National Geographic | National Geographic

National Geographic

A VIKING SHIP HELD TREASURES FOR CENTURIES

Monday, May 23, 2022

In today’s newsletter, we explore how a farmer’s curiosity led to a Viking bonanza, discover how long COVID stays in our bodies, examine abortion’s non-controversial distant past, … and reveal a centuries-old mummy mystery.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT CLARK/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE

A curious mound in a field caught the attention of a farmer. Was it a mass grave for victims of the Black Death? No, the mound contained an astounding burial site for two Viking women who died nearly 1,200 years ago in present-day Norway.

They were buried inside a Viking ship (pictured above), filled with treasure and intricate carvings, the grandest of Viking burials ever unearthed.

But mysteries abound over the identity of the women, their cause of death, and the meanings of some of the riches meant to accompany them into the afterlife, Heather Pringle writes for Nat Geo.

Read the full story here.

PHOTOGRAPH BY UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Pictured above, Viking mourners constructed a tent-like chamber on the burial ship for the two women, who died around the year 834.

Please, consider supporting our storytelling by subscribing to our magazine and unlimited digital offerings.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

PHOTOGRAPH BY BETTMANN, GETTY IMAGES

For much of U.S. history, abortion wasn’t controversial. How it got politicized (pictured above, a Virginia surgeon and patient in 1954)

How long do people shed COVID-19?

Monster fish found in the deep pools of the upper Mekong

USDA seizes 100+ animals from breeding facility where hundreds of beagles have died

These pioneering therapies offer new treatments for hard-to-heal wounds

These salamanders ‘sky-dive.’ How do they do it?

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

COURTESY OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF ZAGREB, PHOTOGRAPH BY IGOR KRAJCAR

A mummy mystery: A long-dead ancient Egyptian woman was wrapped in linen with text in a strange language. It took decades before researchers determined it was Etruscan, from a pre-Roman people. Finding 1,300 words on the mummy’s wrapping, researchers learned more from the long-dead language, of which one word, adapted by the Romans, is the root of the words “person” and “persona,” Nat Geo HISTORY magazine reports. (Pictured above, Etruscan letters from a restored linen book, once torn into stripes to cover an Egyptian mummy.)

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

IN A FEW WORDS

QUOTE

When you see the world through other people’s eyes, you have a richer understanding of who you are and why people do what they do.

Artist, technologist, Nat Geo Emerging Explorer

LAST GLIMPSE

PHOTOGRAPH BY NATIONAL ARCHIVES, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Shame: What caused America to lock up more than 120,000 civilians, two-thirds of them U.S. citizens, without due process during World War II? Nearly eight decades later, Junzo Jake Ohara struggles to answer. “I think it was probably because of prejudice,” says Ohara, who was confined for three years. “They were afraid of us, I guess.” The wartime imprisonment of Japanese Americans resonates today, Ann Curry wrote for Nat Geo. (Pictured above, from our Photo of the Day archival collection, is a young Dorothy Takii, who was shipped with her family to a prison-like facility in Arkansas.)

Correction: We incorrectly reported the size of Michigan’s lovely Mackinac Island in our newsletter Friday. It is 3.8 square miles. Thanks to sharp-eyed readers Gene Stuffle and Patti Shafer.

Today's newsletter was curated and edited by David Beard, Jen Tse, and Monica Williams. Have an idea or link to a story you think is right down our alley? Let us know at [email protected]. Happy trails!

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

We'd like to hear from you! Tell us what you think of our emails by sharing your feedback in this short survey.

TAKE THE SURVEY

Clicking on the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and National Geographic Channel links will take you away from our National Geographic Partners site where different terms of use and privacy policy apply.

This email was sent to: [email protected]. Please do not reply to this email as this address is not monitored.

This email contains an advertisement from:
National Geographic | 1145 17th Street, N.W. | Washington, D.C. 20036

Stop all types of future commercial email from National Geographic regarding its products, services, or experiences.

© 2022 National Geographic Partners, LLC, All rights reserved.