In autumn 2008 human and animal bones came to light during cabling work in the village of Salme, on Saaremaa Island, Estonia. Some days later a contour of an ancient ship was discovered. The ancient ship, as well as the human and animal bones inside it, date to the second half of the 7th century or the beginning of 8th century, AD. Osteological analyses concentrated on specific qualities of this burial which are unknown in ship burials from the Baltic Sea and in the broader context of northern Europe. The skeletons of seven men, and bones of several domestic animals and hawks were found in the remains of the ship. The exceptional features of the Salme I ship burial are the absence of the bones of dogs and horses, which are very common in Scandinavian ship burials, and the particularly large number of men buried in one ship.