Dig to begin at royal Viking estate
From Views and News from Norway, 10 March 2011:
The largest archaeological project in Norway in nearly 10 years will begin in June to recover property of the Viking king Harald Hårfagre (alternatively known as “Harald Fairhair,” “Harald Finehair” or, simply, “Harald I”). He was, at any rate, the first king of Norway.
Newspaper Aftenposten reports that the work will be taking place in Avaldsnes, Karmøy (southwest Norway), at a site believed to be part of Fairhair’s royal estate. The research project, led by Oslo’s Cultural History Museum in cooperation with its counterpart museum in Stavanger, will run from mid-June to mid-September and look to exhume about 11,000 square meters in the area this year, before completing the project in 2012.
Harald Fairhair is credited by many with uniting, through conquests and alliances, the various smaller princedoms into something resembling the modern kingdom of Norway. He is believed to have reigned from 872AD until his death in 932AD.