Iron & Viking-Age Mortuary Houses Unearthed Devoid of Remains

Archaeologists have unearthed an extraordinary piece of history, right beneath the ground of a quaint village of Vinjeøra in central Norway. They have found three ancient mortuary houses dating back to the Iron and Viking Ages, with something never seen before: not a single person was found actually buried inside!

These discoveries, described in their recent work published in Medieval Archaeology, reveal a fascinating glimpse into the mysterious funerary rituals of the past. Led by Dr. Raymond Sauvage and Dr. Richard Macphail, the story began in 2019 and 2020, when plans to build a new road required a thorough excavation of the area.

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The construction style of the mortuary house is similar to that used for stave churches. Credit: Raymond Sauvage, NTNU University Museum

Three Mortuary Houses, Zero Burials?

This wasn’t the first time the site had piqued archaeologists' interest; a small test dig back in 1996 had already hinted at the presence of a pre-Christian cemetery. But what the team discovered this time was truly remarkable—three mortuary houses, hidden beneath the flattened burial mounds.

Mortuary houses are small, house-like structures, often found within ancient cemeteries. They might contain graves, tombs, or perhaps even the cremated remains of the deceased. These houses weren’t just for the dead; they were places where the living could visit, leave offerings, and perhaps even worship their ancestors.

Mortuary houses have been found scattered across Scandinavia, serving as sacred spaces in cemeteries. But the ones found in Vinjeøra are special—unlike any others discovered before.

Here’s the twist: despite being built for the dead, these mortuary houses had no permanent residents, i.e., no evidence of a buried person was found inside. And if that wasn’t surprising enough, these houses had doors and entrances, as if inviting the living to step inside. The low entrances meant that visitors had to crouch to enter, creating an intimate, almost reverent experience as they stepped into these small, dark spaces.

Dr. Sauvage himself was astonished, noting that the doors and entrances were something he hadn’t considered before the analysis.

"I think that the most surprising thing was that we did not find any evidence of a permanent tomb or a buried person inside the houses. Also, the fact that they had doors and entrances that may have led into the mortuary house and burial mound was something I had not thought of prior to the analysis," he said in a press release.

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A Change in Burial Style: Through the Ages

The earliest of the three dates back to around 450–600 AD, during the Iron Age. At this time, cremation was the norm for burials, and this practice was reflected in the mortuary houses. As the centuries passed, a second structure was built between 600–800 AD, marking a transition in burial practices—more inhumations (burial of the body) were starting to take place. Finally, the third mortuary house appeared between 800 and the late 900s, a time when inhumation had fully replaced cremation as the dominant burial practice.

Dr. Sauvage elaborates on these changes as follows:

"It seems to me that the burial practices seem to have been affected by a number of factors, such as influences from travel and contact and changing motivation behind what to amplify in the more public displays seen in burial rituals. The mortuary houses show a more stable continuity in use, probably related to the families' own tradition of venerating their deceased and ancestors. These rituals could have been more private and may have been more stable over time."

From above, the imprint of one of the houses, discovered in 2019. (Raymond Sauvage, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet)

Sacrifice and Other Traditions

Despite the changes in how the dead were buried, these mortuary houses remained an integral part of the funerary rituals for nearly 100–200 years each. But what exactly went on inside these enigmatic structures? While no burials were found within them, the archaeologists did uncover some intriguing artifacts: fragments of bone, arrowheads, and nails. These finds may offer clues about the purpose of these houses.

Among the bones were the remains of a horse, possibly the result of a sacrificial ritual known as blót. This practice was central to Norse religious ceremonies, often associated with burial feasts and rituals. Although there’s no direct evidence of the sacrificial act itself, the animal bones found in the wall trenches showed signs of burning, hinting that they might have been cooked as part of a ritual meal shared with the dead.

These practices harken back to old Norwegian traditions, where food and drink were left at burial mounds for the deceased. The mortuary houses, built to resemble contemporary dwellings, might reflect the belief that the dead continued to "live" in their burial mounds.

However, the absence of any actual burials within these houses raises another possibility: perhaps they served as temporary resting places for the deceased as their bodies were prepared for a more permanent burial, similar to the Norse burial ritual described by 10th-century traveler Ibn Fadlan.

How the Viking mausoleum would have looked according to archaeologists. (Raymond Sauvage, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet)

One thing is clear: these ancient structures offer a fascinating window into the complex and evolving funerary practices of Norway’s Iron and Viking Ages. As more research unfolds, who knows what other secrets these mysterious houses might reveal?

"Future studies should focus more on the interior to get better data about their use. Our evidence was fragmented, and there are several unanswered questions such as how the interior looked, whether there was a designated space to lay out the body, and how the entrances looked. Also, we should try to get a better understanding about their relationship to the burial mounds. Can we recover stratigraphic evidence that proves they were covered by the mound, or was the mound built as a later instalment?”, Dr. Sauvage muses in conclusion.

Top image: Artist's interpretation of one of the Skeiet mortuary houses. The burial mound is indicated by the conjectured lines.          Source: Sauvage and Macphail 2024; illustration by Arkikon, NTNU University Museum

By Sahir Pandey