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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University of Oxford Online Archaeology Courses

Enrolment is now open for the following University of Oxford online courses in archaeology:
Archaeology of the Bible Lands (Online)
Exploring Roman Britain (Online)
Greek Mythology (Online)
Origins of Human Behaviour (Online)
Ritual and Religion in Prehistory (Online)
Vikings: Raiders, Traders and Settlers (Online)

Silverdale silver Viking hoard declared treasure

A hoard of Viking silver found in Lancashire has been declared as treasure by a coroner.

The hoard of 201 coins and pieces of jewellery was found in September near to Silverdale by metal detector enthusiast Darren Webster, 39.

It was declared treasure by Lancashire deputy coroner Simon Jones at a hearing in Lancaster.
Lancashire Finds Liaison Officer Dot Boughton said the hoard was "very significant".

Lancaster City Museum has said it would attempt to keep the hoard in the area once it received an official valuation early in the new year.

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Researchers puzzled as grave did not hold remains of medieval Swedish king

Earlier this year, researchers in Sweden excavated what they believe was the tomb of King Magnus Ladulås (1240-1290) at Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm, hoping to learn more about the medieval Swedish ruler and his family. But DNA tests have revealed that the bodies of nine people buried in the tomb actually died sometime between 1430 and 1520.

Records show that the King Magnus wished to have his remains buried in the church, and in 1573 the Swedish King, Johan III erected a sarcophagus with an effigy on top of what he believed was the location of the tomb.

The researchers said on their blog: “It is a fantastic story that is rolled up in front of our eyes. Johan II had the impressive tomb put up above the wrong grave and this historical hoax has been unchallenged for 400 years! On good grounds we believe instead that Magnus Ladulås was placed in the southern tomb in front of the choir, i.e. the tomb in which King Karl Knutsson placed himself in the 15th century. With the knowledge we have today it is obvious that we have only done half the job. In order to make further progress in this project we need to open also the southern part of the choir-tombs (the tomb of Karl Knutsson) and investigate all individuals there.”

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Viking Hoard discovered in England

In what is being described as a “very exciting find” over 200 items dating back to around the year 900 have been discovered near Silverdale, in north Lancashire. Now known as the Silverdale Viking Hoard, the collection cotnains a total of 201 silver objects and a well preserved lead container. Of particular interest is the fact that the hoard contains a previously unrecorded coin type, probably carrying the name of an otherwise unknown Viking ruler in northern England.

The Silverdale Viking Hoard was discovered in mid-September 2011 by Darren Webster, a local metal-detectorist, who reported it to the local Finds Liaison Officer that evening. The hoard comprises 27 coins, 10 complete arm-rings of various Viking-period types, 2 finger-rings and 14 ingots (metal bars), as well as 6 bossed brooch fragments, a fine wire braid and 141 fragments of chopped-up arm-rings and ingots, collectively known as ‘hacksilver’. The lead container is made of a folded-up sheet, in which the coins and small metalwork had been placed for safekeeping, while buried underground. The container is responsible for the excellent condition in which the objects have survived for more than ten centuries. The coins are a mixture of Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Viking, Frankish and Islamic types, including coins of Alfred the Great (871-99) and his god-son the Viking leader Guthrum, who became king of East Anglia with the baptismal name of Athelstan.
Researchers are interested in the single coin that shows a previously unknown Viking ruler. One side of the coin has the words DNS (Dominus) REX, arranged in the form of a cross, reflecting the fact that many Vikings had converted to Christianity within a generation of settling in Britain. The other side has the enigmatic inscription. AIRDECONUT, which appears to be an attempt to represent the Scandinavian name Harthacnut. The design of the coin relates to known coins of the kings Siefredus and Cnut, who ruled the Viking kingdom of Northumbria around AD 900, but Harthacnut is otherwise unrecorded.

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Evidence for unknown Viking king Airdeconut found in Lancashire

201-piece silver hoard from AD900 discovered by a metal detectorist in Silverdale, Lancashire

Evidence of a previously unknown Viking king has been discovered in a hoard of silver found by a metal detectorist, stashed in a lead box in a field in Lancashire.

The 201 pieces of silver including beautiful arm rings, worn by Viking warriors, were found on the outskirts of Silverdale, a village near the coast in north Lancashire, by Darren Webster, using the metal detector his wife gave him as a Christmas present. It adds up to more than 1kg of silver, probably stashed for safe keeping around AD900 at a time of wars and power struggles among the Vikings of northern England, and never recovered.

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Silverdale Viking hoard examined by British Museum

A hoard of Viking coins and jewellery found buried in north Lancashire is being examined by experts at the British Museum.

The collection of more than 200 coins and pieces of jewellery was found in September close to Silverdale by Darren Webster, 39.

The hoard, which was in a lead box, includes a coin thought to refer to a previously unknown Viking ruler.

A coroner will decide this week if the hoard qualifies as treasure trove.

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Incredible Viking hoard from days of Alfred the Great could 'fill in the blanks' about a murky period in British history

A man who found a hoard of Viking silver that had lain undetected for hundreds of years has described his discovery as ‘lucky’.


Darren Webster got his metal detector out in a field near his home when he had an hour to spare one day, and 20 minutes later was digging up a hoard of hidden silver coins and jewellery.


The 39-year-old stone mason from Lancashire made the discovery in September on land around Silverdale in north Lancashire. The artifacts date back to the ninth century and the rule of Alfred the Great.

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Viking hoard provides new clues to 'previously unknown ruler'

One of the most important hoards of Viking silver ever found in Britain contains valuable coins bearing the identity of a previously unknown ruler, it emerged yesterday.

The “hugely significant” hoard of 1,000-year-old artefacts includes more than 200 coins, ingots and pieces of silver jewellery that was found buried underground in north Lancashire.

Experts at the British Museum are currently examining the hoard after it was discovered in a lead pot by a metal detector enthusiast. A coroner will decide later this week whether it qualifies as treasure.

The hoard was placed in a lead box and buried underground at a time when the Anglo-Saxons were attempting to wrest control of the north of the country from the Vikings.

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Evidence for unknown Viking king Airdeconut found in Lancashire

201-piece silver hoard from AD900 discovered by a metal detectorist in Silverdale, Lancashire

Evidence of a previously unknown Viking king has been discovered in a hoard of silver found by a metal detectorist, stashed in a lead box in a field in Lancashire.

The 201 pieces of silver including beautiful arm rings, worn by Viking warriors, were found on the outskirts of Silverdale, a village near the coast in north Lancashire, by Darren Webster, using the metal detector his wife gave him as a Christmas present. It adds up to more than 1kg of silver, probably stashed for safe keeping around AD900 at a time of wars and power struggles among the Vikings of northern England, and never recovered.

Airdeconut – thought to be the Anglo Saxon coin maker's struggle to get to grips with the Viking name Harthacnut – was found on one of the coins in the hoard.

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Archaeologists Return to Investigate Viking Period Site in Gotland

he world’s largest silver hoard was discovered in an agricultural field on an island in Scandinavia. The hoard weighed about 67 kilos, consisting of two caches about 3 meters apart. Dated to the 9th century AD, the hoard boasted a pure silver cache of more than 14,200 coins and nearly 500 silver arm rings and other objects, placed in wooden boxes beneath the floor of a Viking Age house structure. Related to this discovery was another find of bronze objects, weighing as much as 20 kilos, also placed in a wooden box.


