Viking Age burials give archaeologists evidence of what people did when someone died. In one burial at Oseberg in Norway, two women were placed in a ship under a mound. At Lindholm Høje in Denmark, people marked many cremation graves with arrangements of stones, some shaped like ships. The contrast shows why an account of Norse religion needs to distinguish the objects people used, the actions that left traces and the meanings archaeologists can infer from them. Museum of the Viking Age’s Oseberg excavation account · Nordjyske Museer’s Lindholm Høje burial site record
A real ship under the mound at Oseberg
The burial at Oseberg dates to 834. Excavators found the remains of two women in a chamber aboard the ship. The grave held a wagon, sledges, textiles, vessels and equipment, as well as animal remains. The Museum of the Viking Age in Oslo describes signs that someone entered the grave after the burial. The objects recovered in the twentieth century are therefore a surviving assemblage with its own history. The decision to place a vessel and so many things in the grave shows considerable investment in this funeral. The arrangement leaves questions about the women’s identities, the roles of individual objects and the words or prayers used at the burial. Museum of the Viking Age’s Oseberg excavation account · Museum record for the Oseberg sledges
Ships made of stone at Lindholm Høje
The burial ground at Lindholm Høje was used for centuries, from the later Iron Age into the Viking Age. Nordjyske Museer reports 41 inhumation graves and roughly 700 cremation graves. The people whose cremation graves are marked by stone settings were burned at the site. The surviving settings include ovals and triangles as well as outlines that resemble ships. A ship-shaped setting used stone to mark the grave in the landscape. The Oseberg mound enclosed an actual wooden vessel and bodies that had not been cremated. In both cases a form associated with ships was part of commemoration, with different materials and treatment of the dead. Museum of the Viking Age’s Oseberg excavation account · Nordjyske Museer’s Lindholm Høje burial site record
Reading religious meaning from a burial
The resources used for a funeral and the position of its objects can tell us about choices made by the living. They are harder to use as evidence for a specific destination after death. An object placed beside the deceased could have marked status, recalled a role in life, or expressed a hope about what would follow. The sites also represent different kinds of samples. Oseberg is a single richly furnished grave. Lindholm Høje preserves a cemetery used by many people over many generations. The questions we ask of the evidence should match that difference. Museum of the Viking Age’s Oseberg excavation account · Nordjyske Museer’s Lindholm Høje burial site record
Conclusion
Oseberg and Lindholm Høje give a concrete basis for describing variation in the treatment and commemoration of the dead. We can identify an actual ship, human remains, a burial mound, cremations and stones arranged in different shapes. Questions about the intentions of mourners and beliefs about the dead require further evidence. Reading the two sites together gives a fuller account of Viking Age religious practice than treating one unusual burial as typical of a whole region. Further evidence for historical Norse religion
Published by Ralf. About our editorial process.
