The Viking Age. Volume 1 (of 2) / The early history, manners, and customs of the ancestors of the English-speaking nations

CHAPTER X. THE IRON AGE.

The three historic ages overlap each other—Division of the iron age by archÆologists—Gradual development in the mode of burial during the three ages—Appearance of silver, lead, and glass—Greek and Roman objects—Cinerary deposits—Cremation—The Kannikegaard cemetery—Primitive kettle-shaped graves—Intentional destruction of weapons and armour in graves—Cinerary urns—Symbolic signs—Ornaments of the iron age.

In the iron age, when the knowledge of all the metals was known, and weapons were made of iron, bones were still sometimes used for arrow-heads; this age gradually merges into the historic period. It is impossible to assign definite limits of time to the three prehistoric ages; they run by degrees into each other; the classification specifies no division of time, but marks degrees of development in man.

Northern archÆologists divide the iron age in the North into the earlier, middle, and later iron age, in the same manner as they have divided the preceding stone and bronze ages; and it may safely be said that in all these ages the North surpasses other countries in the beauty and number of its objects. All the antiquities, as well as the Eddas and Sagas, plainly show that the people who inhabited the eastern and southern shores of the present Scandinavia^[118], the islands of the Baltic, and the southern shores of that sea, to a certain distance inland, which now comprise Northern Germany, were of the same origin and belonged to the same race; and the vast number of weapons of various kinds testify equally with the records to the warlike character of the people. The finish of the weapons of the later stone age is something wonderful, many of them are as polished as glass; the weapons of bronze are equally remarkable.

In the beginning of the iron age appear the shears, which are very similar to those now in use. Clothes during this period were generally kept together by pins and buckles, which have been found in great numbers; horns were used as drinking cups, and domestic vessels of glass, bronze, silver, gold, wood, or burnt clay, and objects of Roman manufacture, dice, checkers or draughtsmen, and chessmen, have also been unearthed.

At a very early period of this age remains of brynjas, or coats of ring armour, have been found in graves where burning of the dead has taken place; this shows that they were known in the North even in the beginning of the Christian era, if not before; they are also met with in graves of a later period, and in the bog finds of the third and fourth century.

Along with iron the people became also acquainted with silver, lead, glass, &c., and knew the art of soldering and gilding metals. The jewels and ornaments in their design and workmanship show a considerable advance in taste.

At what time the use of iron began to be known among the people and when it superseded bronze is impossible to tell: the change must have taken place a long time before the ships of the Suiones were described by Tacitus, a wonderful example of the accuracy of whose description is found in the Nydam boat of which I will speak hereafter. Iron is very abundant in Sweden and Norway, and bog iron was no doubt plentiful in the islands of the Baltic; the use of the latter is proved by masses of slag, weapons, &c. found in the earliest graves of the iron age. The use of the bronze of the preceding period continued, and many objects of bronze are evidently of home manufacture.

Fig. 163.—Cinerary deposit. Hole, filled with stones, 4½ feet deep, 3 feet in diameter.—Fyen.

Fig. 164.—Cinerary deposit. Grave, 5 feet in diameter, 4 feet deep, lined with cobble stones, burnt bones, and broken fragments of clay urns.—Fyen.

Fig. 165.—Cinerary deposit. Grave, 16 feet long, 6 feet wide, running from north-west to south-west, with hole 2½ feet deep, containing burnt bones and fragments of ornamented clay urns, remains of a large one-edged knife, &c.—GrÖnneskev field, Fyen.

The earliest graves^[119] belonging to this iron age in the North are called by Northern archÆologists depÔts cineraires (cinerary deposits). These graves are round bowl-shaped holes, the excavations being from about two to four feet in diameter, and three to four feet deep: into these the remains of the funeral pyre, such as burnt bones of the corpse, ashes, charcoal, fragments of clay, urns, ornaments, jewels, other objects and weapons are thrown in, without order or method. The burnt bones and the charcoal are scattered sometimes over a bed covering a certain space, or sometimes in a heap together.

In other graves the antiquities are found resting on the black mould itself. What were the causes which led to the temporary disuse of the mound-burials we cannot tell.

