The exhibit includes coins, brooches, swords, chain mail, helmets and other priceless trinkets of the era, as well as interactive and multimedia attractions.
It was dredged up more than 20 years ago in Denmark’s Roskilde fjord, with about 25 per cent of its original wood still intact, enough to be able to estimate the total size of the craft. “A sword was often a more prestigious weapon. The more upper class warriors would have them,” said Van Deusen.“But a sword belonged to a specific individual. They didn’t generally get passed down. People were buried with their swords.”
She said women had some rights, including the right to divorce, and authority over activities in the home.“We want to know that there were these strong women who were fighting. And maybe there were, but they would have been the exception.”