Abstract
This article discusses the chronology and nature of the earliest Viking activity, based on a group of early burials from Norway containing Insular metalwork. By focusing on the geographical distribution of this material and applying the concept of locational and social knowledge, the importance of establishing cognitive landscapes to facilitate the Viking expansion is highlighted. It is argued that the first recorded Viking attacks were only possible after a phase in which Norse seafarers had acquired the necessarily level ofa priorienvironmental knowledge needed to move in new seascapes and coastal environments. This interaction model opens the possibility that some of the early Insular finds from Norway may represent pre-Lindisfarne exploration voyages, carried out by seafarers along the sailing route of Nordvegr.
Highlights
INTRODUCTIONThe earliest Viking activity in Britain and Ireland (theInsular areareferred to in this paper) has been the topic of intense scholarly discussion
For over a century, the earliest Viking activity in Britain and Ireland has been the topic of intense scholarly discussion
It reviews the chronology and geographical distribution of 16 early burials containing Insular metalwork, including new finds and data which have not been included in previous debates about the earliest Viking activity
Summary
The earliest Viking activity in Britain and Ireland (theInsular areareferred to in this paper) has been the topic of intense scholarly discussion. The following section focuses on the geographical distribution of the Norwegian material, acknowledging the revised status of other archaeological evidence for early contact in an attempt to search for and propose a model of movement for the earliest Norse voyages across the North Sea. The location of early Insular material is often considered to be an indicator of where the first Vikings originated (Wamers, 1998: 52; Barrett, 2010: 293; Baug et al, 2018). Baug et al (2018) have recently shown how there was a ‘steady supply’ of ‘Mostadmarka’ type whetstones from Trøndelag to markets in southern Scandinavia from at least the early eighth century These results suggest increasing economic activity in the North Sea area which drew large parts of Norway into supra-regional networks in the decades before and after the first recorded Viking attacks (as underlined by Myhre, 1993, and Baug et al, 2018). When constructing a model of maritime movement, these observations may be formalized, somewhat simplified, as a suggested process involving three main stages: 1. Information stage: Seafarers along the Nordvegr became increasingly informed about the Insular land on their journeys to markets further south in Scandinavia and continental Europe (around ad 750/770)
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