Gjellestad, and other Norse Viking Ship Burial Sites

This article examines Gjellestad as one of many archaeological sites containing ship burials. These burial sites are our most important source of information about boats and ships in the Late Iron Age. They also shed light on religious practices and reveal past power distribution and the political d...

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Main Author: Knut Paasche
Format: Article
Language:Norwegian Bokmål
Published: Norsk arkeologisk selskap 2024-11-01
Series:Viking
Online Access:https://journals.uio.no/viking/article/view/11912
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author Knut Paasche
author_facet Knut Paasche
author_sort Knut Paasche
collection DOAJ
description This article examines Gjellestad as one of many archaeological sites containing ship burials. These burial sites are our most important source of information about boats and ships in the Late Iron Age. They also shed light on religious practices and reveal past power distribution and the political dynamics of their contemporary society. Instead of focusing solely on Gjellestad as an example of such an archaeological context, the article goes through the entire inventory of ship burials from the Nordic countries, as well as relevant examples from beyond this core region. The focus here is on ship mounds as political messengers; the chapter demonstrates that ship burials were primarily a phenomenon of the Viking Age and clearly indicate a burial practice associated with the elite and ruling class of society. Ship burials were placed in local centres of power, areas that must have held central functions in terms of long-distance trade, political administration, and the exercise of power.
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issn 0332-608X
2535-2660
language Norwegian Bokmål
publishDate 2024-11-01
publisher Norsk arkeologisk selskap
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series Viking
spelling doaj-art-9eb9a5ddb7364e38b3bc23fe596653b92025-08-20T02:14:34ZnobNorsk arkeologisk selskapViking0332-608X2535-26602024-11-018810.5617/viking.11912Gjellestad, and other Norse Viking Ship Burial SitesKnut Paasche0Norwegian institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU)This article examines Gjellestad as one of many archaeological sites containing ship burials. These burial sites are our most important source of information about boats and ships in the Late Iron Age. They also shed light on religious practices and reveal past power distribution and the political dynamics of their contemporary society. Instead of focusing solely on Gjellestad as an example of such an archaeological context, the article goes through the entire inventory of ship burials from the Nordic countries, as well as relevant examples from beyond this core region. The focus here is on ship mounds as political messengers; the chapter demonstrates that ship burials were primarily a phenomenon of the Viking Age and clearly indicate a burial practice associated with the elite and ruling class of society. Ship burials were placed in local centres of power, areas that must have held central functions in terms of long-distance trade, political administration, and the exercise of power. https://journals.uio.no/viking/article/view/11912
spellingShingle Knut Paasche
Gjellestad, and other Norse Viking Ship Burial Sites
Viking
title Gjellestad, and other Norse Viking Ship Burial Sites
title_full Gjellestad, and other Norse Viking Ship Burial Sites
title_fullStr Gjellestad, and other Norse Viking Ship Burial Sites
title_full_unstemmed Gjellestad, and other Norse Viking Ship Burial Sites
title_short Gjellestad, and other Norse Viking Ship Burial Sites
title_sort gjellestad and other norse viking ship burial sites
url https://journals.uio.no/viking/article/view/11912
work_keys_str_mv AT knutpaasche gjellestadandothernorsevikingshipburialsites