Archeologists to Study Pre-Settlement Hut in Iceland

The first archeological research in Iceland this year will begin at Hafnir in Reykjanes, southwest Iceland, on Monday. Archeologists will continue their study of a hut which may originate from 770-880 AD, the latter part of the Iron Age, and predate the historical settlement of Iceland in 874.

 

 

The remains of the hut at Hafnir. Photo: Bjarni F. Einarsson.

 

Excavation has been ongoing in the area around the hut, which has been given the name Vogur, with intermission since 2003, Fréttablaðið reports.

 

Last summer archeologist Bjarni F. Einarsson revealed that carbon age analysis indicated that the hut may have been constructed in the aforementioned period, which garnered considerable attention.

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"This place has never been empty..."

"Since the discovery in 1999, of a large settlement site from Early Stone Age (ca 6 000 -- 4 000 BC) close to the river Motala ström, the Swedish National Heritage Board has conducted archaeological excavations north and south of the river.

Among other artifacts the site provides a rich and multifaceted material of bone and antler, which is very rare for this type of Stone Age excavations. This is due to the exceptionally good conditions for preservation. Artifacts found in anaerobic, cool and moist contexts appear to be manufactured yesterday and not to have been deposited in layers of gyttja for 7 000 or 8 000 years.

The structure of the excavated area and the multifaceted artifacts in combination with the projects inter disciplinary constitution creates widening scopes of interpretation of how the site was used, and also broadens our perception of Early Stone Age society."

The video is about 18 mins long and has English sub-titles.

You can view the video here...

New Look for the Current Archaeology Website

Current Archaeology now has a dedicated news editor in-house, and the news articles are now posted on our website as the stories break rather than simply published in the magazine.  You can also subscribe to receive an email newsletter, and there are RSS feeds for your newreader as well.

Go to the Current Archaeology Website...

NEWS RSS: http://www.archaeology.co.uk/category/articles/news/feed
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The Current World Archaeology website has also been updated.

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Furness Hoard Viking treasure on display in Cumbria

 

The hoard of Viking silver coins and artefacts were discovered in 2010

 

A Viking hoard of silver coins and artefacts uncovered in the Cumbrian countryside has gone on display for the first time.

The Furness Hoard of Viking Treasure was found in 2010 at an undisclosed site by a metal detector enthusiast.

The hoard, which includes 92 silver coins, ingots and part of a bracelet, is on display at the Dock Museum in Barrow for one month.

Museum curator Sabine Skae said she hopes to buy the hoard.
 

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Skeletons Found at Mass Burial Site in Oxford Could Be 10th-Century Viking Raiders

Thirty-seven skeletons found in a mass burial site in the grounds of St John's College may not be who they initially seemed, according to Oxford researchers studying the remains.

When the bodies were discovered in the grounds of the college in 2008 by Thames Valley Archaeological Services, archaeologists speculated that they could have been part of the St Brice's Day Massacre in Oxford -- a well documented event in 1002, in which King Aethelred the Unredy ordered the killing of 'all Danes living in England'.

 

However, a new research paper, led by Oxford University, has thrown up a new theory -- that the skeletons may have been Viking raiders who were captured and then executed.

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Oxford Online Courses in Archaeology

The University of Oxford's online courses in archaeology for Trinity term are now open for enrolment.

"Cave paintings, castles and pyramids, Neanderthals, Romans and Vikings - archaeology is about the excitement of discovery, finding out about our ancestors, exploring landscape through time, piecing together puzzles of the past from material remains.

"Our courses enable you to experience all this through online archaeological resources based on primary evidence from excavations and artefacts and from complex scientific processes and current thinking. Together with guided reading, discussion and activities you can experience how archaeologists work today to increase our knowledge of people and societies from the past."

You can find the full list of courses here...

Lancaster City Museum 'ideal place' for Silverdale hoard

 

The hoard was declared treasure and is currently being valued

A Lancashire museum would be an "ideal place" for a hoard of Viking silver found in the county, experts say.

Gareth Williams, of the British Museum, said an assumption that large finds should go to the national museum was "an old-fashioned view".

