New research by University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute PhD student Siobhan Cooke, explores the use of animals, particularly horses, in Viking funerary rituals across Scotland and how these rituals were used to help develop a cultural identity in the rapidly expanding Viking realm.
There are over 130 known Viking pagan burials in Scotland. Approximately seven per cent of the pagan Viking graves known in Scotland contained horse remains.
Siobhan’s research presents a brief summary of the traditional interpretations of horse remains in burials of this period and presents an alternative interpretation of these remains, with particular reference to the Viking cemetery at Pierowall, Westray, Orkney, which is dated c. AD850–950.
It is argued that the act of horse deposition at Pierowall should be understood in the wider social context of the Scandinavian Peninsula and Scottish Islands during the initial period of west-ward expansion and social and political upheaval.
It is in this context that the act of horse burial performed a specific communication function which served to create and strengthen cultural allegiances with trading groups travelling from the Scandinavian Peninsula towards the western seaboard of Scotland, and into the Irish Sea.
Identities are fluid; rather than seeing identity as something people are born with, it is now being considered as an aspect of social relations, something that is learnt, that is adaptable and that can change over time depending on the ways and contexts in which people interact (Jones 1997;2000; Lucy 2005: 86–87).
It is through identity that we perceive ourselves, and how others see us, as belonging to a particular group and not another and being part of a group involves active engagement (Diaz Andreu & Lucy 2005: 2). Animals can also be actors in social relationships, playing an active role in the depiction of identity.
The full research paper is available for download: Trading Identities: Alternative Interpretations of Viking Horse Remains in Scotland. A Pierowall Perspective
