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Whalebone Gaming Pieces: Aspects of Marine Mammal Exploitation in Vendel and Viking Age Scandinavia

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Whalebone Gaming Pieces: Aspects of Marine Mammal Exploitation in Vendel and Viking Age Scandinavia European Journal of Archaeology 21 (4) 2018, 612–631 This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work. Whalebone Gaming Pieces: Aspects of Marine Mammal Exploitation in Vendel and Viking Age Scandinavia 1 2 3 ANDREAS HENNIUS ,RUDOLF GUSTAVSSON ,JOHN LJUNGKVIST AND 4 LUKE SPINDLER 1Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Sweden 2Societas Archaeologica Upsaliensis, Uppsala, Sweden 3Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Sweden 4BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, UK Discussions of pre-Viking trade and production have for many decades focused on products made of precious metals, glass and, to some degree, iron. This is hardly surprising considering the difficulties in finding and provenancing products made of organic matter. In this article we examine gaming pieces made from bone and antler, which are not unusual in Scandinavian burials in the Vendel and Viking period (c. AD 550–1050). A special emphasis is placed on whalebone pieces that appear to dominate after around AD 550, signalling a large-scale production and exploitation of North Atlantic whale pro- ducts. In combination with other goods such as bear furs, birds of prey, and an increased iron and tar production, whalebone products are part of an intensified large-scale outland exploitation and indicate strong, pre-urban trading routes across Scandinavia and Europe some 200 years before the Viking period and well before the age of the emporia. Keywords: whaling, pre-Viking trade, outland exploitation, gaming pieces, Eubalaena glacialis, ZooMS INTRODUCTION of unspecified bone/antler gaming pieces in Sweden and Åland, found in Late Iron Museum collections in Sweden hold thou- Age graves, divided into the Vendel period sands of gaming pieces, primarily from (c. AD 550–750) and the Viking period (c. graves and urban deposits dating to AD 750–1050). A large proportion of these between around AD 200 and 1200. Some were identified as being made of whalebone are made from a wide variety of exclusive (Gustavsson et al., 2015). The need for a or eye-catching materials such as glass, stable and reliable source of raw material amber, ivory, or horse teeth. However, makes it reasonable to postulate an origin the most common materials are bone or outside the Baltic Sea, in the Atlantic or antler, mostly not clearly identified as to North Sea region. Whales occasionally species. appear in the Baltic Sea today. The pres- A pilot study was recently conducted to ence of whalebones in churches and castles identify the raw materials within the group around the Baltic may suggest that their © European Association of Archaeologists 2018 doi:10.1017/eaa.2018.15 Manuscript received 6 October 2017, accepted 21 March 2018, revised 17 January 2018 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.19, on 27 Sep 2021 at 21:33:18, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2018.15 Hennius et al. – Whalebone Gaming Pieces 613 presence was more common before the significant reflection. The argument in this nineteenth century (Svanberg, 2008:70); article is based on archaeological material, but, even if marine life in the Iron Age but some historical statements may be used Baltic was richer, it could hardly support a to illustrate the discussion. significant and standardized whalebone The Basques are famous for extensive industry. Stranded whales should be seen medieval whaling along the coast of the as an irregular occurrence in this region. Bay of Biscay and northwards (Aguilar, Taken together, these aspects show that 1986:191–92). The earliest written source the whalebone gaming pieces had the dates to AD 670 and records a delivery of potential of studying a major trade-related forty casks (each containing 250 litres) material (Gustavsson et al., 2015). of whale oil or whale blubber to the abbey The primary aim of this article is to of Jumièges (Laist, 2017: 103). The earliest investigate whether the whalebone gaming English historical reference to whale pieces could be interpreted as the by- hunting comes from Bede in AD 731: ‘… products of active whale hunting. Here, we seals as well as dolphins are frequently cap- present a more substantial body of evidence tured and even whales’ (Mulville, 2002:36 than that undertaken in the pilot study. with references). Another early source with Beyond determining the scale of whalebone comments on whaling is Ælfric’s Colloquy products in the relevant periods, we present (c. 955–1010), remarking ‘Iprefertocatch insights into a more