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Journal of Wetland Archaeology 8, 2008

Managing Editor: Bryony Coles, University of Exeter, UK

Contents
Research Papers
Coastal Wetland Sites and Coastal Cave Sites: Archaeological and Environmental
Investigations around Lake Nakaumi and Lake Shinji areas, West Japan
Fumiaki Takehiro

Rapid Coastal Zone Survey and Beyond: Research and Management

of the Essex Coast, UK
E. M. Heppell and N. Brown

26

Banks, Borders and Bodies of Water in a Viking Age Mentality

Julie Lund

53

Facing the Future, Touching the Past: an Exploration of Visitor Responses

to Wetland Archaeological Sites
Jess Collins

73

Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction from Sediments

at West Quay Road, Southampton
Mary Nicholls and Rob Scaife

91

Note

122

Book Reviews
Prehistoric Coastal Communities: the Mesolithic in Western Britain
by Martin Bell, with contributions from 34 other authors
reviewed by Geoff Bailey

124

Iron Age and Roman Settlement in the Upper Thames Valley. Excavations
at Claydon Pike and Other Places Within the Cotswold Water Park
by David Miles, Alex Smith and Grace Perpetua Jones
reviewed by Richard Hingley

127

Connected by the Sea: Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium

on Boat and Ship Archaeology, Roskilde, 2003
edited by Lucy Blue, Fred Hocker and Anton Englert, reviewed by Nigel Nayling

128

Desiccation of the Archaeological Landscape at Voorne-Putten

edited by R.M. van Heeringen and E.M. Theunissen, reviewed by Robert Van de Noort

130

ii

Contents

Environmental Archaeology in Ireland

edited by Eileen M. Murphy and Nicki J. Whitehouse, reviewed by Alan K. Outram

131

Grauballe Man. An Iron Age Bog Body Revisited

edited by Pauline Asingh and Niels Lynnerup, reviewed by J.B. Bourke

133

Dungeness and Romney Marsh: Barrier Dynamics and Marshland Evolution

edited by Antony J. Long, Martyn P. Waller and Andrew J. Plater
reviewed by Stephen Rippon

134

Shell Middens in Atlantic Europe

edited by Nicky Milner, Oliver E. Craig and Geoffrey N. Bailey
reviewed by Peter Rowley-Conwy

136

Neolithic Archaeology in the Intertidal Zone

edited by Jane Sidell and Fiona Haughey, reviewed by Anthony Harding

137

Plants, People, and Places. Recent Studies in Phytolith Analysis

edited by Marco Madella and Dbora Zurro, reviewed by Jose Iriarte

138

Landscape, Community and Colonisation: the North Somerset Levels

during the 1st to 2nd millennia AD
by Stephen Rippon, reviewed by Johannes Ey

140

Siedlungsarchologie im Alpenvorland IX: Hornstaad-Hrnle IA. Die Befunde

einer jungneolithischen Pfahlbausiedlung am westlichen Bodensee.
By Bodo Dieckmann, Arno Harwath and Jutta Hoffstadt.
Dendroarchologische Untersuchungen in den neolithischen
Ufersiedlungen von Hornstaad-Hrnle
by Andr Billamboz. With contributions from Niels Bleicher, Einhart Nickel,
Wolfgang Ostendorp, Edith Schmidt, Klaus Veit and Richard Vogt
reviewed by Anthony Harding

142

Sutton Common. The excavation of an Iron Age marsh fort

edited by Robert Van de Noort, Henry Chapman and John Collis
reviewed by Colin Haselgrove

144

The Archaeology of the Gravel Terraces of the Upper and Middle Thames.
The early historical period: AD 11000.
by Paul Booth, Anne Dodd, Mark Robinson and Alex Smith
reviewed by Tony Brown and Robert Van de Noort

146

Trent Valley Landscapes: the Archaeology of 500,000 Years of Change

by David Knight and Andy J. Howard, with contributions by Lee Elliott, Howard Jones,
Ruth Leary and Peter Marshall, reviewed by Tony Brown

150

Wood Use in Medieval Novgorod

edited by Mark Brisbane and Jon Hather, reviewed by Nicola Trzaska-Nartowski

151

Mesolithic Settlement in the North Sea Basin A Case Study from Howick,
North-East England
edited by Clive Waddington, reviewed by Robert Young

153

Journal of Wetland Archaeology 8, 2008, 5372

Banks, Borders and Bodies of Water in a Viking

Age Mentality
Julie Lund

Abstract
In this paper the meanings related to lakes in the Viking Age cognitive landscape are
examined through a re-reading of a number of Old Norse sources with a focus on bodies
of water and an analysis of depositions of jewellery, weapons, tools and cauldrons
from a number of South Scandinavian lakes. It is argued that the finds are not lost
accidentally or stored in order to be retrieved, but can be interpreted as the outcome of
ritual acts. The relationship between categorisation of landscape and material culture
is explored, focusing on metaphorical links between lakes and cauldrons.
Keywords: Viking Age; Depositions; Cauldrons; Lakes; Material Metaphors

Introduction
The use and understanding of the landscape of South Scandinavia in the Viking Age
was deeply entangled in the elements of cosmology, mentality and world-views that
existed in the minds of people inhabiting the landscape. The cognitive landscape
consisted of multiple layers of meaning, that were woven into the way the landscape
was regarded, used and changed (Hedeager 2003, 147). This can be studied through
the practices indicated by the archaeological material, place names and narratives
connected to specific types of places in the landscape. In this paper, the acts of deposition
of jewellery, weapons, tools and cauldrons in South Scandinavian wetlands and the

Authors address: Julie Lund Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University
of Oslo, Postboks 1008, Blindern, N-0315 Oslo, Norway

