In theage of the Vikings , there may have been one surefire way to say if a man was part of a merchandiser guild : by look at his tooth . According to a fresh analytic thinking of intentionalbody modificationsamong Viking skeletons , males who entered into the trading profession may have undergo a odd ritual of initiation whereby their chompers were marked with horizontal grooves , thus signaling their membership to a variety of professional fraternity .
The study generator key a sum of 130 skeletons from around Scandinavia boast these rummy furrows in theirteeth . While it ’s impossible to say with any foregone conclusion precisely what this signified , the research worker target out that the notched gnashers only appear on “ male person - gendered individuals ” , with the huge majority of pillow slip do from important trading sites on the island of Gotland , off the east seashore of Sweden .
For instance , at Gotland ’s Viking - Age Kopparsvik graveyard , almost all underframe with alter teeth were found in an area of the graveyard that was possibly reserved for non - local someone , such as natter dealer . The study authors “ therefore conjecture that the custom of tooth filing might have been linked to trading activity of larger groups of professional merchants . ”
“ concord to this hypothesis , they might have functioned as a rite of knowledgeableness and augury of identification for a closed group of merchandiser , as some sort of precursor to the later guilds , ” they write .
Exactly how these earlyVikingtrade matrimony functioned is ill-defined , but the researchers indicate that flashing a set ofmodified teethmay have ennoble members to certain “ commercial-grade advantage , auspices or other privilege . ” Interestingly , all of the skeletons identified by the author predate the late Viking Age , by which time these trading community seem to have become more established in Scandinavia , as evidenced by rune stones that explicitly refer “ club blood brother ” .
Even more intriguing , some of those with filled teeth are buried in way of life that suggest they were ceremonially killed , and could therefore have been slaves or convicts . This indicates that membership to an exclusive merchandiser fraternity was not permanent and that even those who had undergone the trigger could still suffer a “ dramatic change in their social identity element , ” even terminate up in servitude .
In addition to these ridged - toothed man , the study authors also identified the remains of three women whose skull appear to have been on purpose deformed during infancy . Also located on Gotland , this trio pose quite a conundrum , since the practice of cranial modification is completely unheard of in the Viking world .
The researchers therefore call into question whether the women were foreigners who had fare to live on the island with their manlike merchant relatives , or possibly the girl of successful Viking traders who were born in far - flung localization where skull alteration was apply as a mean value of signify elite status .
Ultimately , it ’s impossible to say who these fair sex were or why they had their heads twist , although the fact that they were buried in Viking clothing with plushy jewelry suggest that they were welcomed into Gotland society .
The subject field has been release in the journalCurrent Swedish Archaeology .
