Papers by Ben Raffield
Archaeological Dialogues
To date, traditional narratives of the Late Iron Age have focused almost exclusively on discussio... more To date, traditional narratives of the Late Iron Age have focused almost exclusively on discussions of the elite. These were the martial rulers and major landholders who occupied the upper strata of Scandinavian society. The lives of lower-status population groups, including enslaved and other 'unfree' or dependent peoples such as landless farmers, have long been marginalized in archaeological discourse. We have little knowledge of the ways in which the lifeways of subaltern peoples were shaped by the construction and maintenance of socio-political hierarchies and networks, or of how social inequality permeated and impacted the daily lives of communities. In this article, the authors propose that the concept of structural violence, developed by sociologist Johan Galtung, has the potential to offer an interdisciplinary framework for multi-proxy studies of (bio)archaeological and textual data. This article was originally published with incorrect author affiliation and funding information. A notice detailing this has been published, and the errors rectified in the online PDF and HTML versions.
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Scandinavian Journal of History, 2022
The Viking Age (c. 750–1050 CE) was a time of extensive upheaval
and disruption across the northe... more The Viking Age (c. 750–1050 CE) was a time of extensive upheaval
and disruption across the northern world. From the late eighth
century, historical sources indicate that viking groups were engaging
in both short-term and extended campaigns of raiding and
plunder. In addition to seeking portable wealth and commodities, it
is apparent that raiders also sought captives, many of whom were
taken and held in encampments where they were ransomed,
exploited, or sold into slavery. While these sites served
an important function as defensive strongholds and staging posts
for viking raiding activity, recent studies have demonstrated that
they were also militarized centres of production and exchange that,
in some cases, became nodal marketplaces that were embedded
within both regional and long-distance networks of communication
and trade. Focusing in particular on the ninth century, this study
will examine the ways in which captive-taking and slaving intersected
with the emergence and development of these locales, as
well as the role of these activities in shaping wider processes of
communication, diplomacy, and cross-cultural interaction within
landscapes of conflict and settlement.
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Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, 2020
The purpose of this study is to address long-standing interpretative frameworks for the discussio... more The purpose of this study is to address long-standing interpretative frameworks for the discussion of the ‘Danelaw’, a term that has been applied since the medieval period to a large area of eastern and northern England that was occupied by viking raiding groups and other immigrant settlers during the ninth and tenth centuries ad. The article highlights several potential issues concerning widely held perceptions of the Danelaw and its main subsidiary element — the ‘Five Boroughs’ — as geopolitical and cultural entities. On the basis of a lack of historical and archaeological evidence for coordinated territorial defence and cooperation between the groups occupying the landscape, the study calls the concepts of the Danelaw and Five Boroughs into question. I argue that a shift in scholarly focus to more local and regional processes of consolidation and social development would provide fresh insights into political and military organization in Viking-Age England, while also shedding light on processes of violence, colonization, and creolization as these played out across the settled landscape.
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Relations and Runes: The Baltic Islands and their Interactions During the Late Iron Age and Early Middle Ages, 2020
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Current Anthropology, 2019
OPEN ACCES. If the file does not load then please visit the Current Anthropology website or copy ... more OPEN ACCES. If the file does not load then please visit the Current Anthropology website or copy this link https://doi.org/10.1086/706608.
Although the Viking Age (ca. 750-1050 CE) is often characterized as a time of violence, significant questions remain regarding how conflict was conducted during the period. For example, there have been few attempts to understand the cultural norms, attitudes, and practices that drove individuals to participate in warfare. This article reports the results of a study that sought to shed light on this issue by considering the process of enculturation during Viking Age childhood. This was achieved by exploring how the influences of militarism and hegemonic masculinity conditioned those living within Scandinavian societies to participate in conflict from a young age. Through examining the archaeological and literary evidence for childhood pastimes, the study found that everyday aspects of Viking Age society reinforced militaristic, hegemonic hierarchies of masculinity. This can be seen, for example, in the form of toy weapons that were modeled on full-sized, functional weapons; strategic board games that conveyed messages regarding the ideological power of kingship; and physical games that provided opportunities for successful individuals to enhance their social status. The evidence therefore suggests that Viking Age societies perpetuated a series of self-reinforcing cultural norms that encouraged participation in martial activities.
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Slaving was a prominent activity among raiding and mercantile groups operating across the early m... more Slaving was a prominent activity among raiding and mercantile groups operating across the early medieval world during the Viking Age (c. 750–1050 CE). Historical sources provide explicit descriptions of widespread raiding and slave taking by Viking raiders, as well as a substantial trade in captive peoples. Archaeologists, however, have long-struggled to identify evidence for the transportation and sale of captives in the material record. In order to begin addressing this issue, this study explores the comparative archaeologies and histories of slave markets in order to examine the potential form and function of these sites, and how they might have operated as part of the wider, interconnected Viking world.
