A bent iron staff, miniature chair, or pouch of unusual contents can support several explanations. Archaeology examines position, associated objects, wear, parallels, and later disturbance.
Rich female graves with staffs are plausibly connected with völur, yet identification remains interpretation. Grave goods reveal a staged burial, not necessarily the deceased person’s complete daily life.
Protective actions may also survive as arrangement and sequence. At Oseberg, carved animal heads and rattles have been studied as possible parts of a repeated apotropaic rite. The proposal is reasoned but not the only possible reading.
“Ritual” must not become a box for everything unexplained. A good interpretation states its criteria, competing explanations, and degree of uncertainty.