I have diverse interests within the broad fields of Viking- and medieval archaeology and legal history, ranging from kingdom formation in North Europe to thing-sites and medieval legal systems. I love old maps, GIS and settlement archaeology.
Sommeren 2009 gjorde LBI-prosjektet et funn av et stort kokegropfelt med om lag 750 groper på går... more Sommeren 2009 gjorde LBI-prosjektet et funn av et stort kokegropfelt med om lag 750 groper på gården Lunde i Vestfold (ID 143705). Ved avdekking ble det åpnet 30 sjakter og snittet 30 kokegroper. På denne bakgrunn ble det i mai 2011foretatt en arkeologisk forskningsgravning av 30 kokegroper på Lunde i regi av forskningsprosjektet The Assembly Project ved Kulturhistorisk museum. Resultatene inngår i Marie Ødegaards PhD-prosjekt «Tingsted og territorium» ved Universitetet i Bergen (2015). Det ble undersøkt 30 kokegroper og to dyrkingslag. Metodisk ble det observert flere strukturer enn det LBI-prosjektet hadde tolket som strukturer i sin undersøkelse. Det var bra sammenfall mellom innmålte strukturer og strukturene vi avdekket under utgravningen. Datering av feltet var 380 f. Kr. til 630 e. Kr, med hovedbruksfase mellom 0-300 AD. Det dreier seg altså om et felt med 1000 års brukstid. Flere kokegroper hadde flere bruksfaser, med flere hundre års mellomrom. Kokegropfeltet gikk ut av bruk rundt 600 e. Kr. men det antatte senere tingstedet på Tjølling kirke vitner om fortsatt bruk av området som samlingsted. Lunde tolkes som et aktivitetsområde for tingstedet på Tjølling. Ses Lunde i sammenheng med kokegropfeltet på Bommestad 4 km nord, er det visse fellestrekk som gjelder lokalisering og funksjoner der begge kan tolkes som steder der folk oppholdt seg under tingsamlinger i eldre jernalder. Stedene rommet trolig mange funksjoner, selv om det bare er matlagingsfunksjonen som kan påvises direkte. Indirekte viser omfang, gjenbruk, og strukturene til en rituell praksis av stort omfang og av lang varighet, som kan ha sammenheng med viktige fellesanliggende for mennesker fra større områder, der det er nærliggende å tenke på sosiale, rettslige, militære og politiske funksjoner.
This book brings together the cumulative results of a three-year project focused on the assemblie... more This book brings together the cumulative results of a three-year project focused on the assemblies and administrative systems of Scandinavia, Britain, and the North Atlantic islands in the 1st and 2nd millennia AD. In this volume we integrate a wide range of historical, cartographic, archaeological, field-based, and onomastic data pertaining to early medieval and medieval administrative practices, geographies, and places of assembly in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, and eastern England. This transnational perspective has enabled a new understanding of the development of power structures in early medieval northern Europe and the maturation of these systems in later centuries under royal control.
In a series of richly illustrated chapters, we explore the emergence and development of mechanisms for consensus. We begin with a historiographical exploration of assembly research that sets the intellectual agenda for the chapters that follow. We then examine the emergence and development of the thing in Scandinavia and its export to the lands colonised by the Norse. We consider more broadly how assembly practices may have developed at a local level, yet played a significant role in the consolidation, and at times regulation, of elite power structures. Presenting a fresh perspective on the agency and power of the thing and cognate types of local and regional assembly, this interdisciplinary volume provides an invaluable, in-depth insight into the people, places, laws, and consensual structures that shaped the early medieval and medieval kingdoms of northern Europe.
Negotiating the North: Meeting-places in the Middle Ages in the North Sea, 2020
This book brings together the cumulative results of a three-year project focused on the assemblie... more This book brings together the cumulative results of a three-year project focused on the assemblies and administrative systems of Scandinavia, Britain, and the North Atlantic islands in the 1st and 2nd millennia AD. In this volume we integrate a wide range of historical, cartographic, archaeological, field-based, and onomastic data pertaining to early medieval and medieval administrative practices, geographies, and places of assembly in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, and eastern England. This transnational perspective has enabled a new understanding of the development of power structures in early medieval northern Europe and the maturation of these systems in later centuries under royal control.
In a series of richly illustrated chapters, we explore the emergence and development of mechanisms for consensus. We begin with a historiographical exploration of assembly research that sets the intellectual agenda for the chapters that follow. We then examine the emergence and development of the thing in Scandinavia and its export to the lands colonised by the Norse. We consider more broadly how assembly practices may have developed at a local level, yet played a significant role in the consolidation, and at times regulation, of elite power structures. Presenting a fresh perspective on the agency and power of the thing and cognate types of local and regional assembly, this interdisciplinary volume provides an invaluable, in-depth insight into the people, places, laws, and consensual structures that shaped the early medieval and medieval kingdoms of northern Europe.
The Norwegian Archaeological Society is proud to present the very first special Viking volume: VI... more The Norwegian Archaeological Society is proud to present the very first special Viking volume: VIKING WARS. The 13 articles presented in this publication represent some of the latest, and most relevant research on Viking warfare from the Viking and early Scandinavian medieval period in Europe.
The Vikings fought for power, wealth, and land in many areas of the Northern hemisphere, and left traces of their activities from Canada in the West to the Caucasus in the East. In many parts of Europe visual, literary, and material culture contain influences of past Viking activities.
This volume offers new insights on Viking female warriors; local defense systems; a Danish-Obodrite attack on a Frankish fortress; deeply rooted traditions relating to weapon production; viking encampments in Atlantic Europe; rune carvers in campaign; textiles essential for sea journeys, and related warfare; the symbolic power of weapons; the roles of Rus’ captives and slave soldiers; as well as the relationship between Viking and Norse settlers, and the local Picts of the Western Isles.
Viking Special Volume 1 is co-funded by the Centre for Viking-Age Studies (ViS) and the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo.
This book brings together the culmulative results of a three-year project focused on the assembli... more This book brings together the culmulative results of a three-year project focused on the assemblies and administrative systems of Scandinavia, Britain, and the North Atlantic islands in the 1st and 2nd millennia AD. In this volume we integrate a wide range of historical, cartographic, archaeological, field-based, and onomastic data pertaining to early medieval and medieval administrative practices, geographies, and places of assembly in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, and eastern England. This transnational perspective has generated a new understanding of power structures in early medieval northern Europe and the maturation of these systems in later centuries under royal control.
Selected papers from workshops organized by The Assembly Project (TAP). This is the second volume... more Selected papers from workshops organized by The Assembly Project (TAP). This is the second volume from TAP, the first international collaborative project dedicated to investigating the role of assemblies in the emergent power structures of medieval northwest Europe. The volume contains 13 papers. Enjoy.
Selected papers from workshops organized by The Assembly Project (TAP). TAP represents the first ... more Selected papers from workshops organized by The Assembly Project (TAP). TAP represents the first international collaborative project dedicated to investigating the role of assemblies in the emergent power structures of medieval northwest Europe (A.D. 400–1500). The eight papers in this volume fall into three sections. The first, Debating Sources, examines the age and role of assemblies, mainly through the use of written sources. The second section, Systems of Power, contains studies from Norway and England, which together demonstrate the similarities and differences in administrative organization in the large geographical area under scrutiny by TAP. The third and final section, entitled Places of Assembly, deals with the archaeological evidence of assembly sites, placing them within the judicial networks in the landscape, from Shetland to Iceland and the wider North Atlantic Norse settlements.
