Professional Documents
Culture Documents
magazine
4/2000
NORTH SEA
VIKING
LEGACY
Viking Heritage Magazine
Marita, Olle, Therese, Maj-Britt and Dan The Ale in the Viking Age
project 20
Viking Heritage
Gotland University College
DESTINATION VIKING
E-mail: viking@hgo.se A major new initiative 2021
Tablet Weaving 22
From Hvaml
(The High One)
Miljmrkt med Svanen. Lic nr 341 487
Heritage News
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Transformation
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Bronze hoards contained dress-pins, arm- and neck- The smaller squares are test pits. The
Hoarding as a phenomenon in rings, bracelets, mountings and pieces of eastern one, in the top right corner,
archaeological material is well worth a melted bronze. Most of the objects were showed traces from a house, with an
discussion, as it seems to appear all over destroyed, cut in pieces or half melted. easily recognisable clay floor level. In
but there is little known about it. Hoards Perhaps destroyed by fire would be an that one we also found a great deal of
might consist of iron, bronze, silver or appropriate expression. Indubitable ceramics and animal bones. We have
gold; valuable goods from the specific evidence of wood and large iron- tried to show the situation of the house
period in any case. They might be mountings showed that the bronze had with the dotted line in the picture. The
hidden from enemies or placed in been kept in some kind of a wooden dark areas within the trench are areas
pattern to create a territorial borderline, container. with stones and darker soil. Wooden
or they might be seen as ceremonial Judging from the iron-mountings the remains probably belonging to a roof
offerings, gifts to gods for religious container was a chest. During the were found and laboratory results will
reasons. On Gotland, as mentioned excavation well-preserved pieces of a indicate if the hoards and the building
earlier, more than 700 silver hoards have solid lock for the chest appeared. Many belong to the same time period. This
been found. One or more are added to of the bronze pieces had been exposed to and other questions will hopefully be
this number every year. Bronze hoards a high temperature and a big chunk of answered when test results arrive and
are more rare. The number of bronze bronze artefacts was melted together at other analyses are all completed.
hoards is uncertain but if not correct, the bottom of the hoard. The bronze
this is the fifth found, one more or less, hoard can be seen as raw material for
on Gotland. Perhaps therefore this hoard bronze casting. The bronze objects that Literature
has been slightly neglected in the way were found were all of Baltic type. At the Thunmark, L & Trotzig, G. 1971. Burge i
not only the media but also we, the moment nothing specific can be said Lummelunda. Ett forskningsprojekt.
archaeologists have presented the major regarding the dating of the objects. Gotlndskt Arkiv. Visby.
find from Spillings farm. This find is not Hopefully a planned Swedish-Baltic
as large, not as valuable today and not as project, still in an early phase, will be stergren, M. 1989. Mellan stengrund
glimmering as the polished silver, but able to provide some vital answers och stenhus. Gotlands vikingatida
still, it can provide us with concerning dating the hoard and the silverskatter som boplatsindikation.
archaeological facts that will increase our objects within it. An answer from the Theses and papers in archaeology 2.
knowledge about trade in a way radiocarbon dating laboratory is Visby.
another silver hoard cannot. This is expected soon.
not meant to be patronising but, while The weight of the bronze hoard was
more silver hoards provide more factual approximately 20 kg. About the author:
information, a rare find results in more All these three hoards seem to have Ola Korps, Per Widerstrm and Jonas
new knowledge and equally important- been hidden within a building; all three Strm are archaeologists.
it arouses more questions. within the same building shown in the
In this short description we will focus picture to the right. The line in the lower E-mail: per.widerstrom@ gotmus.i.se
on the hoards from Spillings. right hand corner measuring 10 meters
The bronze hoard was found only 1 indicates the scale. North is upwards as a
meter from silver hoard II. The hoard small arrow above the big trench shows. Photos: Gran Strm
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Nettle Soup
1 1/22 litres of tender nettles
1 litre vegetable bouillon
3 tablespoons flour
1 decilitre milk or cream
Salt, white- or black pepper
1/21 teaspoon of sweet cicely or thyme
4 eggs, boiled
Rinse and parboil the nettles. Pour off the water. Bring
the bouillon to the boil. Place the nettles in the
bouillon.
Thicken the soup with flour mixed together with some
cold water and let boil a couple of minutes to a well-
thickened consistency. Add milk or cream. Flavour
with salt, pepper and sweet cicely or thyme. Remove
the eggshells and divide them into halves.
