THE EMERGENCE of churchyards is one of the most significant transformations of the landscape during the conversion to Christianity. This article examines changes in burial and commemorative practices during the 11th century, based on early Christian grave monuments. These are the first examples of churchyard memorials in central Sweden, yet at the same time they also form an integral part of the late Viking-Age runestone tradition. This article presents an analysis of their temporal, regional and contextual backgrounds, tracing developments in the early ecclesiastical landscape. It is concluded that different regional designs of rune-carved funerary monuments are related to substantial differences in the Christianisation process, reflecting variation in early ecclesiastical organisation and providing insight into how the conversion process was related to social and political structures.

Monuments funéraires des débuts du christianisme et développements ecclésiastiques en Suède au 11e siècle 

L’émergence des cimetières paroissiaux est l’une des transformations du paysage les plus marquantes pendant la conversion au christianisme. Ce papier examine l’évolution des pratiques de sépulture et commémoratives au 11e siècle, en s’appuyant sur les premiers monuments funéraires chrétiens. Ces premiers exemples de mémoriaux dans les cimetières du centre de la Suède rentrent cependant tout à fait dans la tradition des pierres runiques à la fin de l’ère viking. Cet article analyse leur contexte de fond, temporel et régional, en retraçant les développements dans le paysage ecclésiastique primitif. Il conclut que les divers modèles régionaux de monuments funéraires avec des pierres runiques sculptées sont liés à des différences majeures dans le processus de christianisation; l’implication étant qu’ils reflètent les variations existant au sein des premières organisations ecclésiastiques et fournissent des indications sur la manière dont le processus de conversion s’articulait avec les structures sociales et politiques.

This paper explores the early Christian grave monuments (often called Eskilstunakistor) as a source for the social dynamics of 11th-century Sweden. These monuments formed an integral part of the Scandinavian runestone tradition, at the same time as they constitute the first churchyard memorials in the Götaland and south Svealand area. Based on an analysis of the stylistic design of the early Christian grave monuments it is possible to identify regional groups which have varying degrees of affinity with each other. I will argue that the ornamental design of the monuments can be regarded as a way of visual communication, where networks of associations are created by means of citation; linking places, burials and magnate families together. Thus, similarities and diversities in the design of funerary monuments convey information about the social networks of people erecting, or being buried beneath, these kinds of memorials as well as the scope of their power.

Moreover the designs of rune carved monuments are related to substantial differences in the Christianisation process, in the way Christian burial and commemoration was practiced during the eleventh century in Sweden. Different types of rune-inscribed grave monuments not only signify differences in elite networks, but also provide insight into how the Christianisation process was related to social and political structures.

This article presents a new research project: Skärningspunkt Sigtuna – de första människorna i Sveriges äldsta stad (Intersection Sigtuna – the first inhabitants of Sweden’s oldest town), which runs from 2017 to 2020 and is sponsored by  the Swedish Research Council. The project aims to understand cultural transformation in the town’s earliest periods by studying the people who lived and died there. The main source material comprises c. 330 excavated graves dating from the town’s foundation in AD 970/80 until AD 1100. These derive both from five early churchyards as well as so-called “graveyards” (Sw. gravgård) – where individuals were buried in accordance with Christian practice, but not in the proximity of a church building. These early “graveyards” are unique to Scandinavia, but the phenomenon has yet to be subjected to in-depth analysis. Different kinds of burial grounds were partly in use simultaneously in Sigtuna and it is unclear how the interred individuals relate to one another, or what kind of social, cultural and religious communities they represent.

The project combines archaeological and osteological data with regard to burial-place topography and location, burial custom including grave goods and relation to rune-inscribed stone monuments, isotopic analysis and ancient DNA-analysis of selected individuals. Sigtuna’s material culture in general indicates that it was a cosmopolitan town. The project will extend our knowledge in this regard by focusing on the backgrounds of the  first generations of town dwellers. Our main objective is to understand urbanization, migration, cultural interaction between groups and individuals, early church organization, networks and transnational relations.

This thesis examines transformations in burial and commemorative practices during the late Viking Age and early Middle Ages based on early Christian grave monuments (in sw. often named Eskilstunakistor); the first examples of churchyard memorials known in south central Sweden. The designs of these monuments range from stone cists consisting of five slabs - one lid, two sides and two gables - which stood above ground, to simpler constructions such as recumbent slabs with or without head- and foot-stones. Early Christian grave monuments share several characteristics with runestones, including the commemorative formula of the runic inscription as well as ornamentation in Ringerike or Urnes style. An important premise of the study is that they constitute an integral part of the late Viking Age runestone tradition. Sune Lindqvist’s 1915 dissertation gave the first systematic survey of the early Christian grave monuments; however the material has not been the subject of a new compilation since then. The thesis therefore comprises a complete overview of the material, which is presented in a separate catalogue volume.

The thesis analyses the temporal, regional and contextual background of the early Christian grave monuments in order to understand the emergence of Christian cemeteries and a new religious and socio-political landscape in the transition between the Viking Age and the medieval period. This objective is divided into two levels that correspond with the two main analytical chapters. The first explores the chronology of the early Christian grave monuments, their relationship to the raising of runestones, as well as to changes in late Viking Age burial customs. The second concerns the actual sites where early Christian grave monuments were once erected. The social context of these places, as well as their significance for the emerging ecclesiastical organisation, is investigated using archaeological material contemporary with the grave monuments.

The results show that early Christian grave monuments are found in areas with an early runestone period, where swift and profound changes in burial traditions take place resulting in a uniform Christian practice, together with an early church formation. It is argued that both secular and ecclesiastical authority was required to impose and maintain these major transformations. The analyses of the church sites with early Christian grave monuments, as well as of the monuments themselves, demonstrate the presence of such a social strata. Moreover, it is concluded that the basis of the ecclesiastical landscape was established from the early eleventh century. Finally the conclusions of the thesis and their implications for the understanding of the runestone tradition and its relation to the Christianisation process are discussed. The varying designs of rune-carved monuments signify substantial differences in the Christianisation process: in the way burial and commemoration was practiced during the eleventh century, whether Christian life was centrally controlled, or more decentralized with opportunities for personal choices and practices. It is argued that the diversity within the runestone tradition demonstrates differences in the early ecclesiastical organisation and provides insight into how the Christianisation process was related to social and political structures.