The hoard of coins and jewellery was found near to Silverdale, in September 2011, by a metal detector enthusiast.

Mr Williams said housing it in Lancaster City Museum will help the understanding of local Viking history.

It was declared treasure by a coroner in December and is currently being valued.

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Funds needed to keep Viking hoard in South Cumbria

 

The hoard of Viking silver coins and artefacts is valued at £49,500

A fundraising appeal is under way to keep a Viking treasure find within South Cumbria.

The Furness Hoard of Viking Treasure was found a year ago at an undisclosed site by a metal detector enthusiast.

Campaigners need to raise £50,000 to buy and put it on display at the Dock Museum in Barrow.

The Furness Maritime Trust, a charity that supports the museum, has offered £19,000, meaning fundraisers need to raise £31,000.

The hoard includes 92 silver coins, ingots and part of a bracelet

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Scientists find runes on ancient comb

Archaeologists have found the oldest engravings of letters ever to be discovered in central Germany, officials from the area announced on Thursday.

 The ancient letters, called runes, were scratched onto a 12.5 centimetre-long comb by Germanic settlers in the second century, scientists working on the site in Saxony-Anhalt believe.

The letters spell out “Kama”, meaning comb, the president of the state Heritage and Archaeology Management Office, Sven Ostritz, said on Thursday.

It is the oldest ever example of runic writing to be found in that part of the country, he added.

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Skeletons found at mass burial site in Oxford could be ’10th-century Viking raiders’

Thirty-seven skeletons found in a mass burial site in the grounds of St John’s College in Oxford may not be who they initially seemed, according to Oxford University researchers studying the remains.

When the bodies were discovered in the grounds of the college in 2008 by Thames Valley Archaeological Services, archaeologists speculated that they could have been part of the St Brice’s Day Massacre in Oxford – a well documented event in 1002, in which King Aethelred the Unredy ordered the killing of ‘all Danes living in England’.

However, a new research paper, led by Oxford University, has thrown up a new theory – that the skeletons may have been Viking raiders who were captured and then executed.

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Ancient coins offer clues about medieval society

Norway’s economic system in the Middle Ages was more sophisticated than previously thought.

Keywords: Archaeology, The Middle Ages

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By: Isak Ladegaard

Norwegian coin from 1280-85, made in Bergen. (Photo: Svein Gullbekk) 

 

This claim is based on research on coin circulation in Norwegian society in the years between 1050 to 1320. In this period the use of coins was widespread and frequent, according to historian Svein Gullbekk at the University of Oslo. His study, The velocity of circulation of Norwegian coins c. 1050 to c. 1320 was recently published in a history periodical.

“This debate has been going on for 10 to 15 years,” says Svein Gullbekk. “The main question has been if goods were paid for by coins or commodities.”

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Viking-era 'piggy bank' yields silver treasure

A bronze, Viking-era "piggy-bank" containing thousands silver coins dating from the 11th century has been unearthed on the Baltic island of Gotland in what Swedish archaeologists have described as a "fantastic" treasure find.

The silver treasure was found last Thursday during an archaeological examination of a field in Rone, on southern Gotland.

"We had an expert out there with a metal detector who got a signal that he's found something pretty big," Per Widerström, an archaeologist with the Gotland Museum, told The Local.

The same field has yielded previous treasure finds, including a well-known discovery from the 1880s, when a collection of nearly 6,000 coins dating from the 11th century were uncovered.

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Vikings: Raiders, Traders and Settlers - Online Course

University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education

Mon 14 May to Fri 27 Jul 2012

Ravagers, despoilers, pagans, heathens - the Vikings are usually regarded as bloodthirsty seafaring pirates, whose impact on Europe was one of fear and terror. As they plundered the British Isles and the north Atlantic, these pagan invaders were seen by their Christian victims as a visitation from God.

Yet the Vikings were also traders, settlers and farmers with a highly developed artistic culture and legal system. Their network of trade routes stretching from Greenland to Byzantium and their settlements, resulted in the creation of the Duchy of Normandy in France, the foundation of the Kingdom of Russia in Kiev and Novgorod as well as the development of Irish towns including Cork, Dublin and Limerick.