Place them in the soup tureen with the soup.
"Chimney sweepers"
1 kilo ungutted herring
1 litre water
1 dl salt
1 tablespoon of butter
Butter mixed with dill Photo: Lennart Hansson
50 g butter
1/2 dl finely chopped dill
Gut the herring, leaving the backbone. Rinse them
carefully and let drain off.
Mix water and salt in a bowl. Let the herring soak in
the water about 1 hour. Take up the herring and drain
off carefully. Fry in hot frying pan 23 minutes on
each side or grill them over live coals. In that case place
them in a gridiron, brush them with butter and grill
them over live coals 23 minutes on each side.
Serve them immediately together with the dill-
flavoured butter and bread.
Cowberry pears
1 litre cowberries (red whortleberries), about 600 g
3 dl water
3 dl honey
1 kilo small, firm pears
Pick the cowberries over and put them in a casserole.
Add water and honey. Bring to a boil and then simmer
on low heat without lid, about 10 minutes. In the
meantime peel the pears letting the stalks remain.
Scrape the stalks with a knife and cut a cross at the
bottom of the pears. Put the pears in the casserole and
let them boil with the cowberries until they are soft,
about 30 minutes. Skim carefully. Put the cowberry
pears in carefully cleaned, hot jars, pouring the liquid
over them. Put on the lids and let the pears cool.
Keep them in a dark and cool place.
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Viking Heritage Magazine
By Florian W. Huber
Reykholt
Snorri Sturlusons farm in Iceland
Previous Excavations These walls could be associated with a available for this period which contain
The first excavation at Reykholt took fireplace which has been radiocarbon descriptions of buildings and other
already place in 1941 when the passage dated from charcoal to the period arrangements at the site, for example the
leading from Snorralaug ( the warm hot between the 8th and 10th centuries. Sturlunga Saga, which is a relatively
spring bath ) to the farm was excavated. These remains, overlie natural deposits reliable source for events in the 13th
It had been discovered when a new and belong without any doubt to the century. This gives archaeologists and
sportshall was erected in 1934 to the east earliest occupation of the site. historians the opportunity to compare
of the already existing school. In 1964 As a result so far we can say that there these descriptions with the structural
and 1984 minor excavations took place. are overlapping building phases spanning remains unearthed through
In 1987 excavations were started again at the period from the initial settlement, archaeological enquiry.
the initiative of and with funding from probably already in the 9th century, Reykholt is probably among the
the Ministy of Education. Trial trenches until the 20th century. earliest farms, settled in the country (also
were dug to establish the extent of the A special feature at the site are the hot it is not mentioned in the
farm mound. It turned out that the last springs. Investigations have shown that Landnmabk), with continuous
farm houses, made of turf, stone and the geothermal water was used as a occupation until the 20th century.
wood , were pulled down in 1930. The resource in the past. The use of this Therefore a comparison with three other
farm buildings were rebuilt and moved resource during the earliest settlement farm-mounds excavated in Iceland,
every so often. One building phase period in Iceland has not been spanning similar length of occupation is
supersedes another and some of the extensively studied so far. planned:
remains are very fragmentary as a result. Straborg, a medium-sized coastal
In 1989 remains of some old turf Present excavations farm, Bessasta ir, the seat of the
walls with traces of volcanic ash in them A major reason for the interest in Governor and the later President of
( tephra ), identified as the so-called studying and excavating the farm site lies Iceland, and Vi ey, where there was a
landnm-layer, which can be dated to in its historical significance. monastery for a period of time in the
871 AD ( + 2 years ) were excavated. Contemporary written records are medieval period. A complete comparison
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New
k!
Somerled undoubtedly had to pay some respect to
the specific interests of that social class. As
a matter of fact, most sagas are supposed
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Viking Heritage Magazine
By Alexander Andreeff
This summer in July I went on a three-week
study tour through southern Sweden,
Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and United
Kingdom visiting museums and historical
villages. The welcome and helpfulness I met
when I interviewed responsible persons from
each site was fantastic. The aim of my study
tour was to study and evaluate how the
Vikings and the Viking Age are displayed in
different visitor centres and site museums in
northwestern Europe. Primarily I wanted to
study the ways these sites communicate with
the public. Not all of the places I visited had
a Viking-Age theme it was also interesting
for me to study how other subjects are
interpreted and presented.
