a lot of pig bones, mostly parts of the jaw. At the Viking Age site of Sanda a stone
structure of about the same size as the cult house at Borg was found at the border
between the settlement and the cemetery, with concentrations of hearths outside the
structure and finds of many miniature sickles. It has been interpreted as a cult house
(by the excavator tentatively called a ho ̨rgr).
In 2002 an excavation carried out at the Iron Age site of Lunda, Södermanland,
revealed a large hall building and close to it on the north side a smaller building, where
two small figurines were found, naked phallic men ( 3. 5 and 2 cm respectively)
(Andersson et al. 2004 ). To the south of the hall a third figurine was found, also a naked
phallic man ( 3 cm high). Two of the figurines were made of bronze and partly gilded, the
third of pure gold. Two of them had feet, one lacked feet due to damage. The smallest
one, the one made of gold, has his feet in a position with the toes pointing downwards
(Figure 18. 2 ), which may be interpreted as if he is hanging (cf. Adam’s account from
Old Uppsala). The small building has been interpreted as a cult house (by the excavator
tentatively called a hof). The cemetery occupied the sloping area behind the hall, and at
a distance of c. 100 m to the west of the buildings, on a hilltop, a possible sacrificial site
Figure 18. 1 Plan of the cult house at Borg (no. 5 ), the yard, amulet rings and iron furnaces (A 111
and A 124 ). Also shown is the distribution of bones from pigs whose sex has been identified. (Drawing:
Mari-Anne Grönwall, from Nielsen 1997 .)
–– chapter 18: The material culture of Old Norse religion––