Viking cremation

Until the arrival of Christianity in the 11th century, Scandinavians practised both cremation and burial. Following on from the earlier practice of burials in ship-like graves, in the Viking period (beginning in the 9th century) the deceased was placed in a ship, which was either buried in the earth or burnt on a pyre, or towed out to sea and then set on fire.

Journey of a Viking

Death was seen as a journey and the deceased was accompanied by all the goods, which would be useful in the afterlife, including weapons, animals and servants. A Viking funeral was full of old tradition and tell that Walhalla
is an old, originally Norwegian word, which used to literally mean “heaven or paradise for those who where killed during wars in battle”.

A Vikings cremation

Cremation was very common around Viking Age cities in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. These cemeteries were sometimes very large and were located very close to the settlement. The town of Birka in Sweden has at least 3,000 known graves from the city’s 200-year existence. The town of Hedeby in Northern Germany has around 7,000 graves. The Lindholm Høje site in Northern Jutland, Denmark has at least 700 known graves. Due to the importance of the town Ribe in Denmark during the Viking Age it is very likely that there was large burial ground around the town, but so far only a few isolated graves have been located.

The cremations from the early Viking Age have given archaeologists a vast amount of knowledge about the daily life and customs of the Vikings. Unfortunately, the practice of cremating of the body and some artifacts has made it difficult for archaeologists because of the damaged to the bodies and the artifacts.

Cremating ceased to be the norm towards the end of the Viking Age. The Vikings began burying their dead. The acceptance of Christianity towards the end of the 10th century is most certainly the cause of this change. Eventually the practice of burying the dead with grave goods for the afterlife also stopped. These days Scandinavian countries have a high rate of cremation.