Thresholds and Passages: The Meanings of Bridges and Crossings in the Viking Age and Early Middle Ages (original) (raw)
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2021
Viking Age Swords from Telemark, Norway. An Integrated Technical and Archaeological Investigation provides a metallographic analysis of 21 Viking Age swords found in the county Telemark in southeastern Norway. The book is the result of a collaboration between archaeologist Irmelin Martens and chemist Eva Elisabeth Astrup. 220 swords have been found in Telemark, and they are a mix of domestic Norwegian and imported European types. The difficulties in determining which ones were made in Norway are complicated by and closely connected to the specific skills Norwegian blacksmiths had mastered with respect to both blade construction and inlay decoration. The metallographic investigations revealed five construction types for sword blades, of which four, requiring different technical levels of smithing, may well have been mastered by Norwegian blacksmiths at that time. Combined with x-ray radiographic studies, the metallographic investigations indicate that new techniques were indeed introduced and disseminated among weaponsmiths during the Viking Age. The findings are also probably representative for the combined total of more than 3000 swords found in all areas of the country. The majority are domestic types, and their great number obviously reflects the organization of sword production and influenced blacksmiths’ social standing.
Eight papers presented at the 36th Interdisciplinary Viking Symposium in Odense may 17th 2017. PREFACE / THE FORTIFIED VIKING AGE 36th Interdisciplinary Viking Symposium – 17 May 2017................................................7 Mette Bruus & Jesper Hansen Henne Kirkeby Vest, a fortified settlement on the West coast of Denmark...................8 Lene B. Frandsen Erritsø – A fortified Early Viking Age manor near Lillebælt. New investigations and research perspectives................................................................ 16 Christian Juel & Mads Ravn …nú knáttu Óðin sjá: The Function of Hall-Based, Ritualised Performances of Old Norse Poetry in Pre-Christian Nordic Religion...................................................26 Simon Nygaard Early Viking camps in Scandinavia and abroad..............................................................35 Arjen Heijnis New archaeological investigations at Nonnebakken, a Viking Age fortress in Odense........................................................................................44 Mads Runge The Borgring Project 2016–2018..........................................................................................60 Jonas Christensen, Nanna Holm, Maja K. Schultz, Søren M. Sindbæk & Jens Ulriksen The Danevirke in the light of recent excavations.............................................................69 Astrid Tummuscheit & Frauke Witte Emporia, sceattas and kingship in 8th C. “Denmark”.....................................................75 Morten Søvsø
Viking Age Uppåkra, 2010. Uppåkrastudier 11, Acta Archaeologica Lundensia
This article presents and discusses finds, mainly from metal detection, dated to the Viking Age. More than 900 objects have been dated to this period. They consist of ornaments of Scandinavian and foreign origin, coins and hack-silver, weights and fragments of balances as well as objects connected to metal handicraft. The ornaments are presented with parallels and chronological discussions. Imports -continental, oriental and from Britain and Ireland -are presented. Connections of the site and chronological implications are discussed. There is a survey of the objects, which can be referred to any of the Viking Age ornamental styles. Metal handicraft seems to have played an important role. Here the question of raw material and recycling is considered.
Landscapes of Defence in Early Medieval Europe, 2013
The VIking Age proves complex when viewed from a military historical perspective. There is inconsistency in the correlation between home and abroad and between literary sources and archaeological remains. The break in continuity from fortification traditions of earlier periods represents a change in the societal structure where individuals become landowners, and there is both the will and the strength to dominate territories. This essay focuses on the continuity and discontinuity of fortifications in Eastern Scandinavia in an attempt to understand the paradox of the Viking Age landscape of defence.