Historical villages
The sites I visited can be divided into two
types, historical villages and site museums. In
the 1990's many historical villages and site
museums were opened in Scandinavia. You
can almost refer to a trend for Viking theme
Ribes Vikinger in and regional site museums at former
Denmark. excavation sites. In Sweden we have for
Photo: A. Andreeff example the new site museums at Birka (The
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first town in Sweden mentioned in Vita Site museums impressive and monumental state museums is
Ansgarii by Rimbert and visited by the Among the museums I visited were outdated. An indication of this trend may be
Nordic apostle Ansgarius) and Old Uppsala Lindholm Hje Museum, Ribe Viking the growing popularity for site museums,
(the cult centre for the early Swedish state, Museum in Denmark, Viking Museum historical villages and re-enactment, which
mentioned by Adam of Bremen). Haithabu in Germany, Anne Frank Haus and present the history in a more intimate,
Among the historical villages I visited Rijksmuseum in Netherlands, and Jorvik accessible way. In many of the historical
were Fotevikens Museum in southern Viking Centre and Vikingar! Largs in the villages I visited, visitors were given the
Sweden, Trelleborg Fyrkat, Ribes Viking United Kingdom. The most interesting site opportunity to try to use copies of historical
Centre, Hjemsted Oltidspark and museums with innovative exhibitions were clothes and items, activities that proved very
Middelaldercentret in Denmark. All of them Lindholm Hje Museum and Ribe Viking popular. In York, England in the
have their main activities during the summer Museum in Denmark. In their exhibitions Archaeological Resource Centre (ARC)
season. The main problem for sites with you could see very educational groups could try to get an insight into the
outdoor attractions in Scandinavia is the interpretations and new ideas realistically work of an archaeologist. Technical and
short summer. The peak of the season is presented. The exhibitions in some of the Natural Sciences museums have come a long
sometimes only six weeks from mid-June other museums I visited were very traditional way in this respect, and we can learn a great
until the beginning of August. The historical with items displayed in costly showcases deal from the way their way of interpreting
villages are forced to close during the winter arranged thematically; religion, trade, crafts, things.
or find other markets. Many of them then defence and household etc. These thematic The idea of an all-encompassing concept
carry on conference arrangements with a arrangements are rather boring and static and for the site or product's every aspect has
historical theme. Through the summer don't hold the visitors' interest for long. It's gained importance over the past few years.
season the historical villages can attract very important not to have too much text This involves making detailed plans for
visitors with different events and activities as since the visitors don't read it anyway. Our everything from minor items such as visiting
Viking bazaars, handicrafts, boat and house goal should be not to teach in an academic cards to the larger features such as the
building and reconstruction. The visitors can way - instead it should be learning through architecture of the buildings. I am convinced
sometimes also take part, for example try a entertainment. that this is the right way to go; having the
Viking-Age craft. Many of the sites also work One type of exhibition that has proven to concept, layout, logotype etc very well
with schools and youth groups, sometimes be very popular is to create an illusion of a planned before even starting to construct the
attraction. We have much to learn from the
marketing and packaging of products as
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Viking Heritage Magazine
By Geir Sr-Reime,
project manager
The Ale in the North Sea Viking Legacy
The two Interreg IIC projects, North Sea
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improve the quality of their work and to Therefore, both the Top 50 and an almost Live-groups, fighting groups etc. can of
learn best practice from each other. This is a unlimited number of lesser attractions course play the way they want to, but if they
continuation of the current work of both the should gradually be included into Destination are used in public performances, they must
NSVL and the Via Viking project of the Viking and its organisation and projects. live up to quality criteria.
Baltic Sea Area. There should be a selection process The best way of securing high quality for
Our common Viking legacy in addition though, based on quality criteria, also taking live performances is by establishing networks,
imbeds a huge potential for educational into account even geographical distribution, arranging seminars, festivals etc. where re-
programmes, which must be developed the special focus on rural and areas in enactors and other specialists can meet and
within the framework of trans-national co- economic recline and a balanced focus exchange views, information, knowledge etc.
operation. between the Scandinavian core areas and the
areas influenced by the Vikings. Quality assessment
Main focus tourism, Destination Viking Quality assessment has been a key issue in
This has two main elements: production and Cultural remains/sites the current NSVL project. The work started
sale/marketing. These are, along with the museum exhibits of by NSVL should be followed-up and more
Production means to provide or produce a real objects, the cores of any historic detailed guidelines should be worked out.