This course will use recent findings from archaeology together with documentary records, to examine these varied aspects of the Viking world and to give a detailed and balanced view of this fascinating period.

Further details...

Viking Invaders Brought Armies of Mice

Vikings who conquered new lands unwittingly brought with them another sort of invader, a new DNA study says—mice.

Scientists studying the evolution of house mice already knew about a DNA pattern found only in mice in what's now Norway, a Viking homeland, and northern Britain, which Vikings colonized, said study leader Eleanor Jones, a population biologist at Uppsala University in Sweden.

The finding suggested to Jones and her team that the two populations, despite being separated by the sea, were related and that Vikings had possibly brought the mice to northern Britain.

The new study tested modern and ancient mouse remains from the sites of known Viking colonies and found the same telltale pattern, adding weight to the idea that the mice were brought by Viking colonizers.

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Norway's pilgrim trail

Reaching into its medieval past, Norway has revived an old pilgrim path as a challenging long-distance walking trail with possible spiritual vibes.

Called St. Olav’s Way after the country’s patron saint, it follows the footsteps of pilgrims to Trondheim, called Nidaros in the Middle Ages, and the earthly remains of St. Olav buried under its great cathedral.

In life, the saint was King Olav Haraldsson, credited with sealing Norway’s conversion to Christianity with a martyr’s death in battle in 1030. He was rushed into sainthood a year later. His spreading fame made Nidaros a major destination for European pilgrams, along with Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Pilgrims trod St. Olav’s Way until Lutheranism reached Norway in 1537, shutting down saint worship.

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Vikings 'carried mice to colonies'‎

Mice hitched a ride with Vikings to mount their own invasions in the 10th century, research has shown.

A genetic study shows that Viking longboats carried the weeny Norse warriors to colonies in Iceland and Greenland.

Scientists compared modern mouse DNA with ancient samples from mouse bones found at archaeological sites.

The analysis showed that the house mouse, Mus musculus domesticus, hitched lifts with Vikings in the early 10th century from either Norway or the northern British Isles.

Descendants of these stowaways can still be found in Iceland where DNA samples were collected from nine sites.

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Unique pagan temple unearthed in Norway

A fascinating discovery is shedding light upon pre-Christian Scandinavian religion and early Christian inroads into Norway. In the Norwegian press, this highly important find is being called "unparalleled," "first of its kind" and "unique," said to have been "deliberately and carefully hidden" - from invading and destructive Christians. 

The excavated temple [Credit: Preben Rønne, Science Museum/NTNU]

Located at the site of Ranheim, about 10 kilometers north of the Norwegian city of Trondheim, the astonishing discovery was unearthed while excavating foundations for new houses and includes a "gudehovet" or "god temple." Occupied from the 6th or 5th century BCE until the 10th century AD/CE, the site shows signs of usage for animal sacrifice, a common practice among different peoples in antiquity. Over 1,000 years ago, the site was dismantled and covered by a thick layer of peat, evidently to protect it from marauding Christian invaders. These native Norse religionists apparently then fled to other places, such as Iceland, where they could re-erect their altars and re-establish the old religion. 

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Pre-Christian Temple Discovered in Norway

Excavations for house foundations at Ranheim, Norway, have uncovered a small "gudehovet" or "god temple," a structure used by pre-Christian Pagan peoples. Used from around the eighth or ninth centuries BCE until the 10th century AD/CE, the site is well preserved because it was covered over by its worshippers with a thick layer of peat, apparently in order to protect it from marauding Christians. It is surmised that the site's inhabitants fled Christian invaders, who were known to slaughter the natives and destroy their sacred sites. The covering over of the site coincides with an exodus recorded in ancient Norse sources, around the time of the first Norwegian king, Harald Fairhair (872-930). These Norse writings were later composed in Iceland, relating that some 40 people had come there from the area of Trøndelag, Norway.

Regarding this discovery at Ranheim, head archaeologist Preben Rønne of the Science Museum/University of Trondheim remarked, "Indications are that the people who deliberately covered up the god temple at Ranheim took the posts from the stave house/pole building, in addition to the soil from the altar, to the place where they settled down and raised a new god temple. Because our findings and the Norse sources work well together, the sources may be more reliable than many scientists believed."

