Strøby Toftegård: Halls, Hierarchies and Social Dynamics in Late Iron Age and Viking Age Denmark presents and considers the archaeological material from the site of Strøby Toftegård in the eastern part of Zealand, Denmark, where comprehensive excavations took place between 1994 and 2013. The book seeks to qualify the interpretation of Farm 1 as the residence of a magnate from c. AD 650 to c. AD 1000 and of the whole settlement consisting of at least nine farm units as a magnate settlement. This is done by means of a detailed survey and analysis of buildings and features, structures, various groups of objects, and a discussion of the landscape, the social context and the creation of social hierarchies that the site fitted into while it was in use.Detailed analyses of pits, wells, a latrine, bone material, macrofossils, pollen, the sherds of glass vessels, sherds of windowpanes, beads, jewelry, tools and pottery all substantiate that Farm 1 was something extraordinary. Its inhabitants appear to have had better access to resources, been in charge of certain activities, had access to knowledge that was not available to everyone and, finally, to have been part of larger social and political networks. It is likewise argued that the rest of the settlement was home to the magnate’s retinue in the form of, inter alia, mounted warriors. Strøby Toftegård’s placement within the hierarchy of power in relation to the other known magnate localities is also discussed. The argument here is that there were close connections between Strøby Toftegård and the royal seat in Lejre, although the material simultaneously indicates that Strøby Toftegård was not quite on the same political level as Lejre.The interpretation of Strøby Toftegård is considered in relation to the surrounding landscape, place names and other archaeological evidence from excavations and metal-detector surveys. The last chapter is a concluding discussion of those elements within the archaeological material that justify interpreting the settlement at Strøby Toftegård as a magnate settlement, what such an interpretation entails and what questions it raises for future treatment of the archaeological material.

The Vikings in the Hebrides provides an introduction to the Viking colonization and Norse occupation of the Outer Hebrides. Our knowledge of this period in the Hebrides has until recently been minimal as the historic evidence was negligible and the archaeology limited. However, two recent excavations at Bornais and Cille Pheadair have transformed our understanding of the period in the region. These two excavations will provide much of the information that is set out in this book but there is also a comprehensive review of other important discoveries such as the Lewis Chessmen, the burial at Cnip, Lewis and the silver hoards from Stornoway Castle and Dibidale in Lewis.The excavations at Bornais have transformed our understanding of the Norse settlement of the North Atlantic. It is possible to chart the evolution of domestic houses from the Viking longhouse to the post-medieval croft, to analyze the distribution of finds on the house floors and to critically assess gender relationships over this long period.The excavations have also produced large quantities of finds that demonstrate the links between the Western Isles and the wider world. These include important assemblages of bone combs and comb making debris, which enable a discussion of craft production and the fluctuating relationship of the Hebrides, the Irish Sea zone and Scandinavia. The presence of exotic green porphyry from Greece, amber, Ringerike art, pottery from the Bristol Channel, coins from Scandinavia, England and the Low Countries all provide opportunities to contextualise the settlements and the region in the wider medieval world.This book places the Outer Hebrides at the center of the Viking World and provides a unique contribution to our understanding of the islands’ importance at the critical period when Scotland was emerging as a major medieval kingdom.

The early medieval period witnessed one of the deepest and most significant transformations of European societies and cultures with the process of Christianisation. The emergence and establishment of Christianity created a new dimension of power in society with an appeal to supernatural forces combined with an access to a broader transnational authority. Carved stones did not merely reflect these changes, but enabled them within northern societies with traditions of sculpture and epigraphic representations. This book looks at three datasets of monuments from Ireland, Scotland and Sweden using an innovative comparative framework to offer new insights on these monuments and the societies that erected them.Analysed through the three major themes of place, movement, and memory, the case studies are presented from a holistic perspective comprising the monument, their landscape settings and historical and archaeological contexts (when available). The results of this research demonstrate that by means of comparisons across national boundaries, new interpretations emerge on the use and functions of early medieval carved stones. The thematic approach adopted emphasises similarities and contrasts in a more efficient manner than a geographical approach, freed from historiographical biases within scholarly traditions of ‘Celtic’ or ‘Scandinavian’ archaeologies. Furthermore, a multi-scale analysis places the monuments within their local contexts but also within a broader narrative of Christianisation.

