Childhood in the Past

An International Journal

ISSN: 1758-5716 (Print) 2040-8528 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ycip20

Who's that Girl? The Cultural Construction of

Girlhood and the Transition to Womanhood in
Viking Age Gotland

Susanne Thedéen

To cite this article: Susanne Thedéen (2009) Who's that Girl? The Cultural Construction of
Girlhood and the Transition to Womanhood in Viking Age Gotland, Childhood in the Past, 1:1,
78-93, DOI: 10.1179/cip.2009.1.1.78

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/cip.2009.1.1.78

Published online: 18 Jul 2013.

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 CHILDHOOD IN THE PAST 1, 2008, 78–93

Who’s that Girl? The Cultural Construction of

Girlhood and the Transition to Womanhood in
Viking Age Gotland

Susanne Thedéen
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Abstract
The aim of this paper is to explore the cultural construction of girlhood and the transi-
tion to womanhood in relation to beads and arm-rings in Viking Age (AD 800–1050)
burials from Gotland. It is suggested that a distinct and dualistic division between
childhood and adulthood may not have prevailed in Viking Age society. Further it is
proposed that Viking Age girls up to the age of fifteen years were divided into two age
groups. The first group comprised ages up to five years when infant girls were buried
with a few beads and an arm-ring. The second group covered the ages from five to
fifteen years when girls were buried in a similar dress to adult females but with more
elaborate bead-sets as well as wearing an arm-ring. This suggests that the number
of beads in a burial tell less of social status and more of social age. An issue being
addressed is whether the girls aged five to fifteen years should be considered as a second
step of childhood, as female adulthood or as representing a ‘hood’ on the threshold.
It is argued that beads and arm-rings had an important role in creating relational age-
based identities; they had significations beyond the aspect of jewellery.

Keywords: GIRLHOOD, BEADS, ARM-RINGS, VIKING AGE, GOTLAND

Wondergirl
In a Viking Age inhumation burial (Burial 230A) at the Ire burial ground on north-east
Gotland, an island in the Baltic Sea, a large number of beads were recovered together
with other artefacts traditionally interpreted as belonging to the dress of a Viking Age
woman. The beads had been placed on the chest of the body in a set with bead-spacers

Author’s address: Susanne Thedéen, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm
University, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden, Email: Susanne.Thedeen@ark.su.se
 WHO’S THAT GIRL? THE CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION OF GIRLHOOD 79

arranging the beads in five rows. The beads amounted to 195, including 107 shell-beads
(Figure 1). The majority of the other beads were made of monochrome glass of the
colours yellow, green and blue. A gilded box brooch, which fastened the outer garment,
was found immediately beneath the chin and two animal-headed brooches, which held
the braces of a skirt, lay on the chest adjacent to the armpits. A tool brooch was found
on the left side of the body adjacent to the medial side of the humerus. Two keys and
a knife had been attached to the tool brooch in a chain. Three similar arm-rings were
worn on the right forearm (see Table 1, no. 21). The type and ornamentation of the
brooches indicate that the burial dated to the tenth century AD (Thunmark-Nylén
2006, 85, 692). The skeleton was found in an extended, supine position with the head
towards the south. The body had probably been placed in a coffin as indicated by the
remains of wood. Osteology revealed the remains to be those of a young individual
(it should be noted that no further osteological information is available). Judging from
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the dress-related objects associated with the skeleton it was considered probable that
it was that of a girl, who had been buried with the dress and adornments of an adult
woman (Stenberger 1962, 128).
The burial draws attention to several significant issues: Is this a unique burial or do
other similar girls’ graves exist? If yes, why were rather young girls buried wearing the
dress of adult women and why were they adorned with more elaborate bead-necklaces
than adult females? Is a distinct and dualistic division between female childhood and

Figure 1: Bead-set from Burial 230A of the Ire cemetery, Gotland (after Thunmark-Nylén
1995, fig. 207).
 80 SUSANNE THEDÉEN

