Program Type
Undergraduate
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Kelsey Utne
Document Type
Presentation
Location
Face-to-face
Start Date
18-4-2024 11:40 AM
End Date
18-4-2024 12:10 PM
Abstract
On a very small island called Björkö in the middle of Lake Mälaren, in southern Sweden, was a Viking settlement called Birka that was occupied for about 200 years. This town was the perfect trading area where merchants and tradesmen came with goods from all over Europe, and other parts of the world. Beginning in the late nineteenth century some 1,100 graves were excavated by Swedish antiquarian Hjalmar Stolpe. One of these graves in particular, labeled Bj 581, seen as remarkable at the time of excavation would later become a significantly controversial grave. The individual in grave Bj 581 was buried with an array of weapons, including a sword, two shields, a fighting knife, two lances, an ax, and 25 armor-piercing arrows. There were also two horses, with bridles and a set of stirrups, a gaming set and game board found in the grave. From the very beginning, the grave Bj 581 was interpreted to be that of a high-status warrior. In 2017, through genetic analysis of the osteological remains it was confirmed that the individual in this grave was genetically female. Since this discovery, the social status of the person in the grave has come under scrutiny. This presentation draws from scholarship from both sides of what I’ve labeled the “pro-warrior woman” side and the “anti-warrior woman” side. I am focusing on texts from the early twentieth-century which are close to when the burial was excavated and are some of the first published about this grave. I am pairing those with a post-2017 genetic discovery scholarship. The question of the individual’s social role as a high-status warrior is a gender-based argument that arose after the genetic testing that confirmed the person in this grave is genetically female.
Recommended Citation
Stolp, Emily A., "The Viking Warrior Woman? Birka Chamber Grave Bj 581" (2024). ATU Research Symposium. 19.
https://orc.library.atu.edu/atu_rs/2024/2024/19
Included in
The Viking Warrior Woman? Birka Chamber Grave Bj 581
Face-to-face
On a very small island called Björkö in the middle of Lake Mälaren, in southern Sweden, was a Viking settlement called Birka that was occupied for about 200 years. This town was the perfect trading area where merchants and tradesmen came with goods from all over Europe, and other parts of the world. Beginning in the late nineteenth century some 1,100 graves were excavated by Swedish antiquarian Hjalmar Stolpe. One of these graves in particular, labeled Bj 581, seen as remarkable at the time of excavation would later become a significantly controversial grave. The individual in grave Bj 581 was buried with an array of weapons, including a sword, two shields, a fighting knife, two lances, an ax, and 25 armor-piercing arrows. There were also two horses, with bridles and a set of stirrups, a gaming set and game board found in the grave. From the very beginning, the grave Bj 581 was interpreted to be that of a high-status warrior. In 2017, through genetic analysis of the osteological remains it was confirmed that the individual in this grave was genetically female. Since this discovery, the social status of the person in the grave has come under scrutiny. This presentation draws from scholarship from both sides of what I’ve labeled the “pro-warrior woman” side and the “anti-warrior woman” side. I am focusing on texts from the early twentieth-century which are close to when the burial was excavated and are some of the first published about this grave. I am pairing those with a post-2017 genetic discovery scholarship. The question of the individual’s social role as a high-status warrior is a gender-based argument that arose after the genetic testing that confirmed the person in this grave is genetically female.