This volume presents details, images and discussion of the contents of twenty English coin hoards, ranging in date from the 730s to the 1090s. Found between the 1960s and 1990s, all were studied by the late Marion Archibald at the British Museum but have never been published in full before now. Each hoard is the subject of its own chapter, with discussion of the discovery, and of the historical context in which the hoard was buried, before a catalogue of the relevant coins. The volume also contains an introductory chapter, providing an overview of developments in the use of coinage in England in the seventh to eleventh centuries, as well as a discussion of hoarding in this period. This provides context for the more detailed presentation of the individual hoards in this volume, but also draws on other major hoards of the period, both published and unpublished.

Early urban societies transformed social networks. This was also the case for Northern Europe’s emporia – maritime trading towns that emerged around the North and Baltic Seas in the first stages of the Viking Age. The surprising pace and scope of this change is rarely more evident than in the archaeology of Ribe, Denmark. This is the second and final volume presenting the results of the Northern Emporium research project and the high-definition excavations carried out within this programme in 2017-18 in Ribe. The 21 chapters survey the remarkable range of finds retrieved from this hub of the North Sea world in the eighth and ninth centuries AD: artefacts made from pottery, stone, shell, glass, metals, amber, leather, wood, textile, bone and antler. They offer detailed insights that highlight discoveries such as the assemblages from glass bead or comb-making workshops, and rare finds such as wooden furnishings and musical instruments.The focus of the book is on assembling Ribe’s early urban network. By analysing finds and their context, we develop a picture of social roles and interactions between residents and visitors in the emporium. And we follow the connections they created with other worlds as we trace the flows of glass vessels, pottery and wine barrels from Western Europe; iron, stone and animal products from North and Central Scandinavia and beads and coins that travelled from the Middle East and the Indian Ocean into northern Europe’s new maritime frontier.

This is an inter-disciplinary study of pathways to regional rulership and territorial lordship in early post-Roman Britain which takes as its starting point the East Anglian royal centre at Rendlesham and its contexts.This book examines the origins and development of the East Anglian kingdom in the fifth to eighth centuries AD through the lens of the elite settlement complex at Rendlesham, Suffolk using an interdisciplinary approach involving field survey, landscape history, excavation and metal-detecting finds. It also examines the wider regional context and proposes a new narrative of kingdom formation.

Monarchs, no less than their subjects, want to impress their guests. This book is about gardens as one aspect of creating favourable impressions – soft power – in particular through the royal gardens of England in Tudor and Stuart times. It addresses the backdrop of palaces, parks and gardens that were unspoken statements of authority and cultural achievement that gave status and credibility to the country’s representatives. Garden history from this perspective has been neglected hitherto; neither have the royal gardens been assessed as a collection in which monarchs favoured chosen sites for indulging their stylistic passions. Research on their forms and designs have in the past been accumulated piecemeal, without any sense of overview.This book contains a new analysis enabled by gathering information from numerous archaeological investigations, historic texts and the available visual material, together with extensive original research in the National Archives and elsewhere. Reconstruction drawings flesh out the narrative in the early years when maps, drawings and prints were so very scarce and are reproduced alongside the available material and the more abundant prints and paintings as the Stuart era draws to a close.Radical new understandings of the medieval garden in England serve as the starting point for a fresh narrative of the history of internationally significant English gardens in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It will be of interest to architectural, garden design, social and political historians of the period and to a wide readership of those fascinated by how statecraft, foreign influences, and native innovation interwove for two centuries in our royal gardens and parks.

