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AT THE CROSSROADS OF SPACE AND TIME GRAVES, CHANGING SOCIETY AND IDEOLOGY ON SAAREMAA (ÖSEL), 9TH-13TH CENTURIES AD Marika Mägi Tallinn 2002 Published as a part of the research project Culture Clash or Compromise: Europeanisation of the Area of the Baltic Sea 1100–1400, financed by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation and the grant No 3475, financed by the Estonian Science Foundation. The costs of editing and publishing CCC papers: 6 have been defrayed by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation the Estonian Science Foundation Edited by Prof. Valter Lang Partly translated by Triinu Mets Linguistically revised by Gordon Snow Drawings of artefacts by Margit Terasmees and Jana Ratas Layout by Toomas Mägi Front cover by Toomas Mägi. Used photo: experimental re-enactment of Viking Age burial, Kuressaare 1998. ISBN 9985-4-0228-6 ISSN 1404-0573, 1404-2665 © Marika Mägi, 2002 Contents INTRODUCTION 5 CHAPTER I. RESEARCH HISTORY AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 8 1.1. Marxist Ideas in Soviet Archaeology 8 1.2. Development in Concepts of Estonian Prehistoric Society 9 1.3. Research History of Estonian Late Iron Age and Medieval Cemeteries 10 1.4. Research History of Late Iron Age and Early Medieval Graves on Saaremaa 11 1.5. Interpretation of Burial Rites 13 1.6. Summary 14 CHAPTER II. BURIAL CUSTOMS IN THE EASTERN BALTIC AND THE NEIGHBOURING AREAS 15 2.1. Latvia and Lithuania 16 2.1.1. Eastern Lithuania 16 2.1.2. Central Lithuania (Aukshtaitia) 17 2.1.3. Semigallia 17 2.1.4. Zhemaitia 18 2.1.5. Couronia 18 2.1.6. Latgallia 21 2.1.7. Selonia 22 2.1.8. Livia 22 2.2. Estonia 24 2.2.1. Saaremaa and West Estonia 24 2.2.2. The Rest of the Estonian Mainland 25 2.3. North-West Russia 26 2.3.1. The Votes and the Izhorians 26 2.3.2. Karelia 27 2.4. Finland 28 2.5. Sweden 29 2.5.1. Mälar Area, Uppland 29 2.5.2. Gotland 30 2.6. Summary 31 CHAPTER III. SAAREMAA IN WRITTEN SOURCES 33 3.1. Saaremaa in the Viking Age 33 3.2. Saaremaa 1100–1227 34 3.3. Saaremaa in the 13th and 14th Centuries 35 3.4. Summary 37 CHAPTER IV. STUDY OF CEMETERIES ON SAAREMAA 38 4.1. Stone Graves (9th–12th Century Cemeteries) 38 4.1.1. Methods for Identifying Burial Complexes 38 4.1.2. Käku Cemetery 39 4.1.3. Piila Cemetery 43 4.1.4. Kurevere Cemetery 45 4.1.5. Randvere Cemetery 47 4.1.6. Rahu Cemetery 53 4.1.7. Kogula Cemetery 58 4.1.8. Viltina Cemetery 60 4.2. Inhumation Burials 63 4.2.1. Loona Cemetery 63 4.2.2. The Graveyard Around the Church of Valjala 65 4.2.3. Karja Cemetery 66 4.2.4. Viira Cemetery 70 4.3. Summary 74 3 Contents CHAPTER V. STUDY OF ARTEFACTS AND BURIAL COMPLEXES 75 5.1. The Sex and/or Gender Distribution of Burials 75 5.1.1. Weapons and Other “Male Attributes” in Female Burials 77 5.1.2. “Female Attributes” in Male Burials 81 5.1.3. Probable Burials of Male–Female Couples in Stone Cemeteries 83 5.2. Artefacts in Burial Complexes 83 5.2.1. Armament 83 5.2.2. Tools 89 5.2.3. Horse Harness 95 5.2.4. Belts and Belt Fittings 96 5.2.5. Jewellery 99 5.2.6. Bronze Decoration of Garments 111 5.2.7. Pottery 113 5.2.8. Iron Rivets and Nails 114 5.3. Analysis of the Grave Goods 115 5.3.1. NAT in Osilian Graves 116 5.3.2. The Changing of Cemeteries in the Course of Time 117 5.3.3. Social Manifestation 122 5.4. Summary 124 CHAPTER VI. CHANGES IN BURIAL RITES 125 6.1. Burial Rites in the Late Iron Age 125 6.1.1. Grave Forms 125 6.1.2. Burial Rites in Stone Graves 129 6.2. Burial Rites in the Early Medieval Period 133 6.2.1. Ideological Changes 133 6.2.2. (Semi-)Christian Burials 134 6.3. Summary 137 CHAPTER VII. CHANGING TIMES, CHANGING SOCIETY 138 7.1. Political Circumstances 138 7.2. Social Structure 139 7.2.1. Saaremaa in the First Half of the Viking Age 139 7.2.2. Saaremaa in the 10th Century 139 7.2.3. Saaremaa in the 11th Century 140 7.2.4. Saaremaa in the 12th Century 142 7.2.5. Saaremaa in the 13th–14th Centuries 148 7.3. From Paganism to Christianity 150 7.3.1. Cross-Shaped Pendants and the Phenomenon of Primisignatio 151 7.3.2. The Role of Women in the Christianisation Process 152 7.3.3. Christianisation of the Burial Customs 153 7.3.4. The Churches 154 7.4. Summary 157 CONCLUSIONS 158 REFERENCES 159 ABBREVIATIONS 168 Kokkuvõte. Ruumi ja aja ristteel. Kalmed, muutuv ühiskond ja ideoloogia Saaremaal 9.