54

Julie Lund

role of bodies of waters in the Old Norse written sources will be examined, in order
to shed light on metaphorical links between the two types of sources. The similarities
in the way lakes and cauldrons are described the Old Norse written sources will be a
focus point. Landscape features and specific artefacts can be treated and categorised
in concurrent ways (Jones 1998, 302), and an attempt will be made in this paper to
grasp this type of concurrence.
In studies on deposits, the wetlands have been recognised as liminal zones or borders
surrounding settlements and infields (Zachrisson 1998; Hedeager 1999; Wiker 2000).
This observation is central to the arguments pursued in this paper, but it does leave
us with a need to define what is being meant by liminality in this setting. In order to
do that, the specific meanings related to these places in the cognitive landscape in the
context of Viking Age South Scandinavia, from the late 8th to mid 11th century AD will
be examined. The aim of this paper is to examine the meanings related to springs and
lakes bodies of water in the South Scandinavian Viking Age. The chosen method is
to study in parallel the deposited material from a number of wetland contexts and the
role of bodies of water in the Old Norse texts, and to try to establish an interpretation
based on these two very different types of sources.
The Old Norse sources used in this analysis are the poems Vlusp, Grmnisml,
Hvml, Hymiskvia, Vlundarkvia and Gurunarkvia 3 from the Older Edda, also
called the poetic Edda, the Skaldic poem Sigurardrpa, Snorri Sturlasons Edda including
Gylfaginning and Skldskaparml, the Icelandic sagas Egils saga Skalla-Grmssonar,
Kjalnesinga Saga, Hngrvaka and the Norwegian saga of Hkon the Good. The structure
of the Eddic poems indicates that though they were written down in the 13th14th
century, they were constructed in pre-Christian times. Generally, the construction of
poems like Vlusp and Grmnisml are dated to the 9th century, but some scholars
argue that fragments of the Eddic poems could be as old as from the 4th or 5th century
(Kristjnsson 2007). Some of the poems, like Gurunarkvia 3, are however considered
to be rather late constructions (Simek and Plsson 1987, 125). Sigurardrpa is a poem
from 1130 to the King Sigurur Jrsalafari (Simek and Plsson 1987, 314). Snorres Edda is
a vital source for understanding Old Norse mythology, but it is written in the beginning
of the 13th century and under Christian influence (Steinsland 2005, 54). The Icelandic
sagas were written down in the 13th and 14th century, but the events in the sagas took
place in 9th to 11th century. The writers made these stories in accordance with the
available knowledge of the past. Many of the writers did indeed have knowledge of
pre-Christian religion and these narratives (Meulengracht Srensen 1995, 1825).
Using these sources to study Viking Age South Scandinavia provides us with a
large number of source-critical problems, as these texts were written down after the
Viking Age by Christians, but in many cases refer to a pre-Christian world-view and a
Viking Age mentality (Price 2002; Steinsland 2005, 43). One way of dealing with these
problems could be to approach the Viking Age as a prehistoric period, basing analyses
exclusively on the material culture. Yet, the Old Norse sources hold the potential to
examine Viking Age mentalities, mythology and world-views that should not be ignored.
Iconography from the 5th to 7th century, appearing on gold bracteates and Gotlandic
picture stones, clearly indicates that some of the myths presented in the poems were
known in Scandinavia before the Viking Age (see for instance Hauck 1981; Andrn

Banks, Borders and Bodies of Water in a Viking Age Mentality

55

1989; Staecker 2004). Similarly, inscriptions and iconography on the rune stones from
the Viking Age demonstrate that people in Scandinavia knew the narratives of the Old
Norse sources as well as the metric forms from the poems in this time span. For instance
the legend of Sigurd appears on 11th century rune stones (Blindheim 1973; Fuglesang
2005). As specific landscape features appear in these texts as important parts of the
description of the cosmology, the texts can be used in analysis of cognitive landscapes.
An interpretation that encapsulates both material culture and written sources can provide
us with a deeper understanding of the spatial aspects of Viking Age world-views. This
type of innovative, highly text-dependent archaeological research is developing in several
places in Scandinavia (Price 2005, 378). The potential of this approach is most clearly
demonstrated in the analyses of the connections and merging of written (though in the
terms of the poetry: originally oral) and material metaphors in the Late Iron Age and
Viking Age, as demonstrated by Anders Andrn (2000), Frands Herschend (2001) and
Maria Domeij-Lundborg (Domeij 2004; Domeij-Lundborg 2006). In their ways of using
material culture and written source in a combined interpretation, these quite different
studies have opened up new ways of studying minds and mentalities in this period,
which can also be used in a study of the cognitive landscape.

Depositions as Ritual Actions

As a way of approaching the layers of meaning entwined in the landscape, the acts
of deposition will be examined with a focus on their topographical contexts. The
interpretation of acts of deposition has changed markedly over time (Bradley 1990,
2324; Notelid 1990; Karsten 1994, 24). However, a clear-cut distinction and division
into profane and sacred depositions is maintained in most research (e.g. Brdseth 1998,
12; Needham 2001, 278).
This does, however, vary depending on the period under study. For example, wetland
depositions from prehistoric periods are most often regarded as ritual as with the late
prehistoric weapons assemblages deposited from the middle of the 4th century BC
the 5th century AD, which are generally interpreted as sacrifices of booty (Jrgensen
et al. 2003). In contrast, the Viking Age hoards are still generally considered as profane
depositions. The depositions from the Viking Age, especially the silver hoards, have
generally been perceived as treasures hidden in times of unrest, with the intention of
regaining them in more peaceful times (Hrdh 1976, 176177; Thunmark-Nyln 1989,
149ff). Functionalistic interpretations have been suggested for wetland depositions
(Phillips et al. 2002), but there are several reasons why these explanations do not fit
with the Viking Age material. If the hoards were meant to be reclaimed, the number
of hoards which were not regained is surprisingly large (Needham 2001, 279; Spangen
2005, 27). The dates of the individual silver hoards of the Viking Age are scattered over
the entire period. If these hoards were treasures hidden in times of unrest, these riots
would have been going on through several hundred years (Karsten 1994, 30). That a
large number of the hoards are found in wetlands further undermines the idea of the
hoards representing hidden treasures. For example, the exact locations of lake or bog
depositions are difficult to mark and, consequently, valuable objects thus deposited
are difficult to find again, should someone want to reclaim them. In the case of the