The island, known as Gotland, is a part of Sweden and situated in the middle of the Baltic Sea. It sports a rich heritage when it comes to the Early Middle Ages and the time of the Vikings. In terms of trade, it occupied a uniquely strategic trading position for the flow of goods east and west between Scandinavia and other parts of Europe, enriching its inhabitants with luxury goods that otherwise would have eluded their reach. To the Vikings, it was a place of settlement. No place in Scandinavia can compare to the massive amount of Viking artifacts that have been discovered here over the last 200 years. And no region has yielded as many silver hoards as Gotland. In fact, more then 700 hundred hoards, with more than 150,000 silver coins from countries as far away as the Arabic world, have testified to the significance of this island during the Viking Age.



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Viking Quiz

What do you know about the Vikings?

Try this online quiz. It loads 10 randomly selected questions from a large database, so each time that you return to the site you get a different set of questions.

You can find the Viking Quiz here…Viking Quiz

How Scandinavian is Scotland?

The Scottish government is exploring closer links with Nordic nations in the event of independence, reports have suggested. But just how similar is Scotland to its northern neighbours?


They don't make bridies in Bergen or Tunnock's Tea Cakes in Torsby.

Nor is Hakkebøf half as popular in Hamilton or Helensburgh as it is in Hvidovre.

But the North Sea which separates Scotland from Scandinavia could become slightly less of a divide if political leaders in Edinburgh have their way.

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Archeological Discovery Indicates Human Sacrifice

Archeological research of pagan graves in the valley Þegjandadalur in Suður-Þingeyjasýsla county in northeast Iceland support the theory that ritual human sacrifice was practiced during paganism in Iceland.

An L-shaped turf wall was discovered in Þegjandadalur, which is believed to have been constructed before Icelanders converted to Christianity in 1000 AD, Morgunblaðið reports.
 
In a large hole in the wall fractions of a human skull were found, a jawbone of a cat and various other animal bones, including a sheep jawbone and a several cattle bones. 
 
In a small grave up against the turf wall bones of a newborn baby in their original resting place were discovered.

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New Icelandic volcano eruption could have global impact

Hundreds of metres under one of Iceland's largest glaciers there are signs of an imminent volcanic eruption that could be one of the most powerful the country has seen in almost a century.

Mighty Katla, with its 10km (6.2 mile) crater, has the potential to cause catastrophic flooding as it melts the frozen surface of its caldera and sends billions of gallons of water surging through Iceland's east coast and into the Atlantic Ocean.

"There has been a great deal of seismic activity," says Ford Cochran, the National Geographic's expert on Iceland.

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Vikings Navigated With Translucent Crystals?

Icelandic spar may have revealed sun's position on cloudy days, study says.

Vikings may have navigated by looking through a type of crystal called Icelandic spar, a new study suggests.

In some Icelandic sagas—embellished stories of Viking life—sailors relied on so-called sunstones to locate the sun's position and steer their ships on cloudy days. (See Iceland photos submitted by readers like you.)

The stone would've worked by detecting a property of sunlight called polarization.

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Magical Viking stone may be real

A Viking legend which tells of a glowing "sunstone" that, when held up to the sky, disclosed the position of the Sun on a cloudy day may have some basis in truth, scientists believe.

The ancient race are believed to have to discovered North America hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus.

Now experiments have shown that a crystal, called an Iceland spar, could detect the sun with an accuracy within a degree – allowing the legendary seafarers to navigate thousands of miles on cloudy days and during short Nordic nights.

Dr Guy Ropars, of the University of Rennes, and colleagues said "a precision of a few degrees could be reached" even when the sun was below the horizon.

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Icelandic rocks could have steered Vikings

Vikings used rocks from Iceland to navigate the high seas, suggests a new study. 

In Norse legends, sunstones are said to have guided seafarers to North America.

Now an international team of scientists report in the journal the Proceedings of the Royal Society A that the Icelandic spars behave like mythical sunstones and polarise light.

By holding the stones aloft, voyaging Vikings could have used them to find the sun in the sky.

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Viking Buried With Axe, Sword and Spear Found With Fully Intact Viking Boat Burial in UK

The UK mainland's first fully intact Viking boat burial site has been discovered by archaeologists working in the Scottish Highlands. The 5m-long grave contained the remains of a high status Viking, who was buried with an axe, a sword with a beautifully decorated hilt, a spear, shield boss and bronze ring-pin.

The Viking had been buried in a ship, whose 200 or so metal rivets were also found by the team.

The 1,000-year-old find, on the remote Ardnamurchan Peninsula, was made by the Ardnamurchan Transitions Project (ATP) which is a team led by experts from the Universities of Manchester, Leicester, CFA Archaeology Ltd and Archaeology Scotland

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Linn Duchaill: Ireland's unlikely Viking capital

A windswept barley field just south of Dundalk seems an unlikely spot for Ireland's capital. 

But if things had been different, Annagassan near Castlebellingham might have been the principal city on the island of Ireland.

Twelve hundred years ago it was the site of Linn Duchaill, one of the first Viking settlements, which rivalled Dublin in size and importance.

Folklore said it was there, but all traces of it had disappeared, until a group of archaeologists and local historians set out to prove its existence.

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Archaeology Courses at the Oxford Experience 2012

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...

It's a new Viking invasion of Britain – but this time it's cultural

After the discovery of a Viking burial site in Scotland, Norse history and myths are the focus of a TV saga, epic novels and a major British Museum exhibition

Longboats, funeral pyres, glinting helmets and drinking horns: the discovery of a buried Viking boat in the west Highlands a few days ago has given an extra fillip to a burgeoning cultural fascination with all things Norse.

A succession of Viking literary sagas, films and television series, pieces of poetry and avant-garde art, not to mention preparations for a major British Museum show, are now all on the slipway.

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Viking boat burial site ‘could boost tourism’

THE discovery of a Viking boat burial site in the Highlands could boost tourism in the area if some of the artefacts can be retained at Ardnamurchan, it was claimed yesterday.

Local sources have confirmed that talks will be held to discuss the possibility of creating a new centre or exhibition space to house items from the burial site at Kilchoan.

Archaeologists revealed that the 16ft grave unearthed on the Ardnamurchan peninsula is the first fully-intact boat burial site to be found on the UK mainland.

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Irish ring-pin found in Viking boat burial site

A BRONZE Viking ring-pin believed to be from Ireland has been found buried with its owner in a major archaeological discovery in Scotland.

The 1,000-year-old remains of a Viking of high status in a five-metre-long boat burial site has been described as one of the most important Norse graves ever excavated in Britain.

As well as the ring-pin, which probably held his cloak, archaeologists also recovered other artefacts including an axe, a sword, a spear, what could be the tip of a bronze drinking horn and Viking pottery.

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Museums could bid for Ardnamurchan Viking finds

Museums will have the chance to bid to exhibit artefacts from the UK mainland's first fully intact Viking boat burial.

Archaeologists found the remains of a high-ranking warrior, along with a sword, axe and other items at Ardnamurchan in the Highlands.

