Free Republic

According to a statement released by the Public Library of Science, a new study of the 2,400-year-old Hjortspring boat, discovered with a cache of weapons in the early twentieth century on Denmark's island of Als, suggests that it may have been constructed in the Baltic Sea region. First, Mikael Fauvelle of Lund University and his colleagues radiocarbon dated cording and caulk found with the boat to the fourth or third century B.C. Then, they used gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to determine that the caulk had likely been made of animal fat and pine pitch. At the time, there were...

A startling message on a 1,200-year-old granite slab created by the Vikings appears to predict climate change, experts say. The research, published in Futharc: International Journal of Runic Studies, looks at the message that was written after Viking warrior Varin’s son died in battle in the 9th century, foreseeing a new “climate crisis,” similar to the weather conditions that happened nearly 300 years prior. “This study proposes instead that the inscription deals with an anxiety triggered by a son’s death and the fear of a new climate crisis similar to the catastrophic one after 536 [AD],” researchers, led by Per...

Located in northern Newfoundland, the site of L'Anse aux Meadows was founded by Vikings around A.D. 1000. Until now, archaeologists believed that the site was occupied for only a brief period... In August 2018, an archaeological team excavated a peat bog located nearly 100 feet (30 meters) east of the Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows. They found a layer of "ecofacts" -- environmental remains that may have been brought to the site by humans -- that were radiocarbon dated to the 12th or 13th century. These ecofacts include remains of two beetles not native to Newfoundland -- Simplocaria metallica,...

n the first large-scale study of ancient feline DNA, the results reveal how our inscrutable friends were domesticated in the Near East and Egypt some 15,000 years ago, before spreading across the globe and into our hearts. The study was presented at the International Symposium on Biomolecular Archaeology in Oxford, UK back in 2016, and sequenced DNA from 209 cats that lived between 15,000 and 3,700 years ago - so from just before the advent of agriculture right up to the 18th century. Found in more than 30 archaeological sites in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, these ancient feline...

More than a thousand years ago, the Vikings arrived on the world stage as swiftly as their longships cut through the waves. They raided and traded, conquered and colonized. They left their mark on four continents -- not just at archaeological sites, but also in the flora and fauna, the languages and local populations. The Viking Age did not last long -- it's generally defined as beginning in the late eighth century and ending in most areas by the early 12th century -- but the explorers still capture our imagination today. "The Vikings epitomized the freedom and strength we like...

Thousands of 'Vikings' took to the streets brandishing burning torches and axes as the ancient Up Helly Aa festival got under way on the Shetland Islands. The event, a celebration of the Scottish island's Norse heritage, drew massive crowds with many 'warriors' wearing winged helmets and sheepskins.

Climate records back to Viking times show the 20th century was unexceptional for rainfall and droughts despite assumptions that global warming would trigger more wet and dry extremes, a study showed on Wednesday. Stretching back 1,200 years, written accounts of climate indicated that variations in the extremes in the 20th century were less than in some past centuries. "Several other centuries show stronger and more widespread extremes," lead author Fredrik Ljungqvist of Stockholm University told Reuters. "We can't say it's more extreme now." Ljungqvist said many existing scientific models of climate change over-estimated assumptions that rising temperatures would make dry...

Some people have claimed that Greenland was no warmer 1,000 years ago than it is today...In this essay, I will examine some of the historical facts concerning Greenland starting 1,000 years ago and will then attempt to demonstrate how much warmer Greenland had to be in order to accommodate the history that transpired in this region.

A Norwegian further education college is starting a programme for want-to-be Vikings where students will learn essential Viking crafts, such as sword forging, jewellery making, and roof thatching. During the course at Seljord Folkehøgskule 150km west of Oslo, students -- many inspired by TV series such as ‘Game of Thrones’ -- will celebrate even celebrate the Norse rituals of the year, going so far as to make animal sacrifices during the winter feast. “We see a large number of applicants who have applied for different reasons," the school's principal, Arve Husby, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. "Some have become interested through...

A new examination of ninth-century A.D. burial sites in the central Norwegian region of Trondelag has revealed they contain many more artifacts from Britain, such as brooches, drinking horns, and swords, than had been previously believed. "These graves are some of the earliest proof that we have of contact between Norway and the British Isles," archaeologist Aina Margrethe Heen Pettersen told Science Nordic. She argues that Vikings from Trondelag were among the first to voyage across the North Sea, and emphasizes that they were not simply bent on raiding. "Contact with the Anglo-Saxons means more than just violent pillaging. Drinking...