Then came a period when after the burning of the corpse on the pyre the pieces of the bones were gathered into urns of clay, wooden buckets with metal mountings, vessels of bronze or glass bowls; these latter being very rare. These urns, &c., which are frequently found covered, for protection, by other vessels, were placed in chambers of varying sizes, those of the earliest graves being made of slabs, and just large enough to contain the sepulchral urn.

It should be mentioned that the development of the form of these graves runs in an unbroken chain, beginning with the large grave chamber of the stone age, and culminating in the insignificant receptacles for preserving a mere handful of burnt bones.

These graves are found sometimes singly, and at others in many hundreds, and even thousands, together.

The Kannikegaard cemetery on the island of Bornholm in the Baltic, and that of MÖllegaard by Broholm on the island of Fyen, are perhaps the two richest antiquarian fields of the earliest iron grave period. Kannikegaard must have been a very large common graveyard; it is over 1,000 feet long and over 150 feet wide, and formed, no doubt, part of a more extensive burial ground, as there are other graves some 200 feet further on. In nearly all the graves scorched stones have been found, often in such quantities that they nearly fill the grave; a clay urn was also often found standing at the bottom of the burnt spots or lying on its side, sometimes with the bottom up or in broken pieces; many graves contain no antiquities, and hold only burnt bones and charcoal.^[120]

In no other part of Europe do we see such a vast number of graves of this period, showing that the North must then have been inhabited by a far more dense population than other countries; from the number and contents of these depÔts cineraires, we gather that the population burned its dead in large burial-grounds.

The practice of burning the dead had already become common in the latter part of the bronze age, and prevailed most extensively, if not entirely, during the iron period immediately following it.

Connected with the burning of the dead was the intentional damage done to objects which were exposed to the heat of the funeral pyre. Special care seems to have been taken to render swords and other weapons thoroughly useless. Swords are cut on the edges, bent and twisted; shield bosses are dented or flattened; and jewels and other objects are entirely ruined, and the illustrations seen in these volumes will show how thorough the destruction was. Bent swords and shield bosses, &c., were sometimes placed over the cinerary urn, at other times they were put at their side.

We find that the same custom also existed during the cremation period of the bronze age,^[121] many of the swords of that period being broken in several places.

Among the objects most commonly found are shears, iron knives, silver and bronze fibulÆ, glass beads, melted or whole in many of which the colours are unaltered, and as fresh as if made to-day; iron and bone combs, tweezers of iron, amber beads, buckles, dice, draughtsmen, fragments of trappings for horses and waggons, ornaments of gold and silver, fragments of cloth, weapons, iron keys, fragments of bronze and iron vessels, iron clinch nails, spurs of bronze and iron (showing that horses were used at a very early period in the North), clay urns, &c., &c. A remarkable fact is that the earliest swords seem to be chiefly single-edged, a departure from the shape of the bronze swords: the fragments of the shields are of wood, with heavy iron bosses and handles.

Fig. 166.—Axe, ruined by cuts on its edge.—Norway.

Fig. 167.—Shield boss, ruined by cuts, Norway. Found with a double-edged sword, blade broken in two places, a bit for a horse, &c. ? real size.

Fig. 168.

Fig. 169.

Fig. 170.
Half-moon shaped knives, sharp on the outside edge, with one end ending in a loop or ring, and the handle twisted; found at Kannikegaard. ½ real size.

Fig. 171.—Single-edged sword, from cinerary deposit at Kannikegaard. ? real size.

Fig. 172.—Found in cinerary deposit at Kannikegaard, one of nineteen nearly perfect swords. ¼ real size.

Fig. 173.—Double-edged sword, found over a clay urn with burnt bones. ½ real size.—Öland.

Fig. 174.—Shield boss. ½ real size.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 175.—Sword of iron, found with unburnt bones, fragments of a knife, and wooden scabbard. Kannikegaard. ? real size.

Fig. 176.—Bronze needle. Real size. Kannikegaard.

Fig. 177.—Two-edged sword, found in cinerary deposit at Kannikegaard. ? real size.