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The Viking Journey of mice and men

New research carried out at the University of York and published in BMC Evolutionary Biology has used evolutionary techniques on modern day and ancestral mouse mitochondrial DNA to show that the timeline of mouse colonisation matches that of Viking invasion.

House mice (Mus musculus) happily live wherever there are humans. When populations of humans migrate the mice often travel with them.Human settlement history over the last 1000 years is reflected in the genetic sequence of mouse mitochondrial DNA

During the Viking age (late 8th to mid 10th century) Vikings from Norway established colonies across Scotland, the Scottish islands, Ireland, and Isle of Man. They also explored the north Atlantic, settling in the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Newfoundland and Greenland. While they intentionally took with them domestic animals such as horses, sheep, goats and chickens they also inadvertently carried pest species, including mice.

A multinational team of researchers from the UK, USA, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden used techniques designed to characterize genetic similarity, and hence the relatedness of one population, or one individual, with another, to determine a mouse colonisation timeline.

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New TV drama – “Vikings” – to be filmed in Ireland and Northern Europe

The History Channel in the US and History Television in Canada have announced they will be airing a scripted drama series, Vikings. The series will chronicle the extraordinary and ferocious world of the mighty Norsemen who raided, traded and explored during medieval times. Set to premiere in 2013, the series will be filmed in Ireland and throughout picturesque locations in Northern Europe. Shaw Media will be the broadcast partner in Canada, airing the show on HISTORY Television in Canada. The announcement was made by Nancy Dubuc,

“This is an amazing crossroads for HISTORY embarking on our first scripted series,” said Nancy Dubuc, President and General Manager of History. “People think they know about the Vikings – we see references to them all the time in our popular culture from TV commercials to football teams – but the reality is so much more fascinating and complex, more vivid, visceral and powerful than popular legend. We will explore the mysteries of the Vikings – the adventures they took and the people who led them. And we will start to understand a past that is very much part of our collective DNA today.”

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Professor Ray Page (1924 - 2012)

The Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic is sad to announce the death on 10 March 2012 of Professor Raymond Page, Emeritus Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University of Cambridge, and Fellow and former Librarian of Corpus Christi College.

Born in 1924, Professor Page was an undergraduate at the University of Nottingham, and came to Cambridge in the 1960s. He became Fellow and Librarian of Corpus Christi College, and was for many years Lecturer and then Reader in Old Norse language and literature in the Department of ASNC.

From 1984 until his retirement in 1991 he was Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon. He will be fondly remembered by many for his teaching of Old Norse and of Scandinavian history in the Viking Age, and as the ‘silver-haired librarian’ of Corpus. His funeral will take place in the chapel of Corpus Christi College on Thursday 22 March at 2 p.m.

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New viking village discovered

Norwegian archeologists have discovered the foundations of at least 15 buildings, an 80-meter long street and a harbour near Gokstadhaugen burial mound in Sandefjord.

So far, the ground hasn’t even been broken into. The remains that could potentially be part of an entire village have been located by using ground penetrating radar and magnetometer.

Archeologists from the Cultural and Historic museum in Oslo, the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) and Vestfold County made the discovery at Gokstadhaugen, where the famous Gokstad viking ship and burial ground were also discovered in 1880.
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New Norway Viking settlement discovered

Experts have found a hitherto unknown Viking area with the aid of modern science and no shovels, reports say.

Gokstad's grave mound can be seen in the backgroundScientists using a magnetometer in Gokstad
Photo: Norwegian Institute for Cultural heritage

Using a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetometer, surveys have revealed the settlement in Sandefjord in Gokstadhaugen, eastern Norway, has 15 buildings, an 80-metre long street and a port.

Archaeologists from Oslo’s Museum of Cultural History and the Norwegian Institute for Cultural heritage Research (NIKU) were among those that made the discovery, in cooperation with Vestfold County.

Work in Gokstadhaugen began in 2011 with drilling there, as well as experts making geophysical surveys from the sea a northwards in what is called Gokstad Valley (Gokstaddalen).