Inv no. Beads* Arm- Placing Size of Brooch Key Osteological

ring of arm- arm-ring age §
ring†
1. Halla, Broe, 16 (1) x ? 3.8 cm - - 0–1 month
SHM 19734:25:2
2. Grötlingbo, 6 (?) - - - - - 0–3 months
Barshalder,
SHM27739:
3. Hellvi, Ire, - x ? 6.1 cm - - 9–15 months
Burial 359
4. Hellvi, Ire, 43 (3) - - - - - 3–4 years
Burial 375
5. Hablingbo, 3 (0) - - - - - child
Havor,
SHM7582:35
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6. Hablingbo, - x ? 5 cm - - child
Havor,
SHM8064:126
7. Lojsta, Kvie, 2 (0) - - - - - child
SHM27775
8. Väskinde, 1 (0) - - - - - child
Gällungs,
SHM32391:9
9. Halla, Broe, 4 (0) x ? 4.2 cm x - child
SHM20517:9b
10. Grötlingbo, 5 (0) x right 4.6 cm x - child, coffin
Barshalder, 1.25 m
GFC8654:2
11. Grötlingbo, 4 (0) - - - x - child, coffin
Barshalder, 1.3 m
SHM27739:1a
12. Grötlingbo, 63 (0) x ? 4.8 cm x x child, coffin
Barshalder, 1.45 m
SHM27739:1
13. Grötlingbo, 8 (5) - - - - - child, trench
Barshalder, 1.5 m
SHM27739:3
14. Vallstena, 140 (67) - - - x x 5 years
Uppgarde,
SHM32397:5/63
15. Hellvi, Ire, 217 (111) - - - x x 7 years
Burial 218A

Table 1 (continued opposite): Female burials with beads, arm-rings, brooches and keys related
to osteological age from Viking Age cemeteries in Gotland. The table is based on information
derived from Thunmark-Nylén (2000). Key: *The number in brackets represents the number of
shell-beads; †a question-marks signifies that it was not possible to determine if an arm-ring had
been placed on the left or right arm; x = presence of object, - = absence of object. §The osteologi-
cal age was derived from information contained in Thunmark-Nylén (2000; 2006, 429–30) for
Numbers 1–8, 14–16, 18, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29; Liebe-Harkort (2006; 2007) for Numbers 17,
19, 25, 28, 30 and Stenberger (1962, 113) for Number 20. Ages for Numbers 10–13 and 22
were estimated on the basis of the length of the trench or coffin, while those for Numbers 9, 10,
12 and 22 were determined on the basis of the size of the arm-ring.
 WHO’S THAT GIRL? THE CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION OF GIRLHOOD 81

Inv no. Beads* Arm- Placing Size of Brooch Key Osteological

ring of arm- arm-ring age §
ring†
16. När, Smiss, 255 (135) - - - x - 7–9 years
GFC9521 Burial
5
17. Hellvi, Ire, 118 (19) x right 5.8 cm x x 9–10 years
Burial 232
18. Silte, - x ? 4.1 cm - - 10 years
Hallvards,
SHM22353:10
19. Hellvi, Ire, 257 (118) x ? 4.8 cm x - 10 years
Burial 370
20. Hellvi, Ire, 220 - - - x x child
Burial 182B (59+54)
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21. Hellvi, Ire, 195 (107) x right 6.3 cm x x child

Burial 230A
22. Grötlingbo, 114 (10) x ? 4.9 cm x x child, trench
Barshalder, 1.6 m
SHM27739:1b
23. Tofta, 152 x left - x - 15–20 years
Gnisvärd (10+35)
excavation,
Burial 2
24. Hellvi, Ire, 24 (0) x left 7 cm x x 17 years
Burial 239
25. Hellvi, Ire, 17 (12) - - - - x 20–25 years
Burial 230B
26. Hellvi, Ire, 25 (0) x right 6.9 cm x x 20–25 years
Burial 503
27. Fårö, Vinor, 41 (4) - - - x - 25–35 years
SHM22459:1
28. Hellvi, Ire, 4 (0) - - - x - 25–35 years
Burial 488B
29. Vallstena, 25 (0) - - - - - 27 years
Bjärge, Burial
112
30. Hellvi, Ire, 1 (0) - - - x - young adult
Burial 167

Table 1 continued.

adulthood plausible? Alternatively, did several different steps exist in Viking Age
childhoods or was there an intermediate ‘hood’ between childhood and adulthood?
What roles might beads and other dress-related objects, such as arm-rings, have had
in constructing these relational age-based identities? The aim of the paper is to explore
the cultural construction of girlhood and the transition to womanhood in relation to
beads and other dress-related objects in Viking Age burials from Gotland. It will be
argued that girls in the age category five to fifteen years possibly held a threshold
 82 SUSANNE THEDÉEN

position which combined features and elements from both a younger child age group
and an adult age group.