56

Julie Lund

Scandinavian wetland finds from the Viking Age it is more probable that the people who
deposited the objects in wetlands did not intend to regain these artefacts (Geilinger
1967; Zachrisson 1998; Hedeager 1999; Lund 2004; Ryste 2005).
It was not only coins and jewellery of precious metal that were deposited during
the Viking Age; weapons, tools, keys and whetstones have all been found in wetland
contexts, deposited singly or in larger groups (Andrn 2002; Lund 2004; Pedersen
2004). Thus, objects of precious metals only constitute a part of the total of Viking Age
depositions, and I would argue that these depositions must be studied as a whole.
Focusing exclusively on the silver hoards as an economic value, as treasure to be
regained from the lakes at a later time, does not take account of finds that do not fit
this frame of interpretation. It would, for instance, make it difficult to account for the
deposition of whetstones in wetlands. Additionally, it must be presumed that people in
the Viking Age were aware of the fact that iron objects would rust and disintegrate if
kept in a lake over time. This made wetlands a very poor place for storing iron artefacts.
Consequently, the deposition of iron objects, such as weapons or tools, could hardly
have taken place in wetlands with the intention of retrieval. Instead it is advantageous
to search for a frame of interpretation that can include all of the depositions from the
same time period and the same type of find contexts. Taking such an approach, I will
explore the extent to which depositions can be seen as indications of ritual acts.
In Southern Scandinavia the range of artefact types used for Viking Age deposition
is restricted to specific types of objects: weapons, tools, whetstones, keys, jewellery and
coins. The locations of the acts of depositions show a rather high degree of regularity,
as approximately half of the silver hoards and the vast majority of the depositions
of weapons, tools, whetstones and keys are found in wetland contexts, i.e. in rivers
and lakes, clustering around river mouths, bridges and fords, and the banks of lakes
(Geilinger 1967; Zachrisson 1998; Hedeager 1999; Lund 2004; Pedersen 2004; Lund 2005;
2006). The depositions are often found in the ground beside the water, i.e. the bank of
lakes. At Tiss, Zealand the artefacts are found in a fan-shaped pattern, and they seem
to have been thrown from the shore of the lake rather than for instance being dumped
from a boat (Behrend 1970, 939; Jrgensen 2002). The fact that the finds from several
other lakes are recovered in the close vicinity of the bank or at the same distance from
the bank as the finds from the lake Tiss indicate that even these artefacts can have
been deposited by throwing them into the water. In this sense, the acts of deposition
seem to have included physical movements in a somewhat patterned framework.
This means that they can to some degree be characterised as performances. Thus, the
depositions were formalised actions with a constant core, in the sense that even though
the type of deposited objects varied, these were all valuable objects similar to those
found in well-equipped graves, where these artefacts are often perceived as the personal
belongings of the deceased. These elements the formalised actions, the element of
performance, and the invariable core are the very features which, according to Roy
A. Rappaport, characterise a ritual (Rappaport 1999, 3246; for a further discussion
on the study of rituals from archaeological material, see Berggren 2006; Stutz 2006;
Berggren and Stutz in press).
As Catherine Bell (1992) has pointed out in her work on ritualisation, the location
is a very important element in rituals. She also emphasizes that rituals are actions

Banks, Borders and Bodies of Water in a Viking Age Mentality

57

(Bell 1992, 89), for which context is important (Habbe 2005, 30). This means that the
landscape is not reduced to merely a scene for human actions. On the contrary, the
landscape comprises a series of places that are integrated in the ritual acts (Gosden
and Lock 1998, 4). Thereby, ritualisation is a key concept to understanding the way the
cultural landscape is interwoven with the ritual actions, which can be traced materially
through the depositions. More than anything, depositions are concrete ways of handling
and dealing with material culture that relate to attitudes towards specific objects in a
historical context. They further correlate to a world-view incorporated into the way
the landscape was seen and used. As will be discussed, lakes and springs seem to have
had a central role in this cognitive landscape.

Lakes and Springs in an Old Norse Cognitive Landscape

A method for grasping the acts of deposition is to examine the Eddic and Skaldic poetry,
and Snorri Sturlasons Edda with special emphasis on the parts referring to bodies of
water. The Eddic poems Vlusp and Grmnisml are particularly interesting in this
context, as they contain descriptions of the pagan cosmogony and cosmology put in the
words of respectively a seeress and the god Oinn. Gylfaginning from Snorri Sturlasons
Edda also include a description of the pagan cosmology. In contrast to the two former,
Gylfaginning has however been much more influenced by Christianity. By studying the
Old Norse texts, some of the layers of meaning related to water may become apparent,
which in turn can shed light on the relationship between cosmology and perception of
landscape in Old Norse paganism. One notion of a body of water, brunnr, appears in
several different contexts in the sources. Brunnr has most frequently been translated
as a well and only rarely as a spring. However, the translation into a well in its
narrowest sense, meaning a built structure for supplying water, is hardly relevant here.
Brunnr can also be translated as a spring, stream, water stream or a watering place,
and the term brunns-munni actually means the bank of a pond (Vigfusson 1991[1871]).
According to Vlusp (st 1920) the brunnr Ur is termed both brunnr and s, meaning
lake. The second brunnr in the Old Norse sources is Mimisbrunnr, appearing in Vlusp
(st 28) and Snorris Edda (Gylfaginning). The place-name Mimirs Lake occurs at several
locations in Scandinavia (Simek 1993, 216f). This supports the idea that the brunnr of
the Old Norse sources could signify a lake. A third brunnr, Hvergelmir, is described in
Grmnisml (st 26) as the river head of all rivers. According to the Eddic poems the
world-tree Yggdrasill has its roots in Ur and Mimisbrunnr and according to Snorris
Gylfaginning the third root is in Hvergelmir. Thus, it seems possible to translate the
concept brunnr as referring to a body of water a lake, a wetland, a pond and not only
to a water source (i.e. a well) constructed by human actions. This provides us with a
better understanding of what types of landscapes the poems are actually describing.
Several actions take place on the bank of Ur: The ulr (the cult speaker) has according
to Hvml (st 111) his speakers chair placed at Urar brunni. The Norns who are in
charge of fate live at or in Ur, as stated in Vlusp (st 1920). In the Skaldic poem
Sigurardrpa (st 4) it is said that one of the Norns came out of the brunnr (Jnsson
1967, 69). According to Snorri (Gylfaginning), the gods place for judgement is at Ur.
This means that the bank of the brunnr was central in the Old Norse cosmology. As