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Scots and English universities to share Viking knowledge

Scottish and English universities are to work together in an effort to expand knowledge of Viking culture.

The University of the Highlands and Islands' Centre for Nordic Studies will work with staff and students from Oxford, Cambridge and Nottingham.

The project will include seven-day field trips for students to Viking sites on Orkney.

It will conclude with public exhibitions showcasing information gathered by the students.

Dr Heather O'Donoghue, reader in Old Norse at Oxford University and project leader, said the project would be an opportunity to share knowledge on the Vikings.

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Unique runestone included in UNESCO list

A unique runestone that is the first to mention Norway as a country and that documents the establishment of Christianity there, has been placed on a list of world heritage documents of international importance.

The Kuli Stone. Image: NTNU Museum of Natural History of Archaeology

The “Kuli Stone” is the oldest object in the newly launched register of Norway’s list of documents to be included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World programme. The programme is an international register of documents that are seen as important aspects of our shared international heritage. The Norwegian version was launched on 8 February 2012 and lists documents that are especially important in Norway’s history and to its cultural heritage.

The text on the Kuli Stone is the first known occurrence and use of the term “Nóregi” – “Norway” – in the country it names. The stone has additional importance as it also dates to the establishment of Christianity in the country in a phrase that is often transcribed as:

“… twelve winters Christianity had been in Norway”.

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Norse settlement may help us adapt to global changes

limate scientists have been examining the past environments and archaeological remains of Norse Greenland, Iceland and North Atlantic Islands for several years. They have been particularly interested in the end period of the settlements in the early part of the Little Ice Age (1300-1870 CE) and have been able to analyse how well the Norse responded to changes in  economy, trade, politics and technology, against a backdrop of changing climate.

They found that Norse societies fared best by keeping their options open when managing their long-term sustainability, adapting their trade links, turning their backs on some economic options and acquiring food from a variety of wild and farmed sources. Researchers say their findings could help inform decisions on how modern society responds to global challenges but also warns of inherent instabilities that do not directly link to climate.

In the middle ages, people in Iceland embraced economic changes sweeping Europe, developed trading in fish and wool and endured hard times to build a flourishing sustainable society. In Greenland, however, medieval communities maintained traditional Viking trade in prestige goods such as walrus ivory.


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Well-Red Vikings sail in for festival

YORK’S annual Viking invasion has created a combination between Norse history and a traditional fairy story.

A key event in this year’s Jorvik Viking festival saw youth and experience come together when Phillip Sherman, of Booster Cushion Theatre, and several young helpers performed Eric the Red Riding Hood at the Early Music Centre, in Walmgate, York.

The play involves the heroine of the story encountering a myriad of characters in a humorous retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.

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Roar talent at Viking festival

THE annual Jorvik Viking Festival swung into action with a skirmish in York city centre.

Viking characters wearing battle attire took over Coppergate to help start the popular festival, which is expected to attract 40,000 people.

This year marks the 27th festival and will feature more than 80 events culminating in a ferocious battle before the Festival Of Fire climax featuring fire jugglers, a firework display and the burning of a 60ft-longship on Bustardthorpe Field at York Racecourse on Saturday.

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Time Team: Mary-Ann Ochota quits Channel 4 archaeological show

Time Team has been thrown into disarray after Mary-Ann Ochota became the second presenter to leave the Channel 4 archaeological programme. 

Mary-Ann Ochota, 30, who holds a master’s degree in archaeology and anthropology from Cambridge University, has left the show after a row with Prof Mick Aston, the archaeologist.

Her leaving the show comes after Prof Aston, 65, also quit the show after producers hired Ms Ochota, a former model, as the programme’s co-presenter with Tony Robinson.

Prof Ashton, who has been on the show for 19 years, said he had been left “really angry” by changes which led to the introduction of co-presenter and some archaeologists being axed.

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Reply to my complaint to Channel 4 concerning Time Team Changes

As expected, a wishy-washy response - but the more people who write in, the better!

"Dear Mr Beard,

Thank you for contacting Channel 4 Viewer Enquiries regarding TIME TEAM.

