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TEACHER: Now, we're standing beside a Viking grave. Can everybody see the grave?

ALL: Yes.

TEACHER: Viking graves are really important to archaeologists because as well as the body that's buried, you also get objects that are buried with the body.

Can we all see the objects?

ALL: Yeah.

TEACHER: Now, this is different from the type of burials that we have today because generally when you're buried, it's just your body that goes in.

You don't get buried with objects.

The Vikings were different because when they were buried, they liked to be buried with objects that were important to them when they were alive.

So, if you were buried today, what kind of object would you like to be buried with? Yeah?

BOY 1: My fish.

TEACHER: Your fish.

BOY 2: My PlayStation.

TEACHER: Your PlayStation. Excellent. So these are some of the favourite things that you'd want to be buried with.

The Vikings were exactly the same. They liked to be buried with objects that they enjoyed using in real life.

So we're going to play a game now. Can everybody see the objects?

ALL: Yes.

TEACHER: Can you see every single one has a number?

ALL: Yes.

TEACHER: You have to try and tell me what you think the object is and what you think the Viking used it for when he was alive, OK?

We'll start with an easy one, let's start with number six.

What do you think number six is?

Yeah?

BOY 2: A comb.

TEACHER: A comb, excellent. So we know that the Viking liked to comb his hair in the morning. He's a bit like me, he likes to do his hair first thing in the morning.

OK, so he's quite proud of how he looked, OK? Now, the next one. Can everybody see number three? It's that collection of balls. What do you think those are?

Yeah?

BOY 1: A game.

TEACHER: A game, excellent. Do you know what kind of game it looks like?

BOY 1: Chess.

TEACHER: It's like chess, it's not chess, but it's like chess. It's like an earlier game before chess and it's probably something like draughts or something like that.

Now, we're going to do a bit more difficult question now. Can everybody see number eight, it's the carved piece of iron? Does anybody know what that is?

TEACHER: Yeah?

GIRL 1: A handle.

TEACHER: It's not a handle but it would have had a handle on it. The handle doesn't survive anymore. It's a sickle and it's for chopping down wheat.

What does this tell us about the Viking, then? Yes?

GIRL 1: It tells us he's a farmer.

TEACHER: Very good.

So we can see that this guy was a farmer, he liked combing his hair, and he also liked to play games.

Now most people, when they talk about Vikings, just think of the Vikings being a warrior or a raider with swords and shields, but we can see from this grave that the guy had a comb, he enjoyed playing games and he was also a farmer. So we can say that he was more than just a raider or a fighter.

Now, there's one object in this grave that's probably to do with fighting. It's very hard to see but cananybody guess what it is? Yeah?

BOY 2: It's a part of a middle of a shield.

TEACHER: Very good. Can everybody see the thing at the back?

ALL: Yeah.

TEACHER: Yeah? That's actually the centre of a big shield. The shield would have been made of wood but the wood doesn't survive.

It's like when you chop down a tree in your garden and over time it rots away. So it's only the middle bit that survives. So that's the only object in this grave that's probably to do with a warrior.