string of attractions that can be marketed and tourism. Therefore there must be a major But it is also important that all quality
sold either as a more or less integrated focus on these. Reconstructions, re- criteria are worked out in close co-operation
package, or be included as major elements in enactments etc. are only ways of presenting between all partners and types of projects
travel packs. Destination Viking should be or interpreting the original involved.
used to attract visitors to the Viking area, but remains/sites/objects.
should not exclusively focus on Viking The interpretation and presentation of Best practice
heritage, Viking remains or Viking lore. sites and monuments are based on academic Network building is the key factor in any
There must be a strong Viking focus for research. The project should encourage and international co-operation. Exchange of
products labelled Destination Viking, but the probably also itself initiate new research ideas, experiences, knowledge etc. and just
historic and/or academic aspects or any projects, with a focus on international coming to know each other is the core of it.
Viking links should not be exaggerated research co-operation. Seminars, workshops Therefore, ample funds for travel, meetings,
Each partner will have the main and conferences should be held under the conferences etc. should be available within
responsibility for providing or producing the auspices of Destination Viking. Destination the projects.
Educational programme
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Tablet Weaving
By Viktoria Persdotter Age, ex. from Birka, (Sweden) and not come into use before the 19th
Mammen (Denmark), gold and silver century, and all hitherto known
On the front page of this issue, there is threads have been woven into the band. prehistoric and mediaeval bands have
picture of a woman weaving a band using Although imported materials like silk, their patterns produced by equally
the tablet weaving technique. This gold and silver were used for the bands, threaded and individually turned tablets.
technique was commonly used during the there is no doubt that these bands were There are, however, occasional prehistoric
Viking Age, and its origins in Scandinavia locally produced, as local materials (wool, finds of discoloured, seemingly single-
can be traced as far back in time as the flax) were used for the non-visible parts of coloured bands, which originally might
early Iron Age. Some scholars also claim the band. There are also several finds of have been patterned in the above-
that certain Danish Bronze-Age textiles mentioned technique, although it is very
were made using this technique. Tablet unlikely.
weaving is a complex, intricate technique, The Viking-Age tablet woven bands
and in this article I will give only a very were often used as decoration on clothes,
brief, theoretical introduction to the as well as headbands and hair bands.
technique. Judging from pictures, and the puzzling
In the technique of tablet weaving, the lack of belts with metal buckles in many
warp threads are twisted around each otherwise richly equipped Viking-Age
other using tablets, before they are locked graves, woven band could also have been
together by the weft. The patterns of the used as sashes. Amongst many re-
band are created either by different- enactors, there is a peculiar habit of
coloured warp threads changing places, or wrapping woven bands, or narrow leather
by letting an additional weft float over strips crosswise up the calves. There are
and under warp threads. Often both however, as far as I know, no
techniques, with numerous variations of Scandinavian depictions of humans, or
them, are used together to produce the any other archaeological finds from the
Weaving tablet from Birka. Enlarged. Viking Age providing proof of this detail.
patterns. The direction in which the warp
is threaded through the tablets, as well as Assuredly there are finds of puttees from
the direction they are turned, affect the intricately patterned Viking-Age and the Viking Age; from Haithabu, Latvia
structure of the band and enhance the early mediaeval bands, not least from and Lithuania, and they can also be seen
patterns. Finland, made entirely of wool or wool depicted on the Bayeux tapestry, but they
Prehistoric weaving tablets were made and linen, ex. Leksand (Sweden), do not have anything to do with the
from a variety of materials, wood, horn, Mammen (Denmark), Eura, Humikkala, above-mentioned arrangement. The
bone, and even bronze (there are Kaukola (Finland), Oseberg, Norway. Viking-Age puttees were not tablet
Gotlandic finds of weaving tablets made The patterns of the preserved Viking- woven, but consisted of about 10 cm
from bronze). Nowadays, cardboard Age bands usually consist of geometrical wide and 1 metre-long strips of cloth,
tablets are widely used. They are suitable figures, interlaced knots and swastikas woven on an ordinary loom in the twill
for occasional weaving projects, using the (yes, this symbol was not invented in the technique (there is also a find from
modern weaving technique where all the 1930`s, but is a common symbol on Iron Hedeby of puttees made from hemmed
tablets are turned in the same direction at Age artefacts, having nothing to do with strips of tabby-woven cloth). They were,
the same time, but are not suitable for a certain political movement of the 20th as in later times, wrapped not crosswise
making bands where the tablets are century). The commonly used technique but horizontally overlapping, thus
turned individually. Making copies of of tablet weaving nowadays, where all the covering the calves completely.
