1,200-year-old ‘Viking graffiti’ is the oldest drawing ever discovered in Iceland

Archaeologists in Iceland have unearthed the nation’s oldest identified drawing: a scratched-out piece of “Viking graffiti” that appears like a partly drawn boat.

The researchers discovered the graffiti within the stays of a longhouse, stated Bjarni F. Einarsson, an archaeologist and supervisor at his non-public firm Fornleifafræðistofan (The Archaeological Workplace) and the challenge’s excavation chief. The scribble was engraved on a 1-inch-wide (2.5 centimeters) reddish clay stone and dates to shortly after A.D. 800.