Book Review: Matthew J. Walsh, Sean O’Neill and Lasse Sørensen (eds), In the Darkest of Days. Exploring Human Sacrifice and Value in Southern Scandinavian Prehistory. 2024, Oxford and Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 144 pp., 41 plates

Abstract

The titular darkest of days is a moment that inevitably affects every society from the Stone Age to the present. Then comes the time for desperate behaviour. It is also a time for sacrifices, including of humans. The subject of human sacrifices is closely linked to Scandinavian archaeology – considering the spectacular finds from the bogs. In recent years, studies on them have been conducted as part of the project “Human Sacrifice and Value: The Limits of Sacred Violence”, financed by the Norwegian Research Council. The project manager was Rane Willerslev, the author of the foreword to the presented book. An essential part of this publication are papers presented at a National Museum of Denmark conference in 2018.

Keywords

• Bog bodies
• Human sacrifices
• Scandinavian prehistory
• Viking era
• Violence