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Bloody slaughter: Ritual decapitation and display at the Viking settlement of Hofstaðir, Iceland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Gavin Lucas  and
Thomas McGovern
Gavin Lucas
Affiliation:
University of Iceland
Thomas McGovern
Affiliation:
City University of New York, USA
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Abstract

This article attempts an interpretation of an unusual assemblage of cattle skulls recovered from recent excavations at the Viking Age monumental hall of Hofstaðir in Iceland. Osteological analysis of the skulls indicates ritual decapitation and display of cattle heads, and this article seeks to explore the meanings of this practice in relation to the context of the site and the wider historical and ethnographic literature. It is argued that the beheading of cattle and display of their heads was a part of sacrificial acts conducted on a seasonal basis at the site, and primarily in the context of feasting and socio-political gatherings. The gatherings acted simultaneously as a means of both dissipating social tension and enhancing political status.

Cet article essaie d'interpréter un ensemble insolite de crânes de bétail découverts durant les fouilles récentes de la salle monumentale datant de l'Âge des Vikings de Hofstaðir en Islande. Les analyses ostéologiques des crânes indiquent une décapitation rituelle ainsi que l'étalage des têtes, et nous cherchons à comprendre la signification de ces pratiques par rapport au contexte du site et à la littérature historique et ethnographique plus générale. Apparemment, la décapitation et l'exposition des têtes faisaient partie d'actes de sacrifice effectués saisonnièrement en cet endroit, notamment lors de festins et de rassemblements sociopolitiques. Ces rassemblements servaient aussi bien à dissiper des tensions sociales qu'à renforcer le statut politique.

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Dieser Beitrag unternimmt einen Interpretationsversuch eines ungewöhnlichen Fundkomplexes von Rinderschädeln, der unlängst bei Ausgrabungen der monumentalen wikingerzeitlichen Halle von Hofstaðir auf Island entdeckt wurde. Die osteologische Untersuchung der Schädel spricht für eine rituelle Enthauptung und Zurschaustellung, und diese Studie widmet sich der Untersuchung der Bedeutung dieser Praxis unter Berücksichtigung des Fundplatzkontextes sowie der weiteren historischen und ethnografischen Literatur. Es wird angenommen, dass die Enthauptung von Rindern und die Zurschaustellung ihrer Köpfe Teil von rituellen Handlungen auf einer saisonalen Basis des Fundplatzes im Kontext von Festen und soziopolitischen Zusammenkünften war. Diese Zusammenkünfte waren gleichermaßen Ausdruck der Überwindung von sozialen Spannungen und der Vergrößerung des sozialen Status.

Keywords

IcelandritualsacrificeVikingsIslanderituelsacrificeVikingsIslandRitualOpferWikinger
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , 2007 , pp. 7 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Sage Publications 

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