Posted on 02/29/2004 4:17:26 PM PST by blam
Viking graves in Pskov, North-Western Russia
02/24/2004 13:56
Archaeologists are examining the items found in the ancient burial place of a Viking woman in downtown Pskov. In the last days of 2003 in Pskov during archaeological research of the construction site, burial place related to X century, was discovered. At the depth of 4 meters in the burial chamber the remains of a woman were found along with decoration of bronze and silver, bronze scales, glass beads and several dozens of other items.
According to Dr. Of History, Head of Department of Slavic and Finnish Archaeology of Institute of History of Material Culture in St. Petersburg Anatoly Kirpichnikov, there must be some more burial places nearby, probably some burial mound.
After the archeological dig was finished, construction works started in the area.
Source: Muzei Rossii viking,graves,
Yes. The Kensington Runestone is presently in Sweden for analysis ...their archaeologists (and others) are excited about it's probable authenticity.
Kiev initially. Moscow was a deep forest fur trading post and fort.
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Viking Conquests: Trade to the East
Russia. The Vikings branched into modern-day Russia and created lasting trade posts. The Slavs they found there called them "Rus," which meant "rowing-away" in the Old Nordic language and is similar to the Finish word for the Swedes, "ruotsi." The appellation Rus became the name of the ruling dynasty in the 9th century, and eventually led to the name of the largest country in the world, Russia.
The Vikings spread south into Kiev (Ukraine), expanding their trade along the Dneiper river. The Vikings took control of some of the Kievian lands. However, when the Vikings began to institute taxes on the local population, the Slavs revolted and chased them out of Kiev. However, after the Viking rulers were gone, the region descended into near anarchy. The nobles sought to end the in-fighting by bringing in a foreign king to make peace in the land, and the Vikings from Rus were invited back. The Vikings formed the Grand Duchy of Kiev, the first ducal duchy of Russia. (See more on the Grand Duchy of Kiev.)
The first capital of the Rus kingdom was in Novgorod. The Vikings who were invited into Russia remained in control of the Dneiper region until 1610, when the Romanov dynasty took power.
The Vikings continued south along the Volga river and its tributaries, trading on the Chinese silk routes.
Go here to read about the Kensington Rune Stone in Sweden.
"To address this mystery, the National Historical Museum of Sweden will tomorrow convene a conference of experts who will examine the stone and its history. The conference take place in this hall, and will feature presentations not only by Swedish runologists, geologists, archaeologists and historians, but also by three American speakers who have travelled from Minnesota to be with us tonight: Mrs. LuAnn Patton, Executive Director of the Kensington Runestone Museum in Alexandria, Minnesota; geologist Scott Wolter; and historical linguist Richard Nielsen. I hope that you will join me in welcoming them to Stockholm."
See the trade routes that penetrate into the heart of China, those were established as early as 2000BC by the Caucasian groups know as Qawrighul, Alfanasevo and Andronovo cultures. These same people would appear later as the Schythians, Tocharians, Xiongnu, Saka and Yuezhi...just to name a few. And, even later as the (mixed blood) Huns, Ughurs and Turks.
Some believe these trade routes went as far as Korea and Japan in ancient times.
And, a couple even believe the routes penetrated into the Americas (north and south) and was the trade route that provided the cocaine and nicotine that was found in the Egyptian mummies some time back.
Okay. That was well covered in Gloria Farley's book, In Plain Sight.
She sought the help of Dr Barry Fell and he was impressed enough with her work that they 'worked together' on some other items too. She was being completely ignored until Fell 'brought her work into the spot light' by covering it in some of his books.
I saw Gloria once in a documentary, charming lady.
See the one leg of the trade route that is stuck up north on the above map? I believe that is Keremchi, it may have been an outpost in a more northern trade route that may be so old it's not even shown on the map. From what I've read, the Great Wall didn't keep out many people.
"..it can be stated that at least for a brief period the Viking trade route stretched all the way from Canada to the Silk Road."
I don't think I can go quite that far at this time.
The Chinese uncovered female a mummy (Hami Woman) that they dubbed, "The Ravishing Red-Head" in this area. And, another male mummy had a felt hat with 'bull-like' felt horns attached on the top. Many of the mummies were discovered to be clutching or have small bundles of Ephedra (a stimulant) buried with them. Maybe it was a 'drug-road' before it was a silk-road, huh?
I'm comparing with Barber's map, and yes, it looks like it's either Keremchi/Urumchi or if not it's right in the same area.
>"..it can be stated that at least for a brief period the Viking trade route stretched all the way from Canada to the Silk Road."
I don't think I can go quite that far at this time.
What would your reservations be? If the statement were revised to "Greenland" rather than "Canada" would you have less reservations?
Many of the mummies were discovered to be clutching or have small bundles of Ephedra (a stimulant) buried with them. Maybe it was a 'drug-road' before it was a silk-road, huh?
I know that in the Middle Ages there was an exchange of herbal knowledge between China and the Arabs, presumably via the Silk Road, and ephedra (Ma Huang) was one herb in the medieval Chinese pharmacopeia. Perhaps this medieval herbalist exchange reflected a long-standing herbal trade. I seem to recall that some of the ancient Mesopotamian nations were also exchanging herbs with the East--have some links on that somewhere I will try to find.
That's not the one I meant. I must have the wrong name of that town...I suspected I did when I typed it. The one on the map is further north than Urumchi. I'll look through Mair's book later and see if I can come up with another name.
"What would your reservations be? If the statement were revised to "Greenland" rather than "Canada" would you have less reservations?"
I think those sites were made by ship/boat and were seperate from the (land) incursions in China, etc.
"Perhaps this medieval herbalist exchange reflected a long-standing herbal trade."
They ought to check some of these 'Chinese' mummies for cocaine and nicotine, huh? BTW, Mair had recruited an excellent Italian scientist to do DNA work on these various trips. He was allowed to take safe and unpolluted samples but, the commies confistigated them just before departure. One of the Chinese scientists (who was embarrassed over the seizure) slipped Mair one DNA sample as he was departing but, I haven't heard anything else about the sample.
Oh, that's what you meant. Yeah, I was including naval as well as land trade routes--sorry if I wasn't clear on that. Wasn't meaning to imply that the Canadian sites were reached by land.
I was assuming when you typed "Keremchi" you were using another name for Urumchi--did I get that wrong?
Too bad on that confiscated DNA sample--that would've been nice to have. I agree it would be interesting if they checked for nicotine/cocaine, too. Have some links on some related stuff I will post when I get a chance.
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