A Life Course Perspective on Childhood

In 1989 the Norwegian archaeologist Grete Lillehammer argued that children to a
large extent are missing within archaeology (Lillehammer 1989). Since then several
international as well as Scandinavian archaeologists have studied children and the
cultural construction of childhood in past societies (e.g. Johnsen and Welinder 1995;
Meskell 1994; Moore and Scott 1997; Scott 1999; Sofaer Derevenski 1994; 1997; 2000a;
Svedin 2005; Thedéen 2004; Welinder 1998). Children found in Viking Age Scan-
dinavian contexts are to a large extent still neglected and more importantly are in
many cases considered as exceptions rather than as part of patterns. However, there
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are some examples that can act as starting-points for further studies. In 1972 Anne-
Sofie Gräslund (1972) wrote a paper on children’s burials in Birka, burials which Stig
Welinder (1998) has also studied. Welinder proposed that Viking Age children prob-
ably received gendered identities from birth. This is indicated by the occurrence of two
mutually exclusive groups for the burials of children including newborn babies in the
Birka burial record. However, there are variations within each group (Welinder 1998).
Gräslund (1972) identified as many as ninety-two children’s graves in the Birka burial
record based on the lengths of coffins, cists and trenches. Besides gendered artefacts
belonging to girls and boys she revealed certain material culture remains in children’s
graves such as bells from rattles, padlocks and mirrors. Lena Thunmark-Nylén (2006,
442) has identified the same pattern that Welinder (1998) found in the Birka material
in children’s burials from Gotland – children’s identities were gendered from birth. In
addition, she argues that children probably wore the same dress as adults from birth
(Thunmark-Nylén 2006, 442).
It has been acknowledged that childhood is an age-related process that is relational,
culturally constructed and situated in historical contexts (Sofaer Derevenski 1997;
2000a). Therefore, the chronological, biological and social age must be distinguished
in the same way as sex and gender (Ginn and Arber 1995, 5). It is also of significance
to differentiate the social and gendered roles of various age-groups within the concept
of childhood, e.g. infants, younger children, older children or adolescents (Scott 1999).
Children are often put in opposition to adulthood or are viewed as a neutral, non-
gendered or passive group (Lucy 1994; Sofaer Derevenski 1997; 2000a; Svedin 2005,
47). However, children may act as agents and have gendered identities from birth. In
other cases children may receive gendered identities before they reach puberty or are
perceived as sexually mature. This implies that it is important to study the transition
from childhood to adulthood to enable an understanding to be gained concerning the
relationship between these two phases (e.g. Crawford 2000; Joyce 2000; Stoodley 2000).
Likewise, studies of the cultural construction of adolescence are crucial (Beaumont
2000). Accordingly, as childhood is not an isolated identity it must be explored in rela-
tion to the wider issues of the cultural construction of age and the life course as well
as with respect to gender, social status and ethnicity (Gowland 2006, 145).
A life course perspective on childhood also includes an examination of rites of
 WHO’S THAT GIRL? THE CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION OF GIRLHOOD 83

passage and how new identities may be expressed or displayed as a transition from
one life stage to another. Female life course rituals, especially initiation, have been
recognised as being characterised by different features to those of male initiation
(Lincoln 1991). Earlier research assumed that passage rituals for females were mainly
tied to biological changes like menarche, child-birth and menopause, while the life
course rituals of males were more linked to social changes like initiation to warriors.
More recently it has been acknowledged that females also go through passage rituals
that are connected to social rites of passage, such as marriage, the coming of age or
widowhood (Lutkehaus and Roscoe 1995). These conclusions have implications for the
study of female childhood. Firstly, life stages and life course rituals during childhood
for boys and girls cannot be assumed to follow the same path. Secondly, although
childhood has strong connections to biological change as the child grows up, childhood
can also contain social rites of passage.
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Viking Age Beads

