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Inuit Grave Goods – Private Belongings in Historic Greenland II

Following my recent blog post on private and shared ownership of goods in historic Greenland, I will develop further on this topic by considering Inuit burial culture, examining what grave goods individuals were buried with, and what this tells us about understandings of private possessions in historic Greenland. 

Unlike the earlier ethnographical records that provide insights into rights allocation, the archaeological approach involves examining grave goods accompanying individuals, as these items serve as indicators of private property considerations connected to a particular person in contrast to items up for public use. In connection with communal graves, where multiple individuals have been laid to rest, the inventory physically ‘on’ the deceased, such as clothing, skins wrapped around the deceased, and items tugged in those skins or clothing, will, in this study, be considered ‘private,’ in the understanding that no one else than a specific individual owns these items.  

Fig. 1. Watercolor by Aron from Kangeq depicts how parents grieve by their child’s grave. Source: Hart Hansen, Meldgaard, and Nordqvist 1985: 64.  

The introduction of the Christian burial style mandated that the deceased should ideally be interred in a coffin placed in the ground and covered with soil or gravel. Before this, local communities laid their deceased to rest in stone-set chambers or in caves, or conducted burials at sea. The latter was an East Greenlandic tradition reportedly still observed around 1867, as exemplified by the words spoken to Aron from Kangeq: “If we bury him up here on earth, his soul will constantly suffer cold and need. Therefore, we will sink him where there is neither cold nor lack of food.” (Hansen, Meldgaard, and Nordqvist 1985: 65, translation AM). 

No overall inventory of the grave goods from the Inuit graves has been made, as many graves have simply been registered without being opened or examined further. Furthermore,  many of the Greenlandic Inuit’s grave goods were products of various organic materials, and this undoubtedly impacts the degree of preserved artifacts to be registered in modern times. It is mainly to be expected that grave goods consisting of skin and/or wood will be strongly underrepresented in the source material. However, grave goods consisting of biomaterials have allegedly been found in up to half of the examined graves (Grummesgaard 1997: 207). If the preservation conditions are taken into account, it is quite possible that practically all Greenlandic Inuit were buried with grave goods. Nothing indicates the deceased have not always been buried wearing their own clothes.  

Skin clothes are common for grave goods for adults of both sexes and children (one set worn by the deceased and, in some cases, an extra set of clothes or extra skins to follow) as well as amulets (either sewn into the clothes or placed separately among the other goods) (Hansen, Meldgaard, and Nordqvist 1985). Sometimes, in connection with the burial chamber itself, a side chamber was built where the grave goods were placed, but grave goods can also be placed above or outside the grave, just as objects are found between the graves’ outer stones (Grummesgaard 1997: 208).  

Fig. 2. In 1909, Greenlandic women and their children were photographed adorned in meticulously crafted skin clothing against the backdrop of a tent at their summer camp near Aasiaat. Source: Hansen, Meldgaard, and Nordqvist 1985: 194. 

 Women’s grave goods often consisted of their toolkits connected to clothing manufacturing (arched knives (called ulu), needles, needle houses, awls, and thimbles) and cooking (cooking pots, soapstone lamps) (Steenstrup 1893; Larsen 1934; Kramer 1990; Grummesgaard-Nielsen 1996a+b; Grønnow 2005). Women have also been put to rest with various ornaments, such as beautiful, locally produced beads or buttons of bone or ivory. Later, women’s grave goods also included European trade goods like buttons or beads of porcelain or glass (Mathiassen 1936; Koch and Feldbo 1994). 

Fig. 3. The iconic women’s knive, ulu, and the soapstone lamp, qulleq, were vital parts of the women’s tool kit, and could be found in graves for female individuals. Source: Jensen et al. 2020: 49. 

 The men’s grave goods span hunting gear (lances, spears, harpoon heads, bow and arrows, and throwing boards) and tools (knives, pickaxes, snow knives, and grindstones) (Birket-Smith 1924; Birket-Smith 1929, Feldbo et al. 1992; Grummesgaard-Nielsen 1996a+b; Grønnow 2005). On rare occasions, a whole kayak or sled has been placed in a side chamber next to the main chamber (Hansen, Meldgaard, and Nordqvist 1985: 156; Grummesgaard 1997: 209). 

Fig. 4. The arrowhead, suugaq, and the harpoon head, tuukkaq, are both part of the men’s tool kit and could be found in the graves for male individuals. Source: Jensen et al. 2017: 49. 