Throughout history, rivers have been a hub for human settlement and have been a key part of local livelihoods, history, and culture, as well as still playing a present-day role in providing services and leisure to people who live around them. It is no coincidence that all four of the earliest human civilisations were formed on great rivers: the Nile, Euphrates, Indus, and Yellow rivers all saw great human aggregation along them. The most ancient and vital architectural structures linked to the use of rivers are bridges. There are a wide variety of medieval bridge structures, ranging from some very simple in their construction to amazing triumphs of design and engineering comparable with the great churches of the period. They stand today as proof of the great importance of transport networks in the Middle Ages and of the size and sophistication of the medieval economy. These bridges were built in some of the most difficult places, across broad flood plains, deep tidal waters, and steep upland valleys, and they withstood all but the most catastrophic floods. Yet their beauty, from simplistic to ornate, remains for us to appreciate.Medieval Bridges of Middle England has been organised geographically into tours and covers the governmental regions of East of England, East Midlands, and West Midlands. There are 63 bridges featured and beautiful full colour photographs of each bridge are included. A brief history is incorporated with each bridge. Additionally, information about the construction, materials used, and unique features are related, as well as historically relevant documents and images. Directions to each bridge and local attractions are also given.There are literally hundreds of bridges in England that meet the criteria for inclusion in this roll of honour for senior bridges. They vary vastly in size, style, and materials. Most are stone and a very few are brick. We have lost many of our older bridges to the ravages of time and the modern practice of culvertisation and urban development. A few of our older bridges remain though, and their beauty and pivotal role in our history is starting to be recognised.

This monograph is based on the study of 1,341 antler and bone objects and 2,400 fragments of antler and bone waste from excavations in Ipswich between 1974 and 1994. Most of the material comes from contexts of the 7th to the 12th century, although there are small quantities of medieval objects and waste. The monograph is focused on the local craft activity in Ipswich in the Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods. It also includes objects that indicate links to the Continent, particularly northern France, Frisia and southern Scandinavia. Several Roman bone and antler assemblages have been published in recent years, but very few of post-Roman date have appeared. It is therefore an appropriate time to publish the Ipswich material, which is undoubtedly one of the finest and largest collections in the country. The significance of discoveries from Ipswich has long been understood and is now presented as a printed and digital resource. The monograph draws on the international significance of Ipswich as a place of regional craft production over a long period. It examines trade and exchange (including the possible exchange of raw materials), cultural affinities, comparative technologies and broader questions of itinerancy and the concept of the collective workshop.

Beneath the housing estates of Gaywood within the urban reach of modern King’s Lynn lies a former saltmarsh — Gaywood’s North Marsh — which once played an important role in the economic and physical development of this dynamic coastal and estuarine landscape. Focused on the eastern side of the Wash and to the north of an ancient inlet known as the Lyn, this marshland was rich in salt or ‘white gold’, gathered from the brine-saturated muds and processed using the post-Roman technique of sand-washing or sleeching. Often the only traces left behind of this once important coastal industry are the denuded hillocks or mounds representing the accumulated waste deposits associated with salt-winning, dozens of which have been mapped in this area. An opportunity to investigate several of these saltern mounds was prompted by the Lynnsport and Greenpark Avenue Primary School developments, leading to a three-year scheme of topographical survey, evaluation trenching and targeted excavation. Building on previous work by OA East at Marsh Lane, this volume provides a synthetic overview of the salt-making evidence utilising a suite of scientific techniques underpinned by historical research and Bayesian modelling to reconstruct the saltmarsh environment and how this changed over time. One of the key results has been firmly to establish that the sand-washing method was in use on the east coast of England as early as the Middle Saxon period (8th to 9th century), continuing into the medieval period and beyond in some places. A possible association with the Middle Saxon ‘productive’ site at Bawsey is explored, as is the more definite connection with the East Anglian bishops and bishops of Norwich, who once owned this land. Linked to this are the provision of labour, methods of transport and access to fuel. The contribution of salt-working to the economy, notably trade, is assessed as is the impact that this industrial scale of salt production had on the physical environment which ultimately led to piecemeal reclamation and the development of valuable tracts of grazing land. By the 12th century, salt-winning on Gaywood’s North Marsh was already in decline and by the 13th century its death knell was no doubt sounded by the diversion of the River Great Ouse into the Lyn: the fossilised salt-making landscape being recorded by the Gaywood Dragge survey of 1487. This narrative is further enhanced by comparison with similar records for sand-washing on the near continent, and a reconsideration of the evidence from the Lincolnshire side of the Wash.