Viking Age beads have primarily been studied in relation to female dress and their
role as jewellery and objects of female adornment (Rundkvist 2003; Svanberg 2003;
Thunmark-Nylén 2006). In general, female appearance through dress expresses a dis-
tinct and specific Gotlandic cultural identity through the use of certain brooches such as
box brooches, animal-head brooches as well as fish-head-shaped pendants. These items
are only rarely found on the Swedish mainland or elsewhere. Osteological analyses
have identified these brooches and pendants as clear markers of a female gender during
the Viking Age. Furthermore, the amount and quality of such objects found in female
burials has mainly been viewed as an indication of social status in society (e.g. Petré
1984; Rundkvist 2003; Svanberg 2003). Thus, within Scandinavian research the dress,
including beads, of the Viking Age woman has mainly been discussed from perspec-
tives of cultural identity and social status but far less in relation to variations within
the female gender or the cultural construction of age groups. International studies of
gender, social age and appearance through dress (e.g. Barnes and Eicher 1992; Sørensen
1997) have so far few equivalent examples in Scandinavian Viking Age studies.
Returning to beads, Johan Callmer in his doctoral dissertation from 1977 discusses
the chronology, production, origin and trade of Viking Age beads in Scandinavia
(Callmer 1977). Viking Age beads from Gotland have recently been commented on by
Callmer (2006, 196) and Thunmark-Nylén (2006, 183) in terms of their origin, produc-
tion, material and colour but no detailed studies have been undertaken. Another line
of interpretation is instead to view beads in female burials as representing something
more than adornment, dress and wealth. Beads may have had a significant role as
mediator and mnemonic device in story-telling and narratives (Fernstål 2004, 175).
Alternatively, beads and other dress-related objects may have been used in life course
rituals to signal changed identities and the transition to another life stage (Crawford
2000; Gowland 2006; Stoodley 2000). Also the idea of beads as symbols of magic, as
amulets with protective features or certain colour combinations used against evil are
inspiring interpretations of beads as something more than female adornments (Bye
Johansen 2004, 468). Furthermore, these ideas imply that the number of beads as well
 84 SUSANNE THEDÉEN

as their colour, material and composition may have significance that goes beyond their
function as items of jewellery and adornment.
The beads are usually found on the chest of the dead female arranged as sets in
rows and sometimes the strings are fastened in a bead-spacer. The beads are often
combined with various pendants or are arranged in certain combinations or sequences
on the strings (Petré 1984, 68; Thunmark-Nylén 2000, 856). However, in some cases
they have been worn as a necklace or have been spread all over the body. In the last
case the beads do not appear to be related to the dress of the deceased individual but
rather to ritual practises that took place during the funeral (Gräslund 1972, 173). Other
examples of beads being used in funeral practises are burials which contain a single
bead or a few beads. These are often small and reddish and would appear to have been
deposited by mourners (Artelius 2000, 142; Callmer 1977, 92; Petré 1984). A similar
feature has been noted for burials on Gotland where there is a specific combination
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of a red, a green and a white bead occurring within burials (Thunmark-Nylén 2006,
183).

Beads and Social Age

There is a great variation in the number of beads recovered from Viking Age burials in
Gotland. There may be none or only a few beads or up to several hundred beads. As
a general pattern the number of beads decreases during the course of the Viking Age
(Thunmark-Nylén 2006, 186). Furthermore, it has been argued that burials containing
more than three beads are to be considered as female burials, while burials with three
or less beads may be male burials (Petré 1984).
It is, however, possible to recognise a correlation between the osteological age of the
buried female and the number of beads. In Table 1 osteological estimations for females
up to the age of thirty-five years for Viking Age inhumation burials in Gotland are
shown in relation to the number of beads, the size and placing of arm-rings on the
body, as well as the presence of brooches and keys.1 The numbers in brackets show
the amount of shell-beads recovered. The data set has been compiled from Thunmark-
Nylén (2000). Over 1000 Viking Age inhumation burials have been excavated in Gotland
but only a few have undergone osteological examination. Accordingly the data set
is limited but some ideas for interpretations will be suggested. The ages have been
estimated according to osteological information, the length of the coffins or trenches
and/or the size of arm-rings. As accurate osteological sex determination is not possible
for children the burials containing female brooches, beads and arm-rings for children
have been assumed to represent young girls in accordance with the results of the study
of the children’s graves at Birka (Welinder 1998). Consequently children’s burials with
weapons, male brooches and belt fittings have been excluded as they are assumed to
denote boys. Women older than thirty-five years of age or women only estimated as
adults have been omitted from the study as the aim is to study the cultural construc-
tion of girlhood and the transition to womanhood.
The data provided in Table 1 illustrates that burials of younger girls below the
age of five years often contained only a limited amount of beads (Table 1, nos. 1–13).
For older girls in the age category five to fifteen years the number of beads increases
 WHO’S THAT GIRL? THE CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION OF GIRLHOOD 85

