Sunday 24 July 2011

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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Monday 11 July 2011

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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Thursday 7 July 2011

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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Wednesday 6 July 2011

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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Tuesday 5 July 2011

Grab the Viking Quiz!

Our Viking Quiz seems to have proved popular.

If you wish, you can add this link button to your site:

Viking Quiz

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Monday 4 July 2011

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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Sunday 3 July 2011

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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