BEYOND BRUTALIZATION AND PACIFICATION: REASSESSING VIKING AGE SOCIETY IN NORTHERN SCOTLAND
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 07/02/2021

The popular media often portrays the Scandinavians of the Viking Age as bloodthirsty and amoral people, propelled through life by their baser instincts. This is a viewpoint that contemporary written sources promoted with the heathen hordes wreaking havoc on the unsuspecting Christians of Europe. However, some archaeological evidence has been used to present an alternative viewpoint, with the peaceful Scandinavian farmer being pushed to the forefront of interpretation. This pacification of the past can be seen in other time periods as well, with it having been a general theme in archaeology with many scholars discussing this for a variety of time periods. This paper seeks to reconcile these two extreme viewpoints. In order to try for a more balanced interpretation this paper explores the archaeological evidence from Orkney, a place known to have been inhabited by the Picts and the Vikings simultaneously. By exploring the settlement and burial evidence from several sites a more balanced approach to the archaeology is sought, trying neither to brutalize nor pacify the past.


Author(s): Cartwright, Rachel (University of Minnesota)