The 14 articles presented in this publication represent some of the latest and most relevant rese... more The 14 articles presented in this publication represent some of the latest and most relevant research on rural settlement and farming from the Late Neolithic through the Early Medieval Period in Norway. It deals with the impact of climate change, plague and the AD 536-7 volcanic event and some of the earliest farms north of the Arctic Circle. It provides new perspectives and archaeological evidence for the Viking age farm of Norway, differences in regional settlement structures of agrarian societies, the relation between houses and graves in the Iron Age, and varying food practices as indicators of societal change.
The publication is part of the Joint Research Program (Forskning i fellesskap) conducted by the University Museums of Norway and co-funded by The Research Council of Norway.
Understanding how the Viking societies were impacted by past climate variability and how they ada... more Understanding how the Viking societies were impacted by past climate variability and how they adapted to it has hardly been investigated. Here, we have carried out a new multi-proxy investigation of lake sediments, including geochemical and palynological analyses, to reconstruct past changes in temperature and agricultural practices of pre-Viking and Viking societies in Southeastern Norway during the period between 200 and 1300 CE. The periods 200e300 and 800e1300 CE were warmer than the 300e800 CE period, which is known as the "Dark Ages Cold Period". This cold period was punctuated by century-scale more temperate intervals, which were dominated by the cultivation of cereals and hemp (before 280 CE, 420e480 CE, 580e700 CE, and after 800 CE). In between, cold intervals were dominated by livestock farming. Our results demonstrate that the pre-Viking societies changed their agricultural strategy in response to climate variability during the Late Antiquity.
Ringsaker kirke - landets fornemste sognekirke, 2021
For 1500 år siden var det minst 25 stammesamfunn på halvøya Scandza, som omfattet nåværende Sveri... more For 1500 år siden var det minst 25 stammesamfunn på halvøya Scandza, som omfattet nåværende Sverige og Norge. Blant disse folkegruppene finner vi Heinene fra Hedmark. Den gresk-romerske astronom, geograf og matematiker Klaudios Ptolemaios omtalte dem som Chaideinoi, omkring år 150 e. Kr. Fire hundre år senere, i 542, skrev den lærde grekeren Prokopius at det var 13 kongedømmer i Scandza, ett av dem var trolig Hedmark. I løpet av de neste 500 årene ble disse småkongedømmene samlet til to større kongedømmer: Norge og Sverige. Med kristningen tidlig på 1000-tallet forsvant vikingtidens småkongedømme Hedmark. I Heimskringla fremstiller Snorre Sturlason (1179–1241) Ringsaker som sentrum for motstanden mot Olav Haraldssons politiske prosjekt og kristning av Upplǫnd (fig. 1.). Fra mer pålitelige skaldekvad fra 1000-tallet forstår vi at Hedmark var et eget småkongedømme før Olavs erobring. Dette kongedømmet var nært alliert med andre kongedømmer i Upplǫnd – det siste norrøne området som ble kristnet i Norge. Er det spor etter disse alliansene i det arkeologiske materialet? Kan bygdeborger og senere ryttergraver belyse ulike former for militært samarbeid mellom de fire-fem kongedømmene som kjempet mot Olav og kristningsprosjektet? I dette kapitlet skal vi undersøke bakgrunnen for at Ringsaker kirke fikk den betydningen den fikk: nemlig som fylkeskirke, eller såkalt tredingskirke, for Hedmark og Østerdalen. Hovedfokus er prosessene som ledet fram til kristningen av Upplǫnd, der Ringsaker sammen med 11 andre kirker kom til å danne hovedstrukturen i en ny kirkeorganisasjon fra 1020-årene. Men først: Hva betyr egentlig Ringsaker og hva slags sted var dette?
In continental and north-western Europe armed cavalry – aided by the introduction of the stirrup ... more In continental and north-western Europe armed cavalry – aided by the introduction of the stirrup – was closely linked to the emergence of feudalism but was this also the case in Scandinavia? Were the resulting military specialists linked to the growing national kingdoms, or to local and regional power spheres ruled by petty kings? I will investigate this in the historical region of Upplǫnd – the last Norse area to be integrated into the Kingdom of Norway by Óláfr Haraldsson around AD 1020. Two thirds of Norway’s 51 known equestrian graves are located in this inland area and I will employ a novel way of investigating their relationship to local administrative units, such as þriðjungar (thirds), herǫð (hundreds), and not least fjórðungar (fourths), as well as travel routes and settlements. There is little that suggests that these graves were linked to an early national aristocracy, and its ruling Scandinavian dynasty – Ynglingene – as has been argued in previous research. Equestrian grave traditions survived longer in Upplǫnd than elsewhere in Scandinavia, which was not Christianised until the 11th century, and it is unlikely that the buried had served the uniting and converting King Óláfr. It is also difficult to establish links between historically known lendr menn (the most prominent retainers of the king) families, and such graves. However, a new revelation is that the farms where such graves were located, were situated along the boundaries between local fjórðungar, which were judicial districts, as well as subsidiaries of local military administration in the herǫð. This suggests that these locations had important warning and supervision roles in local military systems.
In this article, we present a new interpretation of the early medieval Church organisation in Sta... more In this article, we present a new interpretation of the early medieval Church organisation in Stavanger diocese, South Eastern Norway. By merging parts of two dioceses, Selja in the west and Vik in the east (the two primary dioceses in Norway), Stavanger diocese is established c. 1103-1123. We focus on the development and identification of the early public churches in this area. Based on various criteria, such as bishop's itineraries, size of choir, presence of dean, spread of landed property (mensa), and co-location and nearness to thing-sites, we identify for the first time the fylkiskirkur in the diocese, the fjórðungskirkiur in Rogaland and other public churches on lower levels in Rogaland, Nord-Agder and Valdres. In the twelfth century, there were three kinds of "public" churches in the western part of the diocese: the fylkiskirkja ('county church'), the fjórðungskirkja ('quarter church') and the attungskirkja ('eight church'), in addition to private churches called høgendiskirkiur ('convenience-churches'). While the eastern part included only the fylkiskirkja and the heraðskirkja (both public), in addition to private churches. In the thirteenth century a more homogenous church-system emerge, with hovedkirker ('main churches') and subordinate annekskirker (parishchurches, including former private churches). Overall, the early public church organisation seem based on civil subdivisions of the fylki. It connects closely to the various levels of judicial districts (þing, assemblies). The rural deanery (Norw. prosti), which was an ecclesiastical rather than a civil division, developed from one of these civil subdivisions, the fjórðung. However, the thirteenth-century formation of the lower ecclesiastical units (prestegjeld and sogn) followed its own course detached from older civil divisions. In Rogaland and Nord-Agder, the fylkiskirkur were located relatively far north in their counties. This applies to Avaldsnes or possibly Hesby, Mariakirken in Stavanger and Vanse. The location may have been adapted to the bishop's travels from the north (Selja). We propose Tromøy c. 1100 as the fylkiskirkja in Aust-Agder, Vik diocese, before the incorporation into Stavanger diocese. Later, Landvik church (built in first half of the twelfth century) may have taken its role as fylkiskirkja. The bishop of Stavanger seems to have preferred a church more central to Aust-Agder as fylkiskirkja. Landvik retained its high status until Agder di
This article present a new and somewhat daring interpretation of the name Stavanger. Previous dis... more This article present a new and somewhat daring interpretation of the name Stavanger. Previous discussions have revolved around from which topographical elements the name originates. The suffix ON angr, fjord, predates the Viking Age. ON stafr, standing staff became early an appellative for boundary markers. The King’s stone (Kongssteinen) was a remarkable boulder, at least 5.6 meters high and 6.2–7.5 meters wide. In the 4th century, the nearby land was cleared for farming and the boulder became clearly visible from the fjord. The King’s stone was one of several hoarstones for an ancient farm, Eiganes, – the parent farm of the town. It balanced on the top of a low mountain ridge (29 MASL) above the medieval town. It is discussed whether this boundary marker gave name to the fjord Stavanger, which in the 10th century also became the name of the town.
