Reconstructing the Gerdrup Grave – the story of an unusual Viking Age double grave in context and in the light of new analysis

In 1981, a double burial from the 9th century was excavated at Gerdrup, north of Roskilde. The grave contained remains of the bodies of a woman and a man. The woman was buried with a spear, whilst the man had apparently been killed before burial. This has been interpreted as a ‘master and slave burial’, which was placed at an isolated location, perhaps because the buried were regarded as pariahs. However, previously unpublished excavation data combined with new 14C analyses indicate that the burial was part of a small multi-period burial site, which was located near a group of earlier burial mounds. Topographic analyses show that the burial was also located on an important ford, and therefore had a prominent location. Significantly, new DNA analyses surprisingly indicate that the two buried individuals actually have a parent-offspring relationship: they are mother and son. The previous interpretation of the Gerdrup grave is thus challenged. This article will present the relevant excavation data and discuss this in the light of the new analyses. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 11 May 2021; Accepted 2 December 2021