Centuries of storytelling, scholarship, and reinterpretation have shaped how we imagine the Vikings and their gods, but much of that image may rest on myth rather than history. Scholars are now uncovering how Christian writers, political movements, and even modern pop culture redefined the “pagan North” to reflect their own ideals. Credit: Shutterstock ============================================================================= Scholars reveal that much of what we think we know about Vikings and Norse mythology is based on later reinterpretations rather than original sources. Scholars in the field of Scandinavian studies caution that much of what people believe about Vikings and Norse paganism cannot be confirmed...

"Here Beorhtric [king of Wessex, AD 786-802] took King Offa's daughter Eadburh. And in his days there came for the first time 3 ships; and then the reeve rode there and wanted to compel them to go to the king's town, because he did not know what they were; and they killed him. Those were the first ships of the Danish men which sought out the land of the English race."Anglo-Saxon ChronicleThis is the entry for AD 789, written by the chronicler a hundred years later. Almost two centuries later still, Æthelweard, a descendant of King Alfred's brother Æthelred and...

Leif Erikson Day is observed on October 9 each year. This day honors the Norse explorer Leif Erikson, who is believed to have led the first European expedition to reach North America (outside Greenland), and celebrates his legacy of exploration, courage, and the contributions of Nordic heritage.

Archaeologist Greer Jarrett at Lund University in Sweden has been sailing in the footsteps of Vikings for three years. He can now show that the Vikings sailed farther away from Scandinavia, and took routes farther from land, than was previously believed to have been possible. In his latest study, he has found evidence of a decentralised network of ports, located on islands and peninsulas, which probably played a central role in trade and travel in the Viking era. Traveling in the wake of the Vikings | 5:35 Lund University | 29.4K subscribers | 18,547 views | May 20, 2025 From...

According to a statement released by The National Museum of Denmark, a small figurine long-hidden in its collections has recently been rediscovered and is providing new information about Viking Age fashions. The exquisitely carved, one-inch-tall object was whittled out of expensive walrus ivory and likely served as a gaming piece for a Viking Age game resembling chess. It was first discovered in a burial in Viken in 1797 and has been in the National Museum's storerooms for more than 200 years. However, it recently caught the attention of curator Peter Pentz, who was struck by the figurine's realistic features. Although...

These two brooches were part of a small hoard discovered along with a gold arm ring in southwestern Jutland, Denmark. Dated to the Viking Age (A.D. 793 to 1066), the brooches are decorated with ornamental wire bent into delicate shapes.Each gold brooch measures about 3.3 inches (8.5 centimeters) in diameter and weighs between 2.1 to 2.6 ounces (60 to 75 grams), according to a 1994 study by Lene Frandsen, curator at the Varde Museum. The designs on the brooches include examples of both Norse and Christian art, according to the National Museum of Denmark, where the accessories are on display.One...

The Herald Scotland reports that prior to the construction of a new housing development in Guardbridge, Fife, archaeological excavations uncovered traces of some 10,000 years of local history. The historic village takes its name from a sixteenth-century bridge that led pilgrims across the River Eden to St. Andrews, but a team from GUARD Archaeology recently unearthed evidence that the site was a hotspot of human occupation far earlier than that. During the Upper Paleolithic period, some of Scotland's first inhabitants made flint tools at the site. Later, early Neolithic farmers left many pits across the area, which contained burnt cereal...

When the Bedale hoard was first discovered by metal detectorists in 2012, it was immediately recognized as one of the most significant assemblages of Viking-era silver objects and jewelry that had ever been found in England. Dating to the late ninth or early tenth century, the collection consists of 29 silver ingots and several elaborate neck rings, among other items. According to a statement released by the University of Oxford, a recent study of the origins of the Bedale silver is shedding new light on the international scope and far-reaching extent of Viking trade. Researchers led by Oxford archaeologist Jane...

Over 1,000 years ago, Norse explorers reached North America from Greenland, centuries before Christopher Columbus. Join historian Dan Snow as he explores how ancient Viking sagas about the discoveries of legendary Norse explorer Leif Erikson offer clues to where these intrepid adventurers may have landed. This clip is from The Vikings Uncovered (2016). What The Viking Sagas Reveal About Who Really Discovered America | 3:58BBC Timestamp | 853K subscribers | 68,830 views | July 8, 2025

France 24 reports that archaeologists from the Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus uncovered a tenth-century Viking cemetery at a construction site in Lisbjerg. The site contained as many as 30 graves, likely belonging to a noble family who lived on a nearby farm that was first discovered in the 1980s. Many of the burials still held objects such as coins, ceramics, and beads that attest to the family's high status. However, the most unusual find came from the grave of an elite woman who was buried with a rare wooden box. The exquisitely crafted, 12.5-inch square object contained a fine locking...