This article presents a new interpretation and identification of a particular type of church in i... more This article presents a new interpretation and identification of a particular type of church in inland East-Norway (Eidsivatingslagen), known in Old Norse as the þriðjungkirkja. These churches were the counterparts to the fylkiskirkja ('county church') in other parts of the Norwegian kingdom, and crucial in the formation of the inland church organisation from the early eleventh century. Previous interpretations of the þriðjungkirkja have seen its origins from a special type of administrative unit, found only in the district Romerike-the þriðjung. A closer analysis shows, however, that the þriðjung was a younger civil, not an ecclesiastical, division and therefore a misleading starting point. The rural deanery (Norw. prosti), on the other hand, was an ecclesiastical rather than a civil division. In written sources, dating from 1223 to c. 1600, we identify 12 rural deaneries/deans and the churches attached to them. The deaneries probably correspond to the 12 units mentioned in early 11th-century skaldic poetry. From this, we find that the þriðjung originates from a subdivision of former legal units (thing-districts). According to the chronicle Historia Norwegie there were four legal units in the Eidsviating-region in the mid-12th century. Further, we identify the churches at Vågå, Fron and Ringsaker/Hoff, Fluberg and Gran/Nes, Norderhov and Heggen/Tinn, Hjartdal and Seljord, as þriðjungkirkjur and discuss if these in fact originates from the church organisation as agreed upon by the thing assemblies and the king, with his bishops, around AD 1020.
"Rechtsräume" Historische und archäologische Annäherungen. , 2020
In this paper, we will examine the origin and developments of larger law-territories in Scandinav... more In this paper, we will examine the origin and developments of larger law-territories in Scandinavia in relation to tribal coalitions. Here, we will focus on the materiality and historical depth of thing-sites and the areas over which they had authority, drawing on the fields of cultural geography, history, archaeology, legal studies and landscape studies. The key material of the study is a group of approximately 30 assembly sites in western Scandinavia that date back to the first millennium.
The political structure of Scandinavian society underwent radical change between AD 500 and 1350.... more The political structure of Scandinavian society underwent radical change between AD 500 and 1350. Through analyses of c. 170,000 sites of single graves and cemeteries, 1,700 hillforts, and 130 royal sites and manors, this article investigates the emergence of larger law areas and their relation to the peoples and kingdoms in Scandza (i.e. Norway and Sweden). In this period the number of kingdoms was reduced from around thirteen to two. We find 29 peoples in the 6th century mentioned in contemporary written sources (Getica and Widtsith), and these are geographically identified through a big data analysis of prehistoric graves and cemeteries (Kernel Density Estimation). In addition, we have identified thirteen clusters of graves representing other unmentioned groups. The emergence of larger legal entities was a prerequisite for the emergence of the Scandinavian kingdoms. In eastern Scandinavia kingship emerged through the control of major lakes connecting various folklands, while in the west control of trade and transport along the major sailing route (leden) was a driving facor for trans-regional kingship.
OPEN ACCESS PUBLICATION: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110421101
This book discusses the 1st-11th c... more OPEN ACCESS PUBLICATION: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110421101 This book discusses the 1st-11th century developments that led to the formation of the three Scandinavian kingdoms in the Viking Age. Wide-ranging studies of communication routes, regional identities, judicial territories, and royal sites and graves trace a complex trajectory of rulership in these pagan Germanic societies. In the fi nal section, new light is shed on the pinnacle and demise of the Norwegian kingdom in the 13th-14th centuries.
The book seeks to revitalise the somewhat stagnant scholarly debate on Germanic rulership in the first millennium AD. A series of comprehensive chapters combines literary evidence on Scandinavia’s polities, kings, and other rulers with archaeological, documentary, toponymical, and linguistic evidence. The picture that emerges is one of surprisingly stable rulership institutions, sites, and myths, while control of them was contested between individuals, dynasties, and polities. While in the early centuries, Scandinavia was integrated in Germanic Europe, profound societal and cultural changes in 6th-century Scandinavia and the Christianisation of Continental and English kingdoms set northern kingship on a different path. The pagan heroic warrior ethos, essential to kingship, was developed and refined; only to recur overseas embodied in 9th–10th-century Vikings. Three chapters on a hitherto unknown masonry royal manor at Avaldsnes in western Norway, excavated 2017, concludes this volume with discussions of the late-medieval peak of Norwegian kingship and it’s eventual downfall in the late 14th century. This book’s discussions and results are relevant to all scholars and students of 1st-millenium Germanic kingship, polities, and societies. FREE DOWNLOAD HERE: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110421101
The Royal manor Avaldsnes in southwest Norway holds a rich history testified by 13th century saga... more The Royal manor Avaldsnes in southwest Norway holds a rich history testified by 13th century sagas and exceptional graves from the first millennium AD. In 2011–12 the settlement was excavated. In this first book from the project crucial results from an international team of 23 scholars are published. The chapters cover a wide array of topics ranging from building-remains and scientific analyses of finds to landownership and ritual manifestations. It is suggested that Avaldsnes was a prominent base for sea kings that operated along the West-Scandinavian coast in the first millennium AD. The martial competence developed through the centuries in the sea-king environment was the basis of the Vikings' military success in the 9th–10th centuries.