 In addition, it is not uncommon to find animal bones in connection with Greenlandic Inuit graves (Feldbo et al. 1993). These animal bones may be remnants of food offered to the dead (Mathiassen 1936: 16; Hansen, Meldgaard, and Nordqvist 1985: 70). Other times, the animal bones played a protective role, being a sort of amulet or guiding spirit to the deceased, as ethnographic accounts testify having a dog accompanying a child to the spirit world (Hansen, Meldgaard, and Nordqvist 1985: 70; Thalbitzer 1914). Other times, it results from arctic foxes secondarily using the graves as their den, and the animal bones simply testify to some of their meals (Koch and Feldbo 1994). 

Small collections of stones have also been registered in connection to burials and have been interpreted as decorations, amulets, or game pieces (Gulløv 1995: 14). Cores of clear quartz or tusks of marine animals have also been found in burials, which may have been given as presents or amulets (Mathiassen 1936: 21). In other parts of the Arctic, gifts presented to the deceased were often intentionally broken or ‘killed’ to facilitate the spirit’s success in hunting game in the afterlife (Parry 1824; Sonne 2018). However, in Greenland, the equipment was left intact, symbolizing its ‘living’ state, often placed outside the burial context near the grave (Hansen, Meldgaard, and Nordqvist 1985: 70).  

 In this context, it is crucial to distinguish between three different phenomena. Firstly, some objects are placed in the grave as personal belongings, utilized by the individual during their lifetime, and now allocated for use in the afterlife. Such items include hunting tools, utensils, and clothing. Secondly, some objects are placed in the grave, specifically after an individual’s death. These items are intended to express grief, signify the meaningful relationship shared, and demonstrate appreciation for shared memories. Alternatively, they may be provided to aid the deceased in their journey to the afterlife. Examples in this category encompass stones interpreted as game pieces and a puppy placed to assist a child in traversing to the other world. The last category involves objects left in the grave with the understanding that they will be eventually removed, as they are considered the rightful property of the deceased’s heirs. An example of this category is the physical amulets belonging to the buried individual. In such cases, a person named after the deceased, seen as the reincarnation of the departed, holds the right to retrieve an amulet that once belonged to their predecessor in a previous life. 

 Thus, the deceased has been buried with utility items that proved helpful in this life, which they would continue to use in the next life. However, some of these objects may also have had a direct sentimental value to the deceased, to the giver, or represent their relation. These objects represented nuanced understandings of private objects as they were meant to follow the deceased to the next world. Some possessions were from everyday life and were not unique but belonged to the deceased in a very material sense. Other possessions, such as amulets, belonged to the individual on a more symbolic level, being available to the reincarnate, thus having a specific connection to the soul rather than the lived life of the individual.  

Following my first blogpost, this archaeological investigation of Greenlandic Inuit’s burial culture underlines how most artefacts such as tools and clothing were privately owned by the individual. For longer stretches of the year, the Greenlandic Inuit lived in bigger family constellations, but here it was the practices of everyday life that were shared, rather than the material goods. Members of these family communities could help each other to gain necessary possessions, however, for example shown in the way experienced hunters would sometimes help less proficient hunters in their quest for prey. Material goods could also be privately owned in different ways, some being everyday tools that belonged to the individual in a corporal way, while others, such as amulets, belonged to the soul and were therefor available to the next reincarnation of a deceased individual. 

 

References 

Birket-Smith, K. 1929. Jens Munks Rejse og andre danske Ishavsfarter under Christian IV, Gyldendal, Copenhagen, 160 pp 

  • 1924. Ethnography of the Egedesminde District, with Aspects of the General Culture of West Greenland. In Meddelelser om Grønland, Vol. 66, No. 1 

Feldbo, M., Gotfredsen, A. B., Gulløv, H. C. and A. Koch 1993. Illuluarsuk. Rapport om det arkæologiske arbejde i Illuluarsuk regionen syd for Bernstoffs Isfjord, Ammassalik kommune, Sydøstgrønland, sommeren 1992, Copenhagen University 

Feldbo, M., Fog, J., Gotfredsen, A. B. and H. C. Gulløv 1992. Rapport om det arkæologiske arbejde i Skjoldungen, Ammassalik kommune, Sydøstgrønland, sommeren 1991, Copenhagen University and National Museum of Denmark 

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OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Asta Mønsted (June 26, 2025). Inuit Grave Goods – Private Belongings in Historic Greenland II. Centre for Privacy Studies. Retrieved July 12, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/147x6