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Paper co-authored with Neil Price and Mark Collard. Currently under review for inclusion in Evolu... more Paper co-authored with Neil Price and Mark Collard. Currently under review for inclusion in Evolution and Human Behaviour.
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This paper discusses the deposition of weapons in English rivers and wetlands during the Viking A... more This paper discusses the deposition of weapons in English rivers and wetlands during the Viking Age. Such finds have been extensively studied in Scandinavia but have rarely been academically discussed in Britain. It can be argued that the arrival of the Scandinavians in ninth- to eleventh-century Britain precipitated a marked increase in depositions of a ‘pagan’ nature. Despite deep-rooted, institutionalized Christianity having dominated England for some time, it is possible that pagan beliefs were dormant but not forgotten, with the Scandinavian arrival triggering their resurgence. Weapons form a large number of ritual depositions, with seventy deposits being mapped geographically to identify distributional patterns across the landscape. It is suggested here that ‘liminal’ depositions in Viking Age Scandinavia provide an interpretative model for these finds. Given the context of endemic conflict and territorial consolidation within which they may have been deposited in England, this material can shed new light on attitudes to landscapes subject to conflict and consolidation.
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This article addresses the depth of our knowledge regarding Viking fortifications in England, Sco... more This article addresses the depth of our knowledge regarding Viking fortifications in England, Scotland, and Wales, assessing perceptions of them as a monument type. This sudy includes the investigation of antiquarian influences upon the interpretation of these sites. It is suggested that archaeological knowledge of these monuments is largely fragmentary, and that in some cases, current understanding can in fact be based on interpretations dating back as far as the 17th or even 16th century. Additionally, it is proposed that Viking fortified sites do not exist with any form of homogeneity as a monument type. The research process of these investigations, findings, and two case studies are summarized. The article discusses the current state of knowledge regarding Viking fortifications and suggests how the study of them should proceed.
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The article describes an archaeological site at Blunham, Bedfordshire. The site is postulated to ... more The article describes an archaeological site at Blunham, Bedfordshire. The site is postulated to be the lost Viking fortress at Tempsford, which is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 917. In this year a Danish army was encamped at Tempsford whilst raiding Bedford and the surrounding area. The fortress was however besieged and captured by an Anglo-Saxon army, resulting in the death of the Danish king and several jarls.
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'Battle' is a word often associated with the Viking Age in England and there are numerous referen... more 'Battle' is a word often associated with the Viking Age in England and there are numerous references in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles to the conflict that took place as the Anglo-Saxons fought to keep Viking incursions at bay. There is no doubt that hostile encounters between the two sides were violent and bloody, with the Anglo-Saxons fighting to hold on to territories that were now not only under threat from other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, but also from 'heathens' and foreign enemies who were set on conquering England for their own. These battles were to take place for over two and a half centuries from the first recorded raid at Lindisfarne, Northumbria, in 793 until the famous Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066.
Archaeology as a discipline knows relatively little of how these people fought each other for possession of English soil and wealth. There are numerous contemporary references to battles in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, but these state little more than there being a 'great slaughter' at a certain location, with the victor occasionally being named. We are not sure of the size of the battles both in terms of area and the number of combatants, nor are we sure of the tactics used.
This article will attempt to construct a theoretical model for Viking Age battlefields, utilising a synthesised approach of literary and historical evidence alongside archaeology from a number of different time periods, including prehistory. The study of the Early Medieval period and the Viking Age cannot be undertaken simply from a historical, literary or archaeological viewpoint, but a combined approach has the potential to allow a much more comprehensive view of warfare in the period.
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Book Reviews by Ben Raffield
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Papers by Ben Raffield
and disruption across the northern world. From the late eighth
century, historical sources indicate that viking groups were engaging
in both short-term and extended campaigns of raiding and
plunder. In addition to seeking portable wealth and commodities, it
is apparent that raiders also sought captives, many of whom were
taken and held in encampments where they were ransomed,
exploited, or sold into slavery. While these sites served
an important function as defensive strongholds and staging posts
for viking raiding activity, recent studies have demonstrated that
they were also militarized centres of production and exchange that,
in some cases, became nodal marketplaces that were embedded
within both regional and long-distance networks of communication
and trade. Focusing in particular on the ninth century, this study
will examine the ways in which captive-taking and slaving intersected
with the emergence and development of these locales, as
well as the role of these activities in shaping wider processes of
communication, diplomacy, and cross-cultural interaction within
landscapes of conflict and settlement.
