Boat and human remains from bogs in Central Norway MERETE MOE HENRIKSEN and MORTEN SYLVESTER INTRODUCTION Large areas of Norway are covered by bog, and in Central Norway this accounts for 20 per cent of the total land area. The Museum of Natural History and Archaeology (Vitenskapsmuseet) in Trondheim has a large collection of archaeological artefacts recovered from these wetland areas. The artefacts are an important resource for the study of the region”s prehistory. The majority of bog finds comes from the country”s coastal areas and their distribution pattern arises principally from widespread peat extraction for fuel, especially in the first half of the twentieth century. Among the bog finds is what is, perhaps, the Museum’s most well-known find - the ornamented Bronze Age wooden artefacts found at Høstad, near Trondheim (Marstrander 1967). Recently, two projects have been initiated at the Department of Archaeology and Cultural History at Vitenskapsmuseet, both of which take bog finds from Central Norway as a starting point. Boat elements are being investigated by Morten Sylvester, while Merete Moe Henriksen has chosen to look more closely at human remains found in bogs. BOATS IN BOGS In the study of prehistoric boats in Scandinavia, both boats and parts of boats from bogs have always been an important resource, and some of the best known boat and ship finds have been recovered from this kind of context. Among these are the two Danish finds —the Hiortspring boat (c 350 BC) (Rosenberg 1937; Crumlin-Pedersen 86 Trakadas 2003) and the boats from Nydam bog (c AD 190-320) (Engelhardt 1865; Rieck 2003), as well as the Norwegian Kvalsund find of two boats from the period around AD700 (Shetelig 8CJohannesen 1929). In addition to the well-known sites with ‘intact’ boats, there are many sites which FKilÃRE l Miniature boat from Ryggaum-I, prob;1b'1y dared to the Viking Age or the Middle Argus. (Photo: Peis F.. Fredril<sczml 3 A. 2 . q