The Materiality of Death - mikroarkeologi.se

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DWELLERS, translated by William Morris & Eirikr Magnusson (Bernard Quaritch, London, 1892). This edition is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN in the United States. This electronic edition was edited, proofed, and prepared by Douglas B. Killings (DeTroyes@EnterAct.COM), January 1998. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/EreDweller s/chapter33.html http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/EreDwellers /chapter34.html Sigvallius, B. 1994. Funeral Pyre. Iron Age Cremations in north Spånga. Theses and papers in osteology 1. Osteological Research Laboratory Stockholm University. Stockholm. Soga om Egil Einhendte og Åsmund Berserksbane 1989. Oversett av Gudlaug Horgen. Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo. Sturluson, Snorri. 2003: Edda. Gudrun. Iceland. Stutz, Nilsson, L. 2003: Embodied rituals & ritualized bodies. Tracing ritual practices in late mestolihtic burials. ACTA Archaeologica Lundensia no 46. Stylegar, F-A. 1997a: Mos teutonicus. Omkring halvdan Svartes død og begravelse. Viking, LX, 59-68. Grettes saga 1989: Oversatt av Ludvig Holm-Olsen. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard). Oslo. The Saga of Grettir the Strong (Grettir's Saga). Translation by G. H. Hight (London, 1914). This edition is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN. This electronic text was edited, proofed, and prepared by Douglas B. Killings (DeTroyes@AOL.COM), June 1995. The text was marked-up in HTML by John Tebbutt. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Grettir/gr1- 18.html http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Grettir/gr32 -48.html Vavtrudnesmål: In Holm-Olsen, L. 1993: Edda dikt. Cappelens forlag, Oslo. Vegtamskvadet: In Holm-Olsen, L. 1993: Edda dikt. Cappelens forlag, Oslo. Dr. Terje Gansum is director of Midgard Historic Centre, Borre, Norway, with a particular interest in funerary archaeology and the Viking Period. Email: terjega@vfk.no 146
Chapter 14 A Road for the Viking’s Soul Åke Johansson ABSTRACT The Viking Age bridge is a well-known ancient monument type in Sweden which for many years has been seen as an element in the process of building infrastructure in an emerging middle-age kingdom. In this article it is argued that the building of Viking Age bridges was a part of a religious ritual. The focus is on the connection between Viking Age grave fields, bridges and rune stones. The bridges can be seen as expressions for a religious need to materialise the death and the journey of the soul. What did the Christian Viking think about what happened to his soul after death? How did he ensure that he would manage to get to paradise? His pagan forefathers had no doubts. They were often buried together with a number of items that could help them to – and on – the other side. But the Christian may only have had a small personal item. Somebody, or something, had to help him. It was a time when heathen beliefs were still in use and known among people, and the Viking may not have been convinced that he did not have to take some measurements to ensure his place in paradise after death. Perhaps he made the preparations himself when he was still alive. If he didn’t, his relatives could help him and his soul after his death. Many of the rituals that were conducted in connection with death and burials will probably be hidden from us forever. On the other hand, there were rituals and habits that we can actually trace. There are numerous analyses and studies that are based on grave goods and the symbolic and practical meaning of them. Another common category of analysis is the different shapes of the graves. For example, under the influence of the Christian religion graves became much less elaborate. They became comparatively simple pits dug in the ground, and the gifts that followed the deceased were sparse. There is, however, another phenomenon that has not attracted much attention as a ritual or gift in connection with the dead and burials: the Viking Age bridge. There are numerous studies of bridges, and only a few of them observe and emphasise the sacred aspects of the bridges. The arguments for this focuses on the rune stones that are connected with the bridges, and also sometimes on ritual deposits which mainly consist of weapons (Lund 2005). Some authors have also pointed out that the bridge is a connection that leads you from one side to another, often in a liminal place. Very rarely has anyone connected the actual bridge to the rituals of the burials. In this paper I will argue that the bridges are built for only – or mainly – one reason, namely for helping the Viking’s soul to the other side. Bridges, graves and rune stones - Some examples Viking Age bridges are actually fords strengthened and improved by pavements, and they represent a certain amount of labour. Sometimes there is one or more rune stones beside the bridge, and sometimes, although not very often, we can also observe a grave mound or a grave field in close proximity to one side the bridge. Very few of these bridges have been archaeologically excavated. The one that is excavated and described by Camilla Grön in this volume is one of few examples. Furthermore, this excavation was also one of very few where the area surrounding the pavement was excavated. Another recent excavation, undertaken some 500 meters north of this example, revealed Viking Age graves close to the site of a former bridge (Andersson 1999). The landscape of Uppland has a little more than 1000 known rune stones. About 75 of these have inscriptions which mention bridges. One has to say that many of them are no longer situated in their original places; rather they have been removed to other places like the church, the farm or have been used for other purposes. It is also worth mentioning that there surely are a lot more rune stones that have the function of marking a bridge. It is a very common pattern that the rune stones are situated close to a marsh land or a stream, where there very well could have been a bridge. In spite of the fact the inscriptions on many of these do not mention the word “bridge” you can draw the conclusion that they have the purpose of marking a bridge. The inscriptions inform us that they are almost always produced in memory of somebody deceased, and erected 147
