Skip to comments.
Scandinavian trade 'triggered' the Viking Age
EurekAlert! ^
| May 7, 2015 (bravo, Cameron!)
| David Garner, University of York
Posted on 05/09/2015 6:31:38 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists from the University of York have played a key role in Anglo-Danish research which has suggested the dawn of the Viking Age may have been much earlier -- and less violent -- than previously believed.
The study by Dr Steve Ashby, of the Department of Archaeology at York, working with colleagues from York and Aarhus University, identified the first signs of the Viking Age around 70 years before the first raid on England.
Previously, the start of the Viking Age has been dated to a June 793 raid by Norwegian Vikings on Lindisfarne. But the new research published in the European Journal of Archaeology shows that Vikings were travelling from Norway to the vital trading centre in Ribe on Denmark's west coast as early as 725.
The researchers say that long voyages were underway early in the 8th century AD, with the establishment of a marketplace in Ribe. What were to become history's Viking expeditions can be directly linked to the development of Ribe as a town and commercial centre.
Using a biomolecular technique developed at York's BioArCh laboratory, the research team studied bone/antler objects and fragments of manufacturing waste from the archaeological remains of Ribe's old marketplace. A number of samples --including some from very early levels -- turned out to be reindeer antler, which is not local to Denmark, and was probably brought in from Norway. The researchers say that the antlers are proof that Vikings visited Ribe, the oldest town in Scandinavia, well before their infamous pillaging. Those trips gave the Vikings the seafaring skills that would be used some 70 years later to strike England.
Deer antlers were central to one of the key industries of the Viking Age: the manufacture of hair combs.
(Excerpt) Read more at eurekalert.org ...
TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: ageofsail; ancientnavigation; godsgravesglyphs; middleages; navigation; scandinavia; thevikings; vikings
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-22 next last
- Viking Gainsborough: Former capital promotes Sweyn Forkbeard links
- Digging up the 'Spanish Vikings'
- Polish family treasure an archaeological sensation in Sweden
- Evidence of Viking/Norse metalworking in Arctic Canada
- 1000-year old Viking treasure hoard found in Scotland
- A Viking Burial Described by Arab Writer Ahmad ibn Fadlan
- Viking 'ring fortress' discovered in Denmark
- Ancient DNA Sheds New Light on Arctic's Earliest People
- Vikings Invade Spanish Village in 'Bloody' Festival
- Spanish documents suggest Irish arrived in America before Columbus
- Who makes up the ranks of Kiev's "elite National Guard" being sent to Odessa and Slavyansk?
- 'Vikings' Portrays Crucifixion as Normal Church Punishment for Apostates
- Will NFL's Super Bowl bullying be too much for our lawmakers?
- Cathedral service marks millennium of Brian Boru's death
- The Viking's Jötunvillur Runic Code is Solved
- New Iron Age Sites Discovered in Finland [Roman era]
- Sweyn Forkbeard: England's forgotten Viking king
- Movie for a Sunday afternoon: "The Vikings"(1958)
- Reconstruction of ancient Slavic boat in Rugen
- Gun Clause In Minn. Vikings Lease Irks Lawmaker
- Vikings May Have Been More Social Than Savage
- Slaves as burial gifts in Viking Age Norway? Evidence from stable isotope and ancient DNA analyses
- Viking jewelry unearthed in Denmark
- Viking gold discovered by amateur with metal detector in Co Down
- Biggest Viking exhibition in 20 years opens - and this time they're angry
- The First Vikings
- Dealing with the doldrums on a Viking voyage
- Danish teenager makes rare Viking-era find with metal detector
- Northern lights - "If you had to be reborn anywhere in the world, you would want to be a Viking"
- Seal diet provides clue to disappearance of Norse from Greenland
- Should we keep the Vikings' stolen goods?