Sommeren 2009 gjorde LBI-prosjektet et funn av et stort kokegropfelt med om lag 750 groper på går... more Sommeren 2009 gjorde LBI-prosjektet et funn av et stort kokegropfelt med om lag 750 groper på gården Lunde i Vestfold (ID 143705). Ved avdekking ble det åpnet 30 sjakter og snittet 30 kokegroper. På denne bakgrunn ble det i mai 2011foretatt en arkeologisk forskningsgravning av 30 kokegroper på Lunde i regi av forskningsprosjektet The Assembly Project ved Kulturhistorisk museum. Resultatene inngår i Marie Ødegaards PhD-prosjekt «Tingsted og territorium» ved Universitetet i Bergen (2015). Det ble undersøkt 30 kokegroper og to dyrkingslag. Metodisk ble det observert flere strukturer enn det LBI-prosjektet hadde tolket som strukturer i sin undersøkelse. Det var bra sammenfall mellom innmålte strukturer og strukturene vi avdekket under utgravningen. Datering av feltet var 380 f. Kr. til 630 e. Kr, med hovedbruksfase mellom 0-300 AD. Det dreier seg altså om et felt med 1000 års brukstid. Flere kokegroper hadde flere bruksfaser, med flere hundre års mellomrom. Kokegropfeltet gikk ut av bruk rundt 600 e. Kr. men det antatte senere tingstedet på Tjølling kirke vitner om fortsatt bruk av området som samlingsted. Lunde tolkes som et aktivitetsområde for tingstedet på Tjølling. Ses Lunde i sammenheng med kokegropfeltet på Bommestad 4 km nord, er det visse fellestrekk som gjelder lokalisering og funksjoner der begge kan tolkes som steder der folk oppholdt seg under tingsamlinger i eldre jernalder. Stedene rommet trolig mange funksjoner, selv om det bare er matlagingsfunksjonen som kan påvises direkte. Indirekte viser omfang, gjenbruk, og strukturene til en rituell praksis av stort omfang og av lang varighet, som kan ha sammenheng med viktige fellesanliggende for mennesker fra større områder, der det er nærliggende å tenke på sosiale, rettslige, militære og politiske funksjoner.
This book brings together the cumulative results of a three-year project focused on the assemblie... more This book brings together the cumulative results of a three-year project focused on the assemblies and administrative systems of Scandinavia, Britain, and the North Atlantic islands in the 1st and 2nd millennia AD. In this volume we integrate a wide range of historical, cartographic, archaeological, field-based, and onomastic data pertaining to early medieval and medieval administrative practices, geographies, and places of assembly in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, and eastern England. This transnational perspective has enabled a new understanding of the development of power structures in early medieval northern Europe and the maturation of these systems in later centuries under royal control.
In a series of richly illustrated chapters, we explore the emergence and development of mechanisms for consensus. We begin with a historiographical exploration of assembly research that sets the intellectual agenda for the chapters that follow. We then examine the emergence and development of the thing in Scandinavia and its export to the lands colonised by the Norse. We consider more broadly how assembly practices may have developed at a local level, yet played a significant role in the consolidation, and at times regulation, of elite power structures. Presenting a fresh perspective on the agency and power of the thing and cognate types of local and regional assembly, this interdisciplinary volume provides an invaluable, in-depth insight into the people, places, laws, and consensual structures that shaped the early medieval and medieval kingdoms of northern Europe.
Negotiating the North: Meeting-places in the Middle Ages in the North Sea, 2020
This book brings together the cumulative results of a three-year project focused on the assemblie... more This book brings together the cumulative results of a three-year project focused on the assemblies and administrative systems of Scandinavia, Britain, and the North Atlantic islands in the 1st and 2nd millennia AD. In this volume we integrate a wide range of historical, cartographic, archaeological, field-based, and onomastic data pertaining to early medieval and medieval administrative practices, geographies, and places of assembly in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, and eastern England. This transnational perspective has enabled a new understanding of the development of power structures in early medieval northern Europe and the maturation of these systems in later centuries under royal control.
In a series of richly illustrated chapters, we explore the emergence and development of mechanisms for consensus. We begin with a historiographical exploration of assembly research that sets the intellectual agenda for the chapters that follow. We then examine the emergence and development of the thing in Scandinavia and its export to the lands colonised by the Norse. We consider more broadly how assembly practices may have developed at a local level, yet played a significant role in the consolidation, and at times regulation, of elite power structures. Presenting a fresh perspective on the agency and power of the thing and cognate types of local and regional assembly, this interdisciplinary volume provides an invaluable, in-depth insight into the people, places, laws, and consensual structures that shaped the early medieval and medieval kingdoms of northern Europe.
The Norwegian Archaeological Society is proud to present the very first special Viking volume: VI... more The Norwegian Archaeological Society is proud to present the very first special Viking volume: VIKING WARS. The 13 articles presented in this publication represent some of the latest, and most relevant research on Viking warfare from the Viking and early Scandinavian medieval period in Europe.
The Vikings fought for power, wealth, and land in many areas of the Northern hemisphere, and left traces of their activities from Canada in the West to the Caucasus in the East. In many parts of Europe visual, literary, and material culture contain influences of past Viking activities.
This volume offers new insights on Viking female warriors; local defense systems; a Danish-Obodrite attack on a Frankish fortress; deeply rooted traditions relating to weapon production; viking encampments in Atlantic Europe; rune carvers in campaign; textiles essential for sea journeys, and related warfare; the symbolic power of weapons; the roles of Rus’ captives and slave soldiers; as well as the relationship between Viking and Norse settlers, and the local Picts of the Western Isles.
Viking Special Volume 1 is co-funded by the Centre for Viking-Age Studies (ViS) and the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo.
This book brings together the culmulative results of a three-year project focused on the assembli... more This book brings together the culmulative results of a three-year project focused on the assemblies and administrative systems of Scandinavia, Britain, and the North Atlantic islands in the 1st and 2nd millennia AD. In this volume we integrate a wide range of historical, cartographic, archaeological, field-based, and onomastic data pertaining to early medieval and medieval administrative practices, geographies, and places of assembly in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, and eastern England. This transnational perspective has generated a new understanding of power structures in early medieval northern Europe and the maturation of these systems in later centuries under royal control.
Selected papers from workshops organized by The Assembly Project (TAP). This is the second volume... more Selected papers from workshops organized by The Assembly Project (TAP). This is the second volume from TAP, the first international collaborative project dedicated to investigating the role of assemblies in the emergent power structures of medieval northwest Europe. The volume contains 13 papers. Enjoy.
Selected papers from workshops organized by The Assembly Project (TAP). TAP represents the first ... more Selected papers from workshops organized by The Assembly Project (TAP). TAP represents the first international collaborative project dedicated to investigating the role of assemblies in the emergent power structures of medieval northwest Europe (A.D. 400–1500). The eight papers in this volume fall into three sections. The first, Debating Sources, examines the age and role of assemblies, mainly through the use of written sources. The second section, Systems of Power, contains studies from Norway and England, which together demonstrate the similarities and differences in administrative organization in the large geographical area under scrutiny by TAP. The third and final section, entitled Places of Assembly, deals with the archaeological evidence of assembly sites, placing them within the judicial networks in the landscape, from Shetland to Iceland and the wider North Atlantic Norse settlements.
The 14 articles presented in this publication represent some of the latest and most relevant rese... more The 14 articles presented in this publication represent some of the latest and most relevant research on rural settlement and farming from the Late Neolithic through the Early Medieval Period in Norway. It deals with the impact of climate change, plague and the AD 536-7 volcanic event and some of the earliest farms north of the Arctic Circle. It provides new perspectives and archaeological evidence for the Viking age farm of Norway, differences in regional settlement structures of agrarian societies, the relation between houses and graves in the Iron Age, and varying food practices as indicators of societal change.
The publication is part of the Joint Research Program (Forskning i fellesskap) conducted by the University Museums of Norway and co-funded by The Research Council of Norway.
