Easter holiday at the Viking Ship Museum - Become an archaeologist for a day

[Translate to english:] Påskeferie på Vikingeskibsmuseet
Published 07th Mar 2023

Have you ever wondered what hidden treasures, shipwrecks and traces of ancient settlements lie just below the surface of the sea?

Every day in the Easter holiday from 1. to 10th of April we will have archaeological activities at the Viking Ship Museum

Under the sea lies plenty of traces from our past and the people who lived here before us. During the Easter holidays we focus on the specially trained archaeologists whos every day work takes place in the depths of the sea. Marine archaeologists they are called. 
It is the marine archaeologists who dive into the sea to investigate the seabed and make excavations under water. Here they find many things of archaeological interest. Flooded fishing facilities from the Stone Age, old rifles and of course shipwreck. But rarely shipwrecks as important as the five Skuldelev ships from the Viking Age exhibited in the Museum Hall. 
Hear about their work and investigate some of our current and exciting finds in the open workshop.

Feel the past from the depths with your own hands

Every day during the Easter holidays you can explore ancient finds that the museum's marine archaeologists have picked up from the depths of the sea.
The objects have been under water for many years and are therefore stored in a water tank, so as not to perish. If you want to investigate the finds yourself be prepared to get your hands wet. In the workshop of the marine archaeologists you will learn more about the selected finds from our collection. How our objects have been found and what the finds can teach us about the past. 

In the museum hall you can also analyze a reconstructed skeleton found at the sea floor. As a true archaeologists to come you must find out for yourself what the bones and grave goods can tell us about gender, age, cause of death and height. Based on these information, you can consider which ship in the museum hall the dead Viking may have sailed.  

You can explore the workshop of marine archaeologists and skeletal analysis every day from 10:30 to 15:30.

Climb aboard an imaginary trading expedition (Family tours in Danish)

Join us on a family tour in the museum hall where you will join the magnate 'Ottar' on his travels from northern Norway to the trading town of Hedeby in southern Denmark. Twice a day we do the special role-playing inspired tours for children and people that are young at heart. All participants of the tour are involved and become part of the story of the Vikings' expeditions to foreign shores.

It was ships like the five on display at the Viking Ship Museum that enabled the Scandinavian people to travel further than ever before and make their mark on world history. The sea became the connection to distant lands and the ships became the basis of the whole society. At the Viking Ship Museum, we also work with a kind of role-playing through our experimental archaeological methods. We gain knowledge about the Vikings' everyday life at sea when we sail on research expeditions and we gain a greater understanding of the Vikings' building techniques and artisanal working methods every time we make a reconstruction of a ship from the Viking Age. 

The family tours will take place every day at 12:00 and 14:00 and will be in Danish.  

Investigate the past at you own pace

If you want to unfold your inner archaeologist on your own it is then a great experience to go on a treasure hunt around the museum with a discovery kit in hand. Like researchers who investigate things from the past you can find out a lot about the Viking ships and voyages by looking carefully at the old ships we have exhibited in the Museum Hall. The five real Viking ships were used by the Vikings for war, fishing and trade.

If you look closely you will discover all the small, hidden traces that unfolds the big secrets and revelations about the use of the Viking ships.

The cost of the discovery kit is DKK 25 and a nice prize is included.
 

Saturday, April 1 to Monday, April 10, 2023

The activities are designed for families with children aged 6-14.

Open Daily: 10.00 - 16.00

Feel the past from the depths with your own hands:
Findings from under the sea workshop: 10.30 - 15.30
Skeletal analysis workshop: 10.30 - 15.30

Guided tours in Danish and English: 
Guided tours in English: 11.00
Family tours in Danish: 12.00 and 14.00
Duration: approx. 45 minutes

Investigate the past at you own pace
Treasure hunt on your own: 10.00 - 16.00

The discovery kit set incl. a nice prize and the cost is DKK 25.

» See what else is happening at the Viking Ship Museum in our calendar...

Admission: 
Family ticket for 2 adults and all children under 18: 230 DKK 
Adults: 125 DKK
Season ticket: 180 DKK
Children 0-17 år: Free admission

The Viking Museum in Roskilde: 
Vindeboder 12, 4000 Roskilde, tlf.: 46 300 200