- Evidence of Viking Outpost Found in Canada
- Evidence of Viking Outpost Found in Canada
- The English inspired Vikings to build cities
- Two Iron Age Sites Discovered in Finland
- The Battle of Brunanburh --- The Great Debate
- Viking barley in Greenland
- Was St Edmund killed by the Vikings in Essex?
- Pictures: Mysterious Viking-era Graves Found With Treasure --- Who Was the Young Warrior?
- Icelandic rocks could have steered Vikings
- The find of a lifetime: Treasure hunter digs up 200-piece haul of Viking jewellery and coins
- Linn Duchaill: Ireland's unlikely Viking capital
- Ardnamurchan Viking boat burial discovery 'a first'
- Dorset burial pit Viking had filed teeth
- Hoard of Viking silver coins unearthed in Furness
- Ireland's Viking Fortress
- First American in Europe 'was native woman kidnapped by Vikings and hauled back to Iceland...'
- New images may yield Viking ships
- Fortress uncovered: Co Louth Viking site of international importance
- Archaeologists uncover Harald Bluetooth's royal palace
- Scientists turn migration theory on its head
- Rush for iron spurred Inuit ancestors to sprint across Arctic, book contends
- Vikings visited Canadian Arctic, research suggests: Artifacts suggest Norse settlement in Nunavut
- Viking silver treasure hoard worth £1m unearthed after 1,000 years[UK]
- Inuit and viking contact in ancient times
- Inukpasuit, Inuit and Viking contact in ancient times
- Kimmirut site suggests early European contact [ Vikings ]
- Boy 9, And Grandfather Find Medieval Silver Treasure In Sweden
- Swedes Find Viking-Era Arab Coins
- Rain Uncovers Viking Treasure Trove
- Archaeological sensation in Oestfold [ Inca remains from 11th c Norway? ]
- Ancient walrus bone discovered in south Iceland
- Crystal Amulet Poses Question On Early Christianity (Denmark - 100AD)
- Graves Hint At Contact With Romans (Sweden)
- Possible Third Jellinge Stone Found (Viking Era)
- Mysterious Arctic skull raises questions about what animals once roamed North
- Tooth marks link Vikings, Indians
- Buddha statue from 6th c found in Viking hoard in Helgo, Sweden
- DNA Shows Celtic Hero Somerled's Viking Roots
- Viking sagas read through the lens of climate change
- Leif Erikson Day, October 9, 2004
- Strand of Ancient Yarn Suggests Early European Presence in Canada
- The Viking farm under the sand in Greenland
- Immigrants From The Other Side (Clovis Is Solutrean?)
- DNA Tests Debunk Blond Inuit Legend
- Did the Scandinavians beat Columbus to America twice?
- DNA Study To Settle Ancient Mystery About Mingling Of Inuit, Vikings
- Persian Coins From Sassanid Era (224-640AD) Discovered In Sweden
- "Vinland Map" Parchment Predates Columbus's Arrival In North America
- Are the Narragansett and other American Indians the descendants of Viking settlers?
- Viking treasure hoard yields astounding finds
1
posted on
05/09/2015 6:31:38 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...
Other than the written documentation from all over Europe and the ruins of places sacked by the Vikings, what evidence is there that they were any more violent than the Fuller Brush man? /s
2
posted on
05/09/2015 6:32:51 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(What do we want? REGIME CHANGE! When do we want it? NOW!)
To: SunkenCiv
4
posted on
05/09/2015 6:35:22 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(What do we want? REGIME CHANGE! When do we want it? NOW!)
To: SunkenCiv
I’d like to think that my blond Sicilian mother’s hair that I inherited came from Viking Blood!!
What I’d love to see is, given the same weaponry, who the best fighters ever would have been.
Americans Marines, Roman soldiers, the best Gladiators, Vikings, Huns, Spartans, Mongols, etc.
5
posted on
05/09/2015 6:36:37 PM PDT
by
dp0622
To: SunkenCiv
Nobody remembers when my ancestors were docile. They just focus on the more aggressive period.
