Turning now to the evidence derived from the grave-mounds themselves, we find that it corroborates and supplements the literary evidence in a remarkable manner. For instance, close above the strand at Möklebust, in Norway, there is a semi-globular mound 12 feet high and 92 feet in diameter; round its base there is a ditch 12 feet wide and 3 feet deep, interrupted on the south and east by accesses on the natural level. The whole base of the mound was covered by a layer of burnt ashes. In an oval, about 28 feet long and 14 feet wide, lay a quantity of iron rivets and nails as they had settled down among the ashes when the planks they had fastened were consumed. Around the circumference of this oval, and among these rivets, were found no fewer than forty-two shield-bosses, mingled with pike-heads, axes, swords, knives, and other implements of iron. Near the centre of the oval lay a large bronze pot or caldron, one-third full of burnt human bones, over which were heaped the bosses of thirteen shields, now firmly rusted to each other and to the sides of the pot. The pot itself was splendidly enamelled round the rim; in fact, an exquisite work of art. Among the bones within it was an iron pike-head, which M. Lorange, who explored the mound, concluded to have been the weapon by which the Viking met his death. Recounting the whole phenomena and circumstances of the burial as observed during the process of exploration, he says: "It seems that the sea-king’s men had drawn his ship up on the strand, with all its fittings as it was on the day of his death, laid the dead man in it clad in his best and with his arms and horse; then they hung their shields round the gunwales as they used to do when going on a cruise, hoisted the sail, piled wood under and around, and fired the vessel as she stood. Then, when the fire had done its work, they gathered the burnt bones into this splendid pot, covered them with the bosses of the burnt shields, and placed them in the centre of the heap of ashes over which the great mound was finally reared."
But more frequently the vessel and its contents have not passed through the fire. One such ship I have seen. It was found under a mound at Tune, and is now preserved in connection with the museum at Christiania. The mound was 12 feet high and 80 yards in circumference. The vessel stood on the original surface on even keel. It is clinker-built; the planks of oak, the ribs of fir. The keel is 43½ feet in length, and the ship is low and narrow for her length, which is no more than that of a first-class herring boat of the present day on the east coast of Scotland. Each side was of eleven planks, an inch thick, fastened with clinker nails, having round heads outside and square heads inside. The seams were caulked with tarred oakum of neat’s hair. The ribs, thirteen in number, are built of three different layers of wood fastened with oaken trenails and iron nails. The mode in which they are fastened to the skin of the boat is peculiar. The upper boards alone are fastened with oaken trenails, and the lower ones are merely attached to the planking by ropes of bast passed through holes in the ribs, and then through corresponding holes in wooden clumps on the planks. The mast was secured in a step on the bottom lining, and the vessel was steered by a side rudder. The Viking’s body, which was unburnt, was placed on a wooden platform abaft the mast. Beside it lay the bones of a horse, with remains of the saddle. The rest of the grave-goods were of the common character, comprising merely a few beads of coloured glass, a few fragments of clothing, a sword of the ordinary Viking type, a spear-head, a shield-boss, a rolled-up coat of mail, and some tools and implements of iron.
Another of larger size was discovered last summer in a mound at Gokstad, near Sandefiord, and is now placed beside the Tune specimen. Its length is about 80 feet, with a breadth of beam of 17 feet. It is of oak, and clinker-built, the planks and the frame-timbers connected in the same peculiar manner as in the Tune ship. All the planks have planed and moulded edges both inside and out, but there is no trace of the use of the saw either in the planking or framework of the vessel. Her lines are well laid; stem and stern are alike sharp and finely modelled. She has neither deck nor seats for the rowers, although her sides are pierced for sixteen oars each. The oars, some of which were found on board, were 20 feet long. In rowing, they were passed through circular holes 18 inches below the gunwale, and having narrow slits cut on each side of them to allow the passage of the blade of the oar. Like all her kind, she had but one mast and one sail, square in form, and she was steered by a side rudder. The vessel, though showing signs of wear, had been comparatively new when drawn on shore to enhance the funeral honours of its owner. A sepulchral chamber was built of timbers in front of the mast reaching to the prow. In this chamber the dead Viking was laid, surrounded with his grave-goods, his arms, and ornaments. That these were numerous and costly there can be little doubt, but the mound was broken into at an early date, a great hole cut in the side of the ship, and the funeral chamber rifled. The few relics that were left, chiefly mountings of belts and harness, exhibit the finest art of the Viking time, and the completeness of the equipment of the vessel, from the row of painted shields round the gunwale down to her cordage and anchor, and the cooking utensils of the crew—together with the fact that the mound also contained the remains of three boats and the bones of eight or nine horses, as many dogs, and a peacock—testify to the wealth and consideration of the man whose burial rites were thus celebrated.
I have described these Viking burials found in Norway and in Scotland partly because they enable us most vividly to realise the peculiar characteristics of Pagan burial, but chiefly because I am unable to illustrate the burial phenomena of the Iron Age Paganism of Celtic Scotland from its own remains. The archæology of Scotland is absolutely destitute of recorded data for this purpose. The uninstructed excavators have some respect for stone and bronze, but old iron is shovelled into oblivion without a moment’s hesitation.
LECTURE II
(20th October 1881.)
NORTHERN BURIALS AND HOARDS.
It has now been shown that the intrusion of the Norwegian Paganism into the northern and western area of Scotland produced an extension into this country of types and phenomena which are purely indigenous to the Scandinavian area. But along with the types and phenomena that are purely Norwegian we also find, within the area of this intruded Paganism, a series of modified types—neither purely Celtic nor purely Scandinavian, but partaking to some extent of the distinctive characteristics of both. This has already been demonstrated in so far as the products of this commingling of distinctive styles and customs have been characterised by indications of Christianity;[[41]] but there still remain to be discussed a group of phenomena and objects of this mixed character which either present no distinct indications of Christian associations or exhibit characteristics that are distinctive of Paganism.
I therefore proceed to describe a series of burials occurring within the same area in which the distinctive form of burial with arms, implements, and ornaments of purely Norwegian types also occur, but differing from these, inasmuch as though they present unequivocal indications of Paganism they do not so distinctly indicate their origin. As we examine their characteristics it will be seen that they form a group strictly local in its range, and possessing affinities which are rather Norwegian than Celtic.
Fig. 51.—Sectional view of Burials in Stronsay, Orkney.
1. Section of Cist with Stone Urn.—a. Urn, seen in section, 17 inches deep b. Burnt bones in the urn. c. Cist of flagstones, 2 feet square. d. Boulder stones supporting sides of cist.