Year 9
Unit 5 - The Early Middle Ages
Lesson 6 - The Vikings and the importance of archaeology
Vikings came from the Scandinavian lands of northern Europe. In their language a vikingr was a pirate, and to go a-viking meant an adventure overseas. This is how they got their name, although some of their victims called them ‘Northmen’. There were three main Viking races - Norwegians, Danes and Swedes. Most of the sea-raids on Europe were made by Norwegians and Danes. The Swedes were mainly interested in trade. Swedish merchants crossed the Baltic Sea and travelled up the great rivers of Asia and eastern Europe. Some settled round the shores of the Black Sea and traded with the Byzantines and Arabs. These peoples called them Rus, and that is how Russia got its name.
The earliest raids on Britain were made by the Norwegians, or ‘Norsemen’. They left their coastal fjords (creeks) in the spring and returned with the west winds of autumn. Plunder was not their only aim. They were also searching for new places to live. Good farming land is scarce in mountainous Norway.
The earliest raids on Britain were made by the Norwegians, or ‘Norsemen’. They left their coastal fjords (creeks) in the spring and returned with the west winds of autumn. Plunder was not their only aim. They were also searching for new places to live. Good farming land is scarce in mountainous Norway.
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About the year 800, Norsemen began to settle on the treeless islands to the north and west of Scotland: the Shetlands, Orkneys, Faroes and Hebrides. They brought their families and lived by farming, fishing and seal-hunting. These islands were ideal bases for attacks on Ireland.
By 820, according to an Irish chronicle, ‘. . . there was no harbour or landing-place . . . without fleets of Vikings’. From Ireland, Norse farmers settled in the Isle of Man and parts of north-western England. Some married Celtic women and were converted to Christianity. |
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Iceland was the next place to be settled by Norsemen. Although it was too cold for growing grain crops it had grassy regions suitable for cattle and sheep. By about 950 a large Viking colony had grown up there. At the time of the early Norse settlements around the British Isles, Danish Vikings were spreading panic in France, Germany and eastern England. At first they plundered coastal villages and monasteries. Then they grew bolder and sailed up great rivers, bringing destruction deep into the heart of the countryside. In 845 a Danish fleet sailed nearly 200 miles up the river Seine to ransack Paris. Soon many other Frankish towns had been destroyed. Parts of North Germany suffered a similar fate. And in the years 859-62 a mixed band of Vikings sailed south and raided the Mediterranean coasts as far as Italy.
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In 911 the Frankish king, Charles ‘the Simple’, realised he could not get rid of the invaders and decided to come to terms with them. He invited a Viking chieftain named Rollo to become the lawful ruler of the lands he controlled at the mouth of the River Seine. In return Rollo had to promise to protect Charles against further raids. Rollo and his followers were rough, seafaring men. But once they settled down they quickly became more civilised. They mixed with the Franks, who converted them to Christianity and taught them to speak French. The ‘Duchy of the Northmen’ became known as Normandy. It grew bigger and more powerful. A later Norman duke became King of England in 1066, the last time Britain was successfully invaded. (See the Norman invasion ships from the Bayeux Tapestry - right)
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North America?
Present-day Icelanders are descended mainly from these settlers and the Irish women and slaves they took with them. Later sagas (stories) of the Icelanders describe further voyages they made across the unknown Atlantic Ocean. In 982 a tough Norseman called Eric the Red (he had red hair) killed a man and was banished from Iceland for three years. He spent the time exploring a snow-covered land to the west, which had earlier been sighted by fishermen. After much searching he found a few areas of grassland along the coast. When Eric returned to Iceland he called this new country ‘Greenland’. He thought people would want to go there if it had an attractive name! Sure enough, when Eric went back to Greenland he was followed by shiploads of settlers. They must have been disappointed when they found it was not green at all, but mostly white with snow and ice. Nevertheless they stayed on, and other settlers followed.
Present-day Icelanders are descended mainly from these settlers and the Irish women and slaves they took with them. Later sagas (stories) of the Icelanders describe further voyages they made across the unknown Atlantic Ocean. In 982 a tough Norseman called Eric the Red (he had red hair) killed a man and was banished from Iceland for three years. He spent the time exploring a snow-covered land to the west, which had earlier been sighted by fishermen. After much searching he found a few areas of grassland along the coast. When Eric returned to Iceland he called this new country ‘Greenland’. He thought people would want to go there if it had an attractive name! Sure enough, when Eric went back to Greenland he was followed by shiploads of settlers. They must have been disappointed when they found it was not green at all, but mostly white with snow and ice. Nevertheless they stayed on, and other settlers followed.