Following analysis, the Crown is expected to eventually claim the objects on behalf of the nation.

Under treasure trove rules, museums could then apply to keep them.

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Viking secret puts Ross-shire town on map

AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL discovery in Dingwall could put the town on the international map and bring major benefits to Ross and Cromarty, experts claimed this week.

Geophysical surveys of the Cromartie car park in Dingwall town centre have revealed that it most likely is the site of the long lost meeting place of the Vikings who once ruled Ross.

The Highland Council-owned car park was closed to the public for two days last month to see if archaeologists could produce the hard evidence to back up beliefs that it was an important Viking assembly area around 1,000 years ago.

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Vikings and Scotland: 10 lesser known facts

THE discovery of the first fully intact Viking burial site in the UK - on the Ardnamurchan peninsula - has rekindled public interest in the Norse legacy on our shores.

The 16ft-long grave containing the remains of a “high-status Viking” who was buried with an axe, a sword and a spear provides a valuable insight into a period of our history which has fascinated Scots for centuries.

But the facts about the Vikings in Scotland bear little resemblence to the stereotypes of helmeted warriors pillaging the land at will. Here we delve a little deeper to examine ten lesser-known traits of our Nordic forebears.

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Found, the Viking war lord buried in his boat: 1,000-year-old tomb of Norse invader and weapons of war

Judging from the opulence of his tomb, he was a revered Viking warrior destined to take his place in Valhalla among the honoured dead.

Laid to rest in a 17ft boat with his sword, axe and bronze drinking horn, the powerful Norseman’s burial site has been discovered by archaeologists in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands.

The grave, unearthed in Ardnamurchan, is the first of its kind to be found intact on the British mainland and is thought to date from 1,000AD – the height of the ‘Second Viking Age’.

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Viking boat burial find is UK mainland first

The UK mainland’s first fully intact Viking boat burial site has been discovered by archaeologists working in the Scottish Highlands.

The 5m-long grave contained the remains of a high status Viking, who was buried with an axe, a sword with a beautifully decorated hilt, a spear, shield boss and bronze ring-pin.

The Viking had been buried in a ship, whose 200 or so metal rivets were also found by the team.

The 1,000-year-old find, on the remote Ardnamurchan Peninsula, was made by the Ardnamurchan Transitions Project (ATP) which is a team led by experts from the Universities of Manchester, Leicester, CFA Archaeology Ltd and Archaeology Scotland

Funded this season by The University of Manchester, Newcastle University and The Leverhulme Trust, the project brings together students and academics at what may be one of Britain’s most significant Viking sites. 


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A Viking treasure

A boat burial on the peninsula of Ardnamurchan, in Scotland, reveals just how noble the Vikings were.


Bad weather can have its comforts. “Bitter is the wind tonight, / It tosses the sea’s white tresses,” wrote an Irish monk more than 1,000 years ago, “I do not fear the fierce warriors of Norway, / Who only travel the quiet seas.”

A warrior of the sort he feared found his last resting place on the peninsula of Ardnamurchan, north of Mull and south of Skye. His newly discovered grave has astonished archaeologists, for it is the first Viking boat burial found on mainland Britain. There he lies with axe, sword and spear. He must have been a leader among Norsemen to gain this noble grave.

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Viking burial boat surfaces after 1,000 years

IT’S the sort of find most archaeologists spend their careers looking for, a discovery unseen by human eyes for more than a thousand years.

The first fully intact Viking boat burial site ever uncovered on the UK mainland has been found on the Ardnamurchan peninsula in Lochaber.

The 16ft-long grave contained the remains of a “high-status Viking” who was buried with an axe, a sword and a spear.

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Viking artefacts show 'high-status' burial

Archaeologists have discovered a Viking boat burial site in the Scottish Highlands.

The grave contained the remains of a high-ranking warrior with his axe, his sword, and his spear.

The find at Ardnamurchan is thought to be more than 1,000 years old.

Dr Oliver Harris from the University of Leicester said the burial artefacts belonged to a high-status individual.

Watch the video...

Britain’s first intact Viking boat burial site unearthed

A VIKING boat burial site, believed to be more than 1000 years old, has been discovered by archaeologists.

The 16-and-a-half foot long grave contained the remains of a high-status Viking who was buried with an axe, sword and spear.

The incredible discovery on the remote Ardnamurchan Peninsula in the Highlands is the first intact boat burial site to be uncovered on the UK mainland.

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Ardnamurchan Viking boat burial discovery 'a first'

The UK mainland's first fully intact Viking boat burial site has been uncovered in the north-west Highlands, archaeologists have said.

The site, at Ardnamurchan, is thought to be more than 1,000 years old.

Artefacts buried alongside the Viking in his boat suggest he was a high-ranking warrior.

Archaeologist Dr Hannah Cobb said the "artefacts and preservation make this one of the most important Norse graves ever excavated in Britain".

Dr Cobb, from the University of Manchester, a co-director of the project, said: "This is a very exciting find."


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Viking chieftain's burial ship excavated in Scotland after 1,000 years

Timber fragments and rivets of vessel, and deceased's sword and shield, unearthed undisturbed on Ardnamurchan peninsula

A Viking ship, which for 1,000 years has held the body of a chieftain, with his shield on his chest and his sword and spear by his side, has been excavated on a remote Scottish peninsula – the first undisturbed Viking ship burial found on the British mainland.

The timbers of the ship found on the Ardnamurchan peninsula – the mainland's most westerly point – rotted into the soil centuries ago, like most of the bones of the man whose coffin it became.

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Viking axe excavated after 1,000 years – video

Oliver Harris of the University of Manchester lifts the axe in a soil block from a 1,000-year-old boat burial of a Viking chief. The boat burial is the only undisturbed one ever found on the British mainland

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Modern Viking

Andrew Saur combines art and heritage to create special Nordic-inspired art.

Art was a part of Andrew Saur’s life since he was a child – he still has a sketch of a Viking ship he did as an eight-year-old. He grew up in on the shores of Lake Superior in Two Harbors, Minn., where many Nordic immigrants settled over a century ago. Saur discovered graphic design in college, and realized it was a perfect fit for his interest in computers and fine art.

Today Saur and his wife Angel Sarkela-Saur have traveled to the Nordic countries several times, engaging in the culture and seeing where their ancestors came from (both have different combinations of Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish heritage). The young couple is based in Duluth, Minn., and together they create one-of-a-kind art with Nordic inspiration.

“From church to bazaars, the heritage is everywhere,” said Sarkela-Saur.

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Converting the Isles

On Friday and Saturday 23 - 24 September 2011, the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic (University of Cambridge) hosted a two-day interdisciplinary conference on conversion to Christianity in North West Europe. It featured papers by an international group of historians, archaeologists and philologists, who were given a unique forum in which to explore conversion comparatively by focusing on different parts of Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia and Iceland in the early and central middle ages. The combination of places chosen for the discussion reflects our wish to establish a wide comparative framework, covering areas that are of significance to the study of conversion in both the pre-Viking and the Viking era. The talks were recorded and audio podcasts will be posted online soon.


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Minster tributes to Dr Richard Hall

HUNDREDS of people gathered in York Minster today to pay their final respects to world-renowned archaeologist Dr Richard Hall, who died earlier this month at the age of 62.