58

Julie Lund

long as the brunnr was translated

as a well, it was not possible to see
the link between the wetlands of
the physical landscapes and the
central roles of lakes and springs
in the Old Norse sources.
The idea that springs and lakes
were central parts of the cognitive
landscape is further indicated
in a skolie (i.e. a marginal note)
in Adam of Bremens chronicle
Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae
Pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of
the Hamburg Church) completed
in 1075/1076. In the description of
the Pagan sacrifices in Uppsala,
it says that Ibi etiam est fons,
ubi sacrificia paganorum solent
Figure 1. Denmark and Scania with Tiss and northexerceri (skolie 138), meaning
east Scania.
there is also a fons in which pagan
sacrifices are made. The word
fons is most often translated as a well, presumably to relate it to Urr and Mimis
brunnr. However, fons could just as accurately be translated as a spring (Jensen and
Goldschmidt 1942, 272). In this sense the skolie states that in Old Norse paganism
sacrifices were performed in springs. Clearly, bodies of water had an important role
in the Old Norse cognitive landscape, giving water to the world-tree, being the home
of the Norns, the place of judgement and the site where the cult speaker, the ulr, had
his speakers chair.

Viking Age Artefacts from South Scandinavian Lakes

If we turn to the archaeological material, one of the types of place where large groups
of weapons, tools and jewellery appear is indeed the lakes, clustering close to and
at the banks (Jrgensen 2002; Lund 2004). The number of Viking Age finds from the
lakes in the north-eastern part of Scania is significantly larger than what is typical for
South Scandinavian wetlands, but has not previously been the subject of an analysis
of depositions. The topographical context of the finds, clustering around the banks of
the lakes, encapsulates the typical pattern of wetland depositions from this period.
North-eastern Scania form a plain bordered by highlands and the sea. The lakes of
Oppmanna Sj and Rbelv Sj form the northern border of the plains, while southwest of Rbelv is the lake of Hammar Sj (Figures 1 and 2). Whereas the postglacial
rebounds have not affected the South Scandinavian wetlands since the Early Iron Age,
the landscape has changed profoundly by the heavy draining of wetlands in South
Scandinavia, minimizing the formerly dominating fens, bogs and lakes. For instance
Hammar Sj has been vastly drained, but its former extent can be estimated based on

Banks, Borders and Bodies of Water in a Viking Age Mentality

59

Figure 2. The location of the

lakes Rbelv, Hammar and
Oppmanna Sj in north-east
Scania.
sterslv

Rbelv Sj
Oppmanna Sj
Iv Sj
Nosaby

Hammar Sj

2,5

5 km

the map Sknska Rekognosveringskartan made in 18121820. Excavations of settlement

from Northeast Scania clearly show that the plain was densely inhabited throughout
the period, but none of the settlements show any signs of being central places in the
Viking Age. At the coast, hus served as a seasonal site for trade, production and
reloading of goods until around 850 AD (Sindbk 2007). Seven grave fields from the
Viking Age were found on the plain. The largest was from Fjlkinge, northeast of
Hammar Sj and south of Rbelv Sj. This grave yard contained an unusually large
number of child graves and has been the subject of several studies (Helgesson 1992,
1997, Svanberg 2003). The surroundings of Rbelv Sj are particular remarkable. On
the western bank of the lake, the 90 m high hill Balsberget is situated, rising steeply
from the bank of the lake. Next to Balsberget, north of the lake, lies a second hill,
Karsholm, also 90 m high.
From Oppmanna Sj, the finds include a sword with rich decoration deposited 2
km east of sterslv (LUHM 24929, Strmberg 1961, 72; Klse 1999, 133). It is of
JP type D, thus datable to the first quarter of the 9th century AD (Petersen 1919). As
is typical for this type of sword, the hilt was decorated symmetrically in relief and
the vttrim (ferrule) around the handle was adorned with human faces or masks en
face, presumably showing male faces as the decoration seems to include moustaches
(Figure 3). Approximately one-hundred years later a silver hoard was lowered into
the same lake, only a few meters from the bank. Thirtyfour Arabic coins were found
alongside silver threads from several rings and a round piece of jewellery in silver with