markedly, often amounting to between 100 and 250 beads (Table 1, nos. 14–23). The
number of beads decreases again above the age of around fifteen to twenty years,
amounting to less than fifty beads per individual (Table 1, nos. 24–30). The average
number of beads for different age categories can be read in Table 2, which contains
figures derived from a total of seventy-eight burials. On the basis of the number of
beads it would appear that it is possible to reveal several age categories for females
in general and for girls in particular. Three thresholds seem to be significant during
the period of female childhood: The first at birth or during the first year of life when
a few beads were given to infant girls. The second threshold occurs around the age of
five years when young girls received large beads-sets, which included shell-beads. It is
interesting to note the average amount of beads provided to girls in the age category of
five to fifteen years would outnumber the numbers of beads provided to the other age
categories even if the large quantities of shell-beads were excluded. The third threshold
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appears to occur between the ages of fifteen and twenty years when the number of
beads is profoundly reduced. It is also evident from Table 2 that after a peak in the
average number of beads for the age category of five to fifteen years, which amounts
to 167, the number of beads then decreases during the course of a woman’s life from
fifteen beads for individuals with an age at death of between fifteen and fifty years to
nine beads for women who had died at an age greater than fifty years. Two inferences
may be drawn from this outcome: First, the gradual reduction in the average number
of beads may be an indication that throughout their lifetime women may have given
away or handed over beads to other relatives and generations, possibly in connection
with life course rituals (cf. Gowland 2006, 151). Secondly, it suggests that the number
of beads in Viking Age female burials probably tell less about the social status of the
female but rather more about the individual’s social age (cf. Stoodley 2000, 462).

White Beads and Colour Symbolism

Turning next to the types of beads recovered from the burials the majority are made
of monochrome glass or glass-paste. But there are also single, or a few, beads made
of amber, carnelian, amethyst or rock crystal. The beads can also be either silver- or
gold-foiled, polychrome or have been made using special techniques, such as milli-
fiore. A general trend apparent is that the size of beads increased during the course of

Osteological age (years) Average number of beads Number of burials

0–5 12 13
5–15 167 (115 if shell-beads are excluded) 10
15–50 15 48
50+ 9 7

Table 2: The average number of beads in relation to osteological age. The table is based on
information derived from Thunmark-Nylén (2000).
 86 SUSANNE THEDÉEN

the Viking Age (Thunmark-Nylén 2006, 186). The burials also include various colours
of beads. Throughout the course of the Viking Age the number of colours, as well as
the use of polychrome beads, increased. It has been recognised that Gotlandic beads
show particular traits which are in keeping with the overall unique form of objects
in Gotland compared to the Swedish mainland (Callmer 2006, 196). The preferred
colours of beads during the Viking Age were green, yellow, white and turquoise/blue
(Thunmark-Nylén 2006, 186).
One particular feature this study has revealed is that large numbers of shell-beads
are found in the burials which contain the largest amount of beads (see Figure 1 and
Table 1, nos. 14–23). Previous research assumed these beads were made of local lime-
stone but new examinations have demonstrated that they are made of Cowrie shell
(Trotzig 1988, 289). As stated above, the burials with the large amount of shell-beads
are those of individuals from the second age category – five to fifteen years. Shell-
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beads are sometimes found in the burials of infant girls or young adult women but
they generally only amount to a few instances.
The shell-beads also draw attention to the significance of the colour of the beads.
The cultural significance of colours has been studied by several scholars (Turner 1967;
Jones and MacGregor 2002). The colours white, red and black appear to have particular
cultural meanings (Turner 1967). The shell-beads are white and also have a texture
that makes them distinct from the other beads. Traditionally, white is associated with
innocence, purity, cleanliness, coolness, newness and virginity (Darvill 2002, 74). One
of the burials with numerous beads from Vallstena, Uppgarde, however, does not
contain shell-beads but instead numerous white glass-beads thereby confirming the
importance of the colour white (Table 1, no. 14). Burials from Hellvi, Ire (No. 182B),
and Tofta, Gnisvärd (No. 2), also contained large amounts of white glass-beads. It is
possible that these were deliberately added to accompany the shell-beads which were
not as numerous in these two burials when compared to the other burials which con-
tained shell-beads (Table 1, nos. 20 and 23).
It can be postulated that white shell-beads may have been added to a girl’s necklace
as part of a life course ritual at around five years of age to mark the beginning of a
new life stage. The choice of beads may imply that the white colour had a symbolic
meaning – a meaning that may have been associated with virginity and purity and
attributed to girls of five to fifteen years of age. When a girl entered the next stage of
life as a sexually mature woman the white beads may have been removed since they
had lost this symbolism.