Fig. 178.—Iron knife; ? real size. Kannikegaard.

Fig. 179.—Sword, Odense Amt Fyen. ? real size.

Fig. 180.—Bent sword. Real size.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 181.—Single-edged sword, found in cinerary deposit Bornholm.

Fig. 182.—Single-edged sword, from cinerary deposit at Kannikegaard.

Fig. 183.—Sword from the grave-place near Horsens; found with a bronze kettle, containing burnt bones, a heavy finger-ring of gold, a torn shield-boss of bronze, a shield handle of iron with nails of bronze, a spear-head, two iron spurs, one pair of iron shears, two knives, one iron buckle, bronze mountings for a drinking horn, melted glass, fragments of a pan and sieve of bronze, different mountings of silver, numbers of pieces of melted iron and bronze; not far from the grave were found more than thirty urns containing burnt bones, and several skeleton graves.

Fig. 184.—Neck-ring of silver. ½ real size. Kannikegaard.

Fig. 185.—Sword. ? real size.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 186.—Spear-point, found near Kannikegaard. ¼ real size.

Fig. 187.—Bent sword. ? real size.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 188.—Iron comb, real size, found with an urn containing burnt bones of a child, &c., with other objects.

Fig. 189.—Stone cist with three layers of stone on the top, containing unburnt bones.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 190.—Inside of stone cist. Length, 6½ feet; width, 2 feet 10 inches; height, 22 inches. On left shoulder of skeleton, under the right shoulder, on the breast and by the head, were silver fibulÆ.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 191.—Stone coffin, 7½ feet long, 20 inches wide, 18 inches high, showing how the beads were placed.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 192.—Fibula of bronze, plated with silver. ? real size. Found in a piece of woollen cloth, with numerous beads, &c., in a stone coffin.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 193.—Bead of gold and silver mixed. Real size.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 194.—Mosaic bead, of red colour. Real size.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 195.—Mosaic bead, real size, found with a silver ring.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 196.—Glass bead. Real size.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 197.—Fibula of bronze: on its pin was a piece of linen—found with mosaic beads in a stone coffin. Real size.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 198.—Fibula of silver, with fragments of bone comb, long knife, with remains of wooden scabbard, &c. Stone coffin 9 feet long. Real size.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 199.—Bead of gold and silver mixed, made of three pieces soldered together.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 200.—Axe of iron, found together with human teeth, horn comb, &c. ½ real size.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 201.—Cylinder-shaped receiver of bronze ? real size, with a cover and pieces of a leather band; in it were 7–8 pointed pieces of wood, probably toothpicks or pins.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 202.—Iron sword, slightly more than ? real size.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 203.—One-edged sword, from a grave-mound, Norway. 2
9 real size.

Fig. 204.—Double-edged sword, from a grave-mound, Norway, found with other damaged weapons, &c. 2
9 real size.

Fig. 205.—Iron spear-point, found in clay urn. Skovlyst, Ribe, Jutland.

Fig. 206.—Spear-point, from a cairn, Norway; found with two unburnt bodies, seven bronze buckles, a bronze key, seven beads of glass and amber, &c. 2
9 real size.

Fig. 207.—Stirrup, from a grave-mound, Norway, found with another similar stirrup, a double-edged sword, spear-point, axe blade, &c., all damaged. 2
9 real size.

Fig. 208.—Cinerary urn and bent sword with iron sheath.—Skovlyst, Ribe, Jutland.

Fig. 209.—Black clay urn, with hollow spots, ¼ real size, containing burnt bones.—Broholm, Fyen.

Fig. 210.—Clay urn with svastica, ¼ real size, top of which was closed by the bottom of another, containing burnt bones, a pointed iron knife, a needle of bronze, melted lumps of glass from beads of different colours, &c.—Bornholm.

The cinerary urns are of different sizes and shapes, many of which are not ungraceful: the clay of which they are made is of a black or greyish colour, coarse and rough, porous, and often very tender; the people even at a later period never seeming to have been skilled in the potter’s art. Many of the designs upon them are peculiar, and were, no doubt, symbolical. Among these are circles with dots, triangles, the svastika and triad, &c., &c. Glazed pottery was unknown in the North.

