Humans in Viking Age Scandinavia (8th – early 11th centuries) were surrounded by various avifauna living in diversified environments: songs of avifaunae woke up inhabitants of settlements every morning; these beings accompanied people during fieldwork and journeys; their sounds announced the coming of every evening. Several species of these animals were hunted or bred for eggs, fat, feathers, and meat. Some avifaunae –for instance hawks and falcons – were trained for falconry and took part in hunts with humans for other birds or mammals.
Klaudia Dominika Karpińska's interdisciplinary research, combing methods and theories from archaeology, zooarchaeology and history, shows that only a few species of this rich taxonomical class were chosen to be sacrificed during cremation or inhumation funeral rituals.
In analysed graves from Norway and Sweden (Gotland, Uppland, and Öland), waterbirds, birds of the order Galliformes and raptors as well as bird eggs were buried or cremated with persons of different sexes and ages, alongside various non-avian domestic and wild fauna. In her doctoral thesis, Karpińska argues that avifaunae in the scope of funerary rituals could have meanings and functions associated with different aspects of life and death, as well as express relations between these animals and humans. Karpińska's comparative studies also showed that several bird species visualised in iconography had diversified symbolisms. Interdisciplinary analyses also showed that in the descriptions in medieval sources, birds (e.g. Galliformes) had significant meanings in daily life activities, rituals, burials, and beliefs. Interdisciplinary research conducted in this PhD project allowed to shed new light on varied human-avian relations in the beliefs and funerary rituals of Viking Age Scandinavia.
Klaudia Dominika Karpińska successfully defended her dissertation on 15 May 2023.
Trial lecture
Designated topic: "Interpreting burial rituals in Viking-age Scandinavia: Complexity, diversity, regionality and the actors involved"
Evaluation committee
- Associate Professor Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson, Uppsala University (first opponent)
- Associate Professor Sarah Croix, Aarhus University (second opponent)
- Associate Professor Unn Pedersen, University of Oslo (committee administrator)
Chair of the defence
- Head of Department Jon Vidar Sigurdsson
Supervisors
- Associate Professor Julie Lund, University of Oslo
- Associate Professor Ann Zanette Tsigaridas Glørstad, Museum of Cultural History
- Associate Professor Ramona Harrison, University of Bergen