ANGLO-SAXON DISCOVERY
Journey through Anglo-Saxon life and death

Burying the Dead

The Vikings buried their dead. They would either:

• bury the whole body in the ground together with their possessions (an inhumation burial),
• or they would cremate (burn) the body and place the ashes in an urn which was buried often with some of the person's belongings.

Archeaologists have found Viking cemeteries in sites across Britian, particularly in Scotland. However the Vikings sometimes buried only one person at a site. They also buried people in mounds and sometimes even buried them in a ship. One such burial was found in the Orkneys (the Scar boat burial) where a man, woman and child were found buried together in a boat with some of their possessions (Click HERE to see one of the finds).

Find out more about the Scar boat burial

How do the ways the Vikings buried their dead compare with the Anglo-Saxons?

Find out about Anglo-Saxon burial