The Ritual Use of Brooches in Early Medieval Forts on Öland, Sweden

Bibliographic Data

ID7175453
AuthorsJan-Henrik Fallgren (0000-0001-9279-3025, University of Aberdeen, corresponding author), John Ljungkvist (0000-0003-3318-4574, University of Aberdeen, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume19
Issue4
Pages681-703
Publication date2016-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-9571 • E-ISSN: 1741-2722
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1080/14619571.2016.1147318
OpenAlexW2323682275
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited22

In 2010, the largest find of exquisite gilded silver brooches ever made in Scandinavia came to light during a metal detector survey in a small fort on Öland in the Baltic Sea. It consisted of five hoards buried in five different houses within the fort. The brooches were of the Dreiknopfbügelfbeln/radiate-headed and relief types. Three of the hoards also contained large quantities of beads and pendants, some quite exclusive and rare. In addition, the upper part of another relief brooch probably belonged to a sixth hoard ploughed up in the late nineteenth century. In 2011, Kalmar County Museum excavations at the site of these hoard finds also revealed the traces of a massacre. Though a connection between the deposition of the hoards and the massacre is plausible, several elements suggest that the deposits are ritual in character and unrelated to the attack on the fort. The regular placing of the hoards in the right corner inside the entrance of the houses suggests ritual acts, and the composition of the hoards demonstrates that the deposits are symbolic. We conclude that the hoards and the brooches are props belonging to the interior of the forts and to activities conducted inside them; they may have been worn by some women during rituals. Why these hoards were left in the Sandby fort is, however, no doubt related to its destruction

Ancient history · Archaeology · Character (mathematics · Excavation · Hoard · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Historical and Archaeological Studies · History · Medieval Literature and History