Forskningen om gammalt DNA kan ibland ge resultat som ruskar om gamla sanningar. Det hände när mina kollegor och jag år 2017 publicerade en artikel om en av de mest berömda gravarna från vikingastaden Birka. Den innehöll en person, fullt krigarutrustad, som lagts till vila i en gravkammare tillsammans med två hästar. Alltsedan graven undersöktes på slutet av 1800-talet hade man förutsatt att graven varit uppförd över en man. Men den genetiska könsbestämningen av skelettet visar att individen är en kvinna. 

Nyheten mötte mycket stort intresse och for som en löpeld över snart sagt hela världen, men blev också omgående ifrågasatt. Var det verkligen rätt ben som könsbestämts? Hade graven inte också innehållit en man? Kunde kvinnan rent fysiskt haft kapacitet att hantera de vapen som fanns i graven? Nedan diskuteras mottagandet som vår artikel fick, varför den väckte sådan enorm uppmärksamhet, liksom själva graven som sådan och den gravlagda.

An overview of ritual places in Old Norse religion

Whether cultic sites were part of the formation of tribal boundaries, or if cultic sites were placed in liminal spaces that were later turned into territorial border zones is a question very much like that of the chicken and the egg - which came first? It seems impossible to answer with certainty and needs to be approached through interdisciplinary research, but it is worth noting that archaeologically dated cultic sites very often highlight borders known from much later times from written sources. THis article discusses certain examples to address this question.

The town of Sigtuna was established, according to dendrochronological dates from the bottom of the trenches of the large-scale excavation in the Trädgårdsmästaren block, c. AD 970-985, and most probably around 980. It has been argued that Sigtuna was founded on ‘virgin land’. This expression usually refers to sites that do not have a previous settlement history, and thus were placed on marginal land or in the outlands. But was this untouched, unsettled land? And if not, are there any traces of an earlier history? This article addresses this question and expands upon it.

What was the role of central places in Viking Age Scandinavia? This paper discusses this question by examining the central places in a historical perspective. They often have a remarkable site continuity with roots in the Roman Iron Age, or slightly earlier, where certain buildings were superimposed, i.e. erected on the same spot, for generations. This speaks in favour of the idea that several of the functions/structures that were there in the early history of the central places still were important in the Viking Age. Therefore, to fully encompass the role of central places it is important to shed light upon both the early group established in the Early Iron Age and the late group that arise in the beginning of the Late Iron Age, in the late 6th/7th century. In this article the Roman influences are underlined and it is argued that these could be the root of the martial functions of the central places. 

The Viking Age c. 750–1050 was an era when huge quantities of iron were produced. The simple question how this iron found its way from the production sites out into the wider Viking society is easy to pose, but difficult to answer. To demonstrate how the iron bars through exchange, middle-men and various markets reached the customers is demanding from an archaeological perspective. Furthermore, written contemporaneous sources are lacking, both in Scandinavia and on the Continent. The social structure of the period, and the traditions of the various networks that transported the iron, as well as the rise and fall of harbour sites, central places and early towns add to the complexity. Even harder is trying estimate the demand of iron from abroad. However, through various archaeological materials and sites there are indications, although not full answers to the question. This paper will discuss some of these as well as give a historical background.

This case study demonstrates how the great mounds and halls in Old Uppsala in central Sweden, erected AD 550–650, were used for expressing cultural memory. By the construction of monumental halls, rulers created arenas for expressing both power and authority, as well as for memory production. The halls left material traces, which makes possible consideration of whether they were also maintained and used in the Viking Age, or if they were abandoned and either remembered or forgotten.

The authors of the present volume, Myth, Materiality, and Lived Religion, focus on the material dimension of Old Norse mythology and the role played by myths in everyday life. More broadly expressed, the collection looks at the social, ceremonial and material contexts of myths. This topic has been underexplored in previous research on Old Norse myths, despite its important theoretical implications. However, discussions around materiality, in a more general sense, have for a long time been significant for historians of religion, especially archaeologists. Myth, Materiality, and Lived Religion seeks to make the case for the relevance of materiality to literary historians and philologists as well.

Questions relating to the theme of materiality and lived religion are posed in this book, including:

• What do myths tell us about the material culture of the periods in which they were narrated?

• What role did myths or mythical beings play in connection to, for instance, illnesses and remedies during the Viking Period and the Middle Ages?

• How did ordinary people experience participation in a more formal sacrificial feast led by ritual specialists?

This paper argues that figurines of gold or (gilded) copper alloy, particularly from the 5th to 7th centuries, can contribute to a better understanding of the gold foil figures. It discusses examplars dating from Late Roman Iron Age, Migration, and Vendel period Scandinavia, especially those from Slipshavn in Funen, Gudum in Zealand, and Guldhullet/Smørenge in Bornholm, all in Denmark, as well as those from Kymbo in Västergötland and Lunda in Södermanland, Sweden, and compares them with gold foil figures. A unique gilded example from the late 7th or early 8th century – so small that it is equal in size to a gold foil figure – recently found in a female burial situated near the royal seat of Old Uppsala in Uppland, Sweden, is also discussed in detail. The figurines relate in posture, gesture, and attributes to the single gold foil figures but not to gold foil figural pairs. Pendants from the 6th to 8th centuries on the other hand, such as those from Kville in Bohuslän and Tuna in Alsike in Uppland and Norsborg in Södermanland, Sweden, allude in gesture, dress, and attributes to both single gold foil figures as well as to gold foil figures depicting pairs. The attributes and gestures of the figurines connect with the pre-Christian cult. If considered in a contemporary Christian European iconography, they would have signalled awe and divine epiphany.