60

Julie Lund

decorations in filigree work. The hoard has

been dated t.p.q. AD 927 based on the coins
(SHM 2429, Hrdh 1976, nr. 108). In the
dried-up part of Hammar Sj a sword of JP
type H was discovered, a type which, based
on Norwegian grave material, can be dated
to AD 830/840 950 (LUHM 12358, Nrgrd
Jrgensen 1999, 75pp).
Around the third lake, Rbelv, over time no
less than 13 adzes, 15 axes and five spearheads,
all iron, several iron tools including half a
pair of scissors of a Viking Age type, a glass
pearl and an Arabic coin have been discovered
in the lake (see Appendix 1 for details). The
majority was found near the eastern bank of
the lake. Most of the finds are dated to the
Viking Age, mainly the Late Viking Age while
some, however, can be dated more generally
to the period from the Late Germanic Iron
Age (550750) to the Viking Age. The number
of finds from these three lakes is larger than
what is typical for the Viking Age depositions,
which in many cases consist of only one-three
finds in each lake, river or bog (Lund 2004).
Yet, the overall picture weapons, tools and
Figure 3. The sword hilt of the sword
jewellery deposited in a lake near the bank
found in the Lake Oppmanna Sj, Photo:
fits perfectly into the general pattern.
Julie Lund.
In view of the re-reading of the Old Norse
poetry, I would suggest that the artefacts
deposited in lakes, exemplified in the finds from Oppmanna, Hammar, and Rbelv,
were part of pagan practices with references to the sacred brunnr. This idea is further
strengthened by a later Icelandic source. In Hngrvaka, one of the sagas in Biskupa
Sgur, we hear the story of the bishop Bjarnvarr, who was in Iceland for 20 winters.
During this time he blessed several types of places, including brunni and votn, meaning
springs and waters (Hngrvaka III, 6). The saga takes place from AD 1056 to 1176 and
was presumably written shortly after AD 1200 (Simek and Plsson 1987, 184). The saga
is much younger than the acts of deposition in South Scandinavian lakes, and the story
takes place in Iceland. Water of course even had Christian connotations in relation to
baptism, and in medieval Icelandic hagiographies holy water is used by a bishop for
healing (Anderson 2007, 12). Yet, it is striking that the locations blessed by the bishop
in the late 11th century Iceland, the springs and lakes, are the same types of landscape,
where the depositions clustered in South Scandinavia. If the depositions do indeed
represent ritual actions that took place at the lakes, this could explain why a bishop
would felt the need to bless waters in Early Christian times.
The find complex from Rbelv has a certain parallel in the material from Tiss on

Banks, Borders and Bodies of Water in a Viking Age Mentality

61

Zealand (Figure 1), where more than 50 pieces of Viking Age weaponry and jewellery
have been found. Yet, differences between Rbelv and Tiss are also evident. On the
western bank of the lake Tiss a large settlement structure from the Viking Age has
been documented (Jrgensen 2002). Tiss is characterised by traces of extensive craft
and production activities, a very large hall building, and a small building interpreted
as a cult house all in all an extraordinary place (Jrgensen 2002). On the eastern bank
of Rbelv Sj a Viking Age settlement has been documented at present day sterslv
(Nordell 1991; Hvid 2005). In contrast to Tiss, the excavations from sterslv at
Rbelv point towards a more ordinary settlement. An analysis of the distribution of
deposited artefacts in Lake Tiss shows that on this site the weapons and jewellery
were thrown into the water from the bank (Jrgensen 2002). The find material from the
lakes around north-east Scania is typical for the southern Scandinavian Viking Age in
the sense that weapons and tools have been found on the banks or have been thrown
from the banks of the lake. As lakes, and especially those actions taking place on the banks
of lakes, were emphasized in the Old Norse sources, it seems possible that the acts of
deposition could be rituals relating to the role brunnr had in the Old Norse cosmology.
On the basis of finds of graves of executed individuals, Tiss has been interpreted as
a place for judicial acts (Jrgensen 2002). This corresponds very directly to the actions
at the bank of Ur, the gods place for judgement (Snorri, Gylfaginning). Lakes like
Oppmanna, Rbelv, Hammar and Tiss may all have been perceived as brunnr. The
physical landscape, of course, gave limitations to the way cosmological concepts could
be played out in the landscape. In north-east Scania, the presence of the three adjacent
lakes, Oppmanna, Rbelv and Hammar, made it possible to use the concept of the
three brunnr Ur, Mimir, and Hvergelmir actively.
That lakes were important elements in the cognitive landscape is further indicated
by a number of sacred place names. The former name of Rbelv Sj is presumed to
have been *Ball from Old Norse ballr, meaning dangerous, damaging, or the one, which
gives fear (Kousgrd Srensen 1968, 114). Hammar Sj was originally called Helge Sj,
meaning the holy lake. However, as the river running through the lake is called Helge
, it is uncertain whether the lake gave its name to the river or the other way around.
If Hammar Sj was identified as a holy lake, it would reinforce the argument that the
three lakes were perceived as the three brunnr. The name Tiss means the lake of the
god rr (Jrgensen and Srensen 1995; Jrgensen 2002). From the island of Gotland, in
the Baltic, Gudingskrarna means the holy fields of the gods. In this Gotlandic fen several
hundred weapons, mainly spearheads, were deposited during the Viking Age (MllerWille 1984). The concurrence of lakes with sacred names and lakes containing deposited
artefacts strengthens the interpretation of the depositions as acts related to the pagan
cosmology. Not all the lakes with depositions have however sacred place names and
some lakes with sacred place names have not been identified as places where acts of
depositions took place. Yet, the existence of names like Thors, meaning the lake of the god
rr, in Jutland or Odensj, meaning the lake of the god inn, in Scania clearly indicate
that specific lakes could be perceived as sacred places in pre-Christian times.
Not only weapons and jewellery, but other types of objects have been deposited
at Scanian lakes. Prior to the draining of Hammar Sj, the bank of the lake lay at the
present day village of Nosaby. Here, a hoard of 60 iron objects was deposited in the 10th

