About this objectThe settlement on the island of Björkö (lit. Birch Island), 20 km west of today's Stockholm, was founded in c.750 and flourished for more than two centuries as an important Viking Age trading centre. It was abandoned around 975 after Sigtuna was eastablished as a Christian town to its northeast (the Christian missionary Ansgar had come to Birka in 728 and the presence—although not the dominance—of Christianity here is shown by the cross found in the grave of a sorceress [EXH5]).
The burial site at Birka contains over 3,000 graves, both cremations and inhumations. This grave, excavated in the 1870s, contained a seated body dressed in silk with silver thread decorations within a wooden chamber. Burial goods included a sword, an axe, a spear, armour-piercing arrows, a sax, two shields, two stirrups and gaming pieces, dice and the possible remains of a gaming board, as well as one mare and one stallion. Possible sherds of a mirror were found.
A study published in 2017 reports on the research led by Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson which extracted DNA and proved that the bones were that of a female. The same study also analyzed strontium isotopes on the skeleton to identify the geographic profile of the individual and concluded that 'the individual in grave Bj 581 is the first confirmed female high-ranking Viking warrior.' (Hedenstierna-Jonson 2017).
Date Made10th century
PeriodViking
Subject and Association KeywordsDeath and burials
Subject and Association KeywordsHorses
Subject and Association DescriptionLearn More: Gardeła 2013; Hedenstierna-Jonson et al 2017; Price et al 2019.