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According to a saga written in the twelfth century, a man called Bjarni lost his way while sailing to Greenland in 986. Three times he sighted a strange coast, where trees grew in large numbers. But because it was not like reports he had heard of Greenland he went on, without landing, until he found his destination. If this story is true Bjarni was the first European to see the American continent, 500 years before the famous voyage of Columbus. The saga tells us that a few years later (about AD 1000) Leif Ericsson, son of Eric the Red, went to explore this new country. Using Bjarni’s information to set his course, Leif came to a land covered with dense forest.
This seemed an ideal place for Norse settlement. According to the saga, several expeditions followed, and landings were made along hundreds of miles of the North American coast. But as far as we know all attempts to establish settlements failed, because of attacks by people the Norsemen called Skraelings. These were probably native Americans. |
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The importance of archaeology
For many hundreds of years the stories of the Ericssons were largely considered to be myths, no more reliable as history that the myths we have studied about ancient Greece and Rome. The first European to have travelled to America was Columbus in 1492 and that was the only history that mattered until...
In the 1960s archaeologists Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine Ingstad found evidence to back up the Icelandic sagas. In Newfoundland they have unearthed dwellings similar to those found in other Viking settlements. At L'Anse aux Meadows, a group of mounds near the village that the locals called the "old Indian camp" looked like the remains of houses. Seven archaeological excavations were carried out from 1961 to 1968. They concluded that the site was of Norse origin because of definitive similarities between the characteristics of structures and artefacts found at the site compared to sites in Greenland and Iceland from around 1000 CE. Nearby they have found evidence of iron-making, which experts have dated to the eleventh century. This is significant, because we know that neither native Americans nor Inuits were then able to make iron.
L'Anse aux Meadows is the only confirmed Norse site in North America outside of Greenland.
In 2016 satellite images suggested the possible location of another site at Point Rosee, in southwestern Newfoundland. This film explains how the site was found. So far however, no clear evidence has been found to prove the site was a Viking settlement
For many hundreds of years the stories of the Ericssons were largely considered to be myths, no more reliable as history that the myths we have studied about ancient Greece and Rome. The first European to have travelled to America was Columbus in 1492 and that was the only history that mattered until...
In the 1960s archaeologists Helge Ingstad and Anne Stine Ingstad found evidence to back up the Icelandic sagas. In Newfoundland they have unearthed dwellings similar to those found in other Viking settlements. At L'Anse aux Meadows, a group of mounds near the village that the locals called the "old Indian camp" looked like the remains of houses. Seven archaeological excavations were carried out from 1961 to 1968. They concluded that the site was of Norse origin because of definitive similarities between the characteristics of structures and artefacts found at the site compared to sites in Greenland and Iceland from around 1000 CE. Nearby they have found evidence of iron-making, which experts have dated to the eleventh century. This is significant, because we know that neither native Americans nor Inuits were then able to make iron.
L'Anse aux Meadows is the only confirmed Norse site in North America outside of Greenland.
In 2016 satellite images suggested the possible location of another site at Point Rosee, in southwestern Newfoundland. This film explains how the site was found. So far however, no clear evidence has been found to prove the site was a Viking settlement
Activity 1
- Using the map above and Google Maps to help you, identify the settlements furthest north, south, east and west that the Vikings 'invaded' between 700 and 1000 AD.
- In your own words, explain how the Icelandic sagas tell the story of how the Vikings travelled to America.
- How has archeology proven that the Vikings really did travel to America?
- How have satellite images been used to help find possible Viking settlements in North America?
What was so special about Viking ships?
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Viking ships were a great improvement on earlier designs. Each had a proper keel, or ‘backbone’, made of a single length of oak. This was strong enough to stand the strain of a mast and a large square sail.