Reverend Canon Glyn Webster conducted the public service, which was held in the Quire of the Minster this afternoon, ahead of a private family burial.

Dr Peter Addyman, who worked with Dr Hall to raise the profile of the York Archaeological Trust, told the congregation Dr Hall was “as relaxed and assured when he briefed Magnus Magnusson as when giving unforgettable site inductions to new site diggers and recruits”, and had done a great deal to bring York’s Viking history to the public.

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Vikings: Raiders, Traders and Settlers (Online)

Online Course

Mon 3 Oct to Fri 16 Dec 2011

Ravagers, despoilers, pagans, heathens - the Vikings are usually regarded as bloodthirsty seafaring pirates, whose impact on Europe was one of fear and terror. Yet these Vikings were also traders, settlers and farmers with a highly developed artistic culture and legal system. This course uses recent findings from archaeology to examine these varied aspects of the Viking world.

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Vikings to return to Stamford Bridge

THE Vikings are on their way back to Stamford Bridge to re-enact the famous battle of 1066. History will come alive next week when a longboat full of warriors will row up the River Derwent to the East Yorkshire village and set up camp before facing up to their Saxon foe. Several days of activity will start when the boatload of Norwegian invaders arrives on Wednesday September 21, at Barmby, downstream of Stamford Bridge, where there will be displays of combat. Read the rest of this article...

Life in a Saxon hall

The re-enactment society Regia Anglorum is reconstructing an early medieval Saxon hall in Kent using materials and construction methods of the time. Regia Anglorum is a re-enactment society that aims to recreate as accurately as possible life in Anglo-Saxon and Viking Britain. Over the past 10 years, we have been building the Wychurst project – a fortified manor hall, using materials and construction methods of the time – on three acres of land in Kent. We have a rotation of 60-odd people who work on the project in the middle weekend of each month. The hall is 30ft high, 60ft long and 30ft wide, and is based on the West Hall at Cheddar, built around 850. No buildings of this type from the period have survived, so we did an enormous amount of research from archaeological dig reports and written accounts. It is built entirely in English oak, mostly sourced from within a mile of the site, which makes it a very accurate reconstruction. It is a great hall, where the local lord would have lived with his family and a few of his men. It would have served as town hall, law court, police station and as a place for protection. Read the rest of this article...

Viking coin haul is officially treasure

A VIKING hoard found in Furness has been officially declared treasure.

The collection of 92 silver coins and artefacts was discovered by a metal detectorist in the Furness area over the Easter weekend.

The hoard was officially declared as treasure by South and East Cumbria Coroner, Ian Smith, yesterday(31).

The hoard was provisionally valued at tens of thousands of pounds when it was first found and is the largest amount of Viking treasure ever found in Furness.

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Ancient Gold Necklace Found in West Fjords

Archeologists and university students recently discovered an ancient gold necklace during an excavation project in Vatnsfjördur in Ísafjardardjúp in the West Fjords, which has been ongoing for the past eight summers.

Scientists from different fields participate in the project, along with international university students, ruv.is reports.

Vatnsfjördur was settled early in the Settlement Era, which sources state began in the 9th century AD, and later became the site of a manor and a chieftain’s residence.

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Oxford Viking massacre revealed by skeleton find

Evidence of a brutal massacre of Vikings in Oxford 1100 years ago has been uncovered by archaeologists.

At least 35 skeletons, all males aged 16 to 25 were discovered in 2008 at St John's College, Oxford.

Analysis of wound marks on the bones now suggests they had been subjected to violence.

Archaeologists analysing the find believe it dates from 1002 AD when King Ethelred the Unready ordered a massacre of all Danes (Vikings) in England.

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Salme Yields Evidence of Oldest Sailing Ship in Baltic Sea

The ancient ship burial site in Salme on the island of Saaremaa still has some surprises in store.

The archeological excavations in Salme, soon to be completed, have yielded evidence that the ship that had been buried with 35 warriors and nobles had a keel, which in turn leads to the conclusion that it used sails. This represents the earliest known use of sails on a vessel in the Baltic Sea region, reported ETV.

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Sapphire ring 'belonged to Anglo-Saxon or Viking royalty'

A unique gold and sapphire finger ring, found by a metal detectorist and just purchased by the Yorkshire Museum, almost certainly belonged to Anglo-Saxon or Viking royalty, very senior clergy or a leading member of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy, say historians.

Of very great historical importance, it is the only Anglo-Saxon era sapphire ever found in the ground in Britain. The only other sapphire from the period is the one that the Queen wears in her Imperial State Crown, used at the opening of Parliament. Known as St. Edward’s sapphire, this latter gem was once part of King Edward the Confessor’s finger ring and is now the oldest gem in the British crown jewels.

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So much for Hagar the Horrible, with his stay-at-home wife, Helga. Viking women may have equaled men moving to England in medieval invasions, suggests

So much for Hagar the Horrible, with his stay-at-home wife, Helga. Viking women may have equaled men moving to England in medieval invasions, suggests a look at ancient burials.

Vikings famously invaded Eastern England around 900 A.D., notes Shane McLeod of the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Western Australia in the Early Medieval Europe journal, starting with two army invasions in the 800's, recounted in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. The Viking invaders founded their own medieval kingdom, 'the Danelaw', in Eastern England.

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Tooth filing was a worldwide craze among Viking men

Teeth with neat parallel grooves have been found in Viking graves in Sweden, Denmark and England, and farther afield

Filed Viking teeth are piling up. Caroline Arcini, an osteologist at the archaeology department of the Swedish National Heritage Board, was fascinated to learn from Oxford Archaeology of the men with neat horizontal lines filed into their teeth who ended up in a pit in Dorset: she has scores more such teeth on her desk.

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Weymouth Relief Road dig reveals dental discovery

A GRUESOME dental discovery has been unearthed during analysis of the Viking burial pit remains found during construction of the Weymouth Relief Road.

Experts analysing the findings have come across a filed pair of front teeth to add to the unravelling story about the beheaded victims.

The burial pit containing 51 decapitated skulls with their bodies strewn nearby was discovered on the Ridgeway in June, 2009, an experts have been busy examining the remains.

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.New discovery shows Vikings used to cut 'army stripes' into their teeth

Viking warriors may have given a new meaning to the expression 'cutting your teeth in battle' after archaeologists discovered the Norsemen filed stripes into their incisors to show their fighting status.


..The distinct grooves would have been made using a form of chisel to show the Viking was a proven warrior – similar to the various army stripes denoting rank of today, archaeologists believe.

The teeth were discovered in a mass grave containing 54 headless bodies and 51 skulls of Vikings which were unearthed two years ago by workers building a relief road near Weymouth, Dorset.

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Weymouth burial pit shows Vikings filed their teeth

Archaeologists have discovered that teeth belonging to a Viking warrior, found under the Weymouth relief road in Dorset, had been filed.

They were among remains found in a burial pit which was discovered two years ago. The pair of front teeth have deep horizontal grooves cut into them.

Experts are not sure why the teeth were filed, but believe it may have been to frighten opponents in battle or to show their status as a great fighter.

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Dorset burial pit Viking had filed teeth

Archaeologists have discovered one of the victims of a suspected mass Viking burial pit found in Dorset had grooves filed into his two front teeth.

Experts believe a collection of bones and decapitated heads, unearthed during the creation of the Weymouth Relief Road, belong to young Viking warriors.

During analysis, a pair of front teeth was found to have distinct incisions.

Archaeologists think it may have been designed to frighten opponents or show status as a great fighter.

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Walk of the week: Follow in the footsteps of Vikings in Co Down

This walk across the rocky outcrops of Orlock Point in Co Down affords stunning views of the Copeland Islands and out across the Irish Sea towards Scotland.

The area is steeped in archaeology and history, with evidence of Vikings, smugglers and World War II defences, and the outcrops harbour a mosaic of semi-natural habitats which support a rich diversity of plants and animals.

The path around Orlock Point has been managed by The National Trust since 1984. It runs from Portavo to Sandeel Bay and is a section of the North Down Coastal Path.

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Viking Quiz

What do you know about the Vikings?

Try this online quiz. It loads 10 randomly selected questions from a large database, so each time that you return to the site you get a different set of questions.

You can find the Viking Quiz here…

Hoard of Viking silver coins unearthed in Furness

A metal detectorist uncovered a Viking hoard of silver coins and artefacts in the Cumbrian countryside.

The collection, which has been provisionally valued at tens of thousands of pounds, was found in an undisclosed site in Furness.

It is being examined by experts at the British Museum and is expected to be declared as treasure.

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Viking silver coin hoard discovered in northern England

A Viking treasure hoard of silver coins has been discovered in the northern English country of Cumbria. The find is being billed as ‘the missing link’ by experts who say it is the long-awaited significant evidence of 9th and 10th Century AD material culture of the settlers upon the area around Barrow-in-Furness.

The 92 silver coins and artefacts (several ingots and one near-complete silver bracelet) were discovered and brought to the surface in May by a locally-based metal detectorist. Amongst the coins is a pair of Arahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifbic dirhams – silver currency which circulated in 10th century Europe but rarely found in the United Kingdom.

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Dinghies to cover Vikings' route from Wick to Arctic

An adventurer is leading a group of seven on a quest to follow the Vikings' route by sea from Scotland to the Arctic Circle - in inflatable boats.

Pete Goss, from Cornwall, will set off later from Wick, northern Scotland, heading off to the rocky coasts of Norway and then the Arctic.

He said he hoped to complete the route, in his 20ft dinghy, in six days.

It is believed to be the first time the route has been battled in such a small inflatable boat.

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Workers find ancient burial ground

Ancient skeletal remains have been uncovered by contractors working on the largest energy project in the country.

The unrecorded burial ground was discovered on farmland in Rush, north Dublin, as EirGrid laid piping for a high voltage direct current (HVDC) underground power line.

Several skulls and bones were recovered on the strip of land near Rogerstown estuary, which locals historians believe could date back to the Vikings in the 9th century.

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Are Vikings the next pop-culture fetish?

Is there room at the pop culture inn for Vikings? MGM sure hopes so. The formerly financially distressed studio has green lit an Irish-Canadian co-production of Vikings, a 10-episode drama series.

Produced by Michael Hirst and Morgan O’Sullivan, who have previously created The Tudors and Camelot, the series will focus on a Viking hero, Ragnar Lodbrok, who captured Paris, and be set in the 8th to 11th century.

Possibly building on the current twin pop culture successes of the recently-released film Thor and HBO’s adaptation of fantasy series, Game of Thrones, producers might feel that the warriors might get a chance in the sun. To be fair, Thrones is not exactly Viking-based, and Thor is definitely Marvel’s view of Norse mythology

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Did climate change cause Greenland's ancient Viking community to collapse?

Our changing climate usually appears to be a very modern problem, yet new research from Greenland published in Boreas, suggests that the AD 1350 collapse of a centuries old colony established by Viking settlers may have been caused by declining temperatures and a rise in sea-ice. The authors suggest the collapse of the Greenland Norse presents a historical example of a society which failed to adapt to climate change.

The research, led by Dr Sofia Ribeiro from the University of Copenhagen, currently at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, focused on Disko Bay in Western Greenland and used a marine sediment record to reconstruct climate change over the last 1500 years.

Events which occurred during this time frame included the arrival of Norse settlers, led by Eric the Red in AD 985. After establishing a colony known as the Western Settlement the Norse traveled north to Disko Bay, a prime hunting ground for walruses and seals.

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Professor Disputes Earlier Settlement in Iceland

The debate continues in Iceland on new evidence found in archeological research that there may have been people in Iceland before the “official” date of 874. In Hafnir remains of dwellings have been found, that may built earlier than that date.

This is not the first research of this type. Physicist Páll Theodórsson has written about a number of findings where C14 research has indicated burned wood that may be from the seventh century, hence placing men in Iceland 200 years before the “first” settler.

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New View on the Origin of First Settlers in Iceland

An archeological find in Hafnir on the Reykjanes peninsula (close to Keflavík Airport) may indicate that some men had started to come to Iceland before the year 874 AD, the year that has traditionally been considered the first year Nordic men came to Iceland to stay.

Archeologist dr. Bjarni F. Einarsson says that research at Hafnir indicate ruins of a cabin (Icelandic: Skáli) built well before the traditional year of origin of settlement.

“Usually when we find a cabin in Iceland we assume it is an ordinary farm, but then you should find outhouses as well. A thorough search by various means no other houses are found near the cabin and that makes one wonder what type of house it may have been.”

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Viking treasure looters found guilty

Tuesday saw the conclusion of a groundbreaking trial against five men charged with aggravated crime against relics following the looting of Viking age coins and artefacts on the Baltic island of Gotland.

“This verdict is unique. It is the first time that anyone has been found guilty of aggravated crime against relics since the law was made more severe on these cases in 1991,“ said Marie-Louise Hellqvist of the County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen) to local paper Gotlands Tidningar.

In November last year the police recovered a silver treasure dating back to the 11th century stolen from a field in Gandarve, Alva on Gotland in 2009.

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Vikings forced out of Greenland by 'cold climate that saw temperatures plunge by 4C in just 80 years'

A cold snap in Greenland in the 12th century may help explain why Viking settlers vanished from the island, scientists claim.

Researchers reconstructed temperatures by examining lake sediment cores in west Greenland dating back 5,600 years.

Their findings indicated that earlier, pre-historic settlers also had to contend with vicious swings in climate on icy Greenland.

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Arcus adds a Viking twist to its liquor

Arcus, a Norwegian liquor producer, was out in the Norwegian woods recently to look for the same herbs that the Vikings used to make their liquor.

Pors is the name of the herb that apparently had such a strong effect on King Harald Hårfagre that he simply forgot to rule the country for about three years, according to the Snorre Saga. Now, a busload of Arcus employees finds the plant so fascinating that they want to produce liquor with it.

“Our goal is not to make people go crazy from drinking pors liquor,” says Hege Ramseng, chief of information at Arcus. “We only want to use this herb to add flavor to liquor that goes well with food, for example, aquavit.”

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Climate played big role in Viking disappearance from Greenland

The end of the Norse settlements on Greenland likely will remain shrouded in mystery. While there is scant written evidence of the colony’s demise in the 14th and early 15th centuries, archaeological remains can fill some of the blanks, but not all.

What climate scientists have been able to ascertain is that an extended cold snap, called the Little Ice Age, gripped Greenland beginning in the 1400s. This has been cited as a major cause of the Norse’s disappearance. Now researchers led by Brown University show the climate turned colder in an earlier span of several decades, setting in motion the end of the Greenland Norse. Their findings appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Greenland cold snap linked to Viking disappearance

A cold snap in Greenland in the 12th century may help explain why Viking settlers vanished from the island, scientists said on Monday.

The report, reconstructing temperatures by examining lake sediment cores in west Greenland dating back 5,600 years, also indicated that earlier, pre-historic settlers also had to contend with vicious swings in climate on icy Greenland.

"Climate played (a) big role in Vikings' disappearance from Greenland," Brown University in the United States said in a statement of a finding that average temperatures plunged 4 degrees Celsius (7F) in 80 years from about 1100.

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EXCLUSIVE: Recreated Viking longship to sail to Wirral on maiden voyage

A RECONSTRUCTION of a Viking longship claimed to be the biggest ever built will sail to Wirral on its maiden voyage.

Construction work on the 35 metre Draken Harald Hårfagre – Dragon Harald Fairhair in English – started last summer in Haugesund, Norway.

After a series of test sailings it will embark on its first real voyage in summer 2013, following the path of the Vikings from Scandinavia via the British Isles to Istanbul.

Wirral will be one of the first stops and organisers are now looking for 80 volunteers who can help row the boat into harbour.

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Surprise Archeological Find from Iceland’s Settlement

Archeological remains that were found during an excavation in Urridakot in Gardabaer, a neighboring town of Reykjavík, were much older than archeologists had assumed. They date back to the settlement of Iceland in the 9th century AD while Urridakot is first mentioned in written sources from the 16th century.

Excavation has been ongoing in Urridakot in the past years because of planned construction in the area. In 2006 the local authorities asked the Institute of Archaeology to fully complete the registration of archeological remains within the town limits, Fréttabladid reports.

“The first test dig was made in Urridakot in 2007 and last year the excavation was to be completed at which point I decided to dig in the area between those that had been tested,” said archeologist Ragnheidur Traustadóttir.

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New power elite emerged in medieval Iceland as it became Norwegian

As Iceland became part of the Norwegian kingship 1262–1264, a new power structure in the shape of an Icelandic aristocracy appointed by the king of Norway was established. This development is discussed in a doctoral thesis in History from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, that sheds light on a period in the Icelandic history that previously has not received its due attention.

“The 14th century has never received a great deal of attention in Icelandic history writing. This is surprising since this period is at least as important as the considerably more frequently discussed so-called Free State period (around 930–1262/64) when Iceland was autonomous, especially considering the country’s state formation process,” says the author of the thesis Sigríður Beck.

Before becoming Norwegian, the country consisted of a number of territories ruled by chiefs who were constantly competing for power. Sigríður Beck has studied how the Icelandic power elite changed as the island became part of Norway and new offices and a new administration were introduced. Beck shows how an aristocracy was established as the king appointed officers who were to ensure that the country was administered according to Norwegian law.

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Viking ship not just ceremonial

For years, it was widely believed that the ancient Tune ship on display at the Viking Ships Museum in Oslo was used mainly as a so-called “grave ship,” perhaps even built for the purpose of being buried in the grave of an important Viking. Now a new doctoral dissertation claims that it was not only an ocean-going sailing vessel, but even grounded in its time and underwent repairs.

The Tune ship is the lesser-known and in the poorest condition of the three vessels on display at the museum. It was discovered on a farm on Rolvsøy, north of Fredrikstad, and excavated from a burial mound in 1867.

The grave was unusually large, measuring 80 meters in diameter and around four meters high, according to the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo. The vessel, built around 900AD, was best preserved in the areas where it had been buried under thick clay.

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Viking shipyard found on Scottish island

nvestigations by marine archaeologists at Loch na h-Airde on Skye’s Rubh an Dunain peninsula by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) have uncovered the remains of a possible medieval shipyard, including boat timbers dating from the 1100s, a stone-built quay, a man-made entrance canal, and a blockage system designed to keep a constant water level in the Loch.

It is now believed that the site has been a focus for maritime activity for many centuries, from the Vikings to the MacAskill and Macleod clans of Skye. The loch and canal would likely have been used for the secure wintering of boats, along with their construction and maintenance.

Colin Martin, a marine archaeologist specialising in ship wrecks who is investigating Loch na h-Airde said, “This site has enormous potential to tell us about how boats were built, serviced and sailed on Scotland’s western seaboard in the medieval period – and perhaps during the early historic and prehistoric eras as well. There is no other site quite like this in Scotland.”

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Builders find Viking settlement in capital

A VIKING settlement has been uncovered in the heart of Dublin city centre.

Archaeologists uncovered the settlement on what was once an island in Temple Bar. It consists of two Viking homes and was found during excavations that started two weeks ago.

The find was made when work began to construct four retractable umbrellas at Meeting House Square to be used as shelter during outdoor events.

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Aerial surveys of Viking shipyard on Skye

Aerial surveys are being carried out over Skye to help archaeologists investigate a 12th Century Viking shipbuilding site.

Boat timbers, a stone-built quay and a canal have already been uncovered at Loch na h-Airde on Skye's Rubh an Dunain peninsula.

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) has launched the air surveys.

Staff hope to pinpoint new sites for investigation.

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12th Century Viking shipyard discovered

Archaeologists on Skye have found a Viking shipbuilding site including a quay, canal and boat timbers.

A 12th Century Viking shipbuilding site has been discovered by archaeologists on Skye.

Boat timbers, a stone-built quay and a canal have already been uncovered at Loch na h-Airde on Skye's Rubh an Dunain peninsula.

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS ) has now launched air surveys to find out more about the discovery. The staff hope to pinpoint new sites for investigation.

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Archaeologists find new Viking site in Temple Bar

A VIKING SETTLEMENT has been uncovered in Temple Bar during building work to build a retractable canopy over Meeting House Square.

The settlement is believed to have been originally situated on what would have been an island in the middle of the River Poddle but would have been destroyed by flood waters in the 10th or 11th century.

Dermot McLaughlin, CEO of the Temple Bar Cultural Trust, posted a video blog in March that a “medieval, timber structure” had been uncovered. Further archaeological investigations found the two Viking homes at Meeting House Square, in the centre of Temple Bar. Bits of pottery from a slightly later era were also found at the site, when it was uncovered two weeks ago.

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Looted Viking treasure trial gets under way

Wednesday marked the first day in a groundbreaking trial against five men charged with aggravated crime against relics following the theft of over 1,000 silver coins and artefacts from the Viking age on the Baltic island of Gotland.

The court will reconvene on six occasions and it is the first time in Sweden that anyone is charged with aggravated crime against relics.

“That’s why this trial is important for the whole of Sweden”, said Majvor Östergren, archaeological administrator of Gotland's county administrative board, to local paper Gotlandstidningen.

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Dundee academics reconstruct Viking woman's face

Academics at Dundee University have helped recreate the face of a Viking woman whose skeleton was unearthed in York more than 30 years ago.

The facial reconstruction was achieved by laser-scanning her skull to create a 3D digital model.

Eyes were then digitally created, along with hair and a bonnet, to complete the look.

The project was part of a £150,000 investment at York's Jorvik Viking Centre.

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Midlands Viking Symposium to explore the legacy of the Vikings in Ireland

This year’s Midlands Viking Symposium will be taking place outside the United Kingdom for the first time in its history as scholars focus on the role of the Norse in Ireland.

The symposium (April 29th – May 1st) will be held in Dublin, with the opening address and reception taking place at the National Museum of Ireland.

The Vikings left a strong imprint on Ireland that is still apparent in place-names, archaeological finds and in the DNA of the modern population.

Recent archaeological finds of weapons, jewellery and Viking remains have provided new evidence of the deep and widespread impact that the invaders had on Ireland, when they started arriving on its shores more than a thousand years ago. The recently-discovered site of Annagassan promises to rival Viking Dublin in the richness and variety of relics uncovered there.

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Dundee University staff bring Viking's face to life

Academics at Dundee University have helped recreate the most accurate picture of Viking life yet as part of a £150,000 investment at York's Jorvik Viking Centre.

York Archaeological Trust, owner of Jorvik, has used the most advanced scientific and archaeological research techniques to bring York's Vikings to life and allow the public to come face to face with the most accurate picture of Vikings at two new exhibitions at the centre, launched this week.

The trust enlisted the skills of academics at Dundee University to produce a facial reconstruction of a female skeleton — one of four excavated at Coppergate in York over 30 years ago.

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Lewis Chessman exhibition opens in Stornoway museum

Some of the historic Lewis Chessmen have gone on display on the island where they were found more than 150 years ago.

More than 30 of the 12th Century pieces are being shown at the exhibition at Museum nan Eilean in Stornoway.

The chessmen were found beneath a sand dune near Uig on the west coast of Lewis at some point before 1831.

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Craft, churches and charcoal

Norway’s more than 1,000 year-old-city and historical capital, Trondheim, was a beehive of activity in medieval times. Recent archeological research by scientists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's (NTNU) Museum of Natural History and Archaeology in the city’s popular public forest, “Bymarka”, has uncovered more than 500 charcoal pits, tell-tale signs of substantial medieval metal working activity.

For centuries, Trondheim – or Nidaros as it was then called – was home to the Archdiocese of Norway, and also for the Faeroe Islands, the Orkney Islands, the Isle of Man, Iceland and Greenland. Nidaros Cathedral, the city’s gothic cathedral, held reliquaries from St. Olaf and thus attracted thousands of pilgrims. And the cathedral was not the only church in town. While just two of the many churches erected in the town center in medieval times still stand, 25 stone churches were built during the Middle Ages in the countryside around Trondheim.

“This charcoal production is most probably directly linked to major historic events and processes occurring in central Norway at the beginning of the Middle Ages. One obvious explanation is the Church’s impact on economic growth and production as well as its demand for building materials,” explains archeologist Ragnhild Berge, a PhD candidate based at NTNU's Museum of Natural History and Archaeology in Trondheim.

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The Dragon Harald Fairhair

The largest Viking ship built in modern times

In March of 2010, construction began on what will be the largest Viking ship ever built in modern times. Named after Harald Fairhair, the king who unified Norway into one kingdom, the great dragon ship is coming together in the town of Haugesund in Western Norway.

At a hundred and fourteen feet of crafted oak, twenty-seven feet on the beam, displacing seventy tons, and with a thirty-two hundred square foot sail of pure silk, this magnificent ship will indeed be worthy of a king.

The Dragon Harald Fairhair will have 25 pairs of oars. It is necessary to have at least two people on each oar to row the ship efficiently. That will give a crew of at least 100 persons, yet the craft should be able to be sailed by only twelve.

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Papers from the Staffordshire Hoard Symposium

A Symposium was held at the British Museum in March 2010. Twenty seven papers were delivered and there was much useful discussion. Summaries of many of the papers, together with some of the discussion and subsequent thoughts, will be added to this page over the next few months. In some cases, the embedded images have been processed to allow for a zooming image interface.

Records for the objects in the Hoard are being added slowly, in a skeleton format, which will be enhanced as more data becomes available following research, conservation and time being available to update them. These can all be accessed via our database record for the hoard. The current iteration of the Hoard's website, is going to be superseded shortly by one that has been in development by the Partnership since before Christmas. The old site will still be available via this page and we will shortly be pulling in Flickr images for the Hoard to these pages.

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To be or not to be…Irish?

Denmark’s most famous literary prince was probably from Ireland, according to a British expert. While scholars generally agree that William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet was based on the story of Amleth by 12th century Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, a new theory suggests that the original inspiration for the work came from closer to home.

Saxo’s story in turn is also thought to have been based on the 10th and 11th century sagas of Icelandic author Snow Bear, with the name Amleth (an anagram of Hamlet) coming from the character Amlothi who appears in the earlier stories.

However, Dr Lisa Collinson from the University of Aberdeen claims to have clear evidence that Amlothi was in fact Irish, making reference to the story of Admlithi (with a silent ‘d’) from the eighth or ninth century. The tale tells of a taboo-breaking Irish king who kills his son in a bloody finale.

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Was the great Dane Irish? That is the question

Medieval Scandinavian expert traces name Hamlet to Gaelic tale The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel

Not "O Hamlet" but O'Hamlet: Shakespeare's Prince of Denmark, according to literary research, derives his peculiar name from ancient Irish origins.

The identity of the Prince of Denmark has fascinated scholars for centuries, with disputes about the name's Jutish, Icelandic or Latin etymology jostling for academic pre-eminence.

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Spectacular finale to York Viking festival on Knavesmire

THE sights and sounds of Vikings in battle rang out through York as the city’s week-long festival reached a spectacular climax.

Thousands of visitors gathered on Knavesmire on Saturday evening to see the burning of the Viking long-boat followed by a fireworks display.

Earlier in the day the Vikings marched through the centre of York after thrilling crowds with a huge battle in Museum Gardens.

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Jellingsten malet over med graffiti

Den store Jellingsten er natten til lørdag blevet skændet af grøn spraymaling, da ukendte gerningsmænd skrev ordet "Gelwane" tværs hen over det danske oldtidsminde.

Stenen, som Harald Blåtand rejste omkring år 965, er ikke beskadiget ud over malingen på overfladen, men det kan ifølge formanden for Jelling Menighedsråd, Gunni Højvang, også være alvorligt nok.

Over for Vejle Amts Folkeblads kalder han hærværket "en katastrofe" og frygter at malingen kan være trængt ind i den historiske sten.

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Plans on show for Medieval Museum

Plans go on display this week for a Medieval Museum which will be at the heart of the city’s new Viking Triangle/Historic District project.

Part of an ambitious undertaking to invigorate the city’s tourist trail, the new two-storey museum will offer visitors access to the city’s undercroft and incorporate the Medieval Choristers Hall in Cathedral Square.

Outlining the proposal at Monday’s meeting of the City Council Rupert Maddock, City Architect, said the museum was one of a number of projects currently underway that cumulatively build upon the potential of City Hall and the Viking Quarter. The latter area pivots around Reginald’s Tower and includes Cathedral Square, Christ Church, the Theatre Royal, the Bishop’s Palace and 33, The Mall.

