Abstract:This article explores practices of processing, displaying, and depositing human and animal crania in built environments and wetlands in the long Iron Age of Scandinavia. The paper first reports on a dataset of a range of practices targeting heads over the first millennium CE, with a particular focus on deposition of crania in built environments. I subsequently present a two-fold analysis of these data: an exploration of how reworking bodies into cranial objects transformed personhood in complex ways, and a dis… Show more
“…As we have seen, many archaeological and anthropological discussions on the use of human skulls posit them as potent objects with only faint connotations to the persons to whom they once belonged (Bonogofsky 2011:4). The weight is instead put on discussing how crania and mandibles could be used by the living as aides in passage rites or as atmospheric interventions (Armit 2012:61;Eriksen 2020). In these examples, the skeletal remains are not to be directly equated with individuals, but sometimes seem to embody faint traces of the deceased person.…”
At many Middle Neolithic sites in south-central Scandinavia associated with the hunter-gatherer complex known as the Pitted Ware culture, the skulls of humans and animals seem to have been treated differently from other skeletal elements. This is evident, for example, in inhumation graves lacking crania or entire skulls as well as numerous finds of cranial and mandibular fragments scattered in cultural layers or deposited in hearths and pits. Despite parallels in overall treatment and find contexts, the selective handling of human skulls has generally been regarded as a mortuary practice and thus qualitatively different from the handling of animal skulls. Focusing primarily on the head bones themselves and relating their treatment to the wider use of skeletal remains allows us to consider a more complex system of retrieving, modifying, curating and depositing crania and mandibles. Drawing on the overlapping general treatment of human and animal remains, it is suggested that head bones from both humans and animals were efficacious objects that could be used in depositional acts.
“…As we have seen, many archaeological and anthropological discussions on the use of human skulls posit them as potent objects with only faint connotations to the persons to whom they once belonged (Bonogofsky 2011:4). The weight is instead put on discussing how crania and mandibles could be used by the living as aides in passage rites or as atmospheric interventions (Armit 2012:61;Eriksen 2020). In these examples, the skeletal remains are not to be directly equated with individuals, but sometimes seem to embody faint traces of the deceased person.…”
At many Middle Neolithic sites in south-central Scandinavia associated with the hunter-gatherer complex known as the Pitted Ware culture, the skulls of humans and animals seem to have been treated differently from other skeletal elements. This is evident, for example, in inhumation graves lacking crania or entire skulls as well as numerous finds of cranial and mandibular fragments scattered in cultural layers or deposited in hearths and pits. Despite parallels in overall treatment and find contexts, the selective handling of human skulls has generally been regarded as a mortuary practice and thus qualitatively different from the handling of animal skulls. Focusing primarily on the head bones themselves and relating their treatment to the wider use of skeletal remains allows us to consider a more complex system of retrieving, modifying, curating and depositing crania and mandibles. Drawing on the overlapping general treatment of human and animal remains, it is suggested that head bones from both humans and animals were efficacious objects that could be used in depositional acts.
“…Along with children, a wide array of 'body-objects' appears in depositional contexts: worked human bone (Fig. 2) and other selected body parts, some clearly products of violence (Eriksen 2020b).…”
Section: Ungrievable Bodiesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Along with children, a wide array of ‘body-objects’ appears in depositional contexts: worked human bone (Fig. 2) and other selected body parts, some clearly products of violence (Eriksen 2020b). Figure 2.A human parietal bone perforated and inscribed with runes, from the excavations of Ribe, Denmark, dated to the eighth century.…”
Section: Gender and More-than-human Worlds Of Iron And Viking Age Sca...mentioning
Posthuman feminism grows out of interdisciplinary discourse exploring relational metaphysics. It is set apart from other approaches in the broader ontological turn by its central ethical claim: by actively forming kinship or alliances among human and non-humans, we can overcome major challenges of today's world and create a better future. Archaeologists and anthropologists are well situated to investigate this claim, as we already work with worlds unstructured by western dichotomies. This paper explores one such past world—Iron and Viking Age Scandinavia—to ask how alternative more-than-human relationships may work in practice. Specifically, we examine the relations among swords, animals, houses and humans in the first millennium ce, assessing ethical commitments within Butler's framework of grievability. We argue that the picture that emerges is fundamentally relational and unfamiliar, with complex articulations of bodies and personhood criss-crossing human–object divides; however, the ethical commitments of this world leave us deeply uncomfortable. Thus, although we welcome posthuman feminism's call to ontological openness, we caution against too easy an association between more-than-human kinship and ethical projects.
“…slaves), often hinges on dehumanizing them into states of non-agency—a common mechanism of oppression (Raffield 2018, 683). Furthermore, it is becoming widely recognized that being human was no guarantee to being universally perceived as a person in the Viking Age (Eriksen 2020; Lund 2017). Following such considerations of what creates social identity, it may be suggested that freedom, or the lack thereof, may be of more relevance to the configuration of personhood than, for example, gender.…”
Section: Willing Victims: Slave Girls As a Tropementioning
confidence: 99%
“…The Ballateare grave from Jurby on the Isle of Man is frequently cited in discussions of human sacrifice in the Viking Age (Fig. 4; Bersu & Wilson 1966; Eriksen 2020; Gardeła 2013; 2014; McLeod 2018; Price 2008; Symonds et al 2014; Wilson 2008). More importantly, it is often tied to Ibn Fadlan's narrative.…”
Section: Narratives Of Sacrifice and Archaeologymentioning
This article seeks to approach the famous tenth-century account of the burial of a chieftain of the Rus, narrated by the Arab traveller Ibn Fadlan, in a new light. Placing focus on how gendered expectations have coloured the interpretation and subsequent archaeological use of this source, we argue that a new focus on the social agency of some of the central actors can open up alternative interpretations. Viewing the source in light of theories of human sacrifice in the Viking Age, we examine the promotion of culturally appropriate gendered roles, where women are often depicted as victims of male violence. In light of recent trends in theoretical approaches where gender is foregrounded, we perceive that a new focus on agency in such narratives can renew and rejuvenate important debates.
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