Agents of Death
Reassessing Social Agency and Gendered Narratives of Human Sacrifice in the Viking Age
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6044404 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Melanie Moen (0000-0001-6922-8247, University of Oslo, corresponding author), M J Walsh (0000-0003-0151-4655, University of Oslo) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 597-611 |
| Publication date | 2021-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cambridge Archaeological Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0959-7743 • E-ISSN: 1474-0540 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0959774321000111 |
| OpenAlex | W3157675088 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 38 |
This article seeks to approach the famous tenth-century account of the burial of a chieftain of the Rus, narrated by the Arab traveller Ibn Fadlan, in a new light. Placing focus on how gendered expectations have coloured the interpretation and subsequent archaeological use of this source, we argue that a new focus on the social agency of some of the central actors can open up alternative interpretations. Viewing the source in light of theories of human sacrifice in the Viking Age, we examine the promotion of culturally appropriate gendered roles, where women are often depicted as victims of male violence. In light of recent trends in theoretical approaches where gender is foregrounded, we perceive that a new focus on agency in such narratives can renew and rejuvenate important debates
Archaeology · Art · Human sacrifice · Literature · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Sacrifice · Social science · Sociology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Gender Studies · Historical and Archaeological Studies · History · Law · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy
Women and Gender in Islamic Traditions
Iron Age Myth and Materiality
The Norsemen in the Viking Age
The Viking Way
Viking Rus
Slavery and Society in Medieval Scandinavia.
Michel Foucault
The Subject and Power
Archaeology and the Study of Gender
Essai sur la nature et la fonction du sacrifice
Ungendering Civilization
Doing Archaeology as a Feminist
Warriors and women
Slaves as burial gifts in Viking Age Norway? Evidence from stable isotope and ancient DNA analyses
Passing into Poetry
Medieval Migrations
Regardless of Sex
Gender and Archaeology
Gender and Archaeology
Ibn Faḍlān and the Rūsiyyah
A female Viking warrior confirmed by genomics
Connectedness with things. Animated objects of Viking Age Scandinavia and early medieval Europe
Iron Age bog bodies of north-western Europe. Representing the dead
Humans as Ritual Victims in the Later Prehistory of Western Europe
Food for Thor
Becoming Bog Bodies Sacrifice and Politics of Exclusion, as Evidenced in the Deposition of Skeletal Remains in Wetlands Near Uppåkra
Humans, Animals and Water The Deposition of Human and Animal Remains in Norwegian Wetlands
Body-objects' and personhood in the Iron and Viking Ages
Gender and medieval archaeology
Viking warrior women? Reassessing Birka chamber grave Bj.581
Sacrifice
The Archaeological Study of Sacrifice
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,5 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |