Sacred landscape and rituals of violence in Early Iron Age Alken Enge

Mette Løvschal, Rasmus Birch Iversen, Mads Kähler Holst

Research output: Contribution to book/anthology/report/proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Alken Enge is the largest known site in Scandinavia with direct traces of a major violent conflict (AD 2–54) from the time before the great war booty offerings (2nd–5th centuries AD). Over the course of the last century, and most recently during excavations conducted in 2oo9–2o14, substantial quantities of scattered human skeletal remains have been found in the now overgrown lake basin, together with finds that include metal and wooden weapons, pottery, stones, worked wood, and ani- mal bones. The exceptionally well-preserved finds, coupled with the results of subsequent investigations, have promp- ted a number of central questions relating to prehistoric battlefields, the organisation of the warring forces, and the aftermath and consequences of these major violent conflicts: Who were the dead warriors? Where did they come from? How should we understand the forms of ›ritual violence‹ and ›rituals of violence‹ associated with such conflicts – and their regional and international parallels? In what kinds of places did traditions of ritual offerings become embedded and what kind of landscape emerged in the wake of these major events? The results of the investigations at Alken Enge have been made available successively in international jour- nals and most recently in the book De dræbte krigere i Alken Enge: Efterkrigsritualer i ældre jernalder (The slain warriors at Alken Enge: Early Iron Age post-conflict rituals) [Løvschal et al. 2o19]). The present paper is an edited English version of the introduction to the book (Løvschal et al. 2o19a). It presents an overview of Alken Enge as an archaeological site, together with a cohesive synthesis of the major event which took place there, as it is currently understood.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRituelle Gewalt : Rituale der Gewalt
Place of publicationHalle
PublisherLandesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt. Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte
Publication date2020
Pages395-412
ISBN (Print)978-3-948618-06-3
Publication statusPublished - 2020

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