Introducing Bronze Age cosmology and religion

Before we dive into the significance of water-related resources in burials within the Bronze Age cosmology, some general comments are necessary. It is widely accepted today that metalwork and rock art images detail a NordicBA cosmology which involved the journey of the sun and was split into the heavenly realm, the earthly realm, and the underworld (Kaul Reference Kaul2005; visualised here in Fig. 1). This separation into different spheres was not unique to the NordicBA: it can also be found in widely separated regions, such as among Native American tribes. These tribes, including the Algonquian on the Laurentian Plateau in Canada and the Dhegiha of the Western Mississippi region in the USA, incorporated the sun, water, and animals such as birds and snakes as important components of their belief systems (eg, Arsenault & Zawadzka Reference Arsenault, Zawadzka, Gillette, Greer, Hayward and Breen Murray2014; Duncan & Diaz-Granados Reference Duncan, Diaz-Granados and Diaz-Granados2023). The importance of the sun to human life could be the basis for its significance in widely dispersed religions.

Fig. 1. Diagram illustrating the beach position as liminal zone and the underwater as realm of the dead within the Nordic Bronze Age cosmology

Parallel beliefs in ancient Egypt were closer in time and space, and Kaul (Reference Kaul2004) saw them as inspiration for the NordicBA cosmology. Kristiansen (Reference Kristiansen2012) linked the Nordic beliefs to Indo-European myths transmitted through Central Europe. However, Helskog (Reference Helskog1999) traced a tripartite cosmology for northern and arctic regions among other evidence through the northern rock art tradition. In Norwegian regions like Stjørdal there is considerable spatial, temporal, and content overlap between the northern and the southern rock art traditions, which was used to suggested that southern Scandinavian Bronze Age rock art may have its origin in the north (Sognnes Reference Sognnes2001). This is supported by the Late Neolithic boat depictions of the so-called Nag type that occurs both in the north and the south (Bengtsson Reference Bengtsson, Sabatini and Bergerbrant2013). These observations and factors including the location of burial monuments such as cairns has led to a criticism of interpretations that solely rooted the NordicBA cosmology in southern influences and, instead, emphasised northern roots and a long interplay between both regions (Bradley & Nimura Reference Bradley and Nimura2013).

In this contribution, no attempt is made to interpret the geographical origin of the NordicBA cosmology. As noted elsewhere in a different context, it is highly unlikely that complex phenomena have a singular point of origin but, instead, emerge in broad networks of contact, influences, and local re-interpretation (for example, Daems Reference Daems2020). A full investigation for the beliefs of NordicBA communities including both the northern and southern influences cannot be accomplished within the scope of this article. Instead, the focus is on local variation and the link between cosmology, practice, and observable natural phenomena.

The three realms and the afterlife

Here I consider a wide range of published studies detailing the NordicBA cosmology and additional research that highlights that the underworld was placed in the literal underwater, and that the beach had a role as a liminal zone where these realms met.

Based on his long-term research into NordicBA razors, Flemming Kaul reconstructs a cosmology in which the sun takes a perpetual journey helped by boats and various animals (Kaul Reference Kaul1998; Reference Kaul2004; Reference Kaul2005). He saw this cosmology as tripartite, which has also been discussed by Helskog (Reference Helskog1999) for earlier northern hunter-gatherers. The sky above was the heavenly realm across which the sun journeyed during the day. This was separated from the earthly realm where the living dwell. At dusk the sun disappeared from sight, again moved by boat with the help of different animals than during day, only to re-emerge at dawn and begin the cycle again. During the night it journeys through an underworld which is linked to the dead (Fig. 1).

Variations and challenges to this model have been published. Klavs Randsborg (Reference Randsborg1993) favoured a separation into four realms by splitting the realm of nature from that of the living. Based on Katty Hauptman Wahlgren’s question as to why such a powerful entity as the sun would need any help on its journey (Hauptman Wahlgren Reference Hauptman Wahlgren2002), Joakim Wehlin proposed a subtle shift to Kaul’s interpretation. To him it seems more likely that it was not the boat that helped the sun but that the sun guided the boat (Wehlin Reference Wehlin, Ljunge and Röst2014). Richard Bradley (Reference Bradley, Skoglund, Ling and Bertilsson2015) took Scandinavian rock art into account and pointed out that different media could indicate local variation in such cosmological beliefs. Here it is important to point out that the sun journey becomes fully articulated first on razors from period IV (1100–950 bc), although earlier indications exist, for example in the sun wagon from Trundholm dated to period II (1500–1300 bc) which shows a sun disc drawn by a horse (Gelling & Davidson Reference Gelling and Davidson1969).

