{"id":739,"date":"2024-09-09T13:04:28","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T11:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/?p=739"},"modified":"2024-10-08T13:12:24","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T11:12:24","slug":"can-ai-reveal-the-secrets-of-oseberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/2024\/09\/09\/can-ai-reveal-the-secrets-of-oseberg\/","title":{"rendered":"Can AI Reveal the Secrets of Oseberg?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The textiles are among the greatest mysteries from the Oseberg find. They clearly tell a story\u2014but which one? Now, Artificial Intelligence is being used to find the answers.
<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text: Einar Chr. Erlingsen<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Hanged
Hanged men as sacrificial offerings were part of Norse religion. This reconstruction was made for the book \u201cOseberg \u2013 The Enigmatic Textiles.\u201d\nIllustration: Stig Saxegaard and the Museum of Cultural History.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Nille Gl\u00e6sel\u2019s proposal for the reconstruction of approximately five meters of the Oseberg tapestry.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Oseberg ship was excavated in 1904, a significant number of embroidered textiles\u2014estimated at around 80\u2014were discovered, among many other items. Most were severely fragmented and affected by having lain in the ground for nearly 1100 years. They faded quickly when exposed to air. Still, it was clear to the archaeologists at the time that the textiles told one (or more) stories, likely from sacrifices and other ceremonies surrounding the burial. From the Arab envoy Ibn Fadlan\u2019s detailed account of a Viking burial near the Volga in the year 922, we know that it could be quite intense, with both rape and human sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also know that tapestries were used to decorate chieftain halls and other important places. The Norman Bayeux Tapestry (from around 1070) is believed to be part of the same tradition. (The Normans were descendants of Scandinavians). The Bayeux Tapestry tells a continuous story, and so might the Oseberg tapestry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attempts at Reconstruction:<\/strong>
Textile artist Nille Gl\u00e6sel ventured some years ago to recreate part of the long tapestry story. Her five-meter-long tapestry shows impressive craftsmanship and now hangs in the Lofotr Viking Museum. However, the problem for both Gl\u00e6sel and others who have tried to decipher the connection between the many fragments is their fragile condition. One risks that they disintegrate if handled too much. It is also unknown whether we are dealing with one or more pictorial narratives, or how many pieces are missing in this extremely challenging puzzle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Technology:<\/strong>
However, there is now hope that some of the mysteries might still be solved. This is happening through a collaborative project between the Color Lab at NTNU in Gj\u00f8vik, archaeologists from the Museum of Cultural History, and textile conservators from the University Museum of Bergen. Software has been developed where photographs of the fragments are uploaded. The photos can be freely moved around. According to David Gigilashvili at NTNU in Gj\u00f8vik, the program can also increase the contrast in the images to better reveal patterns and colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers from several countries are participating in the exciting project. The computer, using Artificial Intelligence, can suggest which pieces fit together. The downside is that AI has few comparable objects to reference. Consequently, human judgment will still be indispensable in the work of solving some of the many riddles of the Oseberg find. We await new answers with anticipation.\u00a0(Source: Gemini.no \u2013 Research News from NTNU and SINTEF).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The textiles are among the greatest mysteries from the Oseberg find. They clearly tell a story\u2014but which one? Now, Artificial Intelligence is being used to find the answers. Text: Einar… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,18,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-oseberg","category-research"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/OSEBERGREVLEN-02.jpeg",640,387,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/OSEBERGREVLEN-02-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/OSEBERGREVLEN-02-300x181.jpeg",300,181,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/OSEBERGREVLEN-02.jpeg",640,387,false],"large":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/OSEBERGREVLEN-02.jpeg",640,387,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/OSEBERGREVLEN-02.jpeg",640,387,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/OSEBERGREVLEN-02.jpeg",640,387,false],"gg_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/10\/OSEBERGREVLEN-02-450x250.jpeg",450,250,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ole Harald","author_link":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/author\/ole-harald\/"},"uagb_comment_info":1,"uagb_excerpt":"The textiles are among the greatest mysteries from the Oseberg find. They clearly tell a story\u2014but which one? Now, Artificial Intelligence is being used to find the answers. Text: Einar…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":741,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739\/revisions\/741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/osebergvikingarv.no\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}