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The Materiality of Death Bodies, bu
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Contents Chapter 1. The Materiality
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Fig. 1. Pieter Bruegel, The Triumph
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ather one has to emphasise the mate
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dead are often regarded as unfriend
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Fig 3. The old man Tei Tetuna by hi
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The Materiality of Social Change: H
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The Materiality of Eternity - The A
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FAHLANDER, F. & OESTIGAARD, T. 2004
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Susanne Kuechler-Fogden, Webb Keane
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Chapter 2 More than Metaphor: Appro
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discuss death and the treatment of
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had to deal with. This is not to sa
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hide that could be removed to expos
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pp111-123. Philadelphia: University
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Chapter 3 A Piece of the Mesolithic
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The main point is that the division
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A Piece of the Mesolithic: Skatehol
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question we need to construct some
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Fig. 4. Skateholm I (above) and Ska
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visible many years after the origin
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Phase Area Properties Interpretatio
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phase of one site with a contempora
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MILNER, N. & WOODMAN, P. 2005. Meso
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with dead people belonging to other
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Fig. 2. Due to the extraordinaire c
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As with all cremations in Hinduism,
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Based on the amount of scattered bo
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To have an ethical approach involve
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Chapter 5 From Corpse to Ancestor:
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Figure 2. Isola Sacra, Tomb 100. Ph
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Figure 4. Isola Sacra, Tomb 87. Pho
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69 Burials
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through careful recording of the or
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Figure 4: Pencraig Hill: Distributi
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focussed on use of partial sets of
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Chapter 7 Ritual and Remembrance at
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urial (tomba a doppio loculo tipo M
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‘original’ walls of the tomb. L
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chambers cut into two earlier trenc
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Madison: Prehistory Press, Monograp
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Well-organized cemeteries or messy
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influenced who was buried inside th
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it was quite short, which could ind
Page 100 and 101: References ARTELIUS, TORE 2004. Min
Page 103 and 104: Chapter 9 Life and Death in the Bro
Page 105 and 106: Fig. 5.1. Cremation necropolis at P
Page 107 and 108: place. These burials were very simp
Page 109 and 110: Chapter 10 Norwegian Face-Urns: Loc
Page 111 and 112: The recurring themes in the debate
Page 113 and 114: The local context of the Norwegian
Page 115 and 116: Death is the inevitable conclusion
Page 117 and 118: OESTIGAARD, T. 1999. Cremations as
Page 119 and 120: Chapter 11 The Use of Ochre in Ston
Page 121 and 122: Ochre was used so intensively that
Page 123 and 124: Fig. 5. Zvejnieki burial ground. Th
Page 125 and 126: grave has been dated to 5690±45 BP
Page 127 and 128: Khanty of northern Siberia, the col
Page 129 and 130: 125 Beliefs
Page 131 and 132: Chapter 12 ”Death Myths”: Perfo
Page 133 and 134: Variation within the same cist Bø,
Page 135 and 136: Variation within the same mound Lyd
Page 137 and 138: Figures 6 and 7. Modvo, Luster muni
Page 139 and 140: To what extent there have been corr
Page 141 and 142: when they die, a probable explanati
Page 143 and 144: fragmented spindles, iron weaving s
Page 145 and 146: Chapter 13 Reproduction and Relocat
Page 147 and 148: may be questioned, and analysed mor
Page 149: References Andersson, G. 1997: A st
Page 153 and 154: Figure 2. The Jarlabanke Bridge tha
Page 155 and 156: Chapter 15 A Road to the Other Side
Page 157 and 158: Fig. 4. Clearing the bridge on an e
Page 159 and 160: Chapter 16 Stones and Bones: The My
Page 161 and 162: Fig. 4. An Iron Age scene at Sylta
Page 163 and 164: Fig. 7. The resemblance between cru
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