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In this paper we utilize evolutionary theory, anthropological data, and historical sources to explore how marriage practices shaped social behaviours and attitudes towards gender in Viking-Age Scandinavia. We focus primarily on the normative practices of polygyny and concubinage, which have been shown by anthropological studies to legitimize behaviours that reinforce male power. Our survey found that many of these behaviours might have been prevalent among Viking-Age societies. These include competition among men seeking to gain access to the marriage market, female seclusion, and the bartering of women in marriage contracts. Inside the household, these practices may have precipitated an increased risk of domestic violence, the neglect of children, and the male domination of household decisions. However, we also identify a number of significant ways in which male power was contested and subverted by women’s agency, both within the home and in the context of wider society.

In this paper, we use a combination of evolutionary theory, ethnographic data, written sources, and archaeological evidence to develop a new explanation for the origins of Viking raiding. Our argument focuses on the operational sex ratio, which is the ratio of males to females in a society who are ready to mate at a given time. We propose that a combination of two practices-polygyny and concubinage-and the increase in social inequality that occurred in Scandinavia during the Late Iron Age resulted in a male-biased operational sex ratio. This would have created a pool of unmarried men motivated to engage in risky behaviours that had the potential to increase their wealth and status, and therefore their probability of entering the marriage market. With high-status men looking to instigate expeditions to acquire plunder and develop their reputations as war leaders, raiding represented a mutually beneficial means of achieving social advancement and success. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.