intensified exploitation a fish that I can kill, rather than a fish that of coastal resources as a result of socio- can sink or kill not only me but also my economic processes in the sixth century AD. companions with a single blow’ implying that, even if the author of these lines did not hunt for whales, others did (Szabo, WHALING IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND 2008: 2 with references). HISTORICAL SOURCES The earliest written account of Scandinavian whaling is from Óttarr/ Whalebone bearing more or less distinct Ohthere, a ninth-century traveller and trades- traces of processing is found in excavations man at King Ælfred’scourtinEngland. from almost every prehistoric period in the OhtherecamefromHålogalandinnorthern North Sea and North Atlantic sphere (e.g. Norway. He gained a large proportion of his Clark, 1947; Sjøvold, 1971; Hallén, 1994; wealth from the sea, including from hunting McGregor et al., 1999). It has been a whales and walruses. The account relates matter of debate whether these derive from how he tells the king about killing more than whales that were actively hunted or occa- sixty whales measuring 50 ells (about 20–30 sionally stranded. Vicky Szabo stresses the m) with his friends in just two days. This dangers related to whaling, as well as the account has been highly debated by scholars small differences between whale hunting (Bately, 2007:44–46; Bill & Damgård- and scavenging, and also that every hunted Sørensen, 2007:7;Storli,2007:90–99, for whale must be landed regardless of whether discussion and interpretations). The simple it is killed and towed to shore or washed question is whether it was possible and rele- there after being wounded offshore (Szabo, vant for pre-medieval Scandinavians to hunt 2008:257,262,279). large amounts of big whales. Whaling is known from early medieval Direct archaeological evidence of pre- written sources, both in continental Europe medieval whaling is hard to find. Most and Scandinavia. The interpretation and historical whale hunting in northern use of the historical accounts needs Europe seems to have been carried out Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.19, on 27 Sep 2021 at 21:33:18, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2018.15 614 European Journal of Archaeology 21 (4) 2018 from the shore or nearby coasts. The corresponding to Ohthere’s Hålogaland, whales were scared by noises made on the boathouses or nausts have a primary con- boats into coming closer to land, where struction phase around AD 600–900. In they were trapped, speared, or simply Finnmark, maritime exploitation is also stranded (Szabo, 2008: 102). The technol- indicated through more than 700 recorded ogy for coastal hunting did exist, and slab-lined pits or hellegroper used for pro- documented historical evidence of cessing blubber from marine mammals Norwegian whale hunting by spearing (Nilsen, 2017: 4). Radiocarbon dating indi- shows that it required neither harpoons cates an increase in these features around nor large vessels. Historical and ethno- AD 600–900, therefore revealing a chrono- graphic accounts also tell us that it is pos- logical, and sometimes also geographical, sible to hunt whales with harpoons or correlation with the boat houses (Figure 1; spears from small boats and canoes in see Henriksen, 1995: 57; Stylegar & open waters (Nelson, 1969: 217–18; Grimm, 2005: 256, 258; Wickler & Nilsen, Lowenstein, 1993: xxi–xxv). Iron spear 2012:106–07; Nilsen, 2014:95;2017:10, points and arrowheads become common 16). The slab-lined pits are, in some cases, grave goods in Norwegian weapon graves connected with the presence of whalebone, between AD 650 and 950. Szabo (2008: suggesting whale blubber processing, and 108) suggests that these could have been could be another indication of whaling. At used for whaling with spears. an excavation in Skjærvika, Finnmark fylke An extensive use of whales is documen- in Norway (Figure 10), such bones were ted in the material culture. Baleen was identified as belonging to large species of used to fasten the planking of the Oseberg the Eubalaena or Balaenidae families ship (Shetelig, 1917: 294); and North (Henriksen & Roll Valen, 2013: 384). Scandinavian crafts using whalebone are These whales could weigh up to 50–100 well-known during the Viking period, tonnes, and the blubber constitutes forty including weaving swords, plaques, and per cent of the bodyweight. It was necessary cleavers. Based on a study of these artefacts, to kill several hundred seals to get an equal Thorleif Sjøvold suggests that active amount of blubber from a single whale. hunting for whales could have started as To summarize, compared with the well- early as the sixth century AD (Sjøvold, 1971: attested history of Basque whaling, the 1204).
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