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Norse code as Vikings return to York

WE’RE used to seeing the occasional blood-spattered Viking wandering the streets of York. But for nine days you won’t be able to move for axe-wielding Norsemen, even when you are doing the weekly shop in Monks Cross.

Next weekend they will even be rampaging across the racecourse.

The annual Jorvik Viking Festival starts today and this year hundreds of warriors will descend on the city to commemorate King Ethelred’s battle to capture York.

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‘Sunstone’ crystals may have helped Vikings navigate on cloudy days

Between AD 750 and AD 1200 the Vikings, were the dominant sailors of the North Atlantic. When the Sun was shining, geographical north could be determined with a special sundial or ‘sundisc’. However, how the Vikings could have navigated in cloudy or foggy situations, when the Sun’s disc was unusable, is still not fully understood.

A hypothesis was formulated in 1967, suggested that under foggy or cloudy conditions, Vikings might have been able to determine the azimuth direction of the Sun with the help of skylight polarization, just like some insects. According to this theory, the Vikings could have determined the direction of the skylight polarization with the help of an enigmatic birefringent crystal (double-refracting crystal), like cordierite, tourmaline, or calcite, which are common in the Scandinavian region and even mentioned in a Viking saga, functioning as a linearly polarizing filter.

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Vikings come to Northwich

VIKINGS have come to Northwich in a new exhibition exploring their history.

Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse is holiding the ‘Reap and Tillage’ exhibition until May 2.

Devastating raids by the Vikings on the east coast of England in the 8th century led to their conquest of almost half the country. Cheshire’s experience was very different with most Viking activity being peaceable and beneficial.

A coin mint flourished in Chester and trade links with other Viking settlements around the Irish Sea made the city wealthy and prosperous.

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Vikings revered Stone Age objects

New archaeological findings suggest that the Vikings considered Stone Age objects to have magical qualities, and that such “antiques” were more important in Viking culture than previously understood.


The Vikings buried this ship, the "Oseberg," in a grave south of Oslo. New discoveries indicate they also buried other items, with a purpose. PHOTO: Viking Ships Museum
Examinations of around 10 Viking graves found in Rogaland, southwest Norway, revealed Stone Age items, such as weapons, amulets and tools. Olle Hemdorff of the Archaelogical Museum in Stavanger told newspaper Aftenposten that he believes the items were buried so that “they would protect and bring luck to the dead in the after-life.”

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Manx names probe to find Viking genes

LOCAL men with certain Manx surnames are being urged to take part in a genetic investigation into Viking ancestry next month.


On Saturday, February 19, representatives from University of Leicester will visit the Manx Museum, Douglas, to conduct the investigation.

This university-funded study is being carried out by Hayley Dunn under the joint supervision of Professor Mark Jobling, from the Department of Genetics, and Dr Simon James, from the School of Archaeology, as part of research leading to a PhD degree.

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Vikings' crystal clear method of navigation

Viking sagas may have been more truthful than we realised. Crystal "sunstones" could have helped Viking sailors to navigate even when cloud or fog hid the sun.

Vikings navigated using sundials calibrated to show the direction of the North Pole. While there is no physical evidence for the navigational techniques adopted on cloudy days, there are references in the Viking sagas to "sunstones" being used.

In 1967, Danish archaeologist Thorkild Ramskou suggested that sunstones may work by creating a pattern of light that revealed the hidden sun's location – although sceptics countered that the method is unwieldy, if not unworkable.

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Did Vikings navigate by polarized light?

A Viking legend tells of a glowing 'sunstone' that, when held up to the sky, revealed the position of the Sun even on a cloudy day. It sounds like magic, but scientists measuring the properties of light in the sky say that polarizing crystals — which function in the same way as the mythical sunstone — could have helped ancient sailors to cross the northern Atlantic. A review of their evidence is published today in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B1.

The Vikings, seafarers from Scandinavia who travelled widely and settled in swathes of Northern Europe, the British Isles and the northern Atlantic from around 750 to 1050 AD, were skilled navigators, able to cross thousands of kilometres of open sea between Norway, Iceland and Greenland. Perpetual daylight during the summer sailing season in the far north would have prevented them from using the stars as a guide to their positions, and the magnetic compass had yet to be introduced in Europe — in any case, it would have been of limited use so close to the North Pole.

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Ireland's Viking Fortress

The remains of the legendary Viking fortress Linn Duachaill have been discovered in northeastern Ireland, 45 miles north of Dublin. "Historians and archaeologists have been trying to locate Linn Duachaill for more than 200 years," says Eamonn Kelly, Keeper of Antiquities with the National Museum of Ireland, who led a lengthy research and targeted excavation effort that resulted in the discovery of the infamous Viking base.

Linn Duachaill was founded in A.D. 841, the same year as Viking Dublin. The fortress was used as a center by the Vikings to trade goods, organize attacks against inland Irish monasteries, and send captured Irish slaves abroad. For more than 70 years, Linn Duachaill rivaled Dublin as the preeminent Viking holding on the east coast of Ireland before it was eventually abandoned.

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Vote for the Vikings!

The nominations for the Current Archaeology 'Research Project of the Year 2011' includes a project led by David Griffiths entitled "Raiders and Traders". This projects deals with the Vikings and their archaeological and genetic legacy. The project was featured in Current Archaeology 245, August 2010.

The result is decided by popular vote, and anyone can vote. If you would like to cast a vote for the Vikings, you can do so at:

http://archaeologyawards.org/

Your Favourite Archaeological Sites in Europe

Which sites in Europe have you most enjoyed visiting? A new Archaeology in Europe website allows you to post descriptions and photos of archaeological sites that you have visited, and to give ratings and comments for sites that are already in the database.

The site is very much in its infancy at the moment, and I would welcome contributions and feedback. It is envisaged that the site will grow into a useful source of up to date information for those planning to visit sites in Europe.

You can find the site at: archaeologyineurope.phile.com.

The site runs on Phile – a brilliant application developed by Mike Schiff and Sho Kuwamoto. Phile can be best described as a combination of an online database and a social network site, and it allows people with similar interests to share much more detailed information than the usual social network sites.

I am sure that Phile has tremendous potential for archaeological societies, fieldwork studies and other work groups. Take a look at phile.com.

New book throws light on Middle Saxon Shift in East Sussex

The later Anglo-Saxon settlement at Bishopstone: a downland manor in the making by Gabor Thomas is the latest CBA Research report (no 163) to be published.

Well known for the Early Anglo-Saxon settlement previously excavated on Rookery Hill and its impressive pre-Conquest church, Bishopstone has entered archaeological orthodoxy as a classic example of a ‘Middle Saxon Shift’.

This new volume reports on the excavations from 2002 to 2005 designed to investigate this transition, with the focus on the origins of Bishopstone village. Excavations adjacent to St Andrew’s churchyard revealed a dense swathe of later Anglo-Saxon (8th- to late 10th-/early 11th-century) habitation, including a planned complex of ‘timber halls’, and a unique cellared tower. The occupation encroached upon a pre-Conquest cemetery of 43 inhumations.

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