Officials at the University of Oslo’s Museum of Cultural Heritage have been disappointed once again after the government’s revised state budget still provided no funding for its efforts to keep Norway’s famed Viking Ships from literally falling apart.
“We are extremely surprised and disappointed that the government hasn’t found place in the budget to take care of the unique world heritage that the Viking Ships represent,” Svein Stølen, head of the University of Oslo, told news bureau NTB.
The Viking Ships excavated in the late 1800s have long been on display at the Viking Ships Museum at Bygdøy in Oslo. The government has agreed to expand the museum and build new facilities at the Bygdøy site that will be better suited for the three Viking Ship and Viking treasures found with them, as well as better accommodating all the visitors who come to see them.
There’s just no actual funding set aside, and that greatly worries archaeologists and Stølen. “The situation now is precarious,” he told NTB. “Getting the new museum is critical for the preservation of the ships. Given the situation, we can’t sleep well at night until upstart funds are in place.”
newsinenglish.no staff
