Experts confident of further treasures from Viking site

ARCHAEOLOGISTS working on the remains of the 9th-century Viking settlement in Waterford admit they have just “scraped the surface” of the historic site.

Just over 5% of the site uncovered as part of excavation works for the city’s €300 million ring road has so far been examined. It could take years to unearth the treasures and find answers to the ever-increasing number of questions raised from finds, an expert says.

A preliminary report on the dig, the finds so far and the historical importance of the site is being released to the National Roads Authority by early next week, according to Ian Russell, archaeologist with ACS Ltd, the company commissioned to complete the dig.

The most significant report to date catalogues details of the 5,000-plus finds and is expected to make the case for extensive excavation on the site at Woodstown, Co Waterford.

It is being presented to the National Roads Authority, the Department of the Environment and the National Museum.

“Hopefully there will be further excavation of the site,” Mr Russell said.

“We started off with 50 questions about what we found. We now have about 500 more. We know there was a Viking influence and we’ve found evidence of an early medieval site of some sort and a settlement.

“We’ve also uncovered evidence of some structures and kilns which would indicate industry was located there. The more we find, the more questions the finds raise. Further work would be required to get these answers,” Mr Russell added.

Work has continued at various stages on the 500 by 600-metre site since it was first discovered in the Summer of 2003. And an extensive report on the work so far is due to be published soon in the September issue of the Déise Journal, a historical publication available locally in Waterford.

The Woodstown site off the Old Kilmeaden Road, near Waterford city, dates from the 9th century. Among the items found, Mr Russell says, have been nails, silver weights and hooks, spear-heads and a grave which contained a shield, sword, ring pin and other items.

Among the most puzzling of finds has been a tiny fragment of a coin from Baghdad. It is being examined by the National Museum.