A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as a container for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave. This style of burial was used in the Vendel era and by the Anglo-Saxons, the Merovingians, the Vikings and occasionally the Ancient Egyptians. For the former three Germanic peoples, this burial was seen as a way for the dead to sail to Valhalla; ship burial was a high honour.

Examples of ship burials

• Khufu ship, Giza pyramids complex (Fourth Dynasty)
• Gokstad, Norway
• Ladby, Denmark
• Oseberg, Norway
• Snape, East Anglia, England
• Sutton Hoo, East Anglia, England
• Balladoole and Knock-e-Dooney Viking ship burials on the Isle of Man
• Tune, Norway
• Valsgärde, Sweden
• Vendel, Sweden
• Rurikovo gorodishche near Novgorod
• Sarskoye Gorodishche near Rostov
• Timerevo near Yaroslavl
• Black Grave near Chernigov
• Ibn Fadlan gives an eye-witness account of a 10th century ship burial.

See also

• Stone ship
• Solar barge
• Chariot burial