The research team was surprised by the results, as it had long been thought that “violence rates were similar in Viking Age Norway and Denmark,” – the researchers said in a statement.
In their study, the team compared two groups of Viking Age skeletons: 30 skeletons found in Norway and 82 skeletons found in Denmark. They found that “11 out of 30 Norwegians surveyed, or 37 percent suffered violent deaths, all of whom were attacked with bladed and/or other pointed weapons,” the team wrote in a study published in žurnale „Journal of Anthropological Archaeology“. In Denmark, the opposite is the case: only six people, about 7 percent, died violently, and many of them were killed by hanging or beheading.
To find out why more Viking Age people died violent deaths in Norway, the research team delved into archaeological and historical data from Norway and Denmark at the time. Norwegian skeletons come from all over the country, although there are no examples from the northernmost parts of the country. Many skeletons from Denmark come from the eastern or central parts of the country. The dating of the remains ranges from the 6th to the 11th century. Although scientists debate the exact period of the Viking Age, it is often dated to around 800-1050, so some of the skeletons used in the study were pre-Viking Age.
Historical and archaeological evidence suggests that Vikings killed during raids were buried in raided lands rather than brought home, so the skeletons in these collections were likely not killed during raids abroad, but in their home areas.
The research team found that Norwegian Vikings were much more likely to be buried with weapons compared to Danish Vikings.
“In Norway, it was observed that weapons, especially swords, were present in graves next to skeletons,” the researchers said in a statement. – During the research, more than 3,000 swords from the Late Iron Age and the Viking period were found in Norway, and only a few dozen in Denmark. These data show that weapons played an important role in the identity and social status of the Norwegian Vikings, further underscoring the culture’s connection to violence.”
The team also pointed out that during the Viking Age, power in present-day Denmark (an area the Vikings sometimes called Danmǫrk) was more centralized than in Norway. Viking Age fortifications in Denmark were larger and more complex than those in Norway, the researchers say, suggesting that the authorities mobilized more people and resources to build them than in Norway.
In addition, the researchers examined runestones with inscriptions in Norway and Denmark. They found that the Danish runestones contained more evidence of social hierarchy, such as the use of titles.
“The more frequent use of different ranks or even the title ‘king’ indicates a more stratified society where it was considered necessary to use such words,” the researchers write.
Scholars argue that Denmark’s more centralized government may have been more successful in curbing violence — and the violence that did occur was the executions of the authorities themselves.
Although the skeletons were taken from assemblages collected across Norway and Denmark and date mostly to the 9th-10th centuries, it is difficult to say whether they truly reflect national populations, the researchers note. And while this is one of the largest assemblages of bones from the Viking Age, the sample is still relatively small – which limits the conclusions that can be drawn.
Parengta pagal „Live Science“.
2024-09-05 18:33:02