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The Other Body Persons in Viking Age Multiple Burials in Scandinavia and the Western Diaspora Claire F. Ratican Volume I of II Newnham College University of Cambridge December 2019 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Preface This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It does not exceed the prescribed word limit of 80,000 words for the Degree Committee of Archaeology and Anthropology. i Summary The Other Body: Persons in Viking Age Multiple Burials in Scandinavia and the Western Diaspora. Multiple burials— generally defined as the presence of more than one individual within a grave— are a common feature of the Viking Age mortuary landscape throughout Scandinavia and the lands of the Western Diaspora. Even though a number of spectacular examples have captured the imagination of professionals and the public alike, multiple burials have not been the subject of dedicated and systematic archaeological investigation. Despite this, they are widely considered in relation to two interpretive themes emphasising either the 'Ordinary' family nature of the burials, or their role in demarcating social deviants and ‘Others’. In light of the growing recognition that concepts of identity are not static, one–dimensional or universal, I argue that a framework of personhood may better illuminate the nature of the multiple burial rite and its role in producing Viking Age persons. To do so, Viking Age burials located across the lands of the Western Diaspora and the urban trading centres of Kaupang and Hedeby were drawn together to produce an original corpus of multiple burials. The multiple burial corpus was approached using a perspective grounded in relationality and the ontological turn, which focused on the relationships between various components of the burials, and how persons were produced through these interactions. The analysis centred on three types of beings— humans, animals and things— to explore the ways in which they related and mutually constituted the personhood of the other. The results demonstrate that, firstly, temporality was a key component in the physical construction of Viking Age multiple burials and the ontological construction of Viking ii Age persons, and secondly, that the shared bodily experiences of humans, animals and things suggest that persons were potentially conceptualised as ‘not of one shape’ in Viking Age minds. While this study firmly situates the multiple burial rite within the wider suite of normative burial practices observed across the Viking World, it also builds upon a developing discourse in the Scandinavian tradition, which is increasingly revealing the fluidity of 'being' across human, animal and thing bodies in Iron Age myths and material culture. The research poses the question: is it time for us to reconceptualise the multiple burial rite to acknowledge the potential personhood of 'other bodies'? Claire F. Ratican Department of Archaeology University of Cambridge iii Acknowledgements As it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a metropolis to write a doctoral thesis. The possibility of undertaking such an endeavour would not have presented itself without the generous funding made available to me through the Cambridge Australia Newnham Scholarship, endowed by the late Professor Jan Anderson in collaboration with Cambridge Australia. I offer my deepest gratitude to Jan and the Cambridge Australia Scholarship team for all their support; I am extremely honoured and proud to be the first ever Cambridge Australia Newnham Scholar. In addition to the funding I received from Cambridge Australia, I was also awarded a number of smaller grants— including the Kathleen Hughes Memorial Fund administered by Newnham College and the Dame Bertha Phillpotts Memorial Fund administered by the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic Studies— which allowed the archival work and attendance at conferences that so enriched the ideas contained herein. Equally, this research would not have been possible without the expert guidance and support of my supervisors, Dr James Barrett (Deputy Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research) and Dr Marianne Hem Eriksen (Associate Professor of Archaeology at the University of Oslo). In these two supervisors, I had the best of both worlds… James, you brought your characteristic reason and method to my most abstract and muddled thoughts, with a kindness, belief and patience that is seldom found. Thank you for taking a leap of faith with me. And Marianne, above all things, you have guided me to an intellectual world in which dualities are questioned and assumptions are challenged; I very much look forward to exploring the richness that awaits