The Norse Awakens: A palaeodemographic study of Viking and Norse homeland and frontier communities during the Viking and following Medieval period in the North Atlantic ...

• Main Author: Van Tiel, Britta
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Australian National University 2020
• Subjects: palaeodemography; viking age; palaeoepidimiology; bioarchaeology; North Atlantic archaeology; archaeology; fertility rates; subadult representation; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25911/845n-k356; https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/313815

While there has been a significant amount of interest in the lives of Viking and Norse populations in the modern era through historical representations, archaeology, and representation in popular culture; the knowledge surrounding the population health and dynamics of these people is limited. This is due to a lack of palaeodemographic and palaeoepidemiological investigations. It is widely recognised that palaeodemography can significantly improve our understanding of population health and dynamics of past populations. For this reason, this thesis aimed to apply existing palaeodemographic methods for fertility, population increase and maternal mortality, and adjust a new method for mortality in early infancy. This was in order to develop a better understanding of population health and dynamics of homeland and frontier Viking and Norse communities, which would greatly contribute to the currently limited knowledge. The results of the analyses undertaken in this thesis indicate that there were no significant ...