Reconsidering Viking Age Shields: Ceremonial or Combat Ready?

Rolf Fabricius Warming, a Swedish archaeologist, has re-examined the 64 round shields found in a Viking Age longship burial mound in Norway. While the original assessment considered them to be constructed for a burial rite ceremony, Warming's research suggests that they were combat-ready shields with small holes around the circumference for attaching thin, parchment-like rawhide covers. The shields were ultimately used in a ceremonial burial rite, but their construction and previous uses were not as straightforward as originally reported. Warming's analysis demonstrates the importance of re-examining artifacts with new knowledge and analysis techniques.