We are sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the new format of the show and that Prof. Mick Aston has decided to leave. We are saddened by Mick 's decision to leave, he has been a fantastic member of the Time Team team and we wish him well in the future.

Please be assured your complaint has been logged and noted for the information of those responsible for our programming.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us. We appreciate all feedback from our viewers; complimentary or otherwise.

Regards,

Doug Masterson

Channel 4 Viewer Enquiries"

Please take the time to send your own comments to Channel 4.  Use the link here...

See the original story " Mick Aston quits Time Team after producers hire former model co-presenter"...

Mick Aston quits Time Team after producers hire former model co-presenter

Mick Aston, the archeologist, has quit Time Team after producers hired a former model as the programme’s co-presenter. 

The 65-year-old, who has been on the show for 19 years, said he had been left “really angry” by changes which led to the introduction of co-presenter Mary-Ann Ochota and some archaeologists being axed.

In an interview with the magazine British Archaeology, Prof Aston, the show’s former site director, said: “The time had come to leave. I never made any money out of it, but a lot of my soul went into it. I feel really, really angry about it.”

He was responding to changes first proposed by producers at Channel 4 in late 2010, which included a new presenter to join Tony Robinson and decisions to “cut down the informative stuff about the archaeology”.

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Click here to contact Channel 4 to tell them what you think of their decision.

Viking barley in Greenland

The Vikings are both famous and notorious for their liking of beer and mead and archaeologists have discussed for years whether Eric the Red (ca 950-1010) and his followers had to make do without the golden drink when they settled in Greenland around the year 1,000:  The climate was mild when they landed, but was it warm enough for growing barley?


Researchers from the National Museum in Copenhagen say the answer to the question is ‘yes’. In a unique find, they uncovered tiny fragments of charred barley grains in a Viking midden on Greenland.

The find is final proof that the first Vikings to live in Greenland did grow barley – the most important ingredient in making a form of porridge, baking bread and of course in brewing beer, traditionally seen as the staple foods in the Vikings’ diet.

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Viking axe find in Slimbridge discounted by archaeologists

An axe head found in a garden in Gloucestershire, which was claimed to be of Viking origin, is an 18th Century woodworking tool, experts have said.

It was found in 2008 by Ian Hunter Darling under a hedge at his home in Slimbridge.

Slimbridge Local History Society who said last week it was Viking have now renamed it the "Slimbridge axe head".

A meeting about the find is taking place in Slimbridge on 21 February.

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Wirral’s history from the Bronze Age to the Vikings to be laid bare at lecture

KEEN historians can learn more about the latest local archaeological excavations in Wirral at a talk being held next week.

The Friends of Greasby Library will host a lecture by local historian Rob Philpott who will describe how finds in a garden in Irby shed new light on settlements in the area from the Bronze Age to the arrival of the Vikings.

Roman pottery was discovered by chance, providing new evidence to link the earliest inhabitants of Wirral with later Scandinavian settlers.

And the beginnings of human settlement in Wirral have been dated to the Mesolithic period, following finds in the early 1990’s at Greasby.

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Viking axe head discovery is 'evidence of battle'

 

Archaeologists think the axe head could be evidence of a battle in 894 AD

 

A Viking axe head found in a Gloucestershire village could be evidence of a battle more than 1,100 years ago, according to archaeologists.

The wrought iron object, found in Slimbridge in 2008, has now been identified as being of Viking origin.
Historians say a band of Vikings sailed up the River Severn and fought against the Anglo-Saxons in 894 AD.
Archaeologists say where the axe head was found is where they could have tied up their ships.

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Vikings Explore Hudson Bay

Viking exploration of Hudson Bay will continue in 2013 when descendants of the first Viking voyagers to reach North America 1,000 years ago sail into the Arctic from Churchill, Manitoba.


Jóhann Straumfjord Sigurdson and David Collette, whose ancestral grandmother was Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir, the mother of Snorri, the first European child born in North America, will sail from Canada to Iceland along a route that was old before Christopher Columbus was born.

