Från nit till vikingagrav : En virtuell rekonstruktion av båtgrav 12 i Valsgärde med hjälp av digital tredimensionell visualisering

The aim of this paper is to use digital three-dimensional recreation as a tool and interpretative model to study the composition and deterioration of boat grave Valsgärde 12. This is an early study in the potential of 3D-visualisation of boat graves and is thus both an investigation of the boat grave burial custom and a methodology assessment. Extracting and visualising the positional data in three dimensions of the rivets and nails from grave 12 enables a rudimentary reconstruction of the grave’s composition and of the boat. The 3D-reconstruction reveals the presence of two distinct layers of material: one boat layer and one elevated layer – a “roof” – spanning approximately half the length of the boat. This method is not ideal for the study of boat graves with poor documentation and cremation graves, but the results of this paper illustrate the method’s sound validity and efficiency when the right conditions are met.