Ritual bones or common waste
A study of Early Medieval bone deposits in Northern Europe
J. Thilderkvist
Published by Barkhuis & University of Groningen, 2013
This book addresses the problems of identifying human actions behind finds of
bones in settlement archaeology, exemplified with the identification of ritual deposits.
In order to formulate a methodological framework for approaching the identification
of ritual deposits, different methods are tested on four Early Medieval case study sites:
Dongjum and Leeuwarden, two artificial dwelling mounds situated in the then
undiked salt marches of the Northern Netherlands, Midlaren, an inland settlement in
Drenthe, also in the Northern Netherlands, and finally Uppåkra, a central place in the
South of Sweden.
The bone fragments from the four materials are studied in a five step process of
definition, description, identification, interpretation and explanation. The deposist are
discussed with the help of various archaeological, ethnographic and historical sources.
The results of the analysis lead to a methodological framework for understanding
individual deposits based on a holistic perpective where all information is regarded as
potentially valuable, various methods are taken into consideration, and simplification
is avoided.
(The text above comes from the back of the book)