Iron-Age artefacts requires Iron-Age tablets are individually threaded
equipment, and wooden tablets are far according to a drawn schedule and then
superior to modern substitutes. turned in the same direction at the same
time, thus creating various repeated
About the author:
Prehistoric bands were made from all
Archaeologist and craftsman,
kinds of textile fibres available, such as chevron patterns (see below), is not in
e-mail: viktoria.persdotter@swi pnet.se
wool, linen, silk and horsehair. In many evidence from the Viking Age. In
of the bands preserved from the Viking Scandinavia, this simplified technique did
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Copyright: Ribe VikingeCenter Viking Heritage Magazine
Ribe VikingeCenter
bringing history to life
By Bjarne Clement beginning of 700 AD and the Manor Farm, of history because the environments are
consisting of a longhouse and five other alive six months every year. The Centers
Background and history buildings from 980 AD. In April 1999 we main concept is promotion at a high
People interested in archaeology and history began the reconstruction of a section of the professional level, in depth, over longer time
have always known that the area around Ribe original townhouses from 825 AD which will periods and in authentic settings.
played an important role in the Viking Age. be eight houses all together. Because the Another very important aspect is that we
It was just a matter of time before evidence reconstructed environments have all been have chosen to let the reconstruction of
could be presented. Den Antikvariske excavated in or just outside of Ribe, it is environments be a part of the promotion.
Samling, of the Museum of Ribe, has fully possible to go to the original places and see That gives a dynamic atmosphere that is lost
confirmed these expectations through how things have developed since the Viking if you open a Centre on a turnkey basis. At
excavations over the last 25 years. Almost Age. When it is finished you will really be Ribe VikingeCenter the anticipation of new
every year there are new exciting findings in able to experience progress through the projects coming up automatically stimulates
different excavations and it is verified without Viking Age and thus get a further perspective visitors curiosity about the results so they are
doubt that Ribe is one of the worlds most on this very important period of the Danish encouraged to seek information and come
important areas in documenting trade, craft history that every Dane identifies as a very again another time.
and farming in one of the basic societies for special part of our cultural heritage. Our visitors spend quite a long time, up
the travelling Vikings. to 3-4 hours, at the Centre. We see this as
As a natural consequence of these strong Promotion of the Viking Age fulfilling a need for absorbing information
historical roots Ribe VikingeCenter was The purpose of Ribe VikingeCenter is to based on quality, authentic experiences,
established in 1992. We are situated only 2 promote the Viking Age by vitalising activities and education. This is not what we
km. south of Ribe in an area where it is reconstructed environments. Together with experience in our modern zapping culture.
possible to create a topography that gives the this presentation the archaeologists theories But you can say we use the zapping culture
visitor a true impression of how things from experimental archaeology are being in a positive way. A lot of people find history
looked 1000 1200 years ago. So far we have constantly tested and developed not only in boring and slow. Here you can get a survey of
reconstructed two important and very well- relation to the reconstruction of buildings, the Viking Age and then go in depth where
made environments true to craftsman clothes, instruments, tools and equipment, you want to, get in contact with the Vikings -
traditions, the Marketplace from the but also in relation to the sociological aspect talk, see, touch and sometimes try doing
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Viking Viewpoints
CHILDREN THEY DID EXIST!
By Viktoria Persdotter necessary to survive in today`s society. results, would be possible. But in professional
Archaeologist and craftsman, e-mail We can, and must in a scientific context, interpretations of the past, tangible facts must
viktoria.persdotter@swipnet.se never apply today`s conception of the world never be allowed to disappear amongst, or be
and moral values to societies of the past. replaced by routine assumptions, fixed ideas, or
In the second-last issue of the Viking Heritage Particularly not when speaking of prehistoric an anxious urge to be politically correct by
Magazine, an exhibition at the county museum societies, where the very limited archaeological today`s standards.
of Gotland, called Children did they exist? sources and the usually non-existing written Interpreting the past is not a simple task.
