Kvalsund Boats

The Kvalsund boats are two pre-Viking Norwegian vessel finds recovered in 1920 from a bog at Kvalsund near Heroy in Sunnmore, dated to about AD 690 to 780. The larger is a roughly 18-meter clinker-built rowing boat showing an early true keel and the first clear evidence of a fixed steering arrangement; it predates the Viking sail. The find marks a developmental step between the rowed Nydam-type vessels and the sailing longships, and is held at the Bergen University Museum.