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An ecological perspective that considers winter conditions and waterways, viewed from the perspective of cattle, may offer new insights into potential migration routes across the Eurasian steppes. Today, nearly half the world’s population speaks an Indo-European language. The spread of these languages through prehistoric migration has been a subject of debate for over 200 years. Recent advances in ancient DNA studies have reignited this discussion and sparked academic disputes. This analysis highlights a fundamental but often overlooked aspect of early pastoral migration in an ecological context: the role of cattle. By focusing on cattle, certain migration routes emerge as more viable, while others appear unfeasible in light of specific ecological conditions and natural obstacles. The Eurasian steppe, characterised by long, harsh winters and bisected by major north-south-flowing rivers, presents significant ecological barriers to east-west migrations to Europe and the Ural Mountains. Yet, the earliest major migrations occurred in east-west direction. Even in winter, river valleys and riverbeds, with their generally reliable supply of water and vegetation, would have been of fundamental importance for the survival of large herds. Moreover, when rivers were frozen in winter, pastoralists could easily cross north-south-flowing rivers and use the east-west waterways as highways for rapid movement over vast distances. In this light, we argue that, during the winter, the great rivers of Eurasia were key enablers of early Indo-European migration and expansion.

In Indo-European mythology, there is a strong focus on the horse and the sun in a water and fertility perspective. However, if there is one particular characteristic of the northern and Scandinavian ecology, it is the long, cold and dark winters. The seasonality of the Scandinavian ecology structured all life and wealth in prehistoric Scandinavia. The winter limited and defined the agricultural growth season and when it was possible to travel on boats further south and partake in exchange networks. Cosmologically, it was not the sun that melted away the snow during the spring, but particular water powers like springs, rivers and waterfalls were “eating away” the snow from beneath and the underworld. The Scandinavian skeid tradition with horse-fights, rituals and sacrifices is one of the longest living traditions in the world with 4000 years of continuity. The last remains of this great tradition was found in late 19th-century rural Norway and Sweden. Using archaeological and ethnographic examples, the aim of this chapter is to analyse the specific type of Indo-European ritual tradition and cosmogony when the powers of the winter were fought and overcome in Scandinavia.

Dødsreisen til den andre siden var ufravikelig og skjebnebestemt. I etno­logiske og historiske kilder var ikke Døden fravær av liv, men følgesvennen som fraktet de døde til et nytt liv blant forfedrene. Helhesten kom og hentet de døende og døde, men Helhesten var ikke kun følgesvennen og transportmiddelet på den siste reisen. Helhesten skulle også begraves med den avdøde, helst levende og gjerne stående, og selv på kirkegårder opp til moderne tid er det historier om hester og andre dyr begravd levende. Helhesten ble gravplassens beskytter og kirkegrim. Enhver ny kirke eller kirkegård hadde en kirkegrim som vokter. Følgesvennen og beskytteren i døden ble avbildet i dyrestil på kirkeporter og runesteiner, men også farlige og uskadeliggjorte dyr, som ormer og drager drept av helter og kjemper i storslagne og kosmiske kamper. De gode vant over det onde og vernet de levende. Døden kom også dansende og dødsdansen tok mennesker med seg til dødsrikene. Spelemannen og Nøkken spilte så intensiv musikk at de levende danset seg til døde og bak alle disse forestillingene ser vi skyggene av Odin. En grunnleggende myte opp gjennom historien er Åsgårdsreien eller Odins jakt. De døde var ikke bare i dødsrikene, men forfedrene og de døde red tilbake til slektningene på sine dødshester.

A sacrifice is the most active and effective way devotees may engage with divinities in a way that maximizes their chances of having their wishes fulfilled. All sacrifice involves engagements with divinities, though these engagements represent asymmetrical relationships where gods are, by definition, superior and humans are inferior: humans stand to gain more from the gods than they give them. The hierarchical relations between humans and gods expressed in sacrifices also reveal social structures and asymmetries in power relations among humans, with certain individuals acting on behalf of their gods as messengers or intermediaries. Empirically, this study analyses sacrifices in Nepal. Sacrifice is a fundamental part of many religions, which is why it is studied in many disciplines, including anthropology, history and archaeology. Thus, this study puts emphasis on key theories of sacrifice in the history of science and examine how they may be applied to the empirical cases from Nepal, and how such a dialogue could enable new ways of analysing sacrifice cross-culturally, without losing the cultural uniqueness of the particular rituals. 

This study is the first to consider Sweden's enigmatic Kivik grave with its famous rock art slabs in an agricultural and Indo-European context. Building on the work of archaeologist V. Gordon Childe and anthropologist James G. Frazer, this analysis presents an in-depth cultural and cosmological worldview of the Scandinavian Bronze Age. Pastoralism and warrior bands were essential parts of ecology and cosmology; novices were initiated into these brotherhoods as werewolves. By putting on masks or cloaks, they became ancestors and played a key role in a series of winter sacrifices linked to the agricultural cycle. The werewolf myth contains remnants of all lifecycle rituals – from birth to initiation as warriors, marriage, death and becoming an ancestor. Ethnographically, the cultural and cosmological instituion manifested in Kivik can be identified through parts of Europe up to modern times.

Den nordiske vinteren har dominert og definert alle jordbrukssamfunn i det kalde nord fra tidenes morgen. Kontinuiteten fra innhøstingen gjennom vinter og vår til årets nye vekstsesong var den viktigste kilden til liv. Vannets verden var ritualisert hvor de store ofringene fant sted i forhold til årstidssyklusene. Den hjemlige kulten rundt høytidene hadde som mål å aktivere og intensivere immanente makter i naturen, som kunne overvinne vinterens kalde jerngrep. I vannets kilder og jordens fruktbare grunn lå krefter og forfedre som spiste snøen og vinteren nedenfra lenge før vårsolen smeltet snø og frost. Fossefall og spesielle kilder frøs aldri til is selv på de kaldeste vinterdagene. Disse underjordiske kildene med livgivende strømmer og motstridende natur, som beviste at de var sterkere enn den mektigste og forødende kulden, var kjernen i kult og kosmologi. I denne verden av vann var ofringer av mennesker og dyr ekstreme ritualer hvor bønder forsøkte å aktivere og kontrollere enda mektigere makter.

There are many different and distinct types of religious waters: holy, sacred, neutral, and even evil. The ways various divinities invest waters with specific qualities and capacities depend upon a wide range of ecological, theological, and eschatological factors; some are shaped by the environment while others are purely ontological and concerned with otherworldly realms, and often there is an intimate relation between the mundane and the divine. Rivers, rain, lakes, springs, and waterfalls are some specific forms of religious water, which also relate to seasonality and changing hydrological cycles. All these variations create different dependencies not only to ecological factors but more importantly to divine actors. Religious water may heal and bless individuals and be a communal source for fertility and plentiful harvests, but may also work as a penalty, wreaking havoc on society as floods or the absence of the life-giving rains in agricultural communities. Given the great variation of religious waters throughout history where even the same water may attain different qualities and divine embodiments, divine waters define structuring practices and principles in ecology and cosmology.