Viking 'amulet factory' discovery forces rethink of enigmatic artifacts

Andrew Curry 19 hrs ago

Mysterious, ancient female figurines have been found by the dozens all over Denmark, and as far afield as England and Russia: inch-long bronze depictions of long-haired women, often wearing crested helmets and long dresses, and armed with shields and swords. The small amulets date back more than a thousand years, to the height of the Viking Age.

But because Viking women weren’t typically buried with weapons—unlike their male counterparts—researchers reached into sagas and mythology to explain the armed female figurines and concluded that they represented Valkyries, the mythical warrior women ancient Scandinavians thought were responsible for transporting slain warriors to the afterlife.

“The images had always been understood in terms of what we know of Norse mythology,” says Pieterjan Deckers, an archaeologist at the Free University of Brussels.

In a paper published today in the journal Medieval Archaeology, however, Deckers and his co-authors argue that the “Valkyrie” pendants represent actual women who played a central role in Viking festivals or ceremonies. Furthermore, they propose the armed female figurines are part of a larger set of ritual objects that suggest gender roles in Viking-era Europe may have been more complex than previously thought.

More:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/viking-amulet-factory-discovery-forces-rethink-of-enigmatic-artifacts/ar-AAMYsbu?li=BBnb7Kz