Burials

Question 1

Valsta composition

Answer 1

hinterland of Sigtuna. Described as an episcopal see as early as the 1070s by Adam of Bremen. Cemetery there is composed of barrows, stone settings and different cremations and inhumations (9th-12th cent.). In the 9th century there were exclusively pre-Christian cremation graves.

Question 2

First visit of Anskar to Bremen

Answer 2

829

Question 3

Restructuring of Valsta

Answer 3

Second half of the 10th century, inhumation introduced.

Question 4

Glass beaker

Answer 4

Found in rich 11th century cremation barrow at Valsta. Comparable to two on Helgo, maybe liturgical. Even some of the East-West stone setting inhumations at Valsta contained pagan elements such as Thor’s hammer and food.

Question 5

1100 Valsta

Answer 5

the mid-9th century barrow had the middle torn out and three cist graves were made forming a cross in the centre. Small iron cross found in one of the cists, similar to crosses found under skulls of 2 individuals at Sigtuna (early 12th century).

Question 6

Romsdal

Answer 6

Veoy, female burial with Irish reliquary, bronze hanging-bowl, Northumbrian bishop’s-staff and two Irish lead weights.

Question 7

Froso

Answer 7

At the highest point on the island there is a Viking-age grove directly under the site of the medieval altar. The remains of a large birch tree are surrounded by animal remains. Two large burial mounds are a few metres from the site.

Question 8

Finsas

Answer 8

Female inhumed in a stone coffin, almost East-West oriented, 9th century. Only grave in Snasa, Trondelag, with an insular item. Medieval church at Vinje, Snasa, built in stone c.1200.

Question 9

Chamber graves

Answer 9

Introduced into Denmark in the 9th century, disappear under Harald Bluetooth.

Question 10

Olaf Haraldsson

Answer 10

built a residence at Borg in the early 11th century. No traces of pagan symbols or graves contemporary with the urban settlement.

Question 11

Veoy

Answer 11

very early Christian burials. Two 10th cent. Christian churchyards, possible remains of a 9th century church. Corresponds to Hakon den Gode´s church-building project.

Question 12

Hernes

Answer 12

50 y/o man with stone earmuffs, characteristic of Anglo-Saxon monastic graves from the 10th/ 11th centuries.

Question 13

Fyrkat

Answer 13

Woman with hemp seeds and a box brooch of white lead.

Question 14

Barrows in Vestfold

Answer 14

Average diameter was 23.3m in the early period vs. 41.7m in the late. Height was 2.3m compared to 8.9m.

Question 15

Opening of Oseberg and Gokstad

Answer 15

Opening of Gokstad and Oseberg might be connected with Harald Bluetooth according to Jan Bill and Aoife Daly

Question 16

rich burials in Vestfold

Answer 16

10th century increase (Borre, Gokstad). Gokstad 9th century ship, mound, one male skeleton on a bed inside a chamber. Grave goods incl. 3 small boats, a tent, a sledge and riding equipment. Gold and silver plundered

Question 17

Norway general trends

Answer 17

Amount of grave goods increases during the Viking Age, esp. 10th century.

Question 18

Sogge

Answer 18

Romsdal- Irish book-clasp used as a brooch.

Question 19

Birka finds

Answer 19

1100 graves= 27 Thor’s hammers. Bj.834 contains a male and female bound together on a chair with a spear resting over them. Ibn Rustah (922) records that women were buried alive with dead men.

Question 20

Kaupang

Answer 20

Graves with Christian elements suggest that traders were buried in Norse cemeteries.

Question 21

Buddha

Answer 21

statue found in 8th century grave on Helgo, Sweden

Question 22

Oseberg

Answer 22

Vestfold, 834. Two women, 4 sleighs, cart, bed posts, buddha bucket (cross-legged figure in cloisonne enamel, swastika patterns on torso suggest Indian contact but could be insular- book of Durrow). One of the bedposts was decorated with the Valknut.

Question 23

Berringhoj

Answer 23

Jutland. Male buried in gold-embroidered clothes (970), in a coffin in a chamber-grave in a grave mound. On top of the coffin was a wax candle, one bronze and two wooden buckets, axes decorated with either the tree of life and a phoenix or Yggdrasil and goldencomb.

Question 24

Denmark general

Answer 24

No pagan burials in Christian cemeteries from the 10th century or under churches, suggesting that cult sites had lost significance. Christian burials still contained grave goods until the end of the 10th century.

Question 25

Graslund (Borg)

Answer 25

Suggested a cemetery north of Borg may contain Christian graves from the early period of Birka (c.775-875). The cemetery consists exclusively of inhumations which lie close together or overlap. Christians burying dead in a limited amount of consecrated ground.