was announced by senior curator Malin sources make it practically impossible to judge The past, as well as its significance for people of
Lindqvist. As I spent a great deal of the the situation of the children, or any other today, is neither uncomplicated, nor
summer working on Gotland, I went to see it, group, in a certain society. The people of uncontroversial. Sources of knowledge are very
and I was not impressed. The exhibition was, in prehistoric societies not only lived in a material limited or non-existent, the various
my opinion, the most non-scientific and world essentially different from ours; they also interpretations of them are countless, and at
incompetent exhibition I have ever seen at a lived in a world of ideas essentially different times controversial. Public interpretation of the
museum, showing a frightful lack of criticism from that of today, making it impossible for us past however calls for objectivity and respect,
of the sources. to fully understand the way an individual not only towards the audience, but also towards
As only a minimal part of the Viking viewed his/her own situation. the humans of bygone times. There is, in my
Heritage Magazines readers have been able to Besides, there is no such thing as children opinion, no reason to present a prehistoric
visit the mentioned exhibition, I will not give a of the Viking Age. Being the child of a jarl was society in a way that would lead to legal
more detailed account of it, but will rather not the same thing as being the child of a proceedings, if it were used to describe a
focus on the topic of the exhibition children thrall. Being a child in the inland area of present ethnic minority.
during bygone times (Stone Age, Viking Age, northernmost Sweden was not the same thing When viewing the past, we are able to spot
19th century). The exhibition is not unique, as growing up in the middle of Hedeby. Having only minimal fragments of a vast and foreign
and the facts put forth in it are rather Inga as a mother was not the same thing as landscape. We imagine distinguishing shapes,
representative of todays general, popular- having Hildur as a mother. The Viking Age structures and repeated patterns, and we also
scientific ideas about children and childhood in not only included far from equal societies with imagine it is possible to arrange them according
the past, and in this article I will give some a severe social stratification, as well as extensive to our conception of the world of today. When
personal comments on the matter, with a geographical areas and 300 years of giving a professional, public presentation of
particular focus on the Viking Age. comprehensive political and social changes; it various aspects of the past however, we must
At least in Sweden, it is nowadays popularly also included millions of different individuals, not let ourselves get carried away by a wish to
claimed that children until the late 1800`s were none of them being less individual than any of prove that the present is more enlightened and
not allowed to be children, but were viewed us living today. human than the past, or vice versa.
as small adults. This peculiar assumption was Of course there must be generalisations and To my opinion, it is also incumbent on each
also strongly enhanced in the above-mentioned simplifications, when various aspects of the past and everyone working professionally with
exhibition. But to claim that children in the are put on show. Without generalisations and public interpretation of the past, to let
past, in contrary to children of today, were not simplifications, no scientific research, be it in unanswerable questions be unanswered.
allowed to be children is, viewed more closely, archaeology, mathematics, medicine, or
a completely absurd assertion. Children of anything else, as well as a presentation of its
today are as much small adults as ever before
- what else could they be? Childhood is nothing
but a period of life when you prepare for
adulthood by watching, imitating and being
taught by the adults around you, be they
parents, relatives or schoolteachers. The life of
Contribution to a debate
the children is not, and has probably never The latest number (3/2000) of Viking considerably north of the L'Anse aux
been, completely isolated from the life of the Heritage Magazine arrived here yesterday, Meadows site. They left no known evidence
adults, but is rather a reflection of, and a and I perused it immediately, from cover to of house construction of any kind. Nor is
preparation for it. Therefore, in order to
approach at least some kind of understanding cover. As always, I found much to enjoy, with there any sign at all of a thriving Norse
of the situation of children in a certain society, Malin Lindquist's fine article on those colony anywhere in America at the time of
be it prehistoric or the present, the actual intriguing rock crystal lenses being of special Columbus.
society must be viewed in its entirety. interest to me. Thompson's statements about Nyaland
It is, at first sight, easy to be horrified by the I must take issue, however, with Gunnar are similarly without foundation. This New
announcement that children of the past often Thompson's New World Settlements 1250- Land was sighted in 1285 (not 1261) by
had to carry out practical, physical work. For 1650, on the last page. He contends that two Icelandic priests named Adalbrand and
many westerners of today, physical work is evidence from cartography and archaeology Thorvald Helgasonar, who had drifted off
something foreign, and regarded as primitive supports the theory that Viking settlements course on their back home from Norway, and
and unhealthy. But we must bear in mind that in the New World were thriving at the time who reported having spotted an unknown
in a society like the one of the Viking Age, of Columbus. Your readers deserve to know coast far to the west of Iceland. Nothing was
where most people sustained on farming and that the evidence from these two scholarly said about the distance involved or about
cattle-rearing, everyone, young as well as old, fields support no such theory quite the which coast it could have been. Nor was it
women as well as men, carried out physical contrary. Nor is there any literary and King Haakon IV of Norway-Sweden who
work. Having the children start by carrying out documentary evidence for Thompson's reacted to this supposed discovery, but Eirik
simpler household tasks at an early age was not
a sign of cruelty, or a way to deprive them of claim. Priest Hater Magnusson (d. 1299), who
their childhood it was simply a way of On the basis of the scattered objects of sent a man named Hrolf off on a fruitless
teaching the children the skills necessary to Norse origin found on the Canadian littoral, search for this new coast.