Arm-rings and Other Dress-related Objects

Other dress-related objects may also be significant for creating age-based identities.
Turning to the three age categories once again it can be demonstrated that items of
material culture, such as arm-rings (circular shaped arm-jewellery with closed endings)
or bangles (oval shaped arm-jewellery with open endings), brooches and keys, appear
to signify social age (see Table 1). I have chosen to focus on arm-rings and bangles
as they display the most interesting features in relation to their location on the left or
right arm and age-based identities. The data set on arm-rings, brooches and keys has
 WHO’S THAT GIRL? THE CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION OF GIRLHOOD 87

also been compiled from Thunmark-Nylén (2000). Firstly, it can be mentioned that
brooches and keys may be worn by girls (Arwill-Nordbladh 1990; Thunmark-Nylén
2006, 442), but only rarely by infant girls in the age-category from birth up to the age
of five years. In these rare cases the young girls appear to be near the five year old
threshold (Table 1, nos. 10–13). This finding enables the refinement of the suggestion that
children wore the same kind of dress as adults from birth, as argued by other scholars
(e.g. Thunmark-Nylén 2006, 442). Rather, it would appear to be the case that infant
girls only wore part of the adult dress reflected in the arm-rings and beads. Instead it
is from the age of around five years of age that girls start to wear the same dress as
adult females which included brooches and keys. Furthermore, young children up to
the age of five years were often buried alongside an adult and sometimes a vessel was
placed above the head of the infant (Thunmark-Nylén 2006, 428). In contrast, from the
age of around five years girls were instead given individual burials.
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Turning to arm-rings it is evident from Table 1 that arm-rings may be worn by

infants from birth (see Table 1, nos. 1 and 3). It is also common that the arm-rings had
diameters of between 4 cm and 5 cm – sizes deliberately made to suit children (see
Table 1; Thunmark-Nylén 2006, 428, 442). Furthermore, some of the arm-rings have
open endings thereby making them adjustable and suitable for children of various
ages (Figure 2). One issue of debate concerning the arm-rings and bangles has been
whether there is any particular meaning in their placement on the right or left arm or
why only approximately one third of all females were equipped with arm-jewellery.
Some trends have been identified – arm-rings may be worn on both the right and
the left forearm whereas bangles are placed on the left forearm (Lidström 1989, 52;
Thunmark-Nylén 2006, 164). If this phenomenon is related to age it is possible to reveal
one further aspect. With few exceptions, girls below the age of fifteen years did not
wear bangles. Instead they appear to wear arm-rings on the right forearm, judging
from the few examples identified in inhumation burials (see Table 1, nos. 10, 17 and
21; cf. Gowland 2007, 60).
Between the ages of fifteen and twenty years arm-rings or bangles start to be worn
on the left arm, possibly indicating a change in age-related status connected to a rite of

Figure 2: Arm-ring, with a diameter of 4.8 cm and

suitable for a child, recovered from Burial 1 of the
Barshalder cemetery, Gotland (after Thunmark-Nylén
1995, fig. 49).
 88 SUSANNE THEDÉEN