Fig. 211.—Dark brown clay urn, ? real size.—MÖllegaard, Broholm.

Fig. 212.—Urn with fine vertical stripes and punctuation, containing burnt bones, bone comb with bronze rivets, ornamented with concentric lines along the back. ¼ real size.—MÖllegaard, Broholm.

Fig. 213.—Urn of dark grey colour, containing burnt bones, &c.—MÖllegaard, Broholm.

Fig. 214.—Black urn, containing only burnt bones. ¼ real size.—MÖllegaard, Broholm.

Fig. 215.—Urn of reddish clay, ? real size, which had another urn on the top like a cover.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 216.—Small urn. Real size, containing nothing but earth.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 217.—Clay urn, ? real size.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 218.—Clay urn.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 219.—Small greyish clay urn found in a burned spot. ? real size.—MÖllegaard, Broholm.

Fig. 220.—Urn, ? real size, and glass mosaic beads, real size; two of the beads found were blue, with bands of red, yellow, and red; two more were blue, with a pattern repeated four times, containing black, yellow, red, and white grounds; one was white, with a wheel-like pattern, repeated three times, having a red centre and black spokes—MÖllegaard, Broholm.

Fig. 221.

Fig. 222.

Fig. 223.

Fig. 224.

Fig. 225.—Clay urn filled with burnt bones, and numerous objects. ¼ real size—MÖllegaard.

Fig. 226.—Wooden bucket with bronze hoops. ¼ real size. Found in large mound, with burnt bones, and a piece of gold spiral ring.—Norway.

Fig. 227.—Wooden bucket, with bronze fittings, ? real size. Found in a large round tumulus inside a stone sepulchral chamber, with two pairs of iron scissors, fragments of two double-edged swords, fragments of several arrow-heads, two shield bosses, &c., &c.—Norway.

Fig. 228.—Clay urn, ? real size, found in a tumulus with another clay urn.

Fig. 229.—Clay urn, upside down, to cover a bronze basin, of Roman manufacture, placed on a slab filled with ashes and burnt bones, fragments of bronze ornaments and glass vessels which had been exposed on the pyre; ashes and bones were scattered round, showing the burning to have taken place on the spot. ? real size.—Harf Medelpad, Norway.

Fig. 230.—Clay urn in a stone cist containing the remains of a skeleton, &c. ¼ real size.—Sojvide, Gotland.

In Gotland, the graves are made of lime slabs. Some of these stone cists are not deep under the ground, and without apparently any mound.

Fig. 231.—Clay urn, ? real size, found in a round mound, inside a sepulchral chamber of the length of 6 feet, width 2 feet, height 1 foot 8 inches.—Norway.

Fig. 232.—Clay urn, ½ real size, found in a mound containing a large stone cist, with fragments of iron objects and another clay urn.—Norway.

Fig. 233.—Clay urn, in a mound. Bohuslan.

Fig. 234.—Clay urn in a stone cist.—Gotland.

Fig. 235.—Clay urn, covering one filled with burnt bones. ¼ real size.—Nafverstad, BohuslÅn.

Fig. 236.—Clay urn, with three partitions (on the outside are ten knobs), found, with fragments of a belt hook, under a stone slab. ? real size.—HimmelshÖi, Bornholm.

Fig. 237.—Clay urn, ? real size, found in a round mound, inside a sepulchral chamber.—Stavanger, Norway.

Fig. 238.—Clay urn, ¼ real size, found in a mound.—Norway.

Fig. 239.—Clay urn, ¼ real size, containing burnt bones.—Norway. Earlier iron age.

Fig. 240.—Clay urn, ? real size, found in a mound placed over burnt bones contained in a clay urn.—Norway. Earlier iron age.

Fig. 241.—Clay urn.—Norway. ½ real size. Skeleton grave, found with five other clay urns, a silver fibula, &c.

Fig. 242.—Clay urn filled with burnt bones and covered with another vase. ¼ real size. Found in a large round tumulus—BohuslÅn.