Supplementary Exercises for Old Norse - Old Icelandic is a new volume in the Viking Language Old Norse Icelandic Series. A workbook of 17 lessons designed for those who want to learn or sharpen their skills in Old Norse with innovative exercises, word games, and map questions. With a full vocabulary and a free Answer Key at oldnorse. org. It also contains Old Norse readings drawn from the Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok (recounting Ragnar’s attack on England and his death in the snake pit) and mythic passages from The Prose Edda describing a journey of the Norse gods, the great dragon´s treasure, and the magical ring of the dwarves. Supplementary Exercises master Old Norse.

This book shows how analysis of Scandinavian-influenced place-names in their landscape contexts can provide crucial new evidence of differing processes of Viking migration and settlement in East Anglia between the late ninth and eleventh centuries.The place-names of East Anglia have until now received little attention in the academic study of Viking settlement. Similarly, the question of a possible migration of settlers from Scandinavia during the Viking period was for many years dismissed by historians and archaeologists – until the recent discovery by metal-detectorists of abundant Scandinavian metalwork and jewellery in many parts of East Anglia. David Boulton has synthesised these two previously neglected elements to offer new insights into the processes of Viking settlement.This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of Scandinavian-influenced place-names in East Anglia. It examines their different categories linguistically and explores the landscape and archaeological contexts of the settlements associated with them, with the aid of GIS-generated maps. Dr Boulton shows how the process of Viking settlement was influenced by changes in rural society and agriculture which were then already occurring in East Anglia, such as the late Anglo-Saxon expansion of arable farming and the associated recolonisation of the inland clay plateau. These developments resulted in patterns of place-name formation which differ significantly from some of the previously accepted, orthodox interpretations of how Scandinavian-influenced place-names (especially those containing the bý and thorp elements, and the ‘Grimston-hybrids’) came into being in the Danelaw.In view of these discrepancies, David Boulton proposes an innovative, hypothetical model for the formation of the Scandinavian-influenced place-names in East Anglia, which explores differing patterns and phases of Viking settlement in the region and the possible pathways of migration that preceded them.

Although household goods are a well-establish topic in Medieval and Early Modern archaeology, more recent research is overcoming simple typological and technological aspects and pointing to broader approaches, which relates to the understanding of goods’ production, consumption strategies, other economic activities and structures of social organization. Thus, the understanding of past societies and cultures relies heavily in the study of their household goods to understand people, groups and societies. In this context, the aim of the Ruralia XIV Conference was to emphasize the significance of household archaeology to the study of the European countryside in Medieval and Modern times under a cross-cultural approach. Detailed analysis of single contexts, small parts of sites, faunal, botanical and soil studies enables us to reconstruct common peoples’ activities and interactions within their homes. House functions can be detected by means of specific installations but also by inventories and location of goods, evidence for particular activities inside, such as cooking and eating, storage, weaving, refuse disposal, resting, etc. or by a comprehensive overview of outdoor surroundings. All this is evidence of functional purposes but it can also tell us about the rank and wealth of their owners, their daily lives, household compositions, family concepts and even gender statuses. Moreover, structural analysis can give evidence about spheres of interaction and patterned behaviours within a house. In different sections (archaeology and household; temporary households; living conditions; spatial structure; household objects and social and economic status) case studies across Europe are presented.

This book provides a comprehensive guide with detailed explanations, illustrations and photographs of late-7th century to 11th century Anglo-Saxon Churches and stone sculpture. It is divided into four parts.The first part includes an extensive glossary explaining the terms likely to be encountered, it explains Celtic and Roman Church practices and the Synod of Whitby, how Anglo-Saxon churches were established and their plans, and also provides a summary to the settlements of the Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Hiberno-Norse in England. The second part provides a comprehensive description of the construction and architectural features of extant Anglo-Saxon Churches including their walling, plinths and quoining, archways, doorways, windows and belfry-openings of whatever shape or format or wherever their location. It also explains features such as string-courses, pilaster-strips, pilaster-buttresses, hood-moulding and strip-work. Also included are extant Anglo-Saxon stairways and crypts. Explanations are included on porticus, galleries, the use of rooms in towers, roofs, church seating and other furnishing, balusters and baluster-shafts.The third part provides a comprehensive description of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian Decoration on stonework. It details all the designs and patterns involved including those which also have scenes depicting creatures, beasts, birds, serpents and humans, figures, and scenes from Christianity and Norse Mythology. It explains and provides examples of the stonework on which these designs and patterns appear namely standing crosses, cross-heads, cross-shafts and cross-bases; grave-markers, grave-covers, grave-slabs and grave-memorials and crosses; sarcophagi and shrine chests; wall friezes and wall panels; fonts; and sundials. The fourth part provides an alphabetical list of 183 recommended churches and museums with summarised information on their individual architectural features, and/or stone sculpture. Many of the churches are further expanded in detail in the text in the second and third parts. Also provided is a page and photographic index of all the churches and museums where they are referred to in the text. All the places referred to in the text have been personally visited by the author.