in the interstices of our archaeological categories in the years to come. iv I also must thank Dr Catherine Hills whose generosity knows no bounds. Even in your retirement, your commitment to my intellectual and personal well-being continually reoriented me towards my goal in times when I was floundering, and I owe much of the completion of this research to you. There have been many others who have played an influential part in my doctoral journey; my heart-felt thanks go to Camilla Wenn (Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo), whose thoughtful friendship brought Kaupang to my fingertips and compassion in my hour of need; and Rúnar Leifsson (University of Iceland), who helped me decode the seemingly impenetrable corpus of Viking Age burials in Iceland; and Cat Jarman, who graciously invited me to take part in her excavation work at Repton in Derbyshire. My colleagues in the Department of Archaeology here in Cambridge also have my warmest gratitude, particularly Kevin Kay, Jess Thompson and last, but certainly not least, Jeremy Bennett. You are a true friend. Residing between the lines of each page hereafter are the innumerable conversations and experiences I have shared with my friends here in Cambridge, exposing me to so many new and different ways of thinking and being. I have learnt so much from you all and have found in each of you a forever-friend; Kate Crowcroft, Tatiana Rostovtseva, Christoph Großbaier, C.J. Rauch, Charlotte Robinson, Thea Chesterfield, Anna Grunseit and Dan Yates of the ‘Inside Voices’, and Nadya Pohran, Leo de Jonge, Mie Monti, and past and present Blues Women. Finally, I must thank my family— my parents Judith and Mark, for gifting me wonder in pursuit of knowledge, my unflappable sister Rachael, and my big sister Sarah, a woman of unparalleled perseverance, strength and grace. v Lastly, there are no words to describe the depth of my thanks and love for Chris Callaghan, who carried me to the finish line when I could no longer walk. This is for you. vi In Memoriam Professor Jan Anderson 1932–2015 and Rita ‘Kelley’ Ritchie 1944–2014 Frances Dooley 1947–2015 Thijlbert Duvekot 1965–2016 Richard Mathieson 1946–2016 Kurt Ratican 1940–2018 Selkie Ratican 2003–2018 Melva ‘Meg’ Maxwell 1925–2019 Christine Newton 1955–2020 vii Table of Contents Preface i Summary ii Acknowledgements iv List of Tables xi List of Figures xv Introduction 1 Research Focus 3 Scope of Study 4 Research Materials and Methods 6 Data Collection 7 A Relational Approach 9 Definitions and Challenges 11 Limitations 19 Thesis Structure 20 The Ordinary and the Other Multiple Burial in the Research Landscape 23 Viking Age Multiple Burials 23 The Ordinary: Family and Kinship 27 Family 28 Biological and Affinal Kinship 30 Social Kin: Mutuality of Being 37 The Others: Sacrificial Victims, Deviants and Slaves 41 Human Sacrifice 42 Deviant Burials, Deviant People? 47 Not Ordinary nor Other: Where to from Here? 53 Multiple Burial Across the Viking World 56 Single versus Multiple Burial 56 Multiple Burials in the Landscape 60 Landscape Choice 63 Multiple Burial Demographics 68 Number of Individuals 72 viii Double Burial 73 Triple Burials 88 Quadruple+ Burials 91 Spatial Relations 95 Temporal Relations 115 Burial Sequence 116 The Intersection of Spatiality and Temporality 126 The Nature of Multiple Burial 131 Producing Persons in Multiple Burial 134 Personhood and Embodiment 134 Bodily Experiences 140 The Lived Body 141 The Body at Death 143 Material Relations 148 Modes of Burial 155 Cremation versus Inhumation 155 Handling the Body 157 Persons Through Multiple Burial 171 Animal–Human Multiple Burials 174 Animals: Objects or Subjects? 175 Modes of Burial 184 Animal Bodies 186 Whole Bodies 190 Body Parts 203 Human–Persons, Animal–Persons, and Cyborgs 212 Thing–Human Multiple Burials 216 A Note on Nomenclature 217 Some Background to Ceremonial Modification in the Viking Age 218 A Conceptual Framework for Objects 220 Ceremonially Modified Weapons in Viking Age Burials 226 Modification Practices 229 Breaking versus Bending: Two sides of the same coin? 230 Collective Modification: Power in Numbers? 242 ix Modes of Burial 246 Modification and Rite Type 247 Burial Arrangement 249 Thing Bodies: Wholes and Parts 251 Bodily Engagement 255 Echoed Motifs 261 Ceremonial Modification and Thing–Persons 269 The Other Body Producing Personhood 273 The Nature of Multiple Burial 274 Retiring Deviancy 274 Belonging to Land 276 The Constitution of Persons 279 Producing Persons Through the Body 279 Producing Persons Through Shared Time 282 Persons 'Not of One Shape' 287 Viking Age Persons 291 Final Thoughts 293 Addressing the Research Aims 293 Future Research Directions 295 Closing 298 Bibliography 299 x List of Tables Table 1.