Video shows Danish archaeologists uncovering 50 skeletons, rare artifacts from Viking era

A recent excavation expedition at a village in central Denmark surpassed expectations when a team uncovered 50 well-preserved skeletons.

The rare unearthing occurred at a Viking-era burial site Åsum near Odense, the third largest city in Denmark, according to Reuters and CNN .

Archeologists from the Museum Odense spent six months excavating the site, which spans 21,500 square feet and dates back to the 9th and 10th centuries, CNN reported. The dozens of skeletons remained intact thanks to adequate soil conditions and high water levels.

"Normally when we excavate Viking graves we'd be lucky if there were two teeth left in the grave besides the grave goods but here we have the skeletons fully preserved," Archeologist Michael Borre Lundoe, the excavation leader of the Museum Odense, told Reuters.

The team packed most of the skeletons from the graves into cardboard boxes to be further cleaned and examine.

Knives, glass pearls and other artifacts also uncovered

Alongside the human remains, archeologists uncovered several centuries old artifacts ranging from knives and glass pearls to brooches dating between the year 850 to 970.

Experts at the Museum Odense claim that these discoveries imply that Vikings traveled far and wide for trading ventures.

Most of the buried people were likely farmers, with the exception of a higher status woman who was buried with a silver-ornamented knife and a rare piece of glass, Lunedoe told Reuters.

"That's going to give us a whole lot of information about how they're buried and the artifacts they took with them in the grave," Lundoe added.

Another discovery was a brooch with ornaments and mineralized woven textile fragments that gave experts insight into the type of dresses women wore in the Viking Age, according to Reuters.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video shows Danish archaeologists uncovering 50 skeletons, rare artifacts from Viking era