full author list -- Elise Naumanna, Maja Krzewińskab, Anders Götherströmd, Gunilla Erikssond.
Authors suggest decapitated people buried in double graves may have been slaves.
Posted on 09/28/2013 2:25:57 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Abstract: Ten Viking Age individuals from the northern Norwegian site at Flakstad were analysed for δ13C, δ15N and ancient mitochondrial DNA fragments. The material derives from both single and multiple burials with individuals treated in different ways. The genetic analyses show that the individuals buried together were unlikely to be maternally related, and stable isotope analyses suggest different strata of society. It is, therefore, suggested that slaves may have been offered as grave gifts at Flakstad. A comparison with the remaining population from single graves shows that the presumed slaves had a diet similar to that of the common population, whereas the high status individuals in multiple graves had a diet different from both slaves and the common population. The results provide an insight into the subsistence of different social groups in a Viking Age society, exposing unexpected patterns of living conditions and food distribution.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedirect.com ...
Authors suggest decapitated people buried in double graves may have been slaves.
couldn’t use this source:
Odd tale of headless Norse men: Slaves buried with masters
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/19/viking-slaves-masters/2836903/
also linked here:
http://viking-archaeology-blog.blogspot.com/
found this one, which had the links to ScienceDirect:
Slaves as grave gifts for the Vikings
http://bonesdontlie.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/slaves-as-grave-gifts-for-the-vikings/
The Slavs owned slaves?
Who’d a thunk...
Sometimes the world really is just bass-ackwards!
Slavery was something of a backbone in Norse economy. The culture was actually quite similar to the Arabs, with a couple of important differences.
This is actually just confirming eyewitness accounts, can’t remember his name but an Arab diplomat witnessed a Viking funeral back in the day and saw slaves drugged and sacrificed.
ibn Fadn. The account is on line in several places.
fascintaing article, thanks for posting.
intersting to see that they could figure out that the dogs were fed fish.
i didnt quite decipher what they were saying about the high status and low status persons diet. were the high status eating less fish and more domestic animals? or the other way around? i would have thought that fish was the highest source of protein and the best food available. although i guess if the dog was eating it, maybe not.
not a bad incentive plan for your servants though. keep me alive cause when i die they cut of your head and throw you in my grave. original “loyalty program”.
Would those have been African-Norwegian slaves?
On some Sundays the Vikings would enslave the Green Bay Packers and bury them alive.
Thanks all.
Swedes Find Viking-Era Arab Coins
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1996676/posts
https://digital.library.louisville.edu/utils/getfile/collection/etd/id/2536/filename/5333.pdf
lol
I think slavery through history has been more the rule than the exception across pretty much every culture. And on both sides. Most every significant people group has been both slave and master at various times and places. Sometimes lesser in effect on their economy, and sometimes at the very core of it.
It would really suck to be seized as a slave in the British Isles, be treated like crap in Norway and then beheaded to be a grave good. No wonder they called it the Dark Ages.
Probably wouldn’t even have to have been Norway for that series of events to suck, eh? ;’) For that matter, probably wouldn’t have had to be slavery and beheading to suck in Norway. :’D
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