Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Viking Age

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Viking Age Jul 30th 2011, 10:00 The Viking Age traditionally refers to the period in northern Europe between the first Scandinavian raid on England, in AD 793, and ends with the death of Harald Hardrada in 1066, in a failed attempt to attain the English throne. During those 250 years, the political and religious structure of northern Europe was changed irrevocably. Some of that change can be directly attributed to the actions of the Vikings, and/or the response to Viking imperialism, and some of it cannot. See the entry on Who were the Vikings See the Viking Timeline Viking Age Beginnings Beginning in the 8th century AD, the Vikings began expanding out of Scandinavia, first as raids and then as imperialistic settlements into a wide swath of places from Russia to the North American continent. The reasons for the Viking expansion outside of Scandinavia are debated among scholars. Reasons suggested include population pressure, political pressure, and personal enrichment. The Vikings could never have begun raiding or indeed settling beyond Scandinavia if they had not developed highly effective boat building and navigation skills; skills that were in evidence by the 4th century AD. At the time of the expansion, the Scandinavian countries were each experiencing a centralization of power, with fierce competition. See the glossary entry on Viking social structure for more detail Viking Age: Settling Down Fifty years after the first raids on the monastery at Lindisfarne, England, the Scandinavians ominously shifted their tactics: they began to spend the winters at various locations. In Ireland, the ships themselves became part of the over-wintering, when the Norse built an earthen bank on the landward side of their docked ships. These types of sites, called longphorts, are found prominently on the Irish coasts and inland rivers. Read more about Viking raids Read more about longphort Ath Cliath is a longphort in Ireland which eventually led to the foundation of Dublin Read more about Viking settlements Viking Economics The Viking economic pattern was a combination of pastoralism, long-distance trade and piracy. The type of pastoralism used by the Vikings was called landnám, and it was a successful strategy in the Faroe Islands, but it failed miserably in Greenland and Ireland, where the thin soils and climate change led to desperate circumstances. Read more specific details about Viking economies Landnám, Did the Viking way of life damage the ecology of Iceland? Read about the Eastern Settlement in Greenland The Viking trade system, supplemented by piracy, on the other hand, was extremely successful. While conducting raids on various peoples throughout Europe and western Asia, the Vikings obtained untold amounts of silver ingots, personal items and other booty, and buried them in hoards. Read more about Viking silver hoards Cuerdale Hoard Legitimate trade in items such as cod, coins, ceramics, glass, walrus ivory, polar bear skins and, of course, slaves was conducted by the Vikings as early as the mid 9th century, in what must have been uneasy relationships between the Abbasids in Persia, and Charlemagne's empire in Europe. Read more about Viking Age trade networks Read more about the importance of Norway cod to the Viking trade network Read about the History of Glass Making Westward with the Viking Age The Vikings arrived in Iceland in 873, and in Greenland in 985. In both cases, the importation of the landnam style of pastoralism led to dismal failure. In addition to a sharp decline in sea temperature, which led to deeper winters, the Norse found themselves in direct competition with the people they called the Skraelings, who we now understand are the ancestors of the Inuits of North America. Read about the Eastern Settlement in Greenland. Read more about archaeological theories about who the Skraelings were Thule migration, the massive movement of Inuit ancestors once thought to be the cultural group called the Skraelings Vinland Sagas, the stories about Viking adventures in North America Forays westward from Greenland were undertaken in the very last years of the tenth century AD, and Leif Erickson finally made landfall on the Canadian shores in 1000 AD, at a site called L'anse Aux Meadows. The settlement there was doomed to failure, however. Read about L'anse Aux Meadows Vikings in Wisconsin?, an odd story about a horse head found in the Spencer Lake Mounds of Wisconsin Additional Sources about the Vikings A Viking Timeline A Viking Bibliography, collection of resources used for this project Runic Writing including some examples of futhark Academic Projects on Viking Archaeology Viking Homeland Archaeological Sites Denmark: Ribe, Vorbasse, Jelling, Roskilde, Hedeby (now in Germany), Danevirke, Ahus, Lund (now in Sweden), Skuldelev Norway: Forsandmoen, Oseberg Ship burial, Gokstad, Kaupang, Trondheim, Bergen, Hon Hoard Sweden: Ridanas, Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala), Helgo, Birka, Sigtuna, Paviken, Nydam Boat, Ahus The Netherlands: Dorestad Norse Colony Archaeological Sites Iceland: Hofstaðir, Reykjavik, Reykholt, Steinbogi, Selhagi, Hrísbrú Greenland: Brattahlid, Gardar, Tasiusaq, Sandhavn, all in the Eastern Settlement; Western Settlement France: Germany: Wiskiauten, Grop Stromkendorf, Hedeby Netherlands: Dorestad Faroe Islands: Sandur, Leirvik on Eysturoy, Sandavagur, Sandoy, Hovsdalur, Toftanes Newfoundland: L'anse aux Meadows England: Cuerdale Hoard, Lancashire, Repton, Jorvik (York), Wessex, London, Ipswich Ireland: Dublin, Waterford, Áth Cliath, Beginish Island Poland: Wolin, Truso Russia: Staraya Ladoga, Novgorod

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