A house for the dead
Surrounding the grave were four holes, all of which had held robust poles. These were free-standing, with no indication of a wall from a grave chamber between them. It is hard to explain the posts as anything other than a roof-bearing superstructure.
Coffin and grave goods
Between the posts were the remains of a coffin. Wedged along the outside of the coffin there was an ornate sword on one side, and outside the other a large broadaxe. No human remains where observed within the perimeter of the coffin, but fragments of two silver coins was found as well as tiny pieces of iron and a four-centimetre ball of pitch (possibly birch bark pitch) with fingerprints impressed during its shaping.
The dating of the grave
Beyond the typology of weapons the dating of the grave is based on a C14 sample from one of the post holes dated AD 990–1040 (TRa-3791, 1010 ± 30 BP), and also a coin fragment determined to be an Anglo-Saxon penny from Æthelred II, AD 978–1016. Together these seem to point towards a dating of grave 8 at Langeid to the first half of the 11th Century.
Literature
- Wenn, Camilla. Glørstad, Z. Loftsgarden, K. (2016) Rapport arkeologisk utgravning Rv.9 Krokå - Langeid, del II: gravfelt fra vikingtid. (Langeid excavation report, part II. Grave 8: page 42-54).
- Stylegar, Frans-Arne (2006) En vikingtidsgravplass på Senum i Setesdal.
- Løken, Trond (1971) Dødehus over vikingtids flatmarksgraver. Nicolay nr 9, s.17-21.
- Magnussen, Jens Peder (2013) Den gløymte gravskikk? ein diskusjon til dødshusgravskikken i jernalderen (master's thesis).