediately alerted local authorities, and archaeologists from a nearby museum were sent out to investigate.
After finding an iron arrowhead and some human remains, they determined that the couple had been living above a 9th-century Viking cairn, or an ancient mound of stones erected as a funeral memorial or landmark.
The artifacts have been sent to the Tromso Museum while archaeologists continue to explore the remains of the cairn. The couple will be reimbursed for the value of the artifacts, as per Norwegian law.