Aims of the course
- To introduce participants to the archaeology and heritage of the Viking Age
- To encourage participants to think critically and creatively about Viking Age archaeology and heritage
- To enable participants to work collaboratively with their peers to further their understanding and presentation of this period
Course content overview
Who were the Vikings? What legacies and traces have they left behind? How and why did they fare beyond Scandinavia? How are they perceived and presented today? Dr. Britt Baillie and scholars from the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum will guide students through the archaeological remains from and heritage sites that interpret this period. The course will address the subject through a series of thematic lectures on Viking society, ships, trade, religion, art and burial. It will explore both their activities ‘at home’ in Scandinavia as well as abroad (in the British Isles, the New World, Russia, etc).
Learning outcomes
As a result of the course, within the constraints of the time available, participants should be able to:
- Discuss Viking Age archaeological data (such as artefacts, site plans, and distributions maps, etc)
- Evaluate the relative merit and limitations of the archaeological and historical evidence for this period and the difficulties integrating them
- Gain knowledge of the variability of the archaeological record in different parts of the Viking World
Schedule (this course is completed entirely online)
Orientation Week: 21-27 February 2022
Teaching Weeks: 28 February-3 April 2022
Feedback Week: 4-10 April 2022
Teaching Week 1 - The Dawn of the Viking Age
Who were the Vikings? Why did they risk life and limb to travel trade, raid, and settle in far flung places? The first week will explore what lead to the early Viking raids and subsequent journeys through Europe to Africa, North America, and the Middle East.
What was everyday life like in the Viking homelands? What were the belief systems that underpinned the Viking world? Who held power and how did encounters with others impact life ‘back home’? We will also examine how archaeology shines light on how Viking Age society was structured in Scandinavia in terms of class, gender, and religion.
Learning outcomes
By studying this week participants should have:
- An overview of the Viking Age including its chronological duration and geographical expanse.
- An awareness of the material evidence which indicates gender and social strata in Viking society.
Teaching Week 2 - Viking-Age ships and seafaring
This week will probe how the maritime technology of the Vikings defined their success in war and peace. The boat and ship finds of the Viking Age demonstrate that many different types and sizes of watercrafts were built. At the beginning of the Viking Age we see the transformation of the Iron Age rowing vessel into a proper sailing ship, and later also a specialisation in terms of design. The ship was a symbol of status and power and had an important role in the cosmology of the era. But even more important, the ship was the precondition for the Scandinavians to expand their maritime activities, resulting in a growing economy consisting of complex trading networks, piracy, conquests and bold voyages into the unknown.
We will also examine how the process of reconstructing Viking ships has revealed how raw materials utilised for building the ships were carefully selected, and to achieve the desired qualities and properties in the raw materials, woodland management was conducted. Many different crafts were involved in building a ship and the craftsmanship conducted is truly astonishing.
Learning outcomes
By studying this week participants should have:
- A basic understanding of clinker vessels; an overview of the main Viking ship forms and functions;
- An appreciation of the importance of contemporary Viking ship reconstructions.
Teaching Week 3 - Slaves and silver: raiding and trading in the Viking Age
Norse merchants stimulated the development of long-distance, regional and local trade and exchange networks. How were the Vikings able to bring so much silver to the North? This week we will look at how hoards, and changes in towns shine a light on the raiding and trading of the Vikings.
Learning outcomes
By studying this week participants should have:
- An understanding of the variety of functions performed by hoards and of the changing nature of emporia in the Viking era.
Teaching Week 4 - Ladby: a Danish ship grave from the Viking Age
This week explores ship burials an iconic feature of the Viking era by focusing on the case-study of Ladby. Why was the ship burial located here? What does its rich collection of grave goods tell us about the person who was buried in it? Why was it desecrated?
The ship-grave from Ladby is one of a few known big Scandinavian ship-graves from the 9th – 10th centuries. Around 900 AD a small war-ship was placed in a trench on the highest point in a burial-ground from the Late Iron Age and the Viking Age. The ship was used as the last resting place for an important person indicated by the splendour of the grave equipment. The skeletons of 11 horses and 3-4 dogs and more than 600 fragments of riding gear, tableware, a gaming board, weapons, artwork, gold adorned textile and objects probably connected to power and a high social status. The ship-grave from Ladby displays a wide geographical framework, which is demonstrated both by the form of the grave and by the provenance of several objects among the grave goods.
Learning outcomes
By studying this week participants should have:
- An understanding of how Viking Age grave goods can be analysed and interpreted.
Teaching Week 5 - The dusk of the Viking Age and its long shadow
This week we will probe the tail end of the Viking Age exploring the birth of the Scandinavian kingdoms, the impacts of Christianity on Viking society, and the legacy of the Normans.
Viking heritage consists of museums, designated sites, theme parks, reconstructions, fairs, routes and events. We will also examines how notions of authenticity and commodification are constructed through the staging of types of Viking heritage.
Learning outcomes
By studying this week participants should have:
- An overview of the key shifts which changed Scandinavian society at the end of what is regarded as the Viking Age
- An understanding of how Viking –Era archaeological remains are transformed into heritage and how questions of authenticity and commodification impact that journey.
Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours reading material, etc., although this will vary from person to person.
While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).
Virtual Learning Environment
Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (discussion boards etc).
Certificate of participation
A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.
