Queen Margrethe of Denmark has travelled to a spectacular new archaeological dig which may have links to one of her ancient predecessors, King Harald Bluetooth.
The 85-year-old former monarch visited the site being unearthed by Moesgaard Museum to observe their progress.
“North of Aarhus, archaeologists from Moesgaard Museum are working to uncover traces of the Viking Age in an extensive fieldwork, and Her Majesty Queen Margrethe visited here on Monday, the Danish royal palace shared on social media.
“At the excavation, Queen Margrethe met several of the museum's archaeologists, who presented some of the preliminary results.
Queen Margrethe visited a newly uncovered viking burial site
|GETTY / MOESGAARD MUSEUM
“The excavation is located only a few kilometres from Lisbjerg, where a Viking Age burial site has recently been found, which is likely to have been connected to the royal power of the time,” the post continued.
Queen Margrethe has been patron of Moesgaard Museum since 2005.
Pictures accompanying the post showed the former monarch amazed as she was shown the around the site.
Margrethe was also shown some of the discoveries from the site so far, including the remains of a jawbone and some intricate brooches.
The former Danish monarch oversaw the unearthing being undertaken by Moesgaard Museum
|MOESGAARD MUSEUM
The new site sits close by to a recently uncovered a 10th-century Viking burial which was hosted a collection of treasures.
Constructions workers on a site near Lisbjerg stumbled across a horde of pearls, coins, ceramics and a box containing gold thread.
Further excavation by the Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus revealed approximately 30 graves dating from the second half of the 10th century.
The burial ground dates to the reign of King Harald Bluetooth, who introduced Christianity to Denmark.
A host of incredible items have been found at the site including intricate jewellery
|MOESGAARD MUSEUM
Museum archaeologist Mads Ravn believes the graves belonged to a noble Viking family whose farm was discovered nearby in the late 1980s.
Among the discoveries was a grave believed to belong to an important woman, containing a decorative box filled with objects and a pair of scissors.
Ravn said: "It's very rare. There's only three of them we know of."
He also noted that similar items have been found only in south-east Germany.
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A jawbone was also found at the site and presented to the queen
|MOESGAARD MUSEUM
The archaeologist explained: "People basically took what was important to them into the grave because they wanted to transfer it to the other world."
"This could have been one of Harald Bluetooth's earls or stewards," Ravn said, explaining that the king appointed nobles to manage various regions.
Queen Margrethe’s visit to the site was an affirmation of the importance on the fresh site to Denmark’s cultural heritage.
The 85-year-old abdicated the throne in Jurany 2024 in favour of her son, King Frederik.