Excavations at a large Viking-age burial site in Denmark have uncovered 50 unusually well-preserved skeletons that archaeologists expect will help shed light on the lives of the Nordic people who became famous for their maritime exploits in the Middle Ages.

The skeletons, which were discovered near Odense, Denmark’s third-largest city, were preserved intact due to high water levels and favorable soil conditions that prevented them from decomposing, according to Michael Borre Lundu, excavation leader at the Odense Museum.

“Normally when we excavate Viking graves, we would be lucky if Sinan remained in the grave alongside the funerary objects. But here we have the skeletons completely preserved,” Londo said.

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“The skeletons are absolutely amazing. They’re very well preserved. There are five fingers, five toes. This opens up a whole new set of possibilities for discoveries.”

Rare artifacts such as knives, glass pearls and brooches dating back to between 850 and 970 were also found in the excavation that began six months ago.

Londo said the grave gifts indicate that most people were part of a small community of farmers, although a higher-status woman was buried with a silver-decorated knife and a piece of glass – a rarity in the Viking Age.

Archaeologists took soil samples to look for pollen to determine the season in which a person was buried and what textiles they were wearing.

An X-ray of a lump of soil from the site revealed an oval brooch, a popular piece of Viking Age jewelry associated with women’s clothing, covered in wood and human remains.

On the back of another brooch with period-specific decorations, fragments of metallic woven fabric provided evidence of the type of dress worn in the Viking Age, archaeologists said.

Most of the skeletons were exhumed and packed into cardboard boxes at the museum to dry before final examination and cleaning.