Early Viking Research Articles

Gjellestad and other centres of power in Vingulmǫrk

This article was first published in "Vol. 88 (2024)" of Norsk Arkeologisk Årbok in 2024. In 2025 it was re-published in the second issue of Viking Special Volumes. This chapter addresses the centre of power at Gjellestad through a comparative approach to other power centres – in the form of large manorial farms – in the region of Vingulmǫrk. Centres are areas with special position and function within a society and are identified through the plotting of elite indicators, including mound size, aristocratic settlement structures (halls or other large buildings), objects made of precious materials (gold), weapons, and imported objects. By mapping all these categories, it becomes evident that Gjellestad did not exist in solitude, but rater in relation to several other centres. Ten clusters, indicating centres of political power, are identified, and six of them are placed along the coast at regular intervals. The clusters show that the centres are in continuous use, but they also paint a dynamic picture with fluctuations and alternations in the marking of power over time. Gjellestad stands out as a latecomer, growing to prominence in the period 400-550 AD, and later reinforced by the ship burial in the early Viking Age.

Eastern Middle Sweden, Finland and beyond in the Late Vendel and Early Viking periods

The Scandinavian interest in the Eurasian fur trade started in the early 8th century. Contacts between the Baltic Finns and the Permian groups in the Volga-Kama-Vjatka river region was the impetus for these contacts. The trail is seen in distinct Nevolino belt fittings, chain holders with twin horse heads and glass beads emanating from the East. Scandinavian fur traders established close interaction with the Baltic Finns in what is today Finland and probably Northern Estonia increased from AD 700. Scandinavian glass beads and swords were in use in South-Western Finland in the early 8th c. Finnish A III pottery emerged in Eastern Middle Sweden already in the late 7th c., both as imports proper but also as local products made by Finnish women. In this early phase of interaction personal contacts obviously played a major role. After c. AD 860 these connections changed. The Baltic Finns expressed their cultural identity in a more exposed way. Scandinavian traders turned their attention to the expanding market based on Birka and the Rus’. From c. AD 860 territorial claims in the East were accentuated, leading to the later, bigger Rus’.

In the footsteps of Ohthere: biomolecular analysis of early Viking Age hair combs from Hedeby (Haithabu)

Hedeby was the largest town in the Viking North. Investigations have identified imports at the site from central and northern Scandinavia revealing long-distance connections. The chronology of this trade, however, is unclear. Here, the authors use a typological-biomolecular approach to examine connections during the early Viking Age. The application of ZooMS to an assemblage of antler combs, stylistically dated to the ninth century AD, reveals nearly all were made of reindeer antler. As most craft production waste from Hedeby comprises red deer antler, it is argued that these combs were manufactured elsewhere, perhaps hundreds of kilometres further north. The results have implications for understanding of production and regional connectivity in early medieval Scandinavia.

Sukow Ware at Vester Egesborg, Denmark?

During archaeological excavations at Vester Egesborg, a landing site from the Late Germanic Iron Age and Viking Age was found. The find material at the site was large and varied, providing proof of contacts with other places in the southern Baltic Sea area. This includes a significant number of sherds looking like Early Slavic Sukow pottery, which suggests contacts between Slavs in Mecklenburg and the Scandinavian population in the Early Viking Age. It is difficult to distinguish between Sukow Ware and contemporary South Scandinavian pottery in terms of shape and fabric, but the relatively large portion of rim sherds looking like the Slavic pottery type in the ceramic assemblage from Vester Egesborg posed the question of whether Sukow Ware has been imported to the site. ICP-MA/ES analyses of a sample of ceramic sherds suggest the existence of a network including the regions of Scania, Holstein and Schleswig. Evidence for the production of Sukow Ware at Vester Egesborg or in southern Zealand cannot be provided unambiguously.

Sr analyses from only known Scandinavian cremation cemetery in Britain illuminate early Viking journey with horse and dog across the North Sea.