Fig. 243.—Clay urn, containing burnt bones and fragments of a bone comb, glass beads, lever balance of spindle, &c., found, covered with a slab, in an oblong mound. ? real size. Earlier iron age.

Fig. 244.—Iron urn or kettle, 10 inches high, 12¾ inches in diameter, and 6 inches deep.—Norway. Three other kettles of same shape and workmanship have been found: one in a grave-mound.

Fig. 245.—Bronze cinerary urn; ? real size.—Norway.

Fig. 246.—Bronze kettle, ? real size.—Norway. Found under a slab in the border of a round mound. It contained burnt bones, among which was a gold bracelet, and other objects.

Fig. 247.

Fig. 248.
Small clay vessels found in an oblong mound at Greby, BohuslÅn, found with a clay urn filled with burnt bones, on which were fragments of a bone comb, glass beads, &c. ½ real size. Earlier iron age.

Fig. 249.—Round clay urn, found in a mound, Greby, BohuslÅn, containing burnt bones and two melted glass beads, &c. ¼ real size. Earlier iron age.

Fig. 250.—Clay urn, ¼ real size, containing burnt bones, found inside a sepulchral chamber of stone, 6 feet long, nearly 4 feet wide, and 3 feet high, in a round tumulus.—Norway.

Fig. 251.—Cinerary vase of clay, ? real size, found surrounded by burnt bones in a mound at BjÖrkÖ. Later iron age.

Fig. 252.

Fig. 253.

Fig. 254.

Fig. 255.
Four of seven mosaic glass beads, real size.—Broholm grave.
Of variegated colours, yellow, white, black, blue, and red, and of different designs. Besides those represented were 26 blue glass beads, one of which had red stripes, one red, another lilac; there were also eight amber beads, different shapes, and a fibula of bronze, to which was attached a coarse woven cloth, &c.

Fig. 256.

Fig. 257.
Iron knives, ½ real size, in an urn on the top of burnt bones without coal and ashes.—MÖllegaard, Broholm.

Fig. 258.

Fig. 259.—Porcelain beads, and beads of gold and silver mixed. Real size.—Bornholm. Earlier iron age.

Fig. 260.—Curved iron knife, ½ real size, and with the remains of a large urn containing burnt bones.

Fig. 261.—Iron knife, ? real size; found in a cinerary urn containing burnt bones, two pairs of shears, a buckle, awl, and ring, all of iron; a bronze fibula, &c.—MÖllegaard, Broholm.

The following objects in one grave in MÖllegaard will give a thorough idea of the destruction wrought on the pyre.

Fig. 262.—Handle of iron for kettle.—MÖllegaard.

Fig. 263.—Remains of a damaged iron instrument and silver fibula rusted together. Real size.

Fig. 264.—Silver fibula and other objects rusted together. Real size.

Fig. 265.—Iron comb, ½ real size. MÖllegaard.

Fig. 266.—Blue and light green.

Fig. 267.—Dark grey, with white eyes.

Fig. 268.—Red, with red, black, and yellow design.
Melted glass mosaic beads, real size.

Fig. 269.

Fig. 270.

Fig. 271.

Fig. 272.
Four of eleven iron ornaments, shaped like buckets. Real size.—MÖllegaard.

Fig. 273.—Bronze vessel, 9 inches in diameter, with handle fastened with rivets. It contained numerous articles taken from the pyre, but rust had united them all.

Fig. 274.

Fig. 275.
Two iron spurs in burnt spot.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 276.—Iron buckle, ? real size.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 277.

Fig. 278.
Two prismatic dice, real size, damaged by fire, the sides pointing towards each other always counting seven; found in an urn with burnt bones, remains of a glass cup, &c., one foot under the ground.—Kannikegaard.

Fig. 279.

Fig. 280.
Fragments of bone comb and iron rivet, real size, found in a cinerary urn.—Broholm.

Fig. 281.—Spiral ring of massive gold, showing the two sides, found near a large bronze cauldron, and fragments of the mountings of a carriage, several iron swords, shield bosses, &c. Real size.—Broholm.

Fig. 282.—Spiral gold ring much alloyed with silver, showing the two sides. Real size.—Broholm.

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