survive as an adult. Having a child collect the modern archaeological record shows that Now for the cartographical evidence:
firewood is not necessarily more a way to make the Greenland Norse continued to cross the The ca. 1414 world map drawn by the
it into a small adult, than putting him/her in Davis Strait for some centuries after the Venetian Albertin de Virga disappeared in
front of a computer in order to learn the skills Vinland voyages, but to coastal areas 1932, but we know what it looked like. The
25 http://viking.hgo.se
Viking Heritage Magazine
Heritage News
Excavations in Gorodishe and Wolin
During this summer two interesting For the past five years an archaeological
excavations have been going on. At excavation in Wolin-Jomsborg has been
Rurikovo Gorodishe (Holmgard) the oldest going on. During the 2000-season a
wooden fortification from the Viking Age completely preserved sun compass was
in Russia was examined with students from found. The area where the archaeological
Gotland University College taking part in examination is carried out is being
the excavation. investigated to make place for a new bridge
and motorway. This is the biggest
excavation in the history of Wolin
supposed facsimile provided by Thompson archaeology, says Blazej Stanislawski from
not only fudges the delineations of the the Institute of Archaeology of the Polish
original, but gives names to the areas shown Academy of Sciences. During the first three Penannular brooch found in Wolin,
which have no basis in the reality known to Poland. Photo: Blazej Stanislawski.
years of excavation the southern part of
cartographic historians. The landmass in the
Wolin was examined. At that time they
map's northwestern corner, which Thompson
labels North America, in the original has a found remains of a small harbour and an They have also found traces of an irrigation
crown and the name Norveca, repeated in early medieval ship. Until now system from the 11th century, a sculpture of
three separate places that most likely archaeologists have discovered a area with a Slavonic god, Viking jewellery and the
represent three Norwegian towns known to large houses about 56 metres long. The already-mentioned sun compass.
the Venetians through the Baltic fish trade. houses have been dated to 906-907 AD.
And the cartographic lead-up to
Norumbega? First of all, the notion that
English Franciscans mapped the region from
Greenland to Florida between 1330-1360 is
Thompson's own invention (see his self-
Viking period settlement Conference
published work The Friar's Map) Nor is
there any foundation for the statement that in Cardiff, July 4-7 2001
early 16th century maps called the region
Noruega or Nova Noruega. Later this SINCE ITS FOUNDATION more than a conference sessions and lunches on the
name was modified to Norumbega a name
that signified a fur-trading settlement. century ago, when W P Ker concurrently Thursday and Saturday. Members of the
The name Norumbega had its tender held the Chairs of English and History, Society for Medieval
beginnings as oranbega on the map which Cardiff University, a constituent institution Archaeology, and current students, are
Girolamo da Verrazzano drew after his of the University of Wales, has maintained a offered a concessionary rate of 45. A daily
brother Giovanni's exploratory voyage to distinguished record of scholarship in rate is also available. Payment of the
America in 1524, grew via Giacomo interdisciplinary medieval and Norse studies. conference fee is requested upon enrolment,
Gastaldi's Nurumberg pn his 1548 map of With its students working on excavations and payment can be made by cheque or
North America, and reached full-fledged organised from within the School of History credit card. Please use the enrolment form
fantasies slightly later on some Dieppe maps
of the St. Lawrence region. It had nothing to and Archaeology at Cardiff on Norse-period attached to this leaflet.
do with the Norse although the notion that sites in the Hebrides, and on excavations of Accommodation has been provisionally
it did had already arisen by the time the an early-medieval and Viking-period reserved for conference participants in
Danish theologian Hans Poulson Resen put settlement at Llanbedrgoch, Anglesey, it is student residences close to the conference
his finishing touches to the 1605 map now the natural venue for a major international venue and Cardiff city centre. The price of
associated with his name. conference at which new evidence concerning bed and breakfast in a single, semi-en suite
all aspects of human settlement in Britain, room is 25 a night. These rooms can be
Respectfully, Ireland and elsewhere in the Viking world occupied from Tuesday July 3rd to Sunday
Kirsten A. Seaver from the 8th to 11th centuries A.D. can be July 8th. In order to secure your
Palo Alto, California, U.S.A. presented, compared and discussed. accommodation we have to ask for bookings
E-mail: seaver@leland.Stanford.EDU A rich programme has been put together, to be made before the end of January 2001
with 42 papers offered by scholars from with a deposit of 3 per person per night.
Additional reading across the world, covering all the major types Alternative arrangements can be made
Kirsten A. Seaver, Albertin de Virga and of settlement (rural, urban, coastal and through:
the Far North., Mercator's World, Vol. 2, military), all the major types of evidence
No. 6.,(Nov.-Dec.1997), pp. 58-62. Cardiff Marketing: fax [+44] (0)29 2037
(excavated, artefactual, historical and 7653; phone [+44] (0)29 2066 7773;
-------------------Norumbega and
'Harmonia Mundi in Sixteenth-Century onomastic), and many new and significant e-mail:
Cartography. Imago Mundi 50, 1998, perspectives on the topic, such as settlement mailto:rosalindd@cardiffmarketing.co.uk
pp.34-58. in the context of law, literature, economic
or rosalindd@cardiffmarketing.co.uk
------------------- Renewing the Quest for and environmental factors, or ethnic and
Vinland: The Stefnsson, Resen and cultural allegiances.
Thorlksson Maps. Mercator's World, For more information contact: John Hines,
The conference fee is 70 per person,
Vo. 5, No. 5 (Sept.-Oct 2000), pp. 42-49. Hines@Cardiff.ac.uk
including refreshments between or after
http://viking.hgo.se 26
Viking Heritage Magazine
Excavation of
Alntorps foundry
Heritage News
At the moment there are plans of an
archaeological excavation of Alntorps
medieval foundry in the woods east of Lake
Nora in rebro County, Sweden.
Famed ships in New York
Tremendously exciting research to get more On September 24 an important part of Leif
information about these early foundries, says Ericsson Year took place in New York. Two
Eivind Claesson, archaeologist at rebro Viking ships sailed into Manhattan along the
County Museum. Hudson River with skyscrapers all around. To
Alntorps foundry has been (dated to be) see our ship VIKING PLYM, the oldest in
established as early as the 12th century and the world, rowing into Riverside Park
that is a small sensation in itself. Allan together with the famous American
Wetterholm, an archaeologist from Nora, NORSEMAN was quite spectacular. In this
dated the foundry. The oldest dated foundry setting our ship looked even older.
is located in Moshyttan and it was already in The publicity prior to this event had been
operation in 960 AD. quite tremendous, especially in the Photo: Dagmar Hfdingaklda Elenborg.
A former opinion was that smelting Scandinavian-American media. The words
operations began during the 13th century at "Famed ships" are taken from one such The Lord Mayor of New York himself
the earliest, says Eivind Claesson. But now newspaper. And now three TV-channels and sent us his greetings and the programme
also New York Times met us. Our new "solar ended in Philadelphia with a tremendous
we must probably change that opinion based
shield" with its beautiful ornamentation Viking feast with our Norseman friends for
on the many new and earlier datings that are
received a great amount of attention. about 100 people. We had sailed together in
being made. Setting sail on the Atlantic Ocean and Stockholm 1998, so we made a proud team.
The complete foundry area is to be sailing by the Statue of Liberty with the The 17 persons in our crew (two of them 83
excavated. How was the foundry constructed Manhattan skyline over the dragons head was years old!) came back tired but full of
and how were the different workshops a memorable adventure. We were very warmly wonderful memories.
located in the surrounding e.g. houses, received at all the different events we attended More pictures can be found on our web
smithies, corrosion pits and dams? These are and we spread the message that Vikings were site www.vikingp lym.org
just some of the questions researchers would bold seafarers and discoverers, not just warriors
like to find answers for. and definitely without horns! Chief Carl Brvalla
27 http://viking.hgo.se
VIKING HERITAGE
A network for Viking-related Knowledge
Viking Heritage
magazine
Postal address: Viking Heritage, Gotland University College, Cramrgatan 3, S-621 67 Visby. Sweden.
Phone: +46 498 29 98 30, Fax: +46 498 29 98 92
E-mail: viking@hgo.se
Website: http://viking.hgo.se Webmaster: Olle Hoffman, olle.hoffman@hgo.se
Website Gotland University College: http://www.hgo.se