A debated point is what happened to the deceased after they entered the underworld. It could have been seen as some sort of final destination (Randsborg Reference Randsborg1993), perhaps the dead were reborn (Goldhahn Reference Goldhahn1999), or they remained mobile, joining the sun on its journey (Helskog Reference Helskog1999; Kaul Reference Kaul, Egeler and Heizmann2020). Randsborg defined the underworld as the ‘sea of the dead’ into which the deceased entered permanently, turning into various beings like gods, ancestors, etc. Opposed to this, Kaul argued that the sea was not the final destination for the dead but that at least some were honoured to join the sun on its journey as paddlers (Kaul Reference Kaul2005; Reference Kaul2018; Reference Kaul, Egeler and Heizmann2020). The link between the underworld, the deceased, and the sea seems to be generally acknowledged (Fig.1).

The beach – a liminal zone

Based on work with earlier northern hunter-gatherer rock art, the underworld was located physically in the water which would have made the shore the physical place that connected land and water (Helskog Reference Helskog1999). For Bronze Age rock art, Bradley (Reference Bradley, Skoglund, Ling and Bertilsson2015) made a similar point linking the night realm to the physically present sea, with the water’s edge separating it from the other realms (Fig. 1). This invokes the concept of liminality (cf. Turner Reference Turner1969) making the shore or beach a liminal zone (see also Westerdahl Reference Westerdahl2005; Reference Westerdahl and Ford2011). Any observer standing on the shore could see the sun go down into the water and/or emerge from it. Thus, the water’s surface extending out from the beach could also be seen as the boundary between the heavenly realm and the underworld (cf. Helskog Reference Helskog1999; Bradley Reference Bradley, Skoglund, Ling and Bertilsson2015). The beach merges the realm of the living and the realm of the dead in a horizontal direction and the water’s edge and surface was the boundary in a vertical direction. In parallel, this could suggest that the beach or shore was a nexus between all three aspects of the Bronze Age cosmology (Fig. 1). This may have given those that transversed such liminal zones and boundaries a special status as liminal agents, for example raiding-trading boat crews travelling on top of the boundary (Horn Reference Horn, Glørstad, Tsigaridas Glørstad and Melheim2016).

Walking where the dead ships dwell

In discussing the beach as a liminal zone and its physicality, we can follow Helskog’s observation that cosmologies in the past were shaped by the lived experience and practices in the environment these societies inhabited (Helskog Reference Helskog1999). The sky itself is a good example which spanned the entirety of the area above the land humans settled, ie, the realm of the living (Randsborg Reference Randsborg1993). The sun could be observed moving across it during the day like birds (Kaul Reference Kaul2005; Bradley Reference Bradley, Skoglund, Ling and Bertilsson2015; Goldhahn Reference Goldhahn2019). While other animals are terrestrial, like horses, they are also active during the day. People experienced their use as traction animals moving things like carts and perhaps even boats during portage. All this physically observable activity may have contributed to the idea that these animals helped dragging the sun (Kaul Reference Kaul1998; Reference Kaul2005).

When we follow this argument for the realm of the dead, we need to consider the physical properties of water. While water is indispensable for human life, humans inadvertently die by drowning when they submerge in it for too long. This was probably experienced often with the sinking of boats on their frequent journeys for fishing, trading, or raiding. A sunken boat would have immediately transformed into a boat of the dead. As others have observed, there are other occasions when the deadly forces of water can be experienced, such as the destruction caused by floods and storms (Wrigglesworth Reference Wrigglesworth2011). Thus, the danger of the underwater was perhaps ever present.

Similar to the water itself, the creatures featured in the NordicBA cosmology may have attained their roles due to observable characteristics of their living environment and their behaviour. This process can also be seen anthropologically, for example in North America, where snakes were seen as creatures with a link to water and the underworld (Arsenault & Zawadzka Reference Arsenault, Zawadzka, Gillette, Greer, Hayward and Breen Murray2014). Some suggestions can be made. Fish, for example, could live in the deadly underwater and, therefore, were perhaps easily associated with death and apt at helping the sun on its journey through the underworld (Kaul Reference Kaul1998; Reference Kaul2005). The association with death may also be why fish were engraved on spearheads and associated with elite warriors who were agents of death themselves due to the violence they conducted (Kveiborg Reference Kveiborg2019; Horn Reference Horn2023). Another example are snakes which often submerge in water, because they need the humidity, but they can also be observed moving between land and water. Some snake bites can cause severe swelling, pain, and even death, ie, drag humans into death. Based on this, they may have become associated with the realm of death. Their movement between land and water may have been the reason why they could drag the sun into the underworld. Fish on the other hand can sometimes jump out of water and thus break the surface between the realms. On the beach people would be able to peer through the surface into the realm of death and see its creatures (Helskog Reference Helskog1999; Kaul Reference Kaul2005).

The observable links between the underwater and death may have sparked ideas that physical death transformed humans into beings that could dwell in the deadly underwater together with their sunken boats and the creatures of this realm (Fig. 1). Like the emerging sun, boat crews may have re-emerged from the water either helping the sun on its journey or being guided by it (Wehlin Reference Wehlin, Ljunge and Röst2014; Kaul Reference Kaul, Egeler and Heizmann2020). Different groups may have emphasised different aspects of the potential observations concerning animals, celestial bodies, and water. These differences could be one aspect that led to the local variations in cosmological beliefs discussed in the following section.

Analysis of period II burials

While most of the network is linked during period II, the edges are all very weak, with most burials only incorporating one of the materials, and no grave having more than two. This means that only two to three sites connect different materials (Fig. 4a). The use of beach pebbles has the farthest reach which is closely mirrored by beach sand (Fig. 4b). However, it is noteworthy that both materials are not directly linked, representing variations of ritual practices with overlapping distributions. Beach sand is only linked into the network through its co-occurrence with seaweed. Burials that incorporate seaweed are spatially more restricted, concentrating in the coastal zones of Zealand and the adjacent coasts.

Fig. 4. a) Social network analysis of burials with water-related resources dating to period II of the Nordic Bronze Age; b) the spatial extend of the period II network; c) social network analysis of burials with water-related resources dating to period III of the Nordic Bronze Age; d) the spatial extend of the period III network

Compared to beach pebbles, shells seem to have a more southerly distribution, reaching from Sylt to eastern Zealand (Fig. 4b). Shells are linked directly to pebbles through two burials but the link to seaweed is indirect through the overlapping use of snails (Fig. 4a). Snails take a special position because they are the only group that is solely co-occurring with other materials, ie, pebbles, seaweed, and seashells. Most of the connecting burials are not only located in the same barrow but they also cluster along the coast in the northern Øresund zone – a narrow straight separating Zealand from southern Sweden (Fig. 4b).

Fossilised organics emerge as a surprise because they are isolated both geographically and within the network (Fig. 4a–b). Sea urchins used as burial goods are restricted to the south-eastern zone on Sylt and western Schleswig-Holstein. Within the network they do not co-occur with any other water-related resource.

Analysis of period III burials

The number of burials with water-related resources stays almost equal with the preceding period but the network for each resource expands spatially (Fig. 4c–d). While there were now burials with three resources that provide some stronger links (Fig. 4c), the overall network is still relatively weakly integrated. Opposed to the rest of the resources, seaweed retracts spatially, only being used in eastern Zealand and northern Maribo, but reaching slightly further to the east to include western Scania (Fig. 4d). Beach sand and pebbles change from being not directly connected, to now being tied together closely. Shells and seaweed are linked in the network by three burials. The role of snails diminishes with fewer burials and important connections (Fig. 4c). Øresund is apparently still a very active region but the most crucial burials are now located along the neighbouring Roskildefjord (Fig. 4d).

The use of petrified organics shifts north- and eastwards spatially, expanding and even reaching eastern Zealand (Fig. 4d). With that there is some geographical overlap with other water-related resources. However, petrified organics remain completely isolated in the network, never being placed with any other resource in a burial (Fig. 4c–d).

Cairns and beach pebbles

Before the findings will be discussed in a wider context, it is prudent to make some source critical observations. Throughout the NordicBA into the Iron Age cairns (piles of stone without soil cover) were among the most frequent burial monuments, especially on the Scandinavian peninsula with about 20,000 in Sweden alone (Fig. 5a). Various identifying features have been proposed to date cairns to the Bronze Age, such as large diameters, construction on hill or ridge tops, the presence of stone cists, or the use of specific stones (Artelius Reference Artelius1998; Widholm Reference Widholm1998; Hellgren & Johansson Reference Hellgren and Johansson2022). However, only a fraction have been excavated and even fewer are well published (recently Ängeby & Ragnesten Reference Ängeby and Ragnesten2020).

Fig. 5. a) Distribution of cairns dating to the Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Southern Sweden and Denmark; b) Modern entrance to the Bredarör cairn in Kivik with a good view of the pebbles

Another issue is the stone material itself. For example, the pebbles of the famous Bredarör cairn in Kivik are very round (Goldhahn Reference Goldhahn2009; Reference Goldhahn2013) which indicates that they were subjected to water erosion for a long time (Fig. 5b). Since the cairn is only c. 80 m from the old shoreline there is a good chance that pebbles found at the beach were used in the construction. Cairns using beach pebbles also spread northwards along the Norwegian coast (Nordenborg Myhre Reference Nordenborg Myhre2004; Anfinset Reference Anfinset2016) and it was suggested that all ‘round stones’ have been collected from the shore (Wrigglesworth Reference Wrigglesworth2011). However, round stones could also have been formed and transported by glacial ice masses and were, therefore, not necessarily picked up at the beach. At the same time, it has been observed that cairns in Scandinavia had a very coast-bound distribution (Skoglund Reference Skoglund2005) suggesting that beach pebbles may just have been used out of convenience. However, dense clusters of cairns were placed away from settled areas on rocky outcrops along the coast and even on small islands out in the seascape (Bradley Reference Bradley1997), which speaks against pure convenience. It can be suggested that the location and the construction material were of similar significance in linking the deceased to the sea (Bradley Reference Bradley1997).

The role of beach pebbles is not clear for cairns located even a short distance inland. The issues with chronology and the stone material have been summarised on a regional scale from an archaeological perspective (Artelius Reference Artelius1998; Widholm Reference Widholm2006; Ängeby & Ragnesten Reference Ängeby and Ragnesten2020; Hellgren & Johansson Reference Hellgren and Johansson2022) but an interdisciplinary investigation including geological expertise is missing. This makes cairns a ‘dark horse’ with potentially thousands where beach pebbles may have been transported to the site of construction.

Seaweed and fossilised organics

Seaweed is even more fraught with issues because it is organic and does not always preserve well. This is even worse for cairns because, without earthen covers, they were always better aerated than barrows making the survival of organics very unlikely. When the survival of organics like wool, linen, bast, fur, and wood is summarised as an overall indicator of the likelihood for preservation, it becomes apparent that burials with seaweed occur in an area where there is good organic preservation (Fig. 6). However, organic materials also survive in other regions but burials with seaweed were missing. Therefore, it can be assumed that there is at least some significance in the distribution.

Fig. 6. Kernel density estimate of burials with metalwork and organic remains (lighter = higher)

Fossilised organics no longer have organic parts so they could have been preserved everywhere but instead they show a distinctly localised pattern which is a good indicator for localised burial traditions. However, it should be mentioned that it is possible that they may have been overlooked among other stone material, especially in inexpertly excavated barrows or less than ideal preservation circumstances (Hydén Reference Hydén2009).

Fossilised sea urchins as bearers of celestial symbols

Fossilisation turned organics such as sea urchins into a flint-like stone that can be found in flint-rich regions. While they can be dug up inland, where they are often encased in the chalk, collectors are most successful at the chalky cliffs, for example, on the German Island of Sylt, Thy in Denmark, or the moraines surrounding the coastal town of Esbjerg where they can be found lying on the beach and are easier to spot (Søvsø Reference Søvsø, Bis-Worch and Theune2017; an alternative location are stone quarries in which they were laid open through excavation; see for example: https://www.danhostel.dk/en/fossil-hunt-in-denmark (last accessed 12/11/2023)). During the Early NordicBA these fossils were used in burials in some, but not all, regions where they would have been easy to find suggesting that only some prehistoric communities considered these fossils as being important in their funerary rites.

Fossilised organisms including sea urchins were socially significant before and after the NordicBA. They were used, for example, in ritual bog depositions such as in Hindby (Sweden) throughout the Scandinavian Mesolithic and Neolithic (Berggren Reference Berggren2007; Reference Berggren2010; Ljunggren Reference Ljunggren2019). After the Bronze Age, they were often linked to various folk beliefs as ‘thunderstones’ (Oakley Reference Oakley1965; Søvsø Reference Søvsø, Bis-Worch and Theune2017). They were also used in burials of other regions (Brück & Jones Reference Brück, Jones, Harrison-Buck and Hendon2018). However, during the NordicBA, there was perhaps a special link to contemporaneous symbology.

Most fossilised sea urchins display a five-ray star shape (Fig. 3c) that has a remarkable parallel in NordicBA material culture dating to periods II and III. The pattern on the sea urchins consists of lightly coloured dotted lines that are sometimes framed by a darker colour, with the remaining body being lighter. A similar pattern can be observed on objects including NordicBA double buttons, buckles, and metal vessels, (Fig. 7a–d). Larger symbols include more details, for example, dotted lines. Sometimes contrasting colour patterns resembling those on sea urchins were created on metalwork either by inlaying areas with pitch and resin, using artificial patination with ammonia to darken areas, or creating golden strips for more subtle colour variations (Berger Reference Berger2014; Berger et al. Reference Berger, Berthold, Bunnefeld and Keuper2016). The same star symbol was also discovered on wooden vessels from the Guldhøj and Store Kongehøj, Ribe (Aner & Kersten Reference Aner and Kersten1986; nos 3820, 3832). In these cases tin rivets provided white or silvery dotted lines. These were contrasted using pitch to create a dark frame. The lighter body of the vessel provided another colour change corresponding with the body of many sea urchins (Fig. 7e–f).

Fig. 7. a) Petrified sea urchin and two double buttons with matching star-shape from barrow Sb. 23 in Jyllinge, DK dated to period III (after Aner & Kersten Reference Aner and Kersten1973); b) bouble button discovered in barrow LA4 in Bornhöved, Germany, magnification ×60; c) tutulus discovered in barrow LA14, burial B in Bornhöved; d) hanging bowl discovered in barrow Sb. 1 in burial A in Oppe-Sundby, Denmark, which was also wrapped in seaweed (after Aner & Kersten Reference Aner and Kersten1973); e) wooden bowl with tin studs from the barrow ‘Guldhøj’, burial A, in Vester Vamdrup, Denmark; f) digital reconstruction of the pattern and colours on the underside of the wooden bowl from the ‘Guldhøj’ (Fig. 6e by the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, CC-BY-SA; all other drawings and photos by the author)

The number of matching details between sea urchins and material culture is so striking that it is unlikely they occur coincidentally. Thus, we can assume that some communities recognised this important symbol on the fossilised sea urchins which served as a reason to collect them. When we consider the meaning of this symbol, it needs to be pointed out that essentially any round symbol used during the NordicBA becomes equated with the sun (Kristiansen Reference Kristiansen2012; critique in Coles Reference Coles2000). However, we should expect that other celestial bodies, like stars, also played a role in religion, as indicated by the Nebra disc which includes stars and the moon (Schlosser Reference Schlosser2006; see also Wehlin Reference Wehlin, Ljunge and Röst2014). Perhaps different numbers of rays could have indicated a range of different celestial bodies (Figs 3c & 7).

The idea that the star-shaped pattern held significance in burial practices is supported by the central burial (A) in a barrow in Hjordkjær, Denmark (No. 3017), from which five stone rows extend towards a stone circle (Fig. 8a). This is a parallel to the five rays on the sea urchins with the stones perhaps mimicking the dotted appearance of the rays. This burial construction has been interpreted as a wheel (Aner & Kersten Reference Aner and Kersten1981). However, many wheels in rock art and those on the sun-wagon are four-spoked, forming crosses. The constructions with radial divisions, and also wheels themselves, have been interpreted as being a reference to solar or other celestial symbols (Bradley et al. Reference Bradley, Skoglund and Wehlin2010). Thus, it seems likely that the resemblance of the rows of stones to the dotted rays on fossilised sea urchins (Fig. 3) is not co-incidental and they represented similar celestial symbols.

Fig. 8. a) Inner construction in the barrow Sb. 51 in Hjordkjær, Denmark, perhaps dated to the Late Neolithic (after Aner & Kersten Reference Aner and Kersten1981, no. 3017); b) Burial C with a boat-like stone setting in barrow Sb. 84 in Fuglesang, Denmark, dated to period II (after Aner et al. Reference Aner, Kersten and Willroth2014, no. 6756); c) boat-like stone setting in barrow LA 7 in Bösdorf, Germany (after Aner et al. Reference Aner, Kersten and Willroth2017, no. 10044); d) boat discovered on top of the oak-log coffin in Burial A in the barrow Sb. 15 in Tødsø, Denmmark (after Aner & Kersten Reference Aner and Kersten2001, no. 5327); e) either an oak-log coffin with only the lower half used or a logboat used as coffin in barrow Sb. 23 in Ejstrup, Denmark (after Aner & Kersten Reference Aner and Kersten1990, no. 3017); f) Potential boat-like coffin or logboat used as coffin in a barrow in Bösdorf, Germany (after Aner et al. Reference Aner, Kersten and Willroth2017, no. 10043) (all images redrawn by the author)

It is difficult to say whether the fossilised sea urchins were picked because they had that pattern or whether they inspired the use of this pattern. However, the latter seems less likely because the number of rays employed is inconsistent. It is less difficult to see that they represent an important Bronze Age symbol which was linked directly to the beach and the water. Since a meaningful symbol was present without human agency, it is possible that the sea urchins were associated with another realm in which other entities, like spirits, ancestors, or gods dwelled that may have created the symbol. This will be discussed in more detail below but it is worth pointing out that marine molluscs found on beaches may represent a similar phenomenon with their naturally present spirals and the pervasive spiral patterns seen during period II.

Seaweed and iron pans

Given the difficult preservation conditions, the number of surviving burials with seaweed is surprising. In the cases where observations were possible, it seems that the seaweed was used to wrap the dead as part of the burial rites. Susanne Harris (Reference Harris, Harris and Douny2016) argues that Bronze Age barrows in Scandinavia are the outcome of multiple wrapping events seeking to pile on multiple layers to transform the deceased and the grief into something new. Since different materials were used to form these layers, it can be assumed that they were not chosen arbitrarily and were, instead, laden with meanings. This could perhaps be interpreted generally as within the realm of fertility and renewal. There is evidence for the exploitation of charred seaweed from the wider North Atlantic sphere from the Bronze Age at least for a wide range of uses from fodder to fertiliser or flux material (Mooney Reference Mooney2021). It is interesting to note that it was burnt to a glass-like substance called ‘cramp’ in Late Bronze Age cremations on Orkney. While it may seem like an ordinary waste material of the fuel that was used to burn the deceased, it was potentially more meaningful because it was deliberately collected and wrapped around the burials (Photos-Jones et al. Reference Photos-Jones, Ballin Smith, Hall and Jones2007). Based on the cosmology of the NordicBA, the presence of seaweed in Scandinavia could have had a meaning more directly related to beliefs about death and the afterlife.

Seaweed grows in water which means wrapping the deceased or the oak coffin in it was perhaps a visual performance which parallels submerging them in water. There is precedence for another burial custom that semantically linked the deceased and water. In midland and southern Jutland (Denmark) as well as in Schleswig (Germany) clusters of burials with oak coffins surrounded by a layer of iron pan were discovered that mostly date to period II. These pans are a cemented layer formed by intruding water that immersed the burial and created a water-saturated core. Interestingly, in view of the topic under discussion, the iron pans have a distribution that is distinct from that of sea urchins, seaweed, beach sand, molluscs, and even beach pebbles (Fig. 4b). As such, they could represent yet another local variation on linking the deceased to water, which should be explored further.

There are several theories about the iron pans, but studies by Breuning-Madsen indicated that this effect was deliberately brought about by supplying water to the core during burial construction (Holst et al. Reference Holst, Breuning-Madsen and Rasmussen2001; Breuning-Madsen et al. Reference Breuning-Madsen, Holst, Rasmussen and Elberling2003; Holst & Rasmussen Reference Holst and Rasmussen2015). It may be argued that this was done to preserve the deceased. However, together with Holst, Freudenberg points out that it is unlikely that this was the aim because some burials with iron pans contain cremated remains (Freudenberg & Holst Reference Freudenberg, Holst, von Carnap-Bornheim and Friesinger2005) indicating practices that were partially focused on creating a symbol or conducting a symbolic act during the burial rites. Thus, it is possible that the act of adding water during grave construction carried some meaning. Many of these burials are located inland on important transportation and communication networks including important nearby rivers such as the Kongeå (Holst et al. Reference Holst and Rasmussen2015). These waterways flowed out to the North Sea or the Baltic and, thus, boat journeys may have played an important role in transportation (Holst& Rasmussen Reference Holst and Rasmussen2015). Therefore, they may have been as entangled into the NordicBA cosmology as other water bodies (Nimura et al. Reference Nimura, Skoglund and Bradley2020) which could be a reason why, here, the dead were doused with water, symbolically linking them to the realm of the dead (see also Rasmussen & Holst Reference Rasmussen and Holst2004).

Boats in burials

Ship settings constituted water-related symbolism whose construction began during the Bronze Age (Wehlin Reference Wehlin2013). While the Late Bronze Age ship settings were visible in the landscape, some stone settings were discovered within burials dating to period II and III that resemble canoes or boats (Fig. 8b–c; see also Nordenborg Myhre Reference Nordenborg Myhre1998; Ballard et al. Reference Ballard, Bradley, Nordenborg Myhre and Wilson2004; Kastholm Reference Kastholm2008). In the barrow from Bösdorf, Germany (Fig. 8c), the stone setting was constructed with raised ends (Aner et al. Reference Aner, Kersten and Willroth2017, no. 10044) and an inner construction consisting of 4–5 small compartments. Ship settings and Scandinavian rock art provide parallels to this, although the ends were not as high or curved as the boats represented in rock art. The Bronze Age logboat from Shardlow in Derbyshire, England, has a comparable outline (Martin Reference Martin2005). Two radiocarbon dates for the boat (SUERC-4063, 3225 ± 35 bp; 1544–1418 cal bc and SUERC-4064, 3215 ± 35 bp; 1536–1416 cal bc; 2σ, OxCal ver. 168) and the burial goods at Bösdorf indicate that both could have been constructed during period II of the NordicBA. A wooden coffin was perhaps placed on top of the Bösdorf construction (Aner et al. Reference Aner, Kersten and Willroth2017) which would mean that, in this case, the coffin may have been placed into a logboat rather than a canoe. Other examples exist – in burial A (barrow LA2) in Bebensee, Germany (Aner et al. Reference Aner, Kersten and Willroth2011) and Resen, Denmark, dated to period III; in the latter case large stones also indicate stems (Nielsen Reference Nielsen1977).

An actual boat was discovered in 1909 in a barrow (no. 15) in Tødsø, Denmark (Aner & Kersten Reference Aner and Kersten2001; no. 5327) where wooden pieces of a vessel frame were placed on top of an oak coffin. While this was interpreted as a logboat, the frame could also have supported a plank-built vessel. The preserved length is 2.60 m, but the eastern part was destroyed meaning that the total length could have been 3.00 m or more. The contextual relationship to burial A, which was unfortunately without further finds, suggests that the boat was placed here deliberately when the barrow was originally constructed. Burial B is a secondary burial dated to period II which may present a terminus ante quem for the construction of the boat. However, the boat itself is not dated and could be a much later addition (Kastholm Reference Kastholm2012).

In a barrow in Ejstrup, Denmark, a logboat was perhaps used to lay the deceased to rest. Only half of the log had been used, contrary to typical oak coffins. In addition, the cross-section was less rounded and flat-bottomed which is closer to logboats rather than oak coffins in appearance (Aner & Kersten Reference Aner and Kersten1990; no. 4277). Judging by the flat, u-shaped cross-section and the thinness of the wooden remains in another burial in Bösdorf (no. 10043), this could also have been a logboat or dugout canoe. Comparing oak and other wooden coffins (Aner & Kersten Reference Aner and Kersten1973–2017; Randsborg & Christensen Reference Randsborg and Christensen2006) to dug-out canoes or logboats (Kastholm Reference Kastholm2008; Reference Kastholm2015), it could be suggested that there is a link between their production techniques and that this link might also establish a semantic connection (Rasmussen & Holst Reference Rasmussen and Holst2004). For Britain, such a link has been suggested in which the logs represent ‘death ships’ (Parker Pearson et al. Reference Parker Pearson, Sheridan, Needham, Melton, Montgomery and Knüsel2013).

Overall, the observations presented, combined with the previous results, seem to suggest that a lot of emphasis in the funeral rites and construction of burial monuments was laid on placing the deceased on or in the sea. To investigate this further, Bronze Age cosmology will be discussed next.