Bronze Age sailors, metal prospectors, and traders regularly travelled between northern and southern Europe – a distance of more than 2,000 miles – according to new research looking at similarities in the depiction of boats in rock carvings in Sweden, Denmark, Spain, and Portugal.
It’s a rip-roaring start, with three deaths in five pages as Harald Hardrada (or Haraldr Sigurdarson as he’s termed here), Tostig (wayward brother of Harold Godwinson), and an unnamed farmer all get decapitated. We start on a battlefield, yet not…
The discovery of a 1,400-year-old die-stamp in Kent, bearing imagery strikingly similar to one of the motifs on the Sutton Hoo helmet, raises intriguing questions about whether elite armour like this – often interpreted as a Scandinavian import – could have been made in Anglo-Saxon England. Carly Hilts reports.
Richard Hodges’ most recent book takes us back to his original area of study: the economic and political conditions leading to the rebirth of towns in early medieval Britain. He starts by reminding the reader of his 1982 book Dark…
Newly opened exhibitions at Dock X, London, and Leeds Castle, Kent,
include AI technology that brings the past to life in a startlingly personal way,
offering interactive audiences with medieval queens: one from Viking Age Scandinavia and the other from 13th-century England. Carly Hilts reports.
A century ago, an Iron Age boat was found in Denmark. Now it is revealing new secrets. Amy Brunskill spoke to Mikael Fauvelle to find out more.
Archaeologists are increasingly revisiting long-held theories about the past and highlighting how these ideas need to be updated in light of evolving evidence. This is especially the case with many artefact types that were first described by antiquarians or early…
An extraordinary survival plucked from a Danish bog sheds light on the technical virtuosity available in the Roman Iron Age. Olympia Bobou, Ilaria Bucci, and Rubina Raja examine the significance of a remarkable piece of armour.
In the 3rd century AD, the possessions of an entire army were deposited in a lake in Jutland. Olympia Bobou, Ilaria Bucci, Rowan S English, and Rubina Raja examine what was found, and what it reveals about Iron Age military might in southern Scandinavia.
Helmet parts of this date are rare finds in Denmark… What is it? This piece of a remarkable pre-Viking Age helmet comprises two fragments that fit together perfectly to make up a section c.10cm long in total, representing two-thirds of…
REVIEW BY GEORGE NASH Across Europe, during the Late Bronze Age, societies witnessed a dramatic change in economy, politics, and social behaviour. This change also had an effect on the way communities expressed themselves through burial-ritual practices and the production and…
A major new exhibition explores the impact of the Viking Age across northern England. Carly Hilts visited the displays and spoke to Adam Parker to learn more.
Taylor Downing reviews the latest film releases.
REVIEW BY MARIANNE HEM ERIKSEN Human sacrifice constitutes a perennially fascinating topic for scholars and general audiences alike. It is also a research area where the risk of leaning into sensationalism and exoticisation can be relatively high. In the Darkest…
With a diameter of 60m, the burial mound of Herlaugshaugen is one of the largest in Norway. New research has now revealed that it is older than was previously thought. The site on the island of Leka was excavated on…
Reviewing the best Military History Exhibitions with Calum Henderson.
Excavations near the village of Hune in the North Jutland region of Denmark have uncovered evidence of a large Viking Age hall.
As part of Sweden’s long struggle for independence, its army of peasant militia won a crucial battle against a Danish invasion force camped outside Stockholm. William E Welsh describes the action.
This book is the third in Routledge’s ‘Archaeologies of the Viking World’ series, and maintains the high standard of the others in terms of content. The book’s core idea is that groups with connections to southern Scandinavia established an often-loose…
Denmark's current monarch, Queen Margrethe II, traces her lineage back to which 10th-century king?
Odin is a war god, fomenting conflict to see who is worthy of entering his hall, Valhalla, and ultimately fighting at Ragnarök (the events, including a battle, at the end of the world). But he is also a god of magic and wisdom, something he is always seeking
Review by George Nash. Throughout prehistoric Europe, there are significant areas where rock art was commissioned, executed, consumed, and abandoned. One of these is southern Scandinavia. Here, during the later prehistoric period, ancient artists provided a sometimes- cryptic insight into…
What is it? This small, carved figurine depicting a falconer was discovered in Oslo, Norway. The object, made of bone, antler, or walrus tooth, is 7.5cm long, with a flat, oval cross-section. The lower half of the figurine is hollow,…
In AD 865, a Viking army landed in eastern England. For more than a decade, it raided across the country, but contemporary documents tell us little about it. Dawn M Hadley and Julian D Richards use the latest discoveries to track down the Army and see the changes it brought about, not just as raiders, but also traders and artisans who gave rise to an industrial revolution.
The arrival of the Viking Great Army on British soil in AD 865 had an immeasurable impact on England. No longer content with hit-and-run raids, this force – which was far greater than any previously seen in Britain – aimed…
The sleepy village of Repton in south Derbyshire seems like an unlikely starting point for a voyage halfway around the world. But it is here that Cat Jarman begins her brilliant new history of the Vikings. In 873, Repton was…
The grave goods included two iron axes, a bronze kettle, and metres of lavish textiles embroidered with silver, gold, and silk threads, all suggesting this was the grave of a high-status, elite individual.
It all began with a bead: a small piece of carnelian recovered during the excavation of a Viking Great Army mass grave at Repton in 1982. Thirty-five years later, it fascinated Cat Jarman, who was examining artefact archives for the…
Dated to c.AD 950 on stylistic grounds, the hoard contains three significant pieces of jewellery deposited in a single event, possibly by a wealthy individual.
A large study, led by researchers from the University of Copenhagen, has mapped the DNA of the Viking world. The results (recently published in Nature: https:// doi.org) paint a complex picture of population movement across Europe during this period. Over…