Understanding how the Viking societies were impacted by past climate variability and how they ada... more Understanding how the Viking societies were impacted by past climate variability and how they adapted to it has hardly been investigated. Here, we have carried out a new multi-proxy investigation of lake sediments, including geochemical and palynological analyses, to reconstruct past changes in temperature and agricultural practices of pre-Viking and Viking societies in Southeastern Norway during the period between 200 and 1300 CE. The periods 200e300 and 800e1300 CE were warmer than the 300e800 CE period, which is known as the "Dark Ages Cold Period". This cold period was punctuated by century-scale more temperate intervals, which were dominated by the cultivation of cereals and hemp (before 280 CE, 420e480 CE, 580e700 CE, and after 800 CE). In between, cold intervals were dominated by livestock farming. Our results demonstrate that the pre-Viking societies changed their agricultural strategy in response to climate variability during the Late Antiquity.
Ringsaker kirke - landets fornemste sognekirke, 2021
For 1500 år siden var det minst 25 stammesamfunn på halvøya Scandza, som omfattet nåværende Sveri... more For 1500 år siden var det minst 25 stammesamfunn på halvøya Scandza, som omfattet nåværende Sverige og Norge. Blant disse folkegruppene finner vi Heinene fra Hedmark. Den gresk-romerske astronom, geograf og matematiker Klaudios Ptolemaios omtalte dem som Chaideinoi, omkring år 150 e. Kr. Fire hundre år senere, i 542, skrev den lærde grekeren Prokopius at det var 13 kongedømmer i Scandza, ett av dem var trolig Hedmark. I løpet av de neste 500 årene ble disse småkongedømmene samlet til to større kongedømmer: Norge og Sverige. Med kristningen tidlig på 1000-tallet forsvant vikingtidens småkongedømme Hedmark. I Heimskringla fremstiller Snorre Sturlason (1179–1241) Ringsaker som sentrum for motstanden mot Olav Haraldssons politiske prosjekt og kristning av Upplǫnd (fig. 1.). Fra mer pålitelige skaldekvad fra 1000-tallet forstår vi at Hedmark var et eget småkongedømme før Olavs erobring. Dette kongedømmet var nært alliert med andre kongedømmer i Upplǫnd – det siste norrøne området som ble kristnet i Norge. Er det spor etter disse alliansene i det arkeologiske materialet? Kan bygdeborger og senere ryttergraver belyse ulike former for militært samarbeid mellom de fire-fem kongedømmene som kjempet mot Olav og kristningsprosjektet? I dette kapitlet skal vi undersøke bakgrunnen for at Ringsaker kirke fikk den betydningen den fikk: nemlig som fylkeskirke, eller såkalt tredingskirke, for Hedmark og Østerdalen. Hovedfokus er prosessene som ledet fram til kristningen av Upplǫnd, der Ringsaker sammen med 11 andre kirker kom til å danne hovedstrukturen i en ny kirkeorganisasjon fra 1020-årene. Men først: Hva betyr egentlig Ringsaker og hva slags sted var dette?
In continental and north-western Europe armed cavalry – aided by the introduction of the stirrup ... more In continental and north-western Europe armed cavalry – aided by the introduction of the stirrup – was closely linked to the emergence of feudalism but was this also the case in Scandinavia? Were the resulting military specialists linked to the growing national kingdoms, or to local and regional power spheres ruled by petty kings? I will investigate this in the historical region of Upplǫnd – the last Norse area to be integrated into the Kingdom of Norway by Óláfr Haraldsson around AD 1020. Two thirds of Norway’s 51 known equestrian graves are located in this inland area and I will employ a novel way of investigating their relationship to local administrative units, such as þriðjungar (thirds), herǫð (hundreds), and not least fjórðungar (fourths), as well as travel routes and settlements. There is little that suggests that these graves were linked to an early national aristocracy, and its ruling Scandinavian dynasty – Ynglingene – as has been argued in previous research. Equestrian grave traditions survived longer in Upplǫnd than elsewhere in Scandinavia, which was not Christianised until the 11th century, and it is unlikely that the buried had served the uniting and converting King Óláfr. It is also difficult to establish links between historically known lendr menn (the most prominent retainers of the king) families, and such graves. However, a new revelation is that the farms where such graves were located, were situated along the boundaries between local fjórðungar, which were judicial districts, as well as subsidiaries of local military administration in the herǫð. This suggests that these locations had important warning and supervision roles in local military systems.
In this article, we present a new interpretation of the early medieval Church organisation in Sta... more In this article, we present a new interpretation of the early medieval Church organisation in Stavanger diocese, South Eastern Norway. By merging parts of two dioceses, Selja in the west and Vik in the east (the two primary dioceses in Norway), Stavanger diocese is established c. 1103-1123. We focus on the development and identification of the early public churches in this area. Based on various criteria, such as bishop's itineraries, size of choir, presence of dean, spread of landed property (mensa), and co-location and nearness to thing-sites, we identify for the first time the fylkiskirkur in the diocese, the fjórðungskirkiur in Rogaland and other public churches on lower levels in Rogaland, Nord-Agder and Valdres. In the twelfth century, there were three kinds of "public" churches in the western part of the diocese: the fylkiskirkja ('county church'), the fjórðungskirkja ('quarter church') and the attungskirkja ('eight church'), in addition to private churches called høgendiskirkiur ('convenience-churches'). While the eastern part included only the fylkiskirkja and the heraðskirkja (both public), in addition to private churches. In the thirteenth century a more homogenous church-system emerge, with hovedkirker ('main churches') and subordinate annekskirker (parishchurches, including former private churches). Overall, the early public church organisation seem based on civil subdivisions of the fylki. It connects closely to the various levels of judicial districts (þing, assemblies). The rural deanery (Norw. prosti), which was an ecclesiastical rather than a civil division, developed from one of these civil subdivisions, the fjórðung. However, the thirteenth-century formation of the lower ecclesiastical units (prestegjeld and sogn) followed its own course detached from older civil divisions. In Rogaland and Nord-Agder, the fylkiskirkur were located relatively far north in their counties. This applies to Avaldsnes or possibly Hesby, Mariakirken in Stavanger and Vanse. The location may have been adapted to the bishop's travels from the north (Selja). We propose Tromøy c. 1100 as the fylkiskirkja in Aust-Agder, Vik diocese, before the incorporation into Stavanger diocese. Later, Landvik church (built in first half of the twelfth century) may have taken its role as fylkiskirkja. The bishop of Stavanger seems to have preferred a church more central to Aust-Agder as fylkiskirkja. Landvik retained its high status until Agder di
This article present a new and somewhat daring interpretation of the name Stavanger. Previous dis... more This article present a new and somewhat daring interpretation of the name Stavanger. Previous discussions have revolved around from which topographical elements the name originates. The suffix ON angr, fjord, predates the Viking Age. ON stafr, standing staff became early an appellative for boundary markers. The King’s stone (Kongssteinen) was a remarkable boulder, at least 5.6 meters high and 6.2–7.5 meters wide. In the 4th century, the nearby land was cleared for farming and the boulder became clearly visible from the fjord. The King’s stone was one of several hoarstones for an ancient farm, Eiganes, – the parent farm of the town. It balanced on the top of a low mountain ridge (29 MASL) above the medieval town. It is discussed whether this boundary marker gave name to the fjord Stavanger, which in the 10th century also became the name of the town.
