The Peculiarities of Norse Double Burial Practices

By
Gary N. Jorgens

Ship burial practices are very well known in Norse archeology. Often those
burials appeared to contain the remains of persons of high status with some
notable personal items, slaves or animals. However, the question of burials with
a married couple as indicated in the double inhumation at the Birka chamber
grave is equally fascinating and indicative of a complex social structure in
Sweden in the 9th Century.

Reconstructions of the grave yielded a speculative notion that a woman was
placed sitting on a man’s lap. Apparently it was common to bury people in this 1
era in a seated position.2 Why were these two individuals seated in this manner?
If it is assumed that these burials were often in sitting positions then possibly
this unique positioning of the bodies was the act of a remembrance of a
significant time in the lives of these two individuals. Perhaps there was an
episode in this community when a feast or event resulted in the woman sitting
on her partner’s lap and then some humor or comment erupted from the group
which was a future reference for comment and remembrance.
It was noted by archeologists that the both individuals were wearing pouches containing Arabic coins. Consequently, it is entirely possible to propose that 3
both were well travelled. Could it be that she was an Arabic slave girl who had to
sit on her Norse master’s lap for a short time while he rowed the Viking ship?
Perhaps she detested him and they were buried in this position as an eternal
joke. DNA testing
Alternatively, it has been argued that the female was an important person
possibly a volva. This might explain her superior position on top of the man 4
who may have been an Arabic man servant. DNA testing, which may be difficult
at this point, might help resolve this peculiar burial.
All of the artifacts in this burial were arranged in a manner indicating this woman
was a volva particularly the harnessed horse bodies and the existence of a staff
assumed to be part of her personal possessions. Further, there is a new study 5
from Cambridge inferring that Birka graves may have been Viking women
warriors.6
The conjectured theories of contemporary scholarship must always be seen in
the light of current popular culture. A proper implementation of historiography
indicates that it would be wise to be more immersive in ascertaining the
purposes behind these burial practices. Proposition A for this writer is that this
burial was simply a remembrance of a unique and possibly humorous event in
the lives of these individuals. Although the physical evidence indicates a volva or
a woman warrior, it could be argued that the bodies may have been arranged
that way after burial by a grave robber to insult the deceased occupants.7

All in all, I propose that as yet, it is nearly impossible to know and understand
the real behind these burial practices. Until we can time travel back to that era,
all is mere theory and conjecture because it is practically impossible to
psychoanalyze the individuals of this era based on physical evidence alone and
primary sources which often were agenda driven. Further, I would argue that the
best source for the psychological evidence of that particular group of individuals
is in contemporary Nordic peoples, which in my experience, has yielded more of
a humorous attitude about life, death, and the possibility of an afterlife while
simultaneously maintaining a sacred reverence for all as indicated by the
research cited.

1 The Viking Way, Neil Price, P. 91
2 Ibid. P 92
3 Ibid. P 94
4 Ibid. P 95
5 Ibid. P 92 - 95
6 Price, N. Hedonstierna, T et al. Viking Warrior Women?
7 Price, P 92

Price N, Hedenstierna-Jonson C, Zachrisson T, et al. Viking warrior women? Reassessing Birka chamber grave Bj.581. Antiquity. 2019;93(367):181-198. doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.258 <div></div>

Price, N, The Viking Way, Oxbow Books, 2019