Animal mouthpieces for human properties and indentity - A Scandinavian perspective

Peoples' relations to animals and their various roles took many different expressions in the pre-Christian era. In certain contexts animals had practical functions, but others they also had symbolic values. Domsticated animals were a kind of life style metaphors in grave rituals. Wild animals and transformation between humans and animals in pictorial images signified social identity. The archaeological analysis of pre-Christian use of animals, and the interpretation of relations between humans and animals give a historical background to the later textbased Old Norse mythology