This article presents a new interpretation and identification of a particular type of church in i... more This article presents a new interpretation and identification of a particular type of church in inland East-Norway (Eidsivatingslagen), known in Old Norse as the þriðjungkirkja. These churches were the counterparts to the fylkiskirkja ('county church') in other parts of the Norwegian kingdom, and crucial in the formation of the inland church organisation from the early eleventh century. Previous interpretations of the þriðjungkirkja have seen its origins from a special type of administrative unit, found only in the district Romerike-the þriðjung. A closer analysis shows, however, that the þriðjung was a younger civil, not an ecclesiastical, division and therefore a misleading starting point. The rural deanery (Norw. prosti), on the other hand, was an ecclesiastical rather than a civil division. In written sources, dating from 1223 to c. 1600, we identify 12 rural deaneries/deans and the churches attached to them. The deaneries probably correspond to the 12 units mentioned in early 11th-century skaldic poetry. From this, we find that the þriðjung originates from a subdivision of former legal units (thing-districts). According to the chronicle Historia Norwegie there were four legal units in the Eidsviating-region in the mid-12th century. Further, we identify the churches at Vågå, Fron and Ringsaker/Hoff, Fluberg and Gran/Nes, Norderhov and Heggen/Tinn, Hjartdal and Seljord, as þriðjungkirkjur and discuss if these in fact originates from the church organisation as agreed upon by the thing assemblies and the king, with his bishops, around AD 1020.
"Rechtsräume" Historische und archäologische Annäherungen. , 2020
In this paper, we will examine the origin and developments of larger law-territories in Scandinav... more In this paper, we will examine the origin and developments of larger law-territories in Scandinavia in relation to tribal coalitions. Here, we will focus on the materiality and historical depth of thing-sites and the areas over which they had authority, drawing on the fields of cultural geography, history, archaeology, legal studies and landscape studies. The key material of the study is a group of approximately 30 assembly sites in western Scandinavia that date back to the first millennium.
The political structure of Scandinavian society underwent radical change between AD 500 and 1350.... more The political structure of Scandinavian society underwent radical change between AD 500 and 1350. Through analyses of c. 170,000 sites of single graves and cemeteries, 1,700 hillforts, and 130 royal sites and manors, this article investigates the emergence of larger law areas and their relation to the peoples and kingdoms in Scandza (i.e. Norway and Sweden). In this period the number of kingdoms was reduced from around thirteen to two. We find 29 peoples in the 6th century mentioned in contemporary written sources (Getica and Widtsith), and these are geographically identified through a big data analysis of prehistoric graves and cemeteries (Kernel Density Estimation). In addition, we have identified thirteen clusters of graves representing other unmentioned groups. The emergence of larger legal entities was a prerequisite for the emergence of the Scandinavian kingdoms. In eastern Scandinavia kingship emerged through the control of major lakes connecting various folklands, while in the west control of trade and transport along the major sailing route (leden) was a driving facor for trans-regional kingship.
OPEN ACCESS PUBLICATION: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110421101
This book discusses the 1st-11th c... more OPEN ACCESS PUBLICATION: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110421101 This book discusses the 1st-11th century developments that led to the formation of the three Scandinavian kingdoms in the Viking Age. Wide-ranging studies of communication routes, regional identities, judicial territories, and royal sites and graves trace a complex trajectory of rulership in these pagan Germanic societies. In the fi nal section, new light is shed on the pinnacle and demise of the Norwegian kingdom in the 13th-14th centuries.
The book seeks to revitalise the somewhat stagnant scholarly debate on Germanic rulership in the first millennium AD. A series of comprehensive chapters combines literary evidence on Scandinavia’s polities, kings, and other rulers with archaeological, documentary, toponymical, and linguistic evidence. The picture that emerges is one of surprisingly stable rulership institutions, sites, and myths, while control of them was contested between individuals, dynasties, and polities. While in the early centuries, Scandinavia was integrated in Germanic Europe, profound societal and cultural changes in 6th-century Scandinavia and the Christianisation of Continental and English kingdoms set northern kingship on a different path. The pagan heroic warrior ethos, essential to kingship, was developed and refined; only to recur overseas embodied in 9th–10th-century Vikings. Three chapters on a hitherto unknown masonry royal manor at Avaldsnes in western Norway, excavated 2017, concludes this volume with discussions of the late-medieval peak of Norwegian kingship and it’s eventual downfall in the late 14th century. This book’s discussions and results are relevant to all scholars and students of 1st-millenium Germanic kingship, polities, and societies. FREE DOWNLOAD HERE: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110421101
The Royal manor Avaldsnes in southwest Norway holds a rich history testified by 13th century saga... more The Royal manor Avaldsnes in southwest Norway holds a rich history testified by 13th century sagas and exceptional graves from the first millennium AD. In 2011–12 the settlement was excavated. In this first book from the project crucial results from an international team of 23 scholars are published. The chapters cover a wide array of topics ranging from building-remains and scientific analyses of finds to landownership and ritual manifestations. It is suggested that Avaldsnes was a prominent base for sea kings that operated along the West-Scandinavian coast in the first millennium AD. The martial competence developed through the centuries in the sea-king environment was the basis of the Vikings' military success in the 9th–10th centuries.
SETTLEMENT CHANGE ACROSS MEDIEVAL EUROPE OLD PARADIGMS AND NEW VISTAS, 2019
AD 536 is a poignant date in European history and marks the advent of a series of documented envi... more AD 536 is a poignant date in European history and marks the advent of a series of documented environmental changes that affected societies across Europe in various ways. Sudden and severe climate deterioration led to vast crop failures and was followed by plague epidemics in the following decades. In this article, we examine the timing of the changes in human activity with a detailed investigation of 855 radiocarbon determinations from Vestfold, Norway. The modelled radiocarbon data show a decrease in activity concurrent with the climatic events and plague epidemics that took place in the mid-6th century, and provide another proxy for the significant changes that occurred during this time. The results may support the idea that fimbulvetr was the start of a long-lasting cooling period combined with severe population declines and a dramatic decrease in cultural activity. In the past and present, the investigated area represents a heartland of rural production and settlements in Scandinavia. The time span of the crises is fundamental to our academic understanding of the character and societal impacts of the crises, and this study examines it more precisely than previous work.
Power and Place in Europe in the Early Middle Ages, 2019
The word thing describes a legal assembly, and it appears in all the Germanic languages. It has b... more The word thing describes a legal assembly, and it appears in all the Germanic languages. It has been understood as ‘a gathering in a certain place, at a certain time'. The thing is well known in Norway and in Iceland from the 12th and 13th centuries onwards. Norwegian provincial laws, dating back to the 1100s, indicate that representatives from specific areas met annually at law-things (lagting) that were held at an appointed time and place. How far back these traditions can be traced, and how the thing evolved during the period ad 400–1200 are issues that touch upon some of the fundamental questions about the organisation of law and landscape during the Iron Age and medieval period. I would like to explore these issues, drawing upon an archaeological source unique to Norway, the so-called courtyard sites. A courtyard site is essentially ‘a collection of houseplots set in a semi-circular formation facing a central open space (tún)’. Thirty such sites are known from the west coast of Norway from Agder in the south to Hålogaland in the north.