The barrow cemetery at Heath Wood, Derbyshire, is the only known Viking cremation cemetery in the British Isles. It dates to the late ninth century and is associated with the over-wintering of the Viking Great Army at nearby Repton in AD 873-4. Only the cremated remains of three humans and of a few animals are still available for research. Using strontium content and isotope ratios of these three people and three animals-a horse, a dog and a possible pig-this paper investigates the individuals' residential origins. The results demonstrate that strontium isotope ratios of one of the adults and the non-adult are compatible with a local origin, while the other adult and all three animals are not. In conjunction with the archaeological context, the strontium isotope ratios indicate that these individuals most likely originated from the area of the Baltic Shield-and that they died soon after arrival in Britain. This discovery constitutes the first solid scientific evidence that Scandinavians crossed the North Sea with horses, dogs and other animals as early as the ninth century AD.

Myth and History in Celtic and Scandinavian Traditions

Myth and History in Celtic and Scandinavian Traditions

Longitudinal change in speech classification between 4 and 10years in children with cerebral palsy.

AimTo examine speech impairment severity classification over time in a longitudinal cohort of children with cerebral palsy (CP).MethodA total of 101 children (58 males, 43 females) between the ages of 4 and 10 years with CP participated in this longitudinal study. Speech severity was rated using the Viking Speech Scale (VSS), a four‐level classification rating scale, at 4, 6, 8, and 10 years (age 4 years: mean = 52 months [3 SD]; age 6 years: mean = 75 months [2 SD]; age 8 years: mean = 100 months [4 SD]; age 10 years: mean = 125 months [5 SD]). We used Bayesian mixed‐effects ordinal logistic regression to model (1) the extent to which speech severity changed over time and (2) patterns of change across age groups and classification rating group levels.ResultsVSS ratings decreased (speech severity became less severe) between 4 and 10 years of age. Children who were first classified in VSS levels I, II, or III at age 4 years had a high probability of staying at, or improving to, VSS level I by 10 years. Children who were first classified in VSS level IV at 4 years had a high probability of remaining in VSS level IV at 10 years.InterpretationEarly speech performance is highly predictive of later childhood speech abilities. Children with any level of speech impairment at age 4 years should be receiving speech therapy. Those with more severe speech impairments should be introduced to augmentative and alternative communication as soon as possible.What this paper adds Children with early Viking Speech Scale (VSS) ratings below level IV have a good prognosis for speech improvement.Children with early VSS level IV ratings are likely to remain at VSS level IV over time.Children did not show worsening of VSS level between the ages of 4 and 10 years.

Urban Market Production and Coastal Trade in the Early Viking Age: A Study of Eighth-Century ad Blue Period Millefiori Beads in Central and Northern Norway

Resources from outland regions of the Scandinavian Peninsula have been the topic of several studies about trade in the early Viking Age. In contrast, the distribution of highly refined items from the urban markets in southern Scandinavia in the opposite direction has been largely neglected. This article examines the occurrence of eighth-century millefiori beads of the ‘Blue Period’ in central and northern Norway. Comparing the stock of motifs on these beads with the bead production waste from the urban market of Ribe, the manufacturing of many of them in Ribe is likely. The beads’ distribution is considered to reflect areas rich in resources as well as points of strategic importance along the sailing route. A dual function of the beads as accessories and means of payment is discussed.

On diverse arts: crucible metallurgy and the polymetallic cycle at Scandinavia\u2019s earliest Viking town, Ribe (8th\u20139th c. CE), Denmark

This study presents results from the analytical investigation of the polymetallic, non-ferrous metallurgical cycle at early Viking Age Ribe, Denmark, in the 8th and 9th centuries CE. We combine extensive surface analyses of crucibles and moulds (handheld XRF) with targeted micro-destructive examination (micro XRF, electron microprobe spectroscopy—EPMA) of crucibles, moulds, ingots, blanks, and finished objects from the different stages of the secondary metallurgical production. Results show the working of a range of copper alloys with (leaded) brass as the most common, alongside small-scale working of silver and gold. Analytical evidence suggests a move towards technological standardisation at Ribe workshops from the pre-Viking period to the early Viking Age as reflected in the tighter compositional groupings for the crucible fabrics, the alloy choices for specific artefact types, e.g. keys and brooches, and an overall move towards high Zn brass from the 8th century to the first half of the 9th century CE. Finally, we discuss the limitations and potentials of the surface and micro-destructive analytical methods used and the insights gained from each data set and propose a direction for future research.

Läsordning i tidigvikingatida runristningar

The primary aim of this essay is to clarify the visual aspects of reading order in the early Viking Age Scandinavian runic material. The investigation in part identi­fies the visual principles of r ...