Although the Viking Age (ca. 750-1050 CE) is often characterized as a time of violence, significant questions remain regarding how conflict was conducted during the period. For example, there have been few attempts to understand the cultural norms, attitudes, and practices that drove individuals to participate in warfare. This article reports the results of a study that sought to shed light on this issue by considering the process of enculturation during Viking Age childhood. This was achieved by exploring how the influences of militarism and hegemonic masculinity conditioned those living within Scandinavian societies to participate in conflict from a young age. Through examining the archaeological and literary evidence for childhood pastimes, the study found that everyday aspects of Viking Age society reinforced militaristic, hegemonic hierarchies of masculinity. This can be seen, for example, in the form of toy weapons that were modeled on full-sized, functional weapons; strategic board games that conveyed messages regarding the ideological power of kingship; and physical games that provided opportunities for successful individuals to enhance their social status. The evidence therefore suggests that Viking Age societies perpetuated a series of self-reinforcing cultural norms that encouraged participation in martial activities.
Archaeology as a discipline knows relatively little of how these people fought each other for possession of English soil and wealth. There are numerous contemporary references to battles in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, but these state little more than there being a 'great slaughter' at a certain location, with the victor occasionally being named. We are not sure of the size of the battles both in terms of area and the number of combatants, nor are we sure of the tactics used.
This article will attempt to construct a theoretical model for Viking Age battlefields, utilising a synthesised approach of literary and historical evidence alongside archaeology from a number of different time periods, including prehistory. The study of the Early Medieval period and the Viking Age cannot be undertaken simply from a historical, literary or archaeological viewpoint, but a combined approach has the potential to allow a much more comprehensive view of warfare in the period.
Book Reviews by Ben Raffield
and disruption across the northern world. From the late eighth
century, historical sources indicate that viking groups were engaging
in both short-term and extended campaigns of raiding and
plunder. In addition to seeking portable wealth and commodities, it
is apparent that raiders also sought captives, many of whom were
taken and held in encampments where they were ransomed,
exploited, or sold into slavery. While these sites served
an important function as defensive strongholds and staging posts
for viking raiding activity, recent studies have demonstrated that
they were also militarized centres of production and exchange that,
in some cases, became nodal marketplaces that were embedded
within both regional and long-distance networks of communication
and trade. Focusing in particular on the ninth century, this study
will examine the ways in which captive-taking and slaving intersected
with the emergence and development of these locales, as
well as the role of these activities in shaping wider processes of
communication, diplomacy, and cross-cultural interaction within
landscapes of conflict and settlement.
Although the Viking Age (ca. 750-1050 CE) is often characterized as a time of violence, significant questions remain regarding how conflict was conducted during the period. For example, there have been few attempts to understand the cultural norms, attitudes, and practices that drove individuals to participate in warfare. This article reports the results of a study that sought to shed light on this issue by considering the process of enculturation during Viking Age childhood. This was achieved by exploring how the influences of militarism and hegemonic masculinity conditioned those living within Scandinavian societies to participate in conflict from a young age. Through examining the archaeological and literary evidence for childhood pastimes, the study found that everyday aspects of Viking Age society reinforced militaristic, hegemonic hierarchies of masculinity. This can be seen, for example, in the form of toy weapons that were modeled on full-sized, functional weapons; strategic board games that conveyed messages regarding the ideological power of kingship; and physical games that provided opportunities for successful individuals to enhance their social status. The evidence therefore suggests that Viking Age societies perpetuated a series of self-reinforcing cultural norms that encouraged participation in martial activities.
Archaeology as a discipline knows relatively little of how these people fought each other for possession of English soil and wealth. There are numerous contemporary references to battles in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, but these state little more than there being a 'great slaughter' at a certain location, with the victor occasionally being named. We are not sure of the size of the battles both in terms of area and the number of combatants, nor are we sure of the tactics used.
This article will attempt to construct a theoretical model for Viking Age battlefields, utilising a synthesised approach of literary and historical evidence alongside archaeology from a number of different time periods, including prehistory. The study of the Early Medieval period and the Viking Age cannot be undertaken simply from a historical, literary or archaeological viewpoint, but a combined approach has the potential to allow a much more comprehensive view of warfare in the period.
are significant gaps in the literature. Perhaps most importantly, in a number of countries little attention has been paid to Viking skeletons. They have been reported as existing, but osteoarchaeological work has either not been performed or not been published. In the talk’s final part, we will outline the steps we intend to take in light of the results of the survey.
