Evocative Imagery at Whose Expense? : Critical Perspectives on Viking Age Mortuary Reconstructions
Back Danielsson, Ing-Marie LU
and Ekengren, Fredrik
LU
(2026)
In World Archaeology
57(2).
p.205-219
- Abstract
- This article critically examines Viking Age mortuary reconstructions, a genre of archaeological imagery increasingly influential in scholarly and popular contexts. Focusing on Scandinavian examples produced since 2000, the study interrogates the emotive, affective, and ethical dimensions of these visualisations. Employing a visual social semiotic framework, it analyses vantage points, colour schemes, bodily representations, and gender codings to demonstrate how artistic decisions intersect with archaeological interpretation. The study identifies recurring dramatization, sexualisation, and sensationalism, particularly in depictions of women, alongside anthropocentric distinctions in portrayals of humans and animals. Despite claiming... (More)
- This article critically examines Viking Age mortuary reconstructions, a genre of archaeological imagery increasingly influential in scholarly and popular contexts. Focusing on Scandinavian examples produced since 2000, the study interrogates the emotive, affective, and ethical dimensions of these visualisations. Employing a visual social semiotic framework, it analyses vantage points, colour schemes, bodily representations, and gender codings to demonstrate how artistic decisions intersect with archaeological interpretation. The study identifies recurring dramatization, sexualisation, and sensationalism, particularly in depictions of women, alongside anthropocentric distinctions in portrayals of humans and animals. Despite claiming naturalistic realism, these images frequently obscure evidential uncertainties, thereby consolidating exceptional cases as normative representations of Viking Age practices. The article calls for increased transparency, ethical reflexivity, and peer review in the production of mortuary reconstructions, contending that such images are ethically consequential acts that shape post-mortem dignity and contemporary engagements with the Viking past. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/cfff0b63-40ba-4a6f-8787-fa830b455de8
- author
- Back Danielsson, Ing-Marie
LU
and Ekengren, Fredrik
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-02-16
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Vikingatid, Rekonstruktioner, Konst, Gravar, Etik, Värdighet efter döden, Genus, Viking Age, Mortuary reconstructions, Art, Graves, Ethics, Post mortem dignity, Gender, Scandinavia, onto-ethico-epistemological consequences, ethical reflexivity
- in
- World Archaeology
- volume
- 57
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 15 pages
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105030233780
- ISSN
- 0043-8243
- DOI
- 10.1080/00438243.2026.2626083
- project
- The Archaeology of Death and Burial – Theoretical Perspectives and Methodological Implications
- Evocative imagery at whose expense? A discussion of how mortuary reconstructions may impact post-mortem dignity and privacy
- The Ordinary Viking Age
- The Burial Archaeological Research Group – Death, Burial, and Social Identity
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- cfff0b63-40ba-4a6f-8787-fa830b455de8
- date added to LUP
- 2025-12-28 16:50:47
- date last changed
- 2026-08-26 16:32:23
@article{cfff0b63-40ba-4a6f-8787-fa830b455de8,
abstract = {{This article critically examines Viking Age mortuary reconstructions, a genre of archaeological imagery increasingly influential in scholarly and popular contexts. Focusing on Scandinavian examples produced since 2000, the study interrogates the emotive, affective, and ethical dimensions of these visualisations. Employing a visual social semiotic framework, it analyses vantage points, colour schemes, bodily representations, and gender codings to demonstrate how artistic decisions intersect with archaeological interpretation. The study identifies recurring dramatization, sexualisation, and sensationalism, particularly in depictions of women, alongside anthropocentric distinctions in portrayals of humans and animals. Despite claiming naturalistic realism, these images frequently obscure evidential uncertainties, thereby consolidating exceptional cases as normative representations of Viking Age practices. The article calls for increased transparency, ethical reflexivity, and peer review in the production of mortuary reconstructions, contending that such images are ethically consequential acts that shape post-mortem dignity and contemporary engagements with the Viking past.}},
author = {{Back Danielsson, Ing-Marie and Ekengren, Fredrik}},
issn = {{0043-8243}},
keywords = {{Vikingatid; Rekonstruktioner; Konst; Gravar; Etik; Värdighet efter döden; Genus; Viking Age; Mortuary reconstructions; Art; Graves; Ethics; Post mortem dignity; Gender; Scandinavia; onto-ethico-epistemological consequences; ethical reflexivity}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{02}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{205--219}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
series = {{World Archaeology}},
title = {{Evocative Imagery at Whose Expense? : Critical Perspectives on Viking Age Mortuary Reconstructions}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2026.2626083}},
doi = {{10.1080/00438243.2026.2626083}},
volume = {{57}},
year = {{2026}},
}