Rethinking the early Viking Age in the West

Abstract

Viking Ships with Angular Stems: Did the Old Norse term beit refer to early sailing ships?

This article discusses a certain type of ship known from Scandinavian Viking Age and Merovingian Period iconography. This type of ship has a vertical stem and stern that meet the keel at right angles, sometimes with an extension filling the space under a sloping forefoot and a similar extension at the rear end of the keel. This design seems to be connected with the earliest sailing ships and it has been suggested that the extensions were invented to meet the increased need for lateral resistance when sailing. Additional arguments for this view are explored which suggest that this design was a transitional stage between rowing ships with steering oars at both ends and specialized sailing ships with more sophisticated designs for sideways resistance: the extensions are the steering oars’ anti-leeway properties ‘built into the hull’. The authors also suggest that this type of ship was referred to in Old Norse as beit, which is a term that seems to date from the Early Viking Age. In Modern Norwegian, lobeit ‘windward beit’ refers to a ship's ability to avoid leeway and is probably related to the verb beita ‘to sail upwind’, which seems to derive from a comparison of the keel with a cutting tool. This would fit well with the discussed ship type and its extensions.

Det tidigvikingatida runmaterialet : En inventering

The main purpose of this article is to make an inventory and then establish a register of the Scandinavian runic inscriptions that belong to the period of the early Viking Age (circa 700–950/970). ...

En grav med smedverktøy fra tidlig vikingtid på Nordheim i Sogndal. En analyse av gravgods, handlingsrekker og symbolikk

A grave with tools for metalworking from early Viking age at Nordheim in Sogndal. An analysis of grave goods, chains of actions and symbolismA recently excavated early Viking-age grave from Sogndal in Sogn and Fjordane County in Western Norway contained numerous tools. The excavation revealed detailed information about the cremation and burial sequences. Weapons and numerous tools for metalworking were among the deposited objects. In this article, we describe the observable chains of actions in the cremation- and post-cremation rituals. We review the identified objects deposited in the grave and suggest some preliminary interpretations about the grave goods and location of the grave in its local context in Sogn and Fjordane County. Finally, we discuss the so-called Norwegian «smiths’ graves» and suggest a more nuanced interpretation.

Roads to complexity: Hawaiians and Vikings compared

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this paper is to analyse roads to complexity and societal development. By comparing the processes leading to complexity in Late Iron Age and early Viking society in South Scandinavia with the pre-contact Hawaiian state, I set the framework for a comparative archaeology and suggest that society in the Viking Age was not a state. I reach this conclusion within a comparative framework, by looking at comparable but also different processes in both places over time between the subject and source, in Scandinavia and Hawaii. I estimate how important geographic, cultural, technological, ideological, and ecological factors were for the development and change in both places in general and for the advent of the complexity in particular. I suggest that the analogical approach gives us a less biased perspective in both places, because we avoid partial metanarratives, such as for example teleological, nationalist narratives. Using this approach, we will discover new aspects that cannot be identif...

Critical assessment of the evidence for selective female infanticide as a cause of the Viking Age

There currently exists in the study of Viking archaeology a strong support for the theory, popularised by Barrett (2015), that selective female infanticide in the Late Scandinavian Iron Age to Early Viking Age resulted in the sudden expansion of Scandinavian influence, through raiding, invading, and trading, across Europe that categorises the Viking age. This paper aims to critique the evidence for selective female infanticide as a cause of the Viking age and suggests that it may have been only a partial factor in causing the Viking Age. This paper will review the current literature on the subject and consider the evidence currently available, Archaeological and literary, in order to critique this currently dominant theory.

Great Plains polygonal fault system as expressed in Saskatchewan: Late Cretaceous fault initiation and graben formation

