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‘A River of Knives and Swords': Ritually Deposited Weapons in English Watercourses and Wetlands during the Viking Age

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Ben Raffield
Ben Raffield*
Affiliation:
Human Evolutionary Studies Program, Simon Fraser University, Canada Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, UK
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Abstract

This paper discusses the deposition of weapons in English rivers and wetlands during the Viking Age. Such finds have been extensively studied in Scandinavia but have rarely been academically discussed in Britain. It can be argued that the arrival of the Scandinavians in ninth- to eleventh-century Britain precipitated a marked increase in depositions of a ‘pagan’ nature. Despite deep-rooted, institutionalized Christianity having dominated England for some time, it is possible that pagan beliefs were dormant but not forgotten, with the Scandinavian arrival triggering their resurgence. Weapons form a large number of ritual depositions, with seventy deposits being mapped geographically to identify distributional patterns across the landscape. It is suggested here that ‘liminal' depositions in Viking Age Scandinavia provide an interpretative model for these finds. Given the context of endemic conflict and territorial consolidation within which they may have been deposited in England, this material can shed new light on attitudes to landscapes subject to conflict and consolidation.

Cet article étudie le dépôt d'armes dans les rivières et zones humides anglais pendant l'Âge des Vikings. Ce genre de découvertes ont été l'objet d'études approfondies en Scandinavie, mais n'ont que rarement été examinées académiquement en Grande-Bretagne. On peut faire valoir qu'avec l'arrivée des Scandinaves en Grande-Bretagne du 9e au 11e siècle, le nombre des dépôts de nature ‘païenne’ a augmenté de façon significative. Malgré le christianisme bien enraciné et institutionnalisé qui dominait l'Angleterre depuis un certain temps, il se peut que les croyances païennes étaient certes dormantes, mais non pas oubliées; elles resurgissaient avec l'arrivée scandinave. Une grande partie des dépôts rituels sont constitués d'armes, et 70 d'entre eux ont été cartographiés afin d'identifier des schémas de distribution à travers le pays. On propose ici d'utiliser les dépôts “‘liminaires’” de la Scandinavie Viking comme modèles interprétatifs pour les découvertes anglaises. Vu le contexte de conflict endémique et de consolidation territoriale dans lequel ces armes ont probablement été déposées en Angleterre, ce matériel devrait permettre d'analyser les paysages sujets à conflit et consolidation sous un angle nouveau. Translation by Isabelle Gerges

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Dieser Beitrag diskutiert die Niederlegung von Waffen in englischen Flüssen und Feuchtgebieten während der Wikingerzeit. Derartige Funde wurden in Skandinavien intensiv untersucht, jedoch in Großbritannien bislang kaum akademisch diskutiert. Es kann angenommen werden, dass die Ankunft der Skandinavier zwischen dem 9. und 10. Jh. eine merkliche Zunahme von Deponierungen mit, heidnischem‘ Charakter herbeiführte. Trotz des tief verwurzelten und institutionalisierten Christentums, das England schon für einige Zeit dominiert hatte, ist es möglich, dass pagane Glaubensvorstellungen zwar schlummerten, jedoch keinesfalls vergessen waren und die Ankunft der Skandinavier ihr Wiederaufleben auslöste. Waffen bilden einen großen Anteil der rituellen Niederlegungen, wobei hier 70 Horte geographisch kartiert wurden, um Verteilungsmuster in der Landschaft zu erkennen. Es wird hier vorgeschlagen, dass, liminale‘ Niederlegungen im wikingerzeitlichen Skandinavien als interpretatives Modell für diese Funde dienen können. Vor dem Hintergrund lokalen Konflikts und territorialer Konsolidierung, in dem sie in England deponiert worden sein dürften, kann dieses Material neues Licht auf Einstellungen zu Landschaften werfen, die Konflikt und Konsolidierung unterworfen waren. Translation by Heiner Schwarzberg

Keywords

Viking AgeconflictlandscaperitualdepositionsweaponswetlandsAnglo-Saxon EnglandÂge des Vikingsconflitpaysageritueldépôtsarmeszones humidesAngleterre anglo-saxonneWikingerzeitKonfliktLandschaftRitualNiederlegungenWaffenFeuchtgebieteangelsächsisches England
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , 2014 , pp. 634 - 655
Copyright
Copyright © European Association of Archaeologists 2014 

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