The construction of Stavanger Cathedral in southwestern Norway began just a few decades after the Viking Age ended. What did they find? But first let's jump back a few decades — because there is someone who has been under the floor of the church before. A thought keeps swirling around in his head: Could there be anything interesting under the floor of the cathedral? Rolfsen knows about a small opening where it just might be possible to enter the crawl space under the floor of the cathedral.
An electrician had just been in there. He has procured a work light with a long extension cord, the Museum of Archaeology at the University of Stavanger write on their webpages. The lamp provided good light, and there were lots of corridors and chambers. And quite right, there were interesting things to observe here. Then something unexpected happens: the light goes out. Rolfsen is all alone with skeletal remains in the crawl space under the 12th century church. I get a clammy feeling that the roof and stone walls are pressing in.
At first I assume that the visitors are walking back and forth in the aisle in an east-west direction, but then sounds come from other people walking back and forth in different directions. I get disoriented, crawling around aimlessly and bumping into nails, small and large rocks, along with coffins and skeletal remains.
I am trapped in a labyrinth, and totally confused. After two rough hours, I was once again outside the Cathedral — with blood dripping from a gash in my cheek, covered in dirt and with a torn shirt and trousers. A few days later in , the archaeologist spoke to church warden Ole Tingdal about what had happened to him. The church warden said that it was he who had disconnected the cord, because he was concerned about fire safety. The church warden had no inkling that a bloody archaeologist was crawling around among human bones under the church floor.
He now knew that the cathedral floor rested on top of stone walls. He also knew that between these walls were open chambers. At the bottom of the chambers and in the corridors between them lay the remains of human skeletons.
