What Did the Vikings Believe About the Afterlife? One of the best-known accounts describing a Viking funeral is to be found in the writings of Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, a member of the Abbasid embassy that was sent to Volga Bulgaria. The current understanding of Viking funerary practices has been discovered in both archaeological and textual sources. It’s possible that the remains belonged to members of the Viking Great Army however, Viking archaeologist Cat Jarman, who was not part of the study, told Live Science that Heath Wood radiocarbon dating points to a time period up to the 10th century, which is after the army’s raids, suggesting “an ongoing migration well beyond the historically recorded Great Army movements.”īy Noelle Talmon, contributor for Ripleys.Like many ancient societies, the Vikings believed in an afterlife, and these were based on the religious beliefs they held. “We know that animals were intricately woven into the mythology of Scandinavia at the time.” Löffelmann explained, “I think that the horse and the dog certainly were companions but am less sure about the rest of the animals,” she said. There may have also been other types of animals in the burial mounds, but it can be challenging to identify them in cremation graves. The animals could have been used for transportation, food, and companionship. It’s evidence that during the late ninth century people and animals migrated from Scandinavia to England. These findings indicate that the Vikings brought their animals with them to the west. The chemical analysis of the bones is notable because it revealed that the animals and one of the adults were not native to England but rather Scandinavia. Vikings brought their animals to England, research suggests In one burial mound, they found the remains of an adult and a younger person alongside bones from a dog, horse, and what appeared to be a pig. Researchers also found evidence of sharp force trauma. They analyzed 20 of the mounds and uncovered swords, shields, and human remains. In the 1940s and 1950s, archaeologists discovered nearly 60 burial mounds in Heath Wood near the village of Repton. The Vikings invaded England’s southeastern coast in 865, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Löffelmann noted, “I imagine that this whole event would have lasted well into the night, and the light would likely have been seen from nearby Repton.” Bountiful Burial Mounds They were gigantic, ablaze for several hours, and visible for miles. This would have made the Viking funeral pyres quite a spectacle. What made these cremations particularly interesting was that during that era in England, most people were burying their dead. “I find this intriguing because that means there was no clear separation between animals and humans any longer - everything kind of became part of the same thing, something new,” she noted. The Vikings put the human remains into a giant funeral pyre and set it on fire before raking the remains and removing pieces of bone, lead author Tessi Löffelmann told Live Science. Researchers examined Heath Wood, a cremation cemetery in central England, and uncovered animal and human remains dating back to the ninth century A.D. And when they died, the Vikings built a massive funeral pyre, cremated the animals alongside their human companions, and interred the remains in the same burial mounds. More than 1,000 years ago, Vikings sailed west toward England with their pets onboard their ships, according to a new study published in the journal PLOS One.
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