passage (see Table 1, nos. 23 and 24). In the Barshaldershed burial ground of southern
Gotland there is a local and somewhat deviant tradition where an arm-ring is worn on
the right arm from birth. When the girls entered into womanhood a bangle was added
and worn on the left forearm. This tradition is also consistent with the occurrence of
a special kind of ornamentation on some bangles only found in southern Gotland
(Thunmark-Nylén 1983, 25). This finding indicates that women in the southern part
of Gotland expressed their local Gotlandic identity in a different way to women from
other parts of the island.
Two burials are interesting in this context as they exhibited mixed features concerning
the amount of beads and the placing of an arm-ring. The first burial is Burial Number
2 from Tofta, Gnisvärd (see Table 1, no. 23), where along with other dress-related
objects the burial contained 152 beads as well as three arm-rings, all worn on the left
forearm (Carlsson 1987, fig. 3). Osteological analysis indicated the remains to be those
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of a fifteen to twenty year old woman. Thus, the young woman in this burial seems
to have been provided with arm-rings on the expected forearm in relation to her age,
but she still wore the numerous beads generally characteristic for younger girls. This
combination of objects may indicate that she had passed one life course ritual but not
another.
The other anomalous burial – Burial 503 from the Ire burial ground (see Table 1,
no. 26) – displays the opposite features. An arm-ring on the right forearm together
with twenty-five beads and a key was recovered from the burial. Osteological analysis
indicated that the female had died at an age of around twenty to twenty-five years. As
such, the age is in line with the expected amount of beads but not with the placing of
the arm-ring. Perhaps this female had passed the later, but not the earlier, life course
ritual in contrast to the Gnisvärd burial. The overlap in terms of osteological age be-
tween the two burials may make such an idea plausible. Therefore, between the ages
of fifteen and twenty-five years there may be inconsistencies or variations in relation
to the number of beads and the placing of an arm-ring. Perhaps life course rituals for
young women of fifteen to twenty-five years were gradual or individual and more
linked to social passages, thereby indicating that the chronological age could vary
(cf. Sofaer Derevenski 2000b, 392). In contrast, it appears that age categories and life
course rituals for girls up to the age of fifteen years were more rigid, as demonstrated
by changes in dress-related objects firstly at birth, or during the first year of life, and
then at an age of around five years. Changing from one identity to another appears to
have been a sudden transformation, which may have been a collective event that took
place on a particular occasion and was possibly tied to a certain chronological age, but
not necessarily to a biological change.
Women older than thirty-five years, or females only identified as adults or mature
adults in terms of osteology, continue to wear arm-rings or bangles on their left arm.
The pattern is more pronounced and conclusive than for the age group of fifteen to
twenty-five years. In total, there are seventeen females in these age groups with arm-
rings or bangles on their left arm, while only five females (two of these females were
pregnant, see below) have arm-rings located on the right arm. Older females who died
at an age greater than fifty-five to sixty years once again wear jewellery on their right
arm.
 WHO’S THAT GIRL? THE CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION OF GIRLHOOD 89

As part of this discussion it is of relevance to mention two very special burials which
appear to deviate from the overall trend. The first is a grave from Othem, Slite (SHM
23896:2B), which contained the remains of an adult female who was adorned with
sixty-two beads, including some thirty-two shell-beads. In addition, an arm-ring was
present on the right forearm. The presence of foetal remains in the pelvic area of the
woman were considered as an indication that she had been pregnant when she died
(Thunmark-Nylén 2000, 579). The other special burial came from Hejnum, Bjärs (SHM
8767:83), and was also that of a pregnant female. She wore a bangle on her right arm
and is one of the very few examples in which this was the case (Thunmark-Nylén 2000,
383). It may be plausible to assume that pregnancy was considered to be a special or
liminal identity. This might have been marked by the placement of the arm-ring on the
right as opposed to the left arm. An infant aged 0–6 months from Väte, Mölner (SHM
32457:3), had been buried in the same grave as a woman who wore an arm-ring on the
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left arm (Thunmark-Nylén 2000, 740). This finding might suggest that after a baby had
been born, or following a possible post-birth liminal phase, the arm-ring was shifted
back to the left arm.
As such, it is possible to suggest that the location of arm-rings on the right or left
forearm is connected to perceptions of sexual availability or fertility. This is reflected
in the practice of girls, pregnant women and old women wearing an arm-ring on the
right arm, while adult women wore an arm-ring on their left arms.

Who’s that Girl?

In summary, the study has identified that changes in female dress, particularly in rela-
tion to beads and arm-rings, are related to at least three age categories of childhood
and the transition to adulthood of girls. The first age group comprises infant girls from
birth up to the age of five years and is characterised by the wearing of an arm-ring,
often of children’s size, and a few beads. The following age group, covering ages five
to fifteen years, is characterised by still wearing an arm-ring on the right forearm. The
major change for girls in this age category is the wearing of elaborate bead-sets, which
contain as many as 250 beads and include a large number of shell-beads or white
glass-beads. In addition, they wear the full dress of the adult females – with brooches
holding the skirt and the outer garment as well as keys. This would suggest that girls
from around five years of age have achieved a distinct female gender identity (Gowland
2006, 148). The third age category for ages above approximately fifteen to twenty years
and throughout adulthood is featured by the same dress and adornments as the girls
in the preceding age category but the mature and older women do not wear as many
beads and no, or only a few, shell-beads are present in their bead-sets or necklaces.
Furthermore, between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five years the women go through
some form of life course ritual whereby an arm-ring is shifted from the right arm to
the left arm. One can think of a variety of probable social and biological changes in
the lives of females in this age group, such as menarche, an initiation to adulthood,
marriage or the birth of the first child, any of which may have been marked by changes
in dress. A suggestion which finds support from written sources is the coming of
age of females at eighteen years of age mentioned in the Gotlandic Law dated to the
 90 SUSANNE THEDÉEN