This article presents the first interpretation of a 5th century proto-Norse runic inscription dis... more This article presents the first interpretation of a 5th century proto-Norse runic inscription discovered in 2017 at Øverby, Østfold, Norway: “Cut runes in, skilled iril, for Isni”. The meaning of the word iril is discussed in light of the ten other proto-Norse inscriptions in Scandinavia where irils are mentioned. Through analysis of the language, history, archaeology and landscape context of all the iril inscriptions, we argue that the iril in the Roman and Migration period was a military leader, an earl, subordinate to a King. The iril at Øverby was Earl in the medieval shire of Vingulmark. The Earls in this period were located in strategic places in the outskirts of larger habitation areas close to the shire borders. The findings are set in context with among other Danish bog offering sites. We consider the iril a military leader for major warrior groups that fought in Scandinavia and on the continent 1500–1800 years ago
When slavery was abolished in Scandinavia, a tenant system was introduced, employing around twent... more When slavery was abolished in Scandinavia, a tenant system was introduced, employing around twenty percent of the population. This article offers an investigation of the material basis of one of Norway’s mightiest dynasties, that of Erling Skakke (1115–79), a Norwegian earl who was married to the daughter of King Sigurd I Jorsalfare (1103–30). He granted land and founded what became Norway’s richest monastry (Halsnøy). Scandinavian ecclesiastical institutions presumably revitalized older main farms and estates when they took them over in the Middle Ages.
Power and Place in Europe in the Early Middle Ages, 2019
This chapter deals with the geographical organisation of the thing-system of Northern Europe prio... more This chapter deals with the geographical organisation of the thing-system of Northern Europe prior to the state-formation processes in the 9th and 10th centuries ad. The courtyard sites (ad 200–900) of Hålogaland, Norway are interpreted as an early form of legal, cultic and military assembly sites and their size and location are discussed in relation to administrative landscapes (thing-units) reconstructed on the basis of later written sources (ad 1150–1560s). There is a remarkable correlation between the number of houseplots and the number of administrative units in the areas in question. This new discovery has far-reaching implications for understanding the age and formation processes of administrative legal landscapes on the fringes of Northern Europe.
The Norwegian ‘courtyard sites’ have variously been interpreted as special cultic, juridical, or ... more The Norwegian ‘courtyard sites’ have variously been interpreted as special cultic, juridical, or military assembly sites, which served at more than the purely local level. Previously, on the basis of studies of artefacts and finds of pottery from these structures, the principal period of use of the courtyard sites in Rogaland has been dated to the early and late Roman Iron Age (AD 1–400) and the Migration Period (AD 400–550) through c. AD 600. To test the validity of this date range, the Avaldsnes Royal Manor Project has commissioned thirty new radiocarbon datings of material from three courtyard sites in Rogaland that Jan Petersen had excavated in 1938–50. These are Øygarden, Leksaren, and Klauhaugane; the latter is one of the largest courtyard sites in Norway. Øygarden has not previously been radiocarbon dated. For Klauhaugene, only a few radiocarbon dates had been obtained prior to this study. Leksaren was radiocarbon dated in the 1990s, with the results rather surprisingly indicating that its use continued into the 7th century. The present study demonstrates that the three investigated sites were in use during the Merovingian Period (AD 550–800) – a finding that both confirms and develops previous chronological frameworks. The courtyard sites in Rogaland fell out of use earlier than in other areas along the western coast of Norway. It is therefore suggested that their abandonment was connected to the emergence in the 8th century of royal power accompanied by greater control over jurisdiction – a royal power that subsequently expanded within the coastal zone.
Viking-Age Transformations: Trade, Craft and Resources in Western Scandinavia, 2017
The thing is the oldest known communal organization in Northern Europe. The term þing or thing ex... more The thing is the oldest known communal organization in Northern Europe. The term þing or thing existed in all Germanic languages of Northern Europe. It is derived from the Gothic term for time, þeihs, and another word meaning ‘to congregate’. The meaning of thing is therefore ‘to meet at a certain place at a certain time’ (Iversen 2013), and the thing participants had to travel to these meetings. In its early phase, the thing was the highest authority in all areas of society. The highest judicial power sat at shire level. During the Viking Age, lawthings were established for even bigger judicial areas in Norway, such as the Gulathing, Frostathing, Eidsivathing, Borgarthing and Hålogaland (Iversen 2014, 2015a, 2015b). These were representative things, which attracted delegates from vast areas.
Exhibition catalouge 1999, "Death in the Middle Ages and Premodern Time". Exhibition at the Brygg... more Exhibition catalouge 1999, "Death in the Middle Ages and Premodern Time". Exhibition at the Bryggens Museum, Bergen, Norway. Despite the grim subject, my colleague, Bård G. Økland and I had great fun writing this piece.
Review (in Norwegian) of Bjørn Poulsen og Søren Michael Sindbæk (eds.): Settlement and Lordship i... more Review (in Norwegian) of Bjørn Poulsen og Søren Michael Sindbæk (eds.): Settlement and Lordship in Viking and Early Medieval Scandinavia, 2011, Brepols, pp. 337, 95 euro. I really enjoyed this book!
Review of an important work by Professor Inger Storli on legal assembly sites in Northern Norway ... more Review of an important work by Professor Inger Storli on legal assembly sites in Northern Norway 200-900 AD. Title in Norwegian: Hålogaland før rikssamlingen politiske prosesser i perioden 200-900 e. Kr. (= Hålogaland before the Unification Political Processes in the Period AD 200-900). Inger Storli: Oslo, Novus forlag: Institutt for sammenlignende kulturforskning, 2006, 224 pages.
A presentation in Frankfurt, September 2015. The development of legal landscapes. Scandinavia, fi... more A presentation in Frankfurt, September 2015. The development of legal landscapes. Scandinavia, first millenium.
Seminar “Rechtsräume”, Max-Planck-Institut für Europäische Rechtsgeschichte, Frankfurt, organised by Professor Caspar Ehlers
Presentation, Huseby workshop - status quo, open questions and perspectives, National museum, Co... more Presentation, Huseby workshop - status quo, open questions and perspectives, National museum, Copenhagen, Denmark. Since the early 20th century the more than 130 hamlets or farms in Scandinavia and the Orkneys known by the name Husaby, Huseby, Husby, Hoseby, Husebø etc. have been a relevant topic in historical, archaeological and onomastical research, closely linked to the discussion of kingship and political administration.
The workshop was arranged by Thorsten Lemm (Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen Schloss Gottorf), Lisbeth Eilersgaard Christensen (Odense bys museer), and Anne Pedersen (Nationalmuseet København / Jelling project)
Call for paper for EAA Budapest, 23-26 August 2020:
This session explores the potentials of an ar... more Call for paper for EAA Budapest, 23-26 August 2020: This session explores the potentials of an archaeology of military communications. From antiquity to the present day, armed forces required systems of military communication: to coordinate troops in the field, warn of imminent threats, and signal between naval and terrestrial forces. A range of written, archaeological and toponymical evidence confirms the importance of beacons and lookouts to the networks of local and regional communications; systems with fire on mountain peaks are attested by Homer and similar systems were used all over Europe until the Napoleonic Wars. Recognising how and where such communications worked is fundamental to understanding systems of military organisation, defensive capabilities, and the nature of hostilities in the past – yet they have so far featured little in archaeological debates. This session will examine the problems and potentials of this topic. What is the archaeological signature of beacons, look-outs, and signalling systems? How can systems of visual and audible signals be reconstructed? What are the relationships between communications, landscape, and better-attested military installations, such as strongholds, linear defences, routes and landing places? How does an archaeology of military communications give insights into the social worlds of past people; how does the routinization of war and the threat of attack affect people and their institutions? Call for papers: EAA 2020, Contributions are sought from scholars working in archaeology, history, toponomy, landscape studies. We particularly welcome papers that discuss the physical evidence for military communications; the geographic extents of beacon and other signalling sites; papers that explore their links to mobilisation, movement, strategy, and other military sites and defense networks (e.g. hillforts, castles, place names indicating military personnel/places, earthworks, and power centres, etc); and the social dimensions of civil defence and its impacts on people.