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century AD (Strmberg 1961, 69; Lund 2006, 323334). The deposited material differs
from the other late Viking Age tool hoards as the hoard from Nosaby did not contain
proper crafting tools such as hammers, tongs or anvils. Yet, it contained a cauldron,
chain links, agricultural tools and wheel hub mounts the very types of artefacts which
are typical for the tool hoards (Lund 2006). In this sense, the composition of objects in
the Nosaby hoard is very similar to the tool hoards. It was even deposited within the
same time span as these, and it should thus be seen as part of this group of deposits.
The location the bank of a lake which is typical for the late Viking Age tool hoards,
is striking, as it corresponds with the liminal location of the smithies in the Old Norse
legends and myths, separated from the settlement and located on banks of rivers and
lakes. The hoards are not deposited at places where real, physical smithies have been
identified by excavations. Rather the locations of the hoards mark the idea of where
the smith and the smithy belonged in the cognitive landscape (Lund 2006).
One specific type of artefact from the tool hoards, the cauldron, requires closer
examination. Cauldrons or cauldron handles appear in the tool hoards from Mstermyr,
Tjele, Veks and in Nosaby, all from South Scandinavia. Two iron rings from the tool
deposit from Smiss, Gotland are also most probably part of a cauldron, namely the
handles (Boye 1858; Zachrisson 1962; Arwidsson and Berg 1983; Leth-Larsen 1984;
Munksgaard 1984; Lund 2006). The question is why the cauldrons were deposited with
the tools of the smith and carpenter. The two bronze or copper cauldrons with iron
handles both had a thick layer of soot on the outside, and one of them was rusty and
contained what could presumably be food scraps on the inside (Arwidsson and Berg
1983, 10). It is possible that the cauldrons from the tool hoards were simply cooking
vessels. This interpretation does not, however, explain why they were deposited along
with the tools.
Iron cauldrons frequently appear in Norwegian Viking Age male graves along with
other types of kitchen and smithing tools (Petersen 1951, 369380). A Danish grave find
from Bjerringhj at Mammen, Jutland, might give us better insight into the role of the
cauldrons in the Viking Age. The man buried in this extremely well-equipped grave
from AD 970/971 was placed in a wooden coffin inside a wooden chamber in a mound.
A copper cauldron, produced in 6th7th century, stood in the north-western corner
of the grave chamber along with two wooden buckets (Iversen 1991, 38; Iversen and
Nsman 1991, 59). In appearance, this was a rather simple and antiquated cauldron,
but it must have served as more than a simple vessel for food production. It must
have possessed particular connotations, since it was worth keeping for more than 400
years. The find underlines that, besides being used for cooking, some cauldrons were
placed in very special contexts in the Viking Age among them the cauldrons from
the tool hoards. It is clear that special types of artefacts like the cauldrons as well
as special features in the landscape like the lakes and particularly their banks are
accentuated by the specific ways these materials and places are dealt with.

The Cauldron in the Old Norse Sources

The cauldron is described as a container for mead in the Old Norse sources (for instance
Hymiskvia). The skolie in Adam of Bremens chronicle on sacrifices in springs also

Banks, Borders and Bodies of Water in a Viking Age Mentality

63

describes human sacrifice in the fons (well or spring). Having this in mind it is interesting
to note that death by drowning is a common theme in the Old Norse sources (Warmind
2004, 139). Here, important men drown in huge cauldrons with mead. In the mythology
the mead is made from the creature Kvasir, who was killed and his blood gathered in
the vessels, Bn and Sn, and the cauldron Orrir (Skldskaparml; Hvml 107,
140). The cauldron, the body and the mead have merging meanings. It becomes even
more complex as there seem to be a certain coincidence between brunnr and cauldrons:
Mimir drinks the mead from his brunnr and the third brunnr Hvergelmir, means the
bubbling cauldron.
The consumption of mead was a central element in the feast and in the ritual toast
of year and peace (Steinsland 2005, 277280). If we recall the arrangement of the grave
chamber in Bjerringhj with the copper cauldron and the two wooden buckets in the
north-western corner of the chamber, this composition of artefacts could be understood
as an active use of the concept of Orrir, Bn and Sn. This would explain why the
cauldron was kept for several hundred years. If the composition of the grave was
indeed the concept of Orrir played out in the funerary ritual, then the cauldron
could possibly have been a mead or beer container.
As this container was preserved over generations, it had the potential of becoming the
container and maintainer of the collective memory. The social memory of a society can
be inscribed in the material culture not just in prominent buildings and monuments,
but also in smaller objects that circulated long after the time of their production. These
objects could contain profound elements of the world-view (Bradley 2002, 13). As artefacts
have the ability to evoke memories (Seremetakis 1994, 1011), placing the cauldron in the
grave could have brought to mind the prior occasions on which this special container
had been used. When the cauldron and the two buckets were placed in the grave, the
myth of Kvasir was acted out, and at the same time the ancient cauldron was taken out
of circulation. This was hardly a coincidence, as the time of the burial, the late 10th
century was a time of far-reaching changes in society. A new religion, Christianity, and
a new structure of power were emerging, and this would involve a change in the use
of ritual consumption of mead. New customs called for new material culture.
If the cauldrons in the tool hoards should be interpreted as containers for mead, their
relation to the smiths tools becomes more abstract. A direct link between smith and
mead does not exist in the Old Norse mythology. However, it does have a counterpart
in the somewhat older pre-Christian Irish mythology: the Irish god Goibniu was the
god of both forging and beer brewing. He was the leader of the feasts in the Otherworld
and the beer from his cauldron protected against sickness and death (Green 1998, 78).
This correlation between the Irish and Scandinavian mindsets in terms of the cauldron
and the smith is interesting, especially because this is not the only common element
in the Irish and Scandinavian material. In Ireland, weapons of Irish and Scandinavian
types are deposited in a pattern very similar to the Scandinavian custom in rivers, at
bridges and fords and in lakes. A large part of the depositions, however, are conducted
at the crannogs, a specifically Irish-Scottish type of structure, unknown in Scandinavia
(Fredengren 2002, 259; Peirce 2002, 63; Kilfeather 2003, 4647; Lund forthcoming).
Cauldrons also seem to have contained the meat at the blot (the sacrificial meal
in Old Norse paganism) indicated in the Saga of Hkon the Good (chapters 1417)