This paper will propose a hypothetical social model for the conditions that might have prompted this violent behaviour. The mutually reinforcing social practices of polygyny and selective female infanticide will be considered in light of their potential to generate a pool of low-status males who are required to seek wealth and status in order to enter an elite-dominated marriage market. Relevant archaeological, historical and anthropological data will be consulted in order to glimpse possible social mechanisms within Iron Age Scandinavian societies, as well as the extent to which these precipitated socio-political change.
The study, therefore, questioned how else both violent and non-violent aspects of conflict might manifest in the archaeological record, investigating over 50 site and find types across the area often referred to as the ‘Danelaw’. It was shown that despite there being little identified evidence of interpersonal violence itself, conflict manifests through preparations and reactions to threat. The study promotes the investigation of ‘non-violent’ processes which are intrinsically associated with conflict but often considered in isolation, such as colonialism and consolidation. This is reflected in the Scandinavian occupied landscape by the replacement of elites, reorganisation of power structures and construction of social and cosmological identities designed to manipulate the landscape and the populations within it. Whilst not only taking place within a context of endemic warfare, such processes were at times backed up by coercion or the threat of force.
It was resultantly possible to reinterpret aspects of Viking Age England through this focus on conflict. The integration of data into GIS allowed evidence to not only be analysed both on a site-specific and wider landscape-wide scale, as well as placing this evidence in the context of the Roman road and river networks, challenging long established interpretational models whilst also highlighting new and exciting bodies of evidence.
The arrival of the Scandinavians in 9th – 11th century Britain precipitated a marked increase in depositions of a ‘pagan’ nature. Despite the fact that institutionalised Christianity had held sway over the country for some centuries it is possible that pagan beliefs and practices, whilst dormant, were not forgotten. Implements associated with violence – swords, seaxs, spears and axes form a large number of these depositions. These finds were mapped geographically to identify any patterns of deposition across the landscape.
The search identified at least 73 ‘Viking’ and ‘Anglo-Saxon’ weapon deposits across the area known as the ‘Danelaw’, with several individual rivers revealing high numbers of finds. These finds mostly differ to the earlier, large hoards of weapons deposited in Scandinavian wetlands from the Roman Iron Age, being largely deposited singly and with little to no visible deliberate damage. The locating of so many weapons has raised questions as to why these valuable and practical tools had been disposed of in this manner. Given the context of conflict and territorial consolidation within which they may have been disposed of, these finds can shed new light on ritual attitudes to landscapes subject to endemic warfare.
As a result of the battle fought in 1944, the island of Peleliu is now host to one of the best preserved and least disturbed WWII battlefield landscapes of the Pacific Theatre of Operations; in recognition of this it has been designated a US Historic Landmark since 1984. In November 2014 the Department of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen (UoA), UK was awarded a contract by the Peleliu War Historical Society Inc. (PWHS), a United States of America 501(c) 3 organisation, to undertake a combined scheme of archaeological field and archive based research on selected areas within the Peleliu Battlefield National Historic Landmark. The grant that funded this work was awarded to PWHS by the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, American Battlefield Protection Program (Grant agreement no: GA-2287-13-018).
PAS’14 recorded a total of 260 individual or clustered archaeological sites and artefacts with 274 individual coordinate points captured relating to the individual features or concentrations that form elements of these sites/assemblages.
This report represents the principal output of the PWHS contract and is intended to offer a summary of the research activities that have been undertaken as part of the project. Through the interpretation of the data gathered from these activities, this document also seeks to offer new and perhaps alternative perspectives on the Battle of Peleliu as well as a series of reflective recommendations to complement future initiatives supporting the long term sustainable preservation and interpretation of Peleliu’s unique WWII battlefield.
archaeological practitioners, working in multiple countries, to explore and
understand the material and cultural impacts of the Pacific War.
The combat taking place in the Pacific region during the years 1941–45 was
characterized by a brutality and violence unmatched in any other theatre of the Second World War. Described by indigenous Micronesians as a ‘typhoon,’ the war was an unstoppable force that rolled across the islanders’ homes, leaving only a trail of destruction in its wake, with physical, psychological, and cultural impacts that continue to resonate today. This difficult period is examined in a variety of ways through chapters that include targeted studies of archaeological sites, wider surveys of battlefield landscapes, and the ways in which we commemorate the experiences and legacies of both combatants and civilian populations. The translation of important research by Okinawan, Japanese, and Russian archaeologists brings into focus regions that have previously been neglected in Anglophone literature, and enriches this comprehensive exploration of the archaeology of the Pacific War.
This book will be of interest to archaeological practitioners, students, and members of the general public working in conflict studies or with an interest in the material culture, history, and legacies of the Pacific War.
materials are set in a broader context of cultural development and change in the Baltic. This book is the outcome of a joint venture between two research projects – The Viking Phenomenon and Everlasting Runes, and
Gotland Museum.