Tree "Mummies" Found, Traced Back to Viking Era

from National Geographic News

"Mummified" trees that lived during Viking times have been discovered near a fjord in southwestern Norway, scientists say.

Dated to the early 1200s, the 40 dead Scotch pines were found scattered among living trees in what was once a dense forest that supplied wood for medieval boats and churches.

The trees appear to have died from natural causes after living out their several-hundred-year life spans. But somehow the dead trees "survived"--they apparently have never rotted.