–13. sajandini 169 APPENDIX 171 PLATES 175 4 INTRODUCTION Saaremaa (known also as Ösel in Swedish and German)1 The most important export products from medieval is the second largest island in the Baltic Sea. In most Saaremaa were grain, horses and timber.3 Archaeologist cases the name Saaremaa embraces also the nearby Jüri Peets has suggested that from the 12th century up to island of Muhu and the surrounding small islands and the middle of the 14th century Saaremaa produced so islets (see section 3.1.). The total area of the islands is much iron that it was exported to other countries.4 2,969 sq km, thus about the same as that of Gotland. Saaremaa’s main import was salt, and, in the prehistoric Except for the bluff northern bank, the coastline of period, possibly also the so-called prestige goods: luxury Saaremaa is mostly shelving, low and very uneven. The weapons, furs, expensive fabrics, wine, spices, etc. By the rate of land mass elevation in this district is about 2.5–3 end of the Iron Age, in addition to trade, plundering and the m per 1000 years, which has caused, over a period sev- yields it gave were probably also of great importance. eral hundred years, comparatively rapid changes of the * * * coastline. During the period that is discussed in the pres- ent study many of the areas that are currently parts of The Estonian islands are ethnographically somewhat dif- Saaremaa were still separate islands. To make the read- ferent from the mainland, mostly in their resemblance to ing less complicated, I have used the name Saaremaa for the Swedish ethnographic material. In Late Iron Age the whole archipelago, including the island of Muhu. archaeological finds, Saaremaa is one of the richest Hiiumaa, the second largest island of Estonia, should be regions of Estonia, though most of the finds have not been considered as a different district; in the period under dis- published and analysed with contemporary methods. cussion, Hiiumaa was very sparsely populated. German crusaders conquered Saaremaa, as they did with Saaremaa consists of low, level islands, the highest the rest of Estonia, in the beginning of the 13th century. points of which barely reach 50 m above sea level. The Although written records from that period are scarce, soil of the islands is usually thin and infertile, only the there is more material concerning Saaremaa from this peri- central and eastern parts of Saaremaa are covered with od than for other parts of Estonia. In these writings it a more productive soil. Swamps are common; also becomes obvious what a different role the islands were places of gravelly and sandy earth with stunted vegeta- playing in events of the 13th and 14th centuries – mainly the tion or soils on limestone with a thin layer of humus. greater political independence the islanders enjoyed then. There are also few lakes on Saaremaa, the rivers there The aim of the present study is to define in more detail th contain little water and are, owing to 20 century melio- the Osilian political organisation in the Viking and Late ration processes, almost dry nowadays. Iron Age and its transition into a feudal society in the The coastal soil on the island of Saaremaa is especially post-conquest period. The sources for the study are gravelly, dependent upon weather and sensitive to mainly the ancient graves and burial traditions, the devel- drought. A great part of the land is, therefore, used as opmental changes of which will be discussed in the fol- pasture, but even this is low in quality. The pasture, lowing chapters. The research is thus largely based on except some areas near the coast, tends to be abundant archaeological data, into which I have tried to integrate in limestone or sandy, full of stones and juniper bushes. historical and human geographic information. It is known from medieval sources that the agriculture of The Viking Age was a period when both the eastern and Saaremaa produced mainly rye, barley and oats, and to a western coasts of the Baltic Sea could be described as minor extent wheat. In addition to these, spring wheat, having a certain degree of cultural uniformity. Compared spring rye, buckwheat, lentils, beans, peas, cabbages, to Catholic and feudal Western Europe, it constituted a rape, flax and hemp were cultivated. Compared with tillage, stock raising was better developed. The farmers of Saaremaa possessed, according to the inventory of 1 1731, 4,481 horses and 12,632 cattle. In the inventory of In the text I have preferred to use the Estonian name Saaremaa instead of Ösel, but according to the widespread 1750 there were 5,825 horses and 17,433 cattle, and in tradition in archaeological and historical literature I have 1819 as many as 6,000 horses, 20,000 cattle and 40,000 called the inhabitants of the island Osilians and used the adjective Osilian.