Re: Early Christian Danes

Erik Hammerstad wrote: news:4afu5iFt2u1rU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Alan Crozier wrote:
"Hayabusa" <peregrine@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:l2l2429omi1ptg7ln8a66hjhl4iotfs2i8@xxxxxxxxxx

On Sat, 15 Apr 2006 10:19:22 GMT, "IE J"
<inger_e.johansson@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:



in Northern and Central Jutland the direction of almost all from
100 AD to 300 AD were O-V. In some cases the graveyards are larger
than one could expect for a few families. Much larger. Outside
Jutland on the Danish islands the majority of the skeletongraves
burial practise started during same time, but a majority of these
graves had other directions - OSO-VNV, E-W or S-N. In some cases,
especially on the islands gravegifts have been found.

Inger, if orientation of grave is your only criterium by which you
declare a grave as Christian, surely there must be pre-Christian
Christian graves.



Yes, plenty of examples from elsewhere in Scandinavia. In the Middle
Neolithic Pitted Ware culture (GRK) on the island of Gotland people
were buried supine in flat-earth graves, in most cases north-south,
less often east-west. It's unlikely that the latter represent early
Christians, since this was about 3000 BC.

Source: Mats P. Malmer. The Neolithic of South Sweden: TRB, GRK, and
STR. Stockholm: The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters History and
Antiquities, 2002.

Which is one of the reasons only a burial in a churchyard is
regarded as (almost sure)proof of the grave being christian.
Neither the type of grave or even christian artifacts being in the
grave is good enough to declare it christian. Funny that IEJ
cannot understand this, I would be very surprised if the (very
general and old) sources she has supplies say otherwise.

In fact burial in a graveyard is no solid proof that
the deceased was a christian, only that the burial
at that moment was a christian one.
The pagan Gorm was reburied by Harald in the
church at Jeling.

--
p.a.


.

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