“We’ve named the expedition Fara Heim”, said Jóhann Sigurdson. “In Old Norse, “að fara heim” means “to go home”. We are searching for Norse presence in the Arctic between Hudson Bay and west of Greenland to investigate how far West the Vikings explored”. The team will use non-damaging modern techniques to collect data and do no harm to artefacts or locations found. All information and any discoveries will be digitally recorded and shared with government agencies for formal archaeological investigation.

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Evidence suggests Vikings grew grain in south Greenland

Archaeologists from the Danish national museum have finally succeeded in confirming that Erik the Red and his people could indeed brew beer in Greenland when they lived there.


There has long been a question mark over whether or not the southern Greenlandic climate was warm enough in Viking times to grow grain for beer, mead, gruel and bread.

Now Danish archaeologists have found remains of burnt barley in a dunghill from the time when Erik the Red and other Icelanders moved to Greenland. The find is the first evidence of corn cultivation in southern Greenland a thousand years ago.

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Archaeology Courses at the Oxford Experience 2012

The Oxford Experience Summer School

1 July to 11 August 2012

The 2012 Oxford Experience Programme is now online.

The Oxford Experience is a residential summer school held at the college of Christ Church, University of Oxford.

The programme consists of 6 weeks of courses and participants attend for one or more weeks.
It offers a choice of twelve seminars each week over a period of five weeks. Participants do not need any formal qualifications to take part, just an interest in their chosen subject and a desire to meet like-minded people.

You can also find details of the various archaeology courses offered at Oxford Experience here...

Mass grave belonged to Viking mercenaries

The burial site, containing the bodies of 54 young men, was unearthed at Ridgeway Hill near Weymouth in 2009 ahead of the construction of a new road, but the identity of the bodies within has mystified experts.

Because the men's severed heads were piled up on one side of the pit, it was assumed they had been the unfortunate victims of a mass execution.

Radiocarbon dating showed that the men had been killed some time around the year 1000, and isotope testing on their teeth found that they were from Scandinavia, suggesting they may have been Viking invaders.

Now an archaeologist from Cambridge University has put forward a theory that the men were a gang of Viking mercenaries who were murdered on the order of the English king Aethelred II.

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The Viking death squads who got a taste of their own medicine: Mass grave shows how the Anglo-Saxons hit back at invaders

A mass grave found in Dorset contains the bodies of an elite ‘hit squad’ of invading Viking warriors, experts claim. 

All decapitated and buried alongside their severed heads, the 54 skeletons were discovered in 2009 by workmen digging a road.

Archaeologists dated their bones to around the year 1,000 but had few other clues as to the identities of the men who met such a sticky end.

Now a researcher at Cambridge University claims to have pieced the story together in a documentary to be screened tonight.

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Viking mass grave linked to elite killers of the medieval world

A crew of Viking mercenaries – some of the fiercest and most feared killers in the medieval world – could be the occupants of a mysterious mass grave in the south of England, according to a new theory.

The intriguing hypothesis is being put forward in a documentary, Viking Apocalypse, which will premiere on National Geographic UK on Wednesday, 25 January, and attempts to piece together the identities of a group of men who were apparently the victims of a horrific mass execution around the turn of the 11th century.

Their burial pit, at Ridgeway Hill, Dorset, was found in 2009 while archaeologists were working in the area ahead of the construction of a new road. In it, researchers made the gruesome discovery of the decapitated bodies of 54 young men. All had been dumped in the shallow grave, and their heads had been piled up on the far side.

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Skeletons found in Dorset mass grave 'were mercenaries'

A mass grave in Dorset containing 54 decapitated skeletons was a burial ground for violent Viking mercenaries, according to a Cambridge archaeologist. 

The burial site at Ridgeway Hill was discovered in 2009.

Archaeologists found the bodies of 54 men who had all been decapitated and placed in shallow graves with their heads piled up to one side.

Carbon dating and isotype tests revealed the bodies were Scandinavian and dated from the 11th Century.

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Archaeologists dig spot where hoard was found

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have examined the secret Furness site where a hoard of silver Viking booty was unearthed by a metal detectorist. 

