HS2380: Viking-Age Scandinavia

School Archaeology
Department Code SHARE
Module Code HS2380
External Subject Code F400
Number of Credits 10
Level L6
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader Professor John Hines
Semester Autumn Semester
Academic Year 2014/5

Outline Description of Module

The course is designed to introduce the character and evolution of societies in Scandinavia towards the end of the first millennium AD. It also aims to discuss and debate the distinctive and sizeable contribution of archaeological theories and data to the study of Viking-Age society. By illuminating some of the key topics and challenges faced in studying late first millennium AD Scandinavia as well as interactions between Scandinavia and Europe, the course provides a case study in the historical archaeology of societies and social change. The course aims to:

  • Introduce the history and development of the archaeology of first millennium AD Scandinavia
  • Examine the key archaeological discoveries that have illuminated the study of Viking Scandinavia
  • Explore Viking-Age society thematically through a discussion of the material evidence
  • Introduce the range of material, visual and textual evidence relevant to the study of Viking-Age Scandinavia
  • Discuss the contacts between Scandinavia and Europe

On completion of the module a student should be able to

  • Assess the theories and methods employed in researching key issues in Viking-Age archaeological research
  • Demonstrate an awareness of the key archaeological discoveries from Viking-Age Scandinavia
  • Identify the nature of societies and social change in Scandinavia in the later first millennium AD
  • Appreciate the range of sources used in the study of the Vikings in Scandinavia. These may include archaeology, history, landscape, literature, coins, sculpture and place-names
  • Understand the many influences and interactions between Scandinavia and Europe in the Viking-Age

How the module will be delivered

10 fifty-minute lectures

2 seminars

The principal medium will be the illustrated lecture presenting material, themes and introducing case studies. The seminars will build upon the discussions in lectures and provide opportunities for students to gain confidence in assessing and orally presenting the evidence related to particular themes and case studies.

Skills that will be practised and developed

Intellectual Skills:

  • Evaluate evidence of varying quality and source
  • Correlate evidence of different aspects of medieval mortuary practices
  • Synthesise evidence from different sources, periods and areas

Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:

  • Know particular classes of evidence
  • Understand particular case studies
  • Understand particular research traditions
  • Recognise the many problems and limitations with the available evidence

Transferable Skills:

  • Write effectively about research problems
  • Talk effectively about research problems
  • Organise effective enquiry into questions and problems

How the module will be assessed

One essay of 1,500 words (50%) The assignment will assess the student’s knowledge and understanding of themes and case studies from the archaeology of Viking-Age Scandinavia.

One 1-hour examination (50%)

The exam will assess the student's knowledge of a range of broader themes concerning Viking-Age society and social change as well as further case studies in the archaeology of Viking-Age Scandinavia.

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Written Assessment 50 Viking-Age Scandinavia N/A
Exam - Autumn Semester 50 Viking-Age Scandinavia 1

Syllabus content

1.         The idea of the Viking Age.

2.         Rural settlement and economy in Viking-age Scandinavia.

3.         Trade and urbanization in Viking-age Scandinavia.

4.         The population: gender, age-groups and social rank.

5.         Society and politics: freedom, lordship and kingship.

6.         Ritual and religion in the Viking world.

7.         The Viking ships.

8.         Currency and treasure in the Viking world.

9.         The Vikings in Russia and the East.

10.       Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland: the Vikings in the North Atlantic.

Essential Reading and Resource List

B. Ambrosiani & H. Clarke (eds.), Developments around the Baltic and the North Sea in the Viking Age. Birka Project, 1994.

H. Arbman, The Vikings. Thames & Hudson, 1961.

S. Brink & N. Price (eds.), The Viking World. Routledge, 2008.

J. Brøndsted, The Vikings. Penguin, 1965.

J. Byock, Viking Age Iceland. Penguin, 2001.

A. Faulkes & R. Perkins (eds.), Viking Revaluations. Viking Society for Northern Research, 1993.

W. W. Fitzhugh and E. I. Ward (eds.), Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga. Smithsonian Institutue, 2000.

P. G. Foote and D. M. Wilson, The Viking Achievement. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1970.

J. Graham-Campbell, The Viking World. Lincoln, 1980.

A. Hagen, Norway. Thames & Hudson, 1967.

L. Hedeager, Iron-Age Societies: From Tribe to State in Northern Europe, 500 BC-AD 700. Blackwell,1992.

J. Hines, The Scandinavian Character of Anglian England in the pre-Viking Period. BAR Brit. Ser. 124, Oxford, 1984.

J. Jesch (ed), The Scandinavians from the Vendel Period to the Tenth Century: An Ethnographic Perspective. Boydell, 2002.

O. Klindt-Jensen, The World of the Vikings. Allen & Unwin, 1970.

J. E. Knirk (ed), Proceedings of the Tenth Viking Congress: Larkollen, Norway, 1985. Universitetets Oldsaksamling, 1987.

G. Jones, A History of the Vikings. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1984.

G. Jones, The Norse Atlantic Saga. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1986.

U. Näsman, ‘The Germanic Iron Age and Viking Age in Danish archaeology: a survey of the literature 1976-1986’. Journal of Danish Archaeology, 8 (1991), 159-87.

A. Olrik, Viking Civilization. Allen & Unwin, 1930.

E. Roesdahl, ‘The Scandinavians at home’. In The Northern World, ed. Wilson (see below), 129-58.

E. Roesdahl, Viking Age Denmark. British Museum, 1982.

E. Roesdahl, The Vikings. Guild, 1991.

E. Roesdahl & D. M. Wilson, From Viking to Crusader: The Scandinavians and Europe 800-1200. Rizzoli, 1992.

P. H. Sawyer, The Age of the Vikings. Edward Arnold, 1971.

P. H. Sawyer, Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe AD 700-1100. Methuen, 1982.

P. H. Sawyer (ed), The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings. Oxford University Press, 1997.

D. M. Wilson, The Vikings and Their Origins: Scandinavia in the First Millennium. Thames & Hudson, 1970.

D. M. Wilson (ed), The Northern World. Thames and Hudson, 1980.

‘The Iron Age and the Viking Period’. In S. Hvass and B. Storgaard (eds.), Digging Into the Past: 25 Years of Archaeology in Denmark. Aarhus University Press, 1993, 168-236.

Background Reading and Resource List

See module handout


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