Viking Studies

‘Islamic Coins from Early Medieval England’

by Rory Naismith

Numismatic Chronicle 165 (2005), 193–222

This paper lists and contextualises the c. 200 coins of Islamic origin (mostly silver dirhams) deposited in England... more This paper lists and contextualises the c. 200 coins of Islamic origin (mostly silver dirhams) deposited in England down to c. 1100. They include specimens from both hoards and single-finds, and are concentrated in eastern and northern England. Most coins were produced in the eighth or ninth centuries, and the volume of finds falls off with coins minted in the first quarter of the tenth century. These features, along with the common cutting-up of these coins and their association with other pieces of hacksilver, suggest that the majority should be associated with economic exchange between England and Scandinavia, where silver dirhams were widely used. However, there is also evidence for pre-viking importation via western Europe of both gold and silver coins; a route which never dried up entirely even in the tenth and eleventh centuries.

Coming to grips with the beast – a reply to Carrie Roy

by Michaela Helmbrecht

Debate article, co-authored with Maria Domeij Lundborg and Michael Neiß. Fornvännen 2012:1

Gardeła L., Kajkowski K. (in press) Motywy przez wieki, Archeologia Żywa (forthcoming June 2012)

by Leszek Gardela

Kajkowski K., Gardeła L. (in press) Międzynarodowe Spotkania Interdyscyplinarne Motywy Przez Wieki. Motyw głowy w perspektywie porównawczej, Pomniki Dawnego Prawa 17 (forthcoming 2012)

by Leszek Gardela

Au miroir de la violence : Anglais et Scandinaves au début du XIe siècle

by Alban Gautier

published in 'De la mer du Nord à la mer Baltique : identités, contacts et communications au Moyen Âge', Villeneuve d'Ascq, CEGES – Université Lille 3 Charles-de-Gaulle, 2012 (collection de l'IRHiS), pp. 129-142.

Scandinavians and 'vikings' are often presented as particularly violent in Anglo-Saxon sources of the early eleventh... more Scandinavians and 'vikings' are often presented as particularly violent in Anglo-Saxon sources of the early eleventh century. This image is analysed as a mirrored reflection of the Anglo-Saxons' uneasiness about their own place in the 'civilized' Christian world; it is also understood as the result of a conflict of representations between the North/East and the South of England.

Gardeła L. (2012) What the Vikings did for fun? Sports and pastimes in medieval northern Europe, World Archaeology 44(2), 234-247.

by Leszek Gardela

Vikings in England

by Clare Downham

'Vikings in England'. In: Brink, S. and Price, N. ed(s). The Viking World. (London, 2008)

The Harbour of Hedeby.

by Sven Kalmring

In: S. Sigmundsson (ed.), Viking Settlements & Viking Society. Papers from the Proceedings of the Sixteenth Viking Congress (Reykjavík 2011) 245-259.

The proto-urban emporium of Hedeby was one of the most important trading centres of the Viking world. Because of its... more The proto-urban emporium of Hedeby was one of the most important trading centres of the Viking world. Because of its position in the borderland between the Carolingian Realm (respectively later German Empire), and Scandinavia, two traffic routes could be controlled from here: The north-south directed overland traffic route and – even more important – a portage between the North Sea and the Baltic. The harbour of Hedeby in its double function as the area for mooring ships and stock turnover, as well as the market place to the settlement, inheres a central significance for the comprehension of the site. By an enduring adaptation to the changing demands of professional seafaring, it safeguarded the economic basis of the emporium itself. Even though the harbour at first glance has to be considered as a maritime phenomenon, the overall development of Hedeby was directly subjected to the usability of it.

Dorestad Hoogstraat from a Hedeby/Schleswig point of view

by Sven Kalmring

In: A. Willemsen (ed.), Dorestad in an international Framework. New Research on Centres of Trade and Coinage in Carolingian Times [Symposium Leiden 2009] (Turnhout 2010) 68-81.

On the international conference “Haithabu und die frühe Stadtentwicklung im nördlichen Europa” of the German Research... more On the international conference “Haithabu und die frühe Stadtentwicklung im nördlichen Europa” of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Archaeological State Museum Schleswig in September 1998 a paper called “Aufstieg, Blüte und Niedergang der frühmittelalterlichen Handelsmetropole Dorestad” was given by W. van Es and W.J.H. Verwers. In this paper for the first time doubts on the so far current interpretation of the features from the Dorestad Hoogstraat excavations were expressed by the excavators. Most recently the second and for the present final part of the reports on the Hoogstraat excavations has been published (van Es & Verwers 2009). The therein underlined change of interpretation already becomes apparent by its reduced title from “Excavations at Dorestad 1. The Harbour: Hoogstraat I” (van Es & Verwers 1980) to “Excavations at Dorestad 3. Hoogstraat 0, II-IV” (van Es & Verwers 2009). What led to that dramatic change and the disappearance of a whole harbour of that emporium that once formed one of the most important hubs of Frankish long distance trade? On the background of the archaeological evidence from Hedeby and Schleswig this paper aims to review the interpretations of the Hoogstraat features using the example of the Hoogstraat I trench.