In Easter last year a local enthusiast discovered 92 pieces, made up of a number of very rare silver coins and assorted artifacts.

The hoard, dated to around 955, was officially declared treasure in September.

It has been described as “the missing link” by experts, who say it is the long-awaited evidence of a material culture of the 9th and 10th Century Vikings who settled in the Furness peninsula.


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Outreach and widening participation

Applications are now open for our annual Sutton Trust Summer School in Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, which will take place on 13th-17th August. The Sutton Trust is an organisation which seeks to promote social mobility through education, and each year participants in our Summer School are given the opportunity to experience life as a Cambridge undergraduate: staying in a College, attending lectures and seminars, and receiving one-to-one or small group 'supervisions' on the languages, literatures, and history of medieval Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia. More information on how to apply is available via the University's webpages.

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Researchers collect DNA from men with possible links to York’s Viking past

MEN with Viking surnames filled the meeting room of New Earswick Folk Hall and queued to help research into the ethnic origins of the British people.

Academics were collecting DNA from men with Viking names to see if they are directly descended from the Scandanavian traders and seaman who once ruled York and Yorkshire.

It was the first of four gatherings across northern England and followed a public appeal for people with Viking surnames to come forward.

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Viking king discovery claims

AN amateur historian from Yorkshire claims to have discovered a new Viking king of York.

Musician and poet Damian Bullen has developed a theory after reading about the Silverdale Haul, a collection of coins and jewellery found in Lancashire in September, of similar designs to coins from about 900AD.

One of the Medieval coins has a design which has never been seen before, and carried the name Airdeconut, believed to be a derivation of Harthacnut, an early king of England and Denmark.

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Archaeologists hunt for Viking heritage in Sherwood Forest

The land surrounding a mysterious ancient monument in Sherwood Forest is to be researched after a local history group received a £50,000 lottery grant.

A Thynghowe or Thing, an open-air meeting place where Vikings gathered to discuss the law, was discovered in Sherwood Forest seven years ago.

Experts surveyed the site this year and suggested the wider area be looked at.

The Friends of Thynghowe now plan to search for further evidence of Vikings including a "court circle".

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Was St Edmund killed by the Vikings in Essex?

The story of Edmund, king and martyr, has become a kind of foundation myth for the county of Suffolk, but contains at least one element of truth – in 869 there was a battle between the East Anglians and the Vikings; Edmund was captured and later killed.

However, the site of the battle (recorded as Hægelisdun) was forgotten, and different modern historians have suggested that it was at Hoxne in Suffolk, Hellesdon in Norfolk, or at Bradfield St Clare near Bury. The new proposal by Dr Briggs is unusual in that it is based on a detailed analysis of the linguistic structure of the various place-names involved. UWE Bristol has several experts among its staff in the study of both place-names and personal names from the viewpoint of historical linguistics. The use of place-names has long been recognized as an essential input into the broad study of settlement and migration, but the current work is an intriguing example of a precise conclusion about one historical event being drawn purely from place-name research.


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Mysterious Viking-era Graves Found With Treasure

Sword at his side, the so-called Young Warrior (left) is among the thousand-year-old discoveries in a newfound cemetery in Poland, a new study says.

The burial ground holds not only a hoard of precious objects but also hints of human sacrifice—and several dozen graves of a mysterious people with links to both the Vikings and the rulers of the founding states of eastern Europe.


(Related: "'Thor's Hammer' Found in Viking Grave.")

Researchers are especially intrigued by the Young Warrior, who died a violent death in his 20s. The man's jaw is fractured, his skull laced with cut marks. The sword provides further evidence of a martial life.

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Silverdale Viking Hoard stars in Treasure and Portable Antiquities Scheme reports

The British Museum is delighted with the continuing success of the Treasure Act and the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and they have every right to be.

The reports, launched last week, detail 90,099 finds and 860 Treasure cases in 2010 alone; since the Scheme started there have been 750,000 "finds" across England and Wales, all listed on the website www.finds.org.uk.

The highlight of the press launch was a selection of finds from the Silverdale Viking Hoard, discovered in North Lancashire in September 2011 by local metal-detectorist Darren Webster.


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