The Changing Meaning of ‘Thunderbolts’

Abstract

Abstract:The article concentrates on the widespread belief in the phenomenon of 'thunderbolts'. Stone artefacts like Stone Age axes, adzes, chisels, daggers, sickles, spear-and arrowheads as well as Iron Age strike-a-lights are mainly understood by the name 'thunderbolt', but no doubt various natural stones of peculiar or unusual shape were believed to have been created by strike of lightning as well. While corresponding examples of identifying and using 'thunderbolts' are given from different areas of the world, the emphasis is set on the respective Estonian material, introducing both the sources of archaeology as well as of folklore. The author discusses the background and the motifs of the well-known belief in 'thunderbolts' and reaches the conclusion that in Estonia it cannot be dated to a period prior to the Pre-Roman Iron Age when stone artefacts were no longer produced for practical reasons, and it is believed that the motifs of the belief were adopted significantly later, perhaps after the Christianization of the country in the 13th century.

Northern Archaeology and Cosmology

“…Even if it is not always readily evident why particular objects were chosen to be deposited, they must have all been considered as objects of some exceptional power or quality. Prehistoric stone artefacts, for example, have widely been conceived as materialized thunderbolts and thus, when incorporated in the structure of buildings, as providing protection from lightning (Johanson 2009). In the same vein, iron was regarded as having 'supernatural' or 'spiritual' potency in Finnish folklore, which was presumably why iron objects commonly occur as concealments.…”

Materiality of Religion: Religion-Related Artefacts in Estonian Archaeological Collections

“…The approach has changed during the past few years and artefacts associated with religion have been more involved in discussions (e.g. Jets 2001;Johanson 2009;Oras 2010;Jonuks et al 2010;.…”

“…Based on context, several objects were recorded that did not (chronologically) 'fit' into their finding context; one of the reasons for that may have been the association of the finds with religion or magic. A classic example is the Stone Age axes and arrowheads from the Late Iron Age and medieval contexts (Johanson 2009). Most of the objects that were classified as 'religious' according to the context do not have any special external features and it was the context, or the place, that made those particular objects different and special.…”

Archaeology of Spiritualities

“…A good example is offered by the settlement site of Tranders in Denmark, where offerings were brought into the con fi nes of the contemporary settlement site, inside the buildings as well as in between them, where the majority are not building offerings (Hansen 2006 ) . Building offerings from the medieval and modern towns (Hukantaival 2007 ) and Stone Age tools apparently deposited for magical reasons (Johanson 2009 ) are better known. These very likely represent a one-time act and we are not dealing with an especially sacred settlement site.…”