An extensive polygonal fault system (PFS) has been recognized in fine-grained Late Cretaceous sediments of the Western Interior Seaway of North America. Polygonal fault systems are pervasive organizations of nontectonic faults with fault traces that coalesce to form distinctive polygonal fault patterns. Interpretation of a three-dimensional seismic dataset from southeast Saskatchewan provides insight into fault initiation, timing, and geometry for the Great Plains PFS (GPPFS). Faulting initiates in the Niobrara Formation, with the largest fault throws occurring over Early Cretaceous Viking Formation sandstone accumulations, suggesting that drape compaction over the channel sand initiated some of the faulting. Above this, faulting increases in vertical offset, and the predominant fault strike angles change in the Lea Park, Belly River, and Bearpaw formations (all homotaxial to the Pierre Shale) throughout Campanian time. By late Bearpaw time, the initially almost random fault strike orientations change to well-defined northwest–southeast- and west–east-striking grabens. These grabens have up to 20 m of throw and can be 125 m wide and 900 m long at ∼400 m current depth. Predominant graben faults are the continuation of some of the deeper PFS faults. Moreover, the grabens are present over a Campanian clinoform bed and may be interpreted to indicate Bearpaw time extension tectonics that is local or regional in scale. The PFS helps to explain near-surface faulting observed in Late Cretaceous sediments in the Western Interior Seaway and could be used as a model to help explain Late Cretaceous geology, subsurface groundwater flow, and shallow natural gas reservoir continuity.

Deciphering diet and monitoring movement: Multiple stable isotope analysis of the viking age settlement at Hofstaðir, Lake Mývatn, Iceland.

A previous multi-isotope study of archaeological faunal samples from Skútustaðir, an early Viking age settlement on the southern shores of Lake Mývatn in north-east Iceland, demonstrated that there are clear differences in δ(34)S stable isotope values between animals deriving their dietary protein from terrestrial, freshwater, and marine reservoirs. The aim of this study was to use this information to more accurately determine the diet of humans excavated from a nearby late Viking age churchyard. δ(13)C, δ(15)N, and δ(34)S analyses were undertaken on terrestrial animal (n = 39) and human (n = 46) bone collagen from Hofstaðir, a high-status Viking-period farmstead ∼10 km north-west of Skútustaðir. δ(34)S values for Hofstaðir herbivores were ∼6‰ higher relative to those from Skútustaðir (δ(34)S: 11.4 ± 2.3‰ versus 5.6 ± 2.8‰), while human δ(13)C, δ(15)N, and δ(34)S values were broad ranging (-20.2‰ to -17.3‰, 7.4‰ to 12.3‰, and 5.5‰ to 14.9‰, respectively). Results suggest that the baseline δ(34)S value for the Mývatn region is higher than previously predicted due to a possible sea-spray effect, but the massive deposition of Tanytarsus gracilentus (midges) (δ(34)S: -3.9‰) in the soil in the immediate vicinity of the lake is potentially lowering this value. Several terrestrial herbivores displayed higher bone collagen δ(34)S values than their contemporaries, suggesting trade and/or movement of animals to the region from coastal areas. Broad ranging δ(13)C, δ(15)N, and δ(34)S values for humans suggest the population were consuming varied diets, while outliers within the dataset could conceivably have been migrants to the area.

Stylistic contrast and narrative function inCogad Gáedel re Gallaib

AbstractThe Battle of Clontarf was fought in A.D. 1014 by the forces of Brian Boru, over-king of Munster, and his allies against the forces of Viking Dublin, Leinster and their foreign allies. The saga ‘The War of the Irish and the Foreigners’(Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib)was written about events leading up the conflict and gives a dramatic account of events on the battlefield. It became the archetype for many later legends about Clontarf. This paper explores stylistic contrast in thesagabetween the terse description of events in the early Viking Age and the florid account of the reign of Brian Boru. This contrast has led some readers to conclude that two separate narratives were conflated inCogad Gáedel re Gallaib– the first being a summary of annals and the second being a saga. However this paper argues that there is a unity of purpose throughout the work and that its stylistic divisions were deliberately contrived to help glorify Brian’s victory at the Battle of Clontarf.

Was it for walrus? Viking Age settlement and medieval walrus ivory trade in Iceland and Greenland

Walrus-tusk ivory and walrus-hide rope were highly desired goods in Viking Age north-west Europe. New finds of walrus bone and ivory in early Viking Age contexts in Iceland are concentrated in the south-west, and suggest extensive exploitation of nearby walrus for meat, hide and ivory during the first century of settlement. In Greenland, archaeofauna suggest a very different specialized long-distance hunting of the much larger walrus populations in the Disko Bay area that brought mainly ivory to the settlement areas and eventually to European markets. New lead isotopic analysis of archaeological walrus ivory and bone from Greenland and Iceland offers a tool for identifying possible source regions of walrus ivory during the early Middle Ages. This opens possibilities for assessing the development and relative importance of hunting grounds from the point of view of exported products.