Der Band versammelt Beiträge aus verschiedenen wissenschaftlichen Disziplinen, die sich mentalen Konzepten, d.h. Vorstellungen oder Imaginationen der westeuropäischen mittelalterlichen Stadt widmen, die epochenübergreifend in unterschiedlichsten narrativen, diskursiven und visuellen Repräsentationen in Erscheinung treten. Stadt wird in den Beiträgen nicht nur als Teil der historischen Realität der Vormoderne betrachtet, sondern auch als fester Bestandteil des kulturellen Wissens und der kulturellen Erinnerung in den Blick genommen. In einer interdisziplinären Zusammenschau von Beiträgen aus den Bereichen Germanistik, Theologie, Archäologie, Geschichtswissenschaft und Kunstgeschichte werden mentale Konzepte der Stadt in unterschiedlichen medialen Formaten untersucht, darunter Stadtchroniken, säkulare Malerei, biblische Texte, mittelalterliche Stadtpläne und höfische Romane.Durch die Vielfalt der untersuchten medialen Formate sowie der divergenten hermeneutischen Auseinandersetzungen wird deutlich, dass die kulturellen Vorstellungen von Stadt und Urbanität durch historische Spezifika, aber auch durch überzeitliche Muster, Topoi und Bedeutungskonzepte geprägt sind, die vielfach in der Antike und in christlichen Traditionen wurzeln.English abstractThis volume brings together contributions from different academic disciplines that are dedicated to mental concepts, i.e. notions, ideas or imaginings of the western European medieval city, which appear across epochs in different discursive and visual representations. The papers discuss the city not only as a component of the historical reality of pre-modernity but also as a part of the fixed inventory of cultural knowledge and memory. In an interdisciplinary exchange between specialists of German studies, theology, archaeology, history and art history, mental concepts of the city are examined in different media formats, including city chronicles, secular painting, biblical texts, medieval city plans and courtly novels.Through the diversity of the examined formats and hermeneutical confrontations, it becomes apparent that the cultural ideas associated with the city and urbanity are not only shaped by historical specifics but also by supertemporal constants, which are frequently rooted in antiquity and Christian traditions.

Old Norse literature abounds with descriptions of magic acts that allow ritual specialists of various kinds to manipulate the world around them, see into the future or the distant past, change weather conditions, influence the outcomes of battles, and more. While magic practitioners are known under myriad terms, the most iconic of them is the völva. As the central figure of the famous mythological poem Völuspá (The Prophecy of the Völva), the völva commands both respect and fear. In non-mythological texts similar women are portrayed as crucial albeit somewhat peculiar members of society. Always veiled in mystery, the völur and their kind have captured the academic and popular imagination for centuries. Bringing together scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds, this volume provides new insights into the reality of magic and its agents in the Viking world, beyond the pages of medieval texts. It explores new trajectories for the study of past mentalities, beliefs, and rituals as well as the tools employed in these practices and the individuals who wielded them. In doing so, the volume engages with several topical issues of Viking Age research, including the complex entanglements of mind and materiality, the cultural attitudes to animals and the natural world, and the cultural constructions of gender and sexuality. By addressing these complex themes, it offers a nuanced image of the völva and related magic workers in their cultural context. It will appeal to a broad, diverse, and international audience, including experts in the field of Viking and Old Norse studies but also various non-professional history enthusiasts. The Norse Sorceress: Mind and Materiality in the Viking World is a key output of the project Tanken bag Tingene (Thoughts behind Things) conducted at the National Museum of Denmark from 2020 to 2023 and funded by the Krogager Foundation.