The physical evidence from Newfound-land—consisting of vestiges of the Viking colony of Leifsbudir (now called L'Anse aux Meadows)—is a prime example of the second major category of surviving information about the Vikings. It consists of archaeological remains, or artifacts—in a sense the evidence taken from the dirt. Included are the remnants of houses, ships, tools, swords and other weapons, grooming items, clothing, coins, wood carvings and other art, and actual human remains.
A great deal of Viking archaeological evidence was uncovered in the twentieth century. Besides that at L'Anse aux Meadows, one of the most famous excavations (archaeological digs) was of the town of Hedeby, on the southern edge of Jutland (the large peninsula making up most of modern Denmark). A trading center that flourished from the eighth through the eleventh centuries, Hedeby was the largest Norse town during the Viking Age, with perhaps a thousand or more residents.
Modern excavations of that settlement took place from 1900 to 1915,1930 to 1939, and 1959 to the present. Impressively, these have yielded more than 340,000 artifacts, including houses, clothing, pottery and other craft goods, iron tools, coins, ships from the harbor, and skeletons and grave goods from more than 350 human burials. So many well-preserved objects have been found that in 2005, experts felt confident in beginning on-site construction of several exact copies of the town's original houses.
Another important archaeological site where Viking history and culture have come to life is in northeastern England. In the early 800s that region was occupied by the small English kingdom of Northumbria. In 867 a large group of Vikings captured its biggest town, Eoforwic, and changed its name to Jorvik (pronounced yor'-wik). The town flourished as a Norse stronghold for two more centuries. In the ages that followed, Jorvik became York, one of England's leading cities. By the twentieth century the old Viking ruins were buried beneath the modern streets. But in 1976 excavations began in a section of town called Coppergate. Since that time the digs have unearthed a huge array of artifacts, among them houses, barrels, jars, combs, jewelry, and seeds and other surviving remnants of the foodstuffs consumed by the Viking inhabitants. "Together with more durable relics of stone, metal, bone and pottery," one modern observer points out,
These sod houses at L'Anse aux Meadows, in Newfoundland, are replicas of the ones the Vikings erected there more than a thousand years ago.
These discoveries have made it possible for the Jorvik Center in Copper-gate to create a detailed picture of life in early medieval times. The Center's pictorial reconstructions [of daily life] are all based on sound archaeological evidence, right down to the lichen the Vikings used to dye cloth and the precise weave of the clothes and socks they wore. One of the most complete and rare finds at Jorvik was a 10th century sock, knitted from wool on a single needle. . . . In addition, experts have recreated
The facial appearance of the town's inhabitants based upon skulls retrieved from the cemetery near the site where the Viking Age cathedral may have stood.8
As excavations continue at these and other sites across Scandinavia, England, and mainland Europe, the Viking Age and its inhabitants are increasingly coming to light and life. More and more, Hall says, the discovery of new evidence "has brought virtually all aspects of Viking life within the archaeologists' view." Coupled with ongoing studies of the written records, this inflow of new knowledge allows historians "to unlock the world of the Vikings,"9 whose exploits profoundly shaped late medieval European civilization.
World History
