Viking And Iron Age Mortuary Houses Were Discovered In Norway, And They Were Likely A Way For The Living To Visit The Dead
Between 2019 and 2020, excavations were conducted in central Norway ahead of construction work for a road.
The excavations revealed a pre-Christian cemetery, which had been partially dug up back in 1966. Three mortuary houses were discovered next to the flattened burial mounds.
The houses date back between A.D. 500 and A.D. 950 to the Iron and Viking Ages. They were uncovered in the village of Vinjeøra and were likely part of funerary rituals that allowed the living to visit and interact with the deceased.
Mortuary houses are usually found within funerary contexts, such as cemeteries. They may contain tombs and graves or were used to store cremated remains. Some also served as places where the living could leave offerings or worship the dead.
In Scandinavia, mortuary houses seemed to have served similar purposes. However, the ones from Vinjeøra are different because they do not feature any permanent burials.
“I think that the most surprising thing was that we did not find any evidence of a permanent tomb or a buried person inside the houses,” said Dr. Raymond Sauvage, one of the study authors.
“Also, the fact that they had doors and entrances that may have led into the mortuary house and burial mound was something I had not thought of prior to the analysis.”
The presence of doors and entrances indicated that the mortuary houses were always open for visitation.
The trampled soil of the entryway confirmed that the living frequently visited. The entrances were low, so people would have to crouch down to enter.
bublik_polina – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
Based on the plan of the house, the interior room was probably small and dark, with the door letting in some light, according to Dr. Sauvage.
The first structure was built in A.D. 450 to 600 during the Iron Age, which was when cremation was used as the main form of interment.
Later, a second structure was erected around A.D. 600 to 800. At that time, the cemetery was just beginning to experience more frequent burials.
Finally, the third mortuary house was constructed between A.D. 800 and A.D. 900 after cemetery practices had fully transitioned from cremation to the burial of corpses.
Each building was used for about 100 to 200 years, suggesting that the mortuary houses remained an important part of funerary rituals even though the burial practices themselves changed over the years.
“It seems to me that the burial practices seem to have been affected by a number of factors, such as influences from travel and contact and changing motivation behind what to amplify in the more public displays seen in burial rituals,” said Dr. Sauvage.
“The mortuary houses show a more stable continuity in use, probably related to the families’ own tradition of venerating their deceased and ancestors. These rituals could have been more private and may have been more stable over time.”
No burials were found within the mortuary houses, but there were other finds, including bone fragments, arrowheads and nails.
Among the bones, the remains of a horse were identified. The horse may be from a sacrificial killing, which is often a feature of Norse religious rituals.
All other discovered animal bones showed signs of burning, indicating that they were cooked as part of a burial feast.
More research is needed to determine exactly how the mortuary houses functioned and how they are related to the burial mounds.
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