beginning of the thirteenth century (Holmbäck and Wessén 1943). Perhaps this initia-
tion to adulthood was an institution already in place during the Viking Age that was
signalled by altering the dress.
An issue of importance is how the three age-based identities were related to each
other. Were the girls initiated into adulthood at five years of age or were there two
steps of childhood, one from birth up to the age of five years and the next from five to
fifteen years of age? Alternatively, was the age category between five and fifteen years
an intermediate period or threshold before the entrance into adulthood? One line of
interpretation might be to suggest that children did not acquire but rather inherited
their status as an explanation for the very rich burials of young girls. In this case the
inherited status was probably not expressed until the age of around five years when
girls wear the full dress of an adult woman and are given individual burials. In add-
ition, since the brooches and the beads show evidence of use-wear and in most cases
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have been dated to the Late Merovingian period or the Early Viking Age (AD 750–850)
questions of inheritance and the practice of objects being passed down from generation
to generation among female relatives have been raised. The richly furnished burials
have been seen as an indication of the dowry being deposited in graves as the girls
were probably not yet married on the occasion of their deaths (Crawford 2000, 175).
An idea related to the practice of inheritance from older generations and relatives
is to consider the large amount of beads as a sign that the girls were not rich in status
but rather rich in terms of social relations (Jones 2002, 171). Perhaps these girls had
many relatives who expressed care, grief and the loss of a child/grandchild/niece
through these adornments. Dying young could be viewed as a great loss to society and
young girls who had survived the early vulnerable years of life possibly maintained
an inherent power, potential and vividness as they stood on the threshold to woman-
hood. They represented the ability of the family and the kin to endure and last into the
future. Children are in this way significant from the perspective of the fertility of the
kin (Mizoguchi 2000, 149). When a child dies a link in the chain of a lineage is broken.
The girls may have worn a certain dress in death and the old objects were possibly
of considerable importance during the funeral ritual and in mnemonic practices. Old
objects could have been used to display and mediate the genealogy and the longevity
of the kin but that now had come to an end due to the loss of the young girl (cf. Arwill-
Nordbladh 2007, 56). Alternatively, the girls had already inherited these dress-related
objects in a life course ritual at the age of around five years. The girls were given old
objects to wear showing that they belonged to an ancient kin and lineage with a long
history.
A suggestion based on the interpretation of the white colour of the shell-beads as
alluding to purity, virginity and innocence is to conceive of the girls in the age group
five to fifteen years as ‘maidens’. This is indicated by the manner in which the girls
had the external appearance of socially adult females through dress, but biologically
were not yet sexually mature or available, although potentially fertile as suggested
by their age. Such an understanding is also indicated by the symbolism of the arm-
ring on the right forearm which was linked to females who were not sexually active
or available – young girls, the old and pregnant women. The fact that ‘maiden’ was
an acknowledged identity during the Viking Age is supported by the use of the con-
 WHO’S THAT GIRL? THE CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION OF GIRLHOOD 91

cept maiden/maidenhood both in runic inscriptions as well as in Norse literature

(Göransson 1999, 164; Peterson 2006, 45). As such, it is proposed that girls in the age
category of five to fifteen years held an intermediate position, with one part of their
identity in girlhood and the other part in womanhood, perhaps representing maiden-
hood. Keeping a beady eye on beads and arm-rings has revealed that Viking Age dress-
related objects played a key role in life course rituals as well as in the construction of
relational age-based identities.

Received January 2008, revised manuscript accepted May 2008.

Note
1 The general age categories used throughout the paper are as follows: child – 0–15 years; adult
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– 15–35 years; mature adult – 35–50 years; old adult – 50+ years.

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