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and Kjalnesinga Saga, where a large copper cauldron is used for gathering the blood
sacrificed to the god rr, whereas sacrificed humans were thrown in the sacrificial bog
(chapter 2). These sagas are written down long after the establishment of Christianity in
Scandinavia, but even though part of the description of the sacrifice in Kjalnesinga Saga
has a parallel in Exodus XII, 22, the concept of sacrificing in the cauldron and the bog
is original. It is therefore possible that the descriptions in the sagas build on genuine
knowledge of the cult activities in Iceland some centuries earlier. This is strengthened
by two elements in the Eddic poems. Firstly, the appearance of the place name hvera
lunda, meaning the sacred grove called cauldron in Vlusp (st 35), pointing towards
a link between sacred places and cauldrons. Secondly, that the combination of placing
an object and a person in the cauldron and the bog is present in Gurunarkvia 3. In
this poem Gurun proves her innocence after false accusations by placing her hand in
a boiling cauldron (hver vellanda). As she is unburned the accuser, Herkja, is forced to
place her hand in the cauldron. As Herkja is burned, she is thrown directly into the
bog (st 611). The resemblance to Kjalnesinga Saga is clear, and both point to a direct
link between the activities connected to the cauldron and the bog

The Cauldron, the Body and the Bank of Water

Like other objects from the Viking Age the cauldron could have had a dual role, on the
one hand being used in everyday life, while on the other being connected to cosmology.
Human beings categorise the world through metaphors. The body can be perceived
as metaphoric in the fundamental way people organise the world. In the same way in
which the human body can be perceived as a container with an inside separated from
an outside, other elements in the world can be divided. This concept of what is outside
and inside is projected by humans onto other physical objects (Lakoff and Johnson 1999,
108). When people take notice of an artefact, this action takes place in comparison to
the human body (Merleau-Ponty 1962, 108). In this process the outline of the container
is fundamental in the division of what is in the container and what is not (Fredriksen
2002, 29; Lakoff and Johnson 2003[1980], 2729). Per Ditlef Fredriksen has pointed out
that vessels and cauldrons used as containers for the bones of the deceased in many
graves could be expressions of the metaphorical thinking of the body as a container,
and that containers with liquids, like the cauldrons, on a universal level are recurring
metaphors for the body (Fredriksen 2002, 21). The transformation of Kvasirs body to
the cauldron Orrir is an obvious example of this metaphoric link.
As categories, the cauldron and the body of water overlap. The cauldron and Mimis
brunnr contain the mead of wisdom. Hymirs mead cauldron is placed at the judgement
place of the gods (Hymiskvia) which is the bank of Urr (Snorris Gylfaginning). The
lake and the cauldron are both containers for the sacrifice, and within these two types of
containers transformative actions take place. The two Old Norse concepts of cauldrons,
hverr and ketill, are synonymous (Vigfusson 1991[1871], 300). In South Scandinavian place
names, lakes and bogs are often described as cauldrons, hverr and ketill (For instance
in Hverrestrup, Vrlse, Kedels, Kedelmose, Kettilsj og Kitteln) (Kousgrd Srensen
1978, 196; 1981, 6162; Kousgrd Srensen 1981, 61f). In some cases an Icelandic spring
can be referred to as an l-kelda, meaning beer spring. Strikingly, lakes, cauldrons and

Banks, Borders and Bodies of Water in a Viking Age Mentality

65

wells also seem to have overlapping functions and meanings in the English and Welsh
sources from around AD 6001200 (Green 1998, 66). In these sources both the cauldrons
and the lakes function as gates to the Otherworld (Green 1998, 64; Van de Noort and
OSullivan 2006, 73). In Irish sources from the same period, magical cauldrons coming
out of lakes, cauldrons healing wounded warriors, and cauldrons brewing beer that
bestow immortality, are recurring features (Green 1998, 6478).
Hence, there is a striking merging between the role of the cauldrons in the Old Norse
and the English, Welsh and Irish sources. In all these regions wetland depositions took
place in the entire period from late Neolithic to the Middle Ages, indicating that wetlands
were important parts of the cognitive landscapes. The connotations of the wetlands
naturally changed significantly through time and varied in the regions. Concurrence
in myths and legends in Scandinavia and Ireland has been interpreted as a result of
contacts in prehistoric and early historic times (Kilfeather 2003, 27). The joint concepts
in the relationship between bodies of water and cauldrons in Scandinavia and the
British Isles could however, also be due to the fact that the cauldrons as containers on a
universal level encourage this type of categorisation. Studying the merging principles in
the categorisation of landscape and other types of material culture holds a potential for
a better understanding of the relationship between the cauldrons and the banks of the
lakes. Even though the lake is a feature in the landscape and the cauldron is an artefact
they seem to have been categorised in similar ways in the Viking Age, as is conveyed
in the archaeological material and the Old Norse sources. Containers like cauldrons as
well as lakes have surfaces and natural limitations of what is inside and outside. With
this spatial metaphor in mind it is understandable why the bank of the lake can form
a central part of constructing and sustaining the cognitive landscape. The relationship
between the lakes and the cauldrons seems to be twofold: on the one hand they seem to
work as metonyms in the Old Norse cosmology as reflected in the Old Norse sources.
On the other, in the material culture the lakes and cauldrons do not seem to be direct
metonyms. They rather entangle a double symbolism, as the cauldrons are deposited
by or in the lakes. The relationship between the lakes and the cauldrons in this sense
provides us with glimpse of an attitude towards categorisation in the minds of people
living in the Viking Age which is profoundly different from modern ones.

