Assembling places and persons: a tenth-century Viking boat burial from Swordle Bay on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, western Scotland
View/ Open
Accepted manuscript version: The Viking boat burial on Ardnamurchan (2.238Mb)
Download
Author
Harris, O.J.T.Cobb, H.
Batey, C.E.
Montgomery, Janet
Beaumont, Julia
Gray, H.
Murtagh, P.
Richardson, P.
Keyword
Viking boat burialSwordle Bay
Ardnamurchan
Western Scotland
Archaeology
Identity
Isotopic analysis
Rights
© 2016 CUP for Antiquity Publications. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
A rare, intact Viking boat burial in western Scotland contained a rich assemblage of grave goods, providing clues to the identity and origins of both the interred individual and the people who gathered to create the site. The burial evokes the mundane and the exotic, past and present, as well as local, national and international identities. Isotopic analysis of the teeth hints at a possible Scandinavian origin for the deceased, while Scottish, Irish and Scandinavian connections are attested by the grave goods. Weapons indicate a warrior of high status; other objects imply connections to daily life, cooking and work, farming and food production. The burial site is itself rich in symbolic associations, being close to a Neolithic burial cairn, the stones of which may have been incorporated into the grave.Version
Accepted ManuscriptCitation
Harris OJT, Cobb H, Batey CE, Montgomery J, Beaumont J, Gray H, Murtagh P and Richardson P (2017) Assembling places and persons: a tenth-century Viking boat burial from Swordle Bay on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, western Scotland. Antiquity. 91(355): 191-206.Link to Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2016.222Type
ArticleNotes
The accepted post-review manuscript here was submitted under the title: "The Viking boat burial on Ardnamurchan".ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2016.222