Körpermodifikationen als Embodiment sozialer Identität und als sozio-kulturelle Ressource

Das Fallbeispiel der artifiziellen Schädeldeformationen in der skandinavischen Wikingerzeit

Abstract

Artificially deformed skulls as embodiment of a certain social identity have traditionally been regarded as strongly associated with the expansion of the Hunnic Empire in the European Migration Period. The re-evaluation of three artificially deformed skulls of females from Late Viking Age cemeteries on the Swedish island of Gotland as well as several parallel findings from eastern and southeastern Europe indicate a far longer tradition of this custom – at least to the 11^th century. These findings prove intensive contacts between eastern Scandinavia and the (south)eastern European sphere und illustrate the embodiment of social identity as well as the utilisation of ‘otherness’ as intangible resource within the burial context.