Study finds violent injuries in unusual Iron and Viking Age burials from Scandinavian settlements

Mixed · 2A study published in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory reports evidence of traumatic injuries in 12 people whose remains were deposited in houses, pits, wells and postholes in Iron and Viking Age Scandinavia, dated from about 500 BCE to 1050 CE. 1 2 Mixed · 2The 12 individuals came from a wider dataset of an estimated 192 people across 197 depositional contexts (the Daily Mail says almost 200 bodies), and their remains showed 19 injuries sustained before or around the time of death. 1 2 Centre · 1The injuries included sharp-force trauma, blunt-force trauma and fractures; six individuals had head injuries, seven had damage elsewhere in the body and four had multiple injuries. 1

Mixed · 2Eight, possibly nine, individuals showed evidence consistent with deliberate violence, although some injuries could have had other causes. 1 2 Right · 1Among the cases described, a man in his early 30s found in a royal feasting hall at Gammel Lejre had suffered three major skull injuries, the latest a radiating fracture he appears to have survived for a few weeks, and forearm 'parry fractures' of the kind caused by shielding the head. 2 Right · 1A woman aged 17 to 25 buried in a cooking pit at Lindved, Denmark, had her left shin cut through by a sharp weapon, along with other cut and burn marks; the Daily Mail reports researchers think this could have been the fatal blow or part of extensive treatment of the body. 2

Mixed · 2A child aged two to four from a Jutland village had sharp-force trauma to the skull, possibly from a sword or heavy-bladed weapon, and the skull part was placed between floor layers of a longhouse rather than cremated as was normal. 2 1 Centre · 1The remains differ from conventional burials: they were often individual bones or fragmented body parts, and in several cases appear to have been exposed to the elements before final deposition. Injuries were also found in remains at Uppåkra in Sweden. 1 Mixed · 2The researchers say the causes are hard to establish and could include domestic violence, community fights, warfare or ritual violence; in some cases the evidence could not show whether an injury occurred in life or during processing of the body after death. 2 1

Right · 1Co-author Dr Kevin Kay told the Daily Mail human sacrifice seems 'possible, even likely' in some cases, citing an individual from around 400 AD with two stab wounds between the ribs and wrists placed together as if bound, though he said the cases are distinctive and look more improvised than repeated ritual. 2 Mixed · 2The study also considers structural violence, harm tied to social conditions, with signs of physical stress, repeated injuries and unusual burial treatment suggesting some individuals were more vulnerable; lead author Professor Marianne Hem Eriksen of the National Museum of Denmark said the findings may offer glimpses of how violence saturated the Iron Age and Viking worlds. 1 2