Preliminary program for ViS 2018 Conference: "Weaving war: New perspectives on violence and socie... more Preliminary program for ViS 2018 Conference: "Weaving war: New perspectives on violence and society in the Viking-Age"
The Centre of Viking-Age studies (ViS) and the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, ar... more The Centre of Viking-Age studies (ViS) and the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, are pleased to announce that the international ViS-conference 2018 will take place in Oslo 12 -14 December 2018. The goal of the conference is to stimulate debate and reflection, and to present the current state of research on violence, conflict and warfare in the Viking Age.
Deadline for submission of abstracts for papers and Pecha-Kucha presentations is 15 July 2018.
Deadline for registration to the conference is 15 November 2018.
The Centre of Viking-Age studies (ViS) and the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, ar... more The Centre of Viking-Age studies (ViS) and the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, are pleased to announce that the international ViS-conference 2018 will take place in Oslo 12-14 December 2018. The goal of the conference is to stimulate debate and reflection, and to present the current state of research on violence, conflict and warfare in the Viking Age. Violence, warfare and warrior ideology are seen as vital components in understanding Viking society, and the many facets of a warrior society appear through landscapes, material culture, religion, poetry, and in traces of ritualised actions and gendered practices. Warfare also present ambiguities: Weapons were instruments for terror and murder, but they also formed the basis for identity and self-esteem. The brutal realities of violence stands in contrast to the idealized images of warriors met with admiration and honour. Violence and warfare are linked to aggression and power, but intrinsically also bound to fear, bereavement and loss. Conflicts and warfare are based on drawing of thresholds for inclusion and exclusion, and even though warfare is fracturing and destructive, it can also create cohesion, social change and new political conditions. As scholars we regularly encounter the public perception of the violent Viking, calling also for reflection on the ways in which Viking violence and wars feed back into public dissemination and the present Viking fascination.
Museum of Cultural History and The Association of Critical Heritage Studies – the Norwegian Chapt... more Museum of Cultural History and The Association of Critical Heritage Studies – the Norwegian Chapter (ACHS-N) invites to seminar/ACHS-N annual meeting - April 20, 10.00-16.00, Professorboligen, University of Oslo.
In connection with the archaelogical excavations at Åker, Hedmark, Norway, 2016, we arranged this... more In connection with the archaelogical excavations at Åker, Hedmark, Norway, 2016, we arranged this seminar on royal inaugeration sites in Scandinavia. Harald Hardrade was taken king at Åker in 1046 and royal inaugerations/consents took place here until the 16th century. The excavation team revealed a multiphased high status settlement-site from the Roman- to the Viking Period - a royal manor - surrounded by a large cooking pit field. The seminar was held in Hamar, September 2016, c. 90 participants. Organizers: Hamar Municipality by Sjur Harby and Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo by Frode Iversen.
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Universitetet i Bergen (2015). Det ble undersøkt 30 kokegroper og to dyrkingslag. Metodisk ble det observert flere strukturer enn det LBI-prosjektet hadde tolket som strukturer i sin undersøkelse. Det
var bra sammenfall mellom innmålte strukturer og strukturene vi avdekket under utgravningen.
Datering av feltet var 380 f. Kr. til 630 e. Kr, med hovedbruksfase mellom 0-300 AD. Det dreier seg altså om et felt med 1000 års brukstid. Flere kokegroper hadde flere bruksfaser, med flere hundre års mellomrom. Kokegropfeltet gikk ut av bruk rundt 600 e. Kr. men det antatte senere
tingstedet på Tjølling kirke vitner om fortsatt bruk av området som samlingsted.
Lunde tolkes som et aktivitetsområde for tingstedet på Tjølling. Ses Lunde i sammenheng med kokegropfeltet på Bommestad 4 km nord, er det visse fellestrekk som gjelder lokalisering og funksjoner der begge kan tolkes som steder der folk oppholdt seg under tingsamlinger i eldre
jernalder. Stedene rommet trolig mange funksjoner, selv om det bare er matlagingsfunksjonen som kan påvises direkte. Indirekte viser omfang, gjenbruk, og strukturene til en rituell praksis av stort
omfang og av lang varighet, som kan ha sammenheng med viktige fellesanliggende for mennesker fra større områder, der det er nærliggende å tenke på sosiale, rettslige, militære og politiske
funksjoner.
In a series of richly illustrated chapters, we explore the emergence and development of mechanisms for consensus. We begin with a historiographical exploration of assembly research that sets the intellectual agenda for the chapters that follow. We then examine the emergence and development of the thing in Scandinavia and its export to the lands colonised by the Norse. We consider more broadly how assembly practices may have developed at a local level, yet played a significant role in the consolidation, and at times regulation, of elite power structures. Presenting a fresh perspective on the agency and power of the thing and cognate types of local and regional assembly, this interdisciplinary volume provides an invaluable, in-depth insight into the people, places, laws, and consensual structures that shaped the early medieval and medieval kingdoms of northern Europe.
In a series of richly illustrated chapters, we explore the emergence and development of mechanisms for consensus. We begin with a historiographical exploration of assembly research that sets the intellectual agenda for the chapters that follow. We then examine the emergence and development of the thing in Scandinavia and its export to the lands colonised by the Norse. We consider more broadly how assembly practices may have developed at a local level, yet played a significant role in the consolidation, and at times regulation, of elite power structures. Presenting a fresh perspective on the agency and power of the thing and cognate types of local and regional assembly, this interdisciplinary volume provides an invaluable, in-depth insight into the people, places, laws, and consensual structures that shaped the early medieval and medieval kingdoms of northern Europe.
The Vikings fought for power, wealth, and land in many areas of the Northern hemisphere, and left traces of their activities from Canada in the West to the Caucasus in the East. In many parts of Europe visual, literary, and material culture contain influences of past Viking activities.
This volume offers new insights on Viking female warriors; local defense systems; a Danish-Obodrite attack on a Frankish fortress; deeply rooted traditions relating to weapon production; viking encampments in Atlantic Europe; rune carvers in campaign; textiles essential for sea journeys, and related warfare; the symbolic power of weapons; the roles of Rus’ captives and slave soldiers; as well as the relationship between Viking and Norse settlers, and the local Picts of the Western Isles.
Viking Special Volume 1 is co-funded by the Centre for Viking-Age Studies (ViS) and the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo.
The publication is part of the Joint Research Program (Forskning i fellesskap) conducted by the University Museums of Norway and co-funded by The Research Council of Norway.
og matematiker Klaudios Ptolemaios omtalte dem som Chaideinoi, omkring år 150 e. