Medieval Masculinities and Violence : Weapon-Related Trauma in Skeletal Assemblages from Two Religious Houses in Iceland and Sweden

• Previous research has shown that physical violence had a normative presence in medieval Nordic societies. In this study, weapon-related trauma (WRT) was examined in human skeletal assemblages from two religious houses, Skriouklaustur in Iceland, and Vasteras in Sweden. The aims were to identify patterns of WRT and to relate these to the masculinities of different groups of men. Violence was a prominent component of identity among lay men, especially for men with warrior experience. The use of violence was more problematic among clerics. The hypothesis that these notions of ideal masculine behaviour would affect the ways in which masculinities were enacted and would be reflected in the patterns of WRT was borne out by the results of this study. No WRT was identified among the canons and lay brothers in Skriouklaustur, but it was present in about thirty per cent of the males interpreted as belonging to the lay elite buried in the northern part of the church at Vasteras.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

hegemonic masculinity

clerical masculinities

physical violence

weapon-related trauma

Iceland

Sweden

medieval

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)