Legitimation through Association? Scandinavian Accompanied Burials and Pre-Historic Monuments in Orkney

In Orkney, most Scandinavian accompanied burials are close to the sea, settlements, and, to a lesser extent, pre-Viking Age monuments. The first two were largely prosaic choices, but the latter may indicate an aspect of the mindset of the incoming elite. Based on studies of the re-use of pre-Viking Age monuments in Viking Age Scandinavia, I propose that this association was deliberate and related to a desire to legitimize the occupation of the land and signal the control of the seaways. I also suggest that burial re-use was common before prominent settlement mounds began to perform these functions.