The Beginning of the Viking Age in the West

During the Viking Age, Arctic Scandinavia was a source of exquisite furs, down, walrus ivory, and other commodities that met with high demand in England and on the Continent. Hitherto, the earliest firm evidence of this trade has been Ohthere’s account c. 890, but in light of this paper’s findings,...

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Published in:Journal of Maritime Archaeology
Main Authors: Baug, Irene, Skre, Dagfinn, Heldal, Tom, Jansen, Øystein James
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10852/71351
http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-74453
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-018-9221-3
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spelling ftoslouniv:oai:www.duo.uio.no:10852/71351 2023-05-15T14:57:46+02:00 The Beginning of the Viking Age in the West Baug, Irene Skre, Dagfinn Heldal, Tom Jansen, Øystein James 2018-12-10T09:00:25Z http://hdl.handle.net/10852/71351 http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-74453 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-018-9221-3 EN eng http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-74453 Baug, Irene Skre, Dagfinn Heldal, Tom Jansen, Øystein James . The Beginning of the Viking Age in the West. Journal of Maritime Archaeology. 2018 http://hdl.handle.net/10852/71351 1640881 info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.jtitle=Journal of Maritime Archaeology&rft.volume=&rft.spage=&rft.date=2018 Journal of Maritime Archaeology 38 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-018-9221-3 URN:NBN:no-74453 Fulltext https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/71351/2/Baug2018_Article_TheBeginningOfTheVikingAgeInTh.pdf Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY 1557-2285 VDP::Geofag: 450VDP::Arkeologi: 090 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed PublishedVersion 2018 ftoslouniv https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-018-9221-3 2020-06-21T08:52:44Z During the Viking Age, Arctic Scandinavia was a source of exquisite furs, down, walrus ivory, and other commodities that met with high demand in England and on the Continent. Hitherto, the earliest firm evidence of this trade has been Ohthere’s account c. 890, but in light of this paper’s findings, its history may be pushed further back in time. Geological analyses of whetstones retrieved in eighth- to early ninth-century Ribe, south-western Jylland, in present-day western Denmark, demonstrate that the majority were quarried near the aristocratic manor Lade (‘loading/storing place’) in Trøndelag, present-day central Norway, some 1100 km by sea to the north. Because of their high numbers and durability, whetstones retrieved in Ribe and other urban sites may be regarded as a proxy for long-distance seaborne trade from the Arctic. The peak in this trade on the threshold of the Viking Age invites a reconsideration of the coinciding and conflicting interests of Scandinavian long-distance traders, kings, and Vikings. It is argued that coalitions and conflicts that arose from these interests, and new constraints and opportunities that emerged for these three types of agents, provide keys to understanding why and where Vikings raided overseas up to the mid-ninth century. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic walrus* Universitet i Oslo: Digitale utgivelser ved UiO (DUO) Arctic Jylland ENVELOPE(8.537,8.537,62.760,62.760) Norway Journal of Maritime Archaeology 14 1 43 80
institution Open Polar
collection Universitet i Oslo: Digitale utgivelser ved UiO (DUO)
op_collection_id ftoslouniv
language English
topic VDP::Geofag: 450VDP::Arkeologi: 090
spellingShingle VDP::Geofag: 450VDP::Arkeologi: 090
Baug, Irene
Skre, Dagfinn
Heldal, Tom
Jansen, Øystein James
The Beginning of the Viking Age in the West
topic_facet VDP::Geofag: 450VDP::Arkeologi: 090
description During the Viking Age, Arctic Scandinavia was a source of exquisite furs, down, walrus ivory, and other commodities that met with high demand in England and on the Continent. Hitherto, the earliest firm evidence of this trade has been Ohthere’s account c. 890, but in light of this paper’s findings, its history may be pushed further back in time. Geological analyses of whetstones retrieved in eighth- to early ninth-century Ribe, south-western Jylland, in present-day western Denmark, demonstrate that the majority were quarried near the aristocratic manor Lade (‘loading/storing place’) in Trøndelag, present-day central Norway, some 1100 km by sea to the north. Because of their high numbers and durability, whetstones retrieved in Ribe and other urban sites may be regarded as a proxy for long-distance seaborne trade from the Arctic. The peak in this trade on the threshold of the Viking Age invites a reconsideration of the coinciding and conflicting interests of Scandinavian long-distance traders, kings, and Vikings. It is argued that coalitions and conflicts that arose from these interests, and new constraints and opportunities that emerged for these three types of agents, provide keys to understanding why and where Vikings raided overseas up to the mid-ninth century.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Baug, Irene
Skre, Dagfinn
Heldal, Tom
Jansen, Øystein James
author_facet Baug, Irene
Skre, Dagfinn
Heldal, Tom
Jansen, Øystein James
author_sort Baug, Irene
title The Beginning of the Viking Age in the West
title_short The Beginning of the Viking Age in the West
title_full The Beginning of the Viking Age in the West
title_fullStr The Beginning of the Viking Age in the West
title_full_unstemmed The Beginning of the Viking Age in the West
title_sort beginning of the viking age in the west
publishDate 2018
url http://hdl.handle.net/10852/71351
http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-74453
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-018-9221-3
long_lat ENVELOPE(8.537,8.537,62.760,62.760)
geographic Arctic
Jylland
Norway
geographic_facet Arctic
Jylland
Norway
genre Arctic
walrus*
genre_facet Arctic
walrus*
op_source 1557-2285
op_relation http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-74453
Baug, Irene Skre, Dagfinn Heldal, Tom Jansen, Øystein James . The Beginning of the Viking Age in the West. Journal of Maritime Archaeology. 2018
http://hdl.handle.net/10852/71351
1640881
info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.jtitle=Journal of Maritime Archaeology&rft.volume=&rft.spage=&rft.date=2018
Journal of Maritime Archaeology
38
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-018-9221-3
URN:NBN:no-74453
Fulltext https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/71351/2/Baug2018_Article_TheBeginningOfTheVikingAgeInTh.pdf
op_rights Attribution 4.0 International
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
op_rightsnorm CC-BY
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-018-9221-3
container_title Journal of Maritime Archaeology
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