Ein Snekke-Name in Wagrien? Snikrode und sein Umland

by Sven Kalmring

Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 35, 2005, 263-272.

Onomastic and topographical considerations suggest that the place Snikrode on the Schneeklasbek near Haffkrug on the... more Onomastic and topographical considerations suggest that the place Snikrode on the Schneeklasbek near Haffkrug on the Lübeck Bay originates in a Snekke-locality, a Viking period or Medieval place of a maritine character. This indicates a settlement of Scandinavian kind in the middle of Slavic territory. A bronze guard with chip carving decoration from the hillfort Süsel in the vicinity of Snikrode substantiates the connections to Hedeby. The existence of a Snekke-locality from beyond the limes Saxoniae would be interesting in view of the relationship between Scandinavians and Slavs. It also might illustrate a potential expansion of the distribution of Snekke-names into the southern and eastern Baltic region.

Of Thieves, Counterfeiters and Homicides. Crime in Hedeby and Birka

by Sven Kalmring

Material evidence of prehistoric crime is rare. A compilation of finds fromHedeby harbour however offers three case... more Material evidence of prehistoric crime is rare. A compilation of finds fromHedeby harbour however offers three case studies, where three different offences – thievery, counterfeiting and homicide – are likely. Evidence for the smuggling of arms is
discussed on the basis of a fourth example from Hedeby’s flat-ground cemetery. Against this background the author argues for a review of finds and features from comparable emporia such as Birka.

Kaupang - et handelssted? Om handel og annen vareutveksling i vikingtid

by Dagfinn Skre

Collegium Medievale, Vol 13:165-176. 2001

The Dirham Output and Monetary Circulation of a Secondary Samanid Mint: A Case Study of Balkh”

by Roman Kovalev

‘Childhood in the Viking Age North Atlantic’ in S. Crawford & G. Shepherd (eds), Children, Childhood and Social Identity (Oxford, 2007), 45-55.

by Chris Callow

Viikinkiaika Suomessa – Viking Age in Finland (project announcement)

by Joonas Ahola

Ahola, J. & Frog, 05.2011 In : RMN Newsletter. 2, p. 59-60.

Minä viikinki?: viikinkiaikaisten identiteettikysymysten jäljillä Britanniassa

by Joonas Ahola

An Island in the Middle of An Island. On cult, laws and authority in Viking Age Gotland.

by Nanouschka (Nanni) Myrberg

Article in
Regner, E., von Heijne, C., Kitzler Åhfeldt, L. & Kjellström, A. (eds.). 2009. From Ephesos to Dalecarlia. Reflections on Body, Space and Time in Medieval and Early Modern Europe.
The Museum of National Antiquities, Stockholm. Studies 11. Stockholm Studies in Archaeology 48. Stockholm.
ISBN 978-91-89176-37-9

The present-day small village of Roma on Gotland in the Baltic Sea was the physical and symbolic centre of the island... more The present-day small village of Roma on Gotland in the Baltic Sea was the physical and symbolic centre of the island in the Iron Age and into Medieval times. The Cistercian monastery and the meeting place of the island’s assembly (the 'all-thing'), two well-known features of medieval Roma, have often been taken as indications of an egalitarian and non-stratified society on Gotland during the Viking Age and Middle Ages. It is here proposed, however, that an older Iron Age cult site at Roma eventually came under the control of a chieftain or major landowner who introduced Christianity, founded a monastery and inaugurated the thing in Roma in Viking or early medieval times, just as his equals did elsewhere in Scandinavia. While the later medieval thing was probably located near the monastery, an alternative site is suggested for the older all-thing. A small island in the great Roma bog, situated in a way more similar to how known thing-sites were located in the Viking Age Icelandic or Anglo/Hiberno Norse areas, may have been that elusive spot where the major assembly site was once located.

Missionary activity in early medieval Norway. Strategy, organization and the course of events

by Dagfinn Skre

Scandinavian Journal of History, vol. 23 (1998), pp. 1-19.

Towns and markets, kings and central places in south-western Scandinavia c. AD 800–950

by Dagfinn Skre

In Dagfinn Skre (ed.) 2007: Kaupang in Skiringssal. Kaupang Excavation Project Publication Series, vol. 1, pp. 445-469. Århus, Aarhus University Press.

The Skiringssal Thing site þjoðalyng

by Dagfinn Skre

In Dagfinn Skre (ed.) 2007: Kaupang in Skiringssal. Kaupang Excavation Project Publication Series, vol. 1, pp. 385–406. Århus, Aarhus University Press.