The steer-board, or rudder, was shaped like the blade of an oar and fixed on the right-hand side of the hull, near the stern. This side of a ship is still called the starboard (from steer-board). They also used a clinker build technique which is a method of boat building where the edges of hull planks overlap each other. This made the ship strong but also flexible to cope with the ocean waves. |
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The Gokstad Viking ship
A few well preserved Viking ships have been discovered. Perhaps the best example was found in 1880, under a burial mound at Gokstad, near Oslo. A thick layer of blue clay had kept out water and saved most of the wood from rotting. The ‘Gokstad ship’ was buried in about AD 900. The Gokstad ship is clinker-built and constructed largely of oak. The ship was intended for warfare, trade, transportation of people and cargo. The ship is 23.80 metres long and 5.10 m wide and designed to be used at sea. It is the largest in the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. The ship was built to carry 32 oarsmen, and the oar holes could be hatched down when the ship was under sail. It had a square sail of approximately 110 square metres, which could propel the ship to over 12 knots (22 km/h).
A few well preserved Viking ships have been discovered. Perhaps the best example was found in 1880, under a burial mound at Gokstad, near Oslo. A thick layer of blue clay had kept out water and saved most of the wood from rotting. The ‘Gokstad ship’ was buried in about AD 900. The Gokstad ship is clinker-built and constructed largely of oak. The ship was intended for warfare, trade, transportation of people and cargo. The ship is 23.80 metres long and 5.10 m wide and designed to be used at sea. It is the largest in the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. The ship was built to carry 32 oarsmen, and the oar holes could be hatched down when the ship was under sail. It had a square sail of approximately 110 square metres, which could propel the ship to over 12 knots (22 km/h).
The mast could be raised and lowered. While the ship was traveling in shallow water, the rudder could be raised very quickly by undoing the fastening. Dendrochronological dating suggests that the ship was built of timber that was felled around 890 AD.
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The Gokstad Viking ship was also a burial site. An important viking was buried with his shop and objects that were important to him. You can. find out what archaeologists have discovered about him from this website.
Experimental archaeology
Experimental archaeology (also called experiment archaeology and experiential archaeology) is a field of study which attempts to generate and test archaeological hypotheses, usually by replicating ancient cultures performing various tasks or feats. It employs a number of methods, techniques, analyses, and approaches, based upon archaeological source material such as ancient structures or artefacts. One of the main forms of experimental archaeology is the creation of copies of historical structures using only historically accurate technologies. This is a working construction of the past. Because of the significant cost involved and the genuine public interest, experimental archaeology has often worked with film and tv producers in order to produce the reconstruction. In recent years, experimental archaeology has been featured in several television productions, such as BBC's Building the Impossible and the PBS's Secrets of Lost Empires.
Experimental archaeology (also called experiment archaeology and experiential archaeology) is a field of study which attempts to generate and test archaeological hypotheses, usually by replicating ancient cultures performing various tasks or feats. It employs a number of methods, techniques, analyses, and approaches, based upon archaeological source material such as ancient structures or artefacts. One of the main forms of experimental archaeology is the creation of copies of historical structures using only historically accurate technologies. This is a working construction of the past. Because of the significant cost involved and the genuine public interest, experimental archaeology has often worked with film and tv producers in order to produce the reconstruction. In recent years, experimental archaeology has been featured in several television productions, such as BBC's Building the Impossible and the PBS's Secrets of Lost Empires.
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The seaworthiness of Viking ships was shown as early as 1893, when an exact copy of the Gokstad ship was sailed across the Atlantic, from Norway to Newfoundland. Under sail, the ship reached speeds of ten or eleven knots, and the crossing took only 28 days. The ship came through several storms undamaged, mainly because its springy sides bent with the waves.
The History Channel programme opposite is a very good example of experimental archaeology. In the programme the archaeologists explain some of the advantages of reconstructing the past that cannot be achieved by only reading books and studying artefacts. |
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In some ways the Vikings were more advanced than their southern neighbours. At a time when most European sailors kept within sight of land, Vikings could steer directly across open sea. They set their course by the position of the sun, or the pole-star after dark. If they met storms or fog they drifted aimlessly, but when the sky cleared they could correct their course. These skilful and adventurous men were among the greatest sailors the world has known.
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Activity 2
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Experimental archaeology - one final example
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In the film, which is a part of the NOVA series Secrets of Lost Empires, a team of timber framers and other specialists design, build, and fire a pair of trebuchets, a devastating engine of war popular in the Middle Ages.
The Treb Challenge. Excellent online game introduces the engineering and physics of trebuchet building. Crush the Castle game which tests your skill in attacking castles and in the advanced version also building them. |
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