Transferring Meaning from Artefacts to Places

The selection of the specific artefacts to be deposited could have been made on the
basis of the different meanings these objects had obtained through their social life as
jewellery, weapons or tools. These artefacts came from completely different contexts,
but they all ended up deposited in wetlands. The acts of deposition served as the
conclusion of their life cycle (Appadurai 1986; Kopytoff 1986; Helms 1993; Gosden
and Marshall 1999). This perspective has recently been incorporated into studies of
the Viking Age silver hoards (Ryste 2005; Spangen 2005). It deals with the changing
layers of meanings obtained by and contained in an artefact like a sword, a piece of
jewellery, a smiths tool or a key as it was produced, purchased, possessed, displayed,
passed on as a heritage, a gift or by theft, and in the case of the weapons could have
partaken in battles. Several of the artefacts deposited in the Scandinavian wetlands had

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Julie Lund

been manufactured by a highly skilled smith. A few of the artefacts were made abroad,
which meant that, before the conclusion of their social life, they had participated in
journeys. Finally, the artefacts were placed in a grave, lost accidentally, or deposited
as either garbage or as parts of ritual activities. Through this frame of interpretation
the act of depositing an artefact can be seen as the conclusion of this objects social life
a burying of its social body, so to speak.
Ritual actions can be used to handle, change and demonstrate a social situation (Brck
2007, 287). This is an important notion, as it points to a somewhat under-developed
element in the study of ritual depositions: the acts of deposition could indeed be a
way of handling or changing a situation, that is as a way of dealing with artefacts
which no longer could or should be used due to the layers of meaning assigned to the
object through its social life. One example is seen in Egils saga Skalla-Grmssonar, (58),
where a copper cauldron and a chest containing silver are lowered into a spring, and a
rock is placed over them by the chief and smith Skallagrmr, as the last acts of his life
(Lund 2006, 334). The tool hoards might also represent such a case. These tools had
been involved in powerful processes of transforming dead raw materials into living,
social objects (Helms 1993, 18). A conceivable result of this is that the tools used in this
operation could not be used again after the death of the smith (Lund 2006, 330331, with
references). Focusing on the social life of things thus seems to provide a useful way
of understanding the choice of deposited artefacts. By wielding a magnificent sword
like the one from Oppmanna Sj (Figure 3), the owner demonstrated his experience
and knowledge by having been able to acquire such a sword. Thereby, the sword
materialised its owners experience, his cultural capital and his ability to claim such
a position wherein he could gain a sword like this, possibly through long-distance
trade or gift-exchange (Helms 1993, 10). As the sword was lowered into the lake, his
knowledge and experience was transferred to this very place.
Repeated practices create embodied links between people, places and identities
(Brck 2005, 62). Ritual acts clearly fall into this category of practices, and the depositions
are indeed an active way of creating these links. Chris Fowler (2001, 153158) has
stated that acts of deposition could be a way of expressing, negotiating and creating
links between divisible selves made out of humans and artefacts; but the creation of
relations does not end here. The acts of deposition further express and create relations
between the objects and the landscape both physically and symbolically. During the acts
of deposition at the point where things literally took place layers of meaning were
transferred from the artefact to the place, and at the same time the social biography
of the places changed. This is an element in the study of the social biography of things
which has been somewhat overlooked.
Through the special handling of material culture in the acts of deposition, chains
of relations were created, not only between people and things, as Fowler (2001) has
convincingly demonstrated, but between people, things and places. It is through these
kinds of actions that a specific position in the landscape transforms into a place. The lakes
and their banks were used and staged as important parts of the cognitive landscape
in the minds of the people of the past. Through the acts of deposition, the cognitive
landscape was constructed and sustained, embodying it with human qualities and thus
integrating it into the body and identity of the people living in it and through it.

Banks, Borders and Bodies of Water in a Viking Age Mentality

67

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72

Appendix 1
SHM: Swedish Historical Museum, Stockholm
LUHM: Lunds Universitys Historical Museum
Place

Finds

Museum-nr.

Dating

Other
references

Oppmanna
Sj

A sword of JP type D
A silver hoard of 34 Arabic
coins, silver threads from
several rings and a round
piece of jewellery in silver
with decorations in filigree
work.
a sword of JP type H

LUHM 24929
SHM 2429

The sword: JP type D, first

quarter of the 9th century
AD (Petersen 1919).
The hoard: t.p.q. AD 927,
based on the coins (Hrdh
1976, nr. 108).

Strmberg 1961,
72;
Klse 1999,
133

LUHM 12358

13 adzes, 15 axes and five

spearheads, tools, all of
iron, a glass pearl and an
Arabic coin

SHM 8328,38
45, 4748, 52;
SHM 4115; SHM
7577; SHM
13.900; LUHM
8458

The sword: AD 830/840950

(Nrgrd Jrgensen 1999,
75102).
The adzes: Late Iron Age
Older Viking Age, primarily
first half of the 9th century
(Petersen 1951, 165).
One axe: Jan Petersens (JP)
type L, dating to 9001050
(SHM 8328,52, Petersen
1919; Svanberg 2003, 161).
Six axes: JP type C, Late Iron
Agearound 900 (SHM
7577,467, Petersen 1919;
Strmberg 1961, 67;
Svanberg 2003, 161).
One axe: Nrgrd
Jrgensens Gotlandic type
AX2, 9th10th century
(SHM 13900, Nrgrd
Jrgensen 1999, 104pp).
One axe from the 11th
century (LUHM 8458).
The spearheads: JP type B
and D, respectively the
beginning of the Viking Age
and the 10th century
(Petersen 1919; Strmberg
1961, 67).
The glass pearl: Late Iron
AgeMiddle Ages
The scissors: Viking Age
(Rygh 1885; Petersen 1951,
312313)
The Arabic coin AD, a
samanid from 932933

Hammar
Sj
Rbelv Sj

Some of the
finds are
included in
Strmberg 1961