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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