6
posted on
05/09/2015 6:38:54 PM PDT
by
Lurkina.n.Learnin
(It's a shame nobama truly doesn't care about any of this. Our country, our future, he doesn't care)
To: SunkenCiv
The Vikings.....like AMWAY with swords.
7
posted on
05/09/2015 6:41:35 PM PDT
by
blueunicorn6
("A crack shot and a good dancer")
To: dp0622
I don’t know who the best fighters ever were, but I went a few rounds with this little Japanese woman one time on a cruise ship, and, pound for pound, I’d give the medal to her.
I had to swim pretty hard to catch the ship at the next port.
8
posted on
05/09/2015 6:46:22 PM PDT
by
blueunicorn6
("A crack shot and a good dancer")
To: Lurkina.n.Learnin
9
posted on
05/09/2015 7:01:33 PM PDT
by
tumblindice
(America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
To: SunkenCiv
A lot of times the traders and the Vikings (raiders) were the same people. Pillage one town and sell the stuff in another. The dragon heads could be removed when they were trading or entering friendly territory so as not to scare the spirits of the land. When they went Viking they would put them on.
10
posted on
05/09/2015 8:07:22 PM PDT
by
Hugin
("Do yourself a favor--first thing, get a firearm!")
To: Lurkina.n.Learnin
I was in Stockholm and paid a visit to several museums. At the museum which focused on the history if Swedish civilisation, there was a snarly guide. He said, “I’m tired of all this talk about the Vikings! There is so much more to our civilization!”
To: Hugin
:’) “We screw the other guy and pass the savings on to you!” ;’)
The fact is, the Viking Age resulted from a population rise during the Medieval Warming, a lack of land in the homeland, and a power vacuum after the fall of the Roman Empire in its former western provinces. They followed closely in the wake of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes — invaders of Britain — struck and settled in Ireland, and spread into the north (Iceland, Greenland) and west (Americas).
The Varangians (eastern Vikings) served as mercenaries (and assassins and whatnot) for the Byzantine Empire. Hardraada served the Byzantines in the capital as well as military fronts like Sicily. His last gig was back home, King of Norway, but died in the Battle of Stamford Bridge, defeated by King Harold II of England, himself a few weeks away from death and overthrow at Senlac/Hastings/Battle.
12
posted on
05/09/2015 9:01:54 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(What do we want? REGIME CHANGE! When do we want it? NOW!)
To: SunkenCiv
I am sure I must have some genes from the Vikings .
To: Toddsterpatriot; Mase; expat_panama
14
posted on
05/09/2015 9:55:28 PM PDT
by
1rudeboy
To: dp0622
Just a little bizzare scene,
gladiators against Chiracahua Apache!
15
posted on
05/09/2015 10:21:50 PM PDT
by
Big Red Badger
(UNSCANABLE in an IDIOCRACY!)
To: Big Red Badger
That would be quite fierce!!!
I wonder if some computer nerd could enter in all the knowledge about all the fiercest warriors, and do zillions of different scenarios, who would be no. 1!!
16
posted on
05/09/2015 10:27:18 PM PDT
by
dp0622
To: tumblindice
Great cartoon, though there’s reason to believe that there’s actually historical evidence that these kinds of confrontations have in fact occurred. Most recent examples were between Iranian and U.S. diplomatic delegations...
To: 1rudeboy; SAJ; Mase; Toddsterpatriot; 1010RD
wondering how this happened:
To: SunkenCiv
If you have ever eaten lutefisk, you’d understand why people would kill to get carry-out haggis.
19
posted on
05/10/2015 6:27:54 AM PDT
by
Smokin' Joe
(How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
To: Smokin' Joe
Yeah, I’m sure they went to Scotland for the food.
20
posted on
05/10/2015 8:04:38 AM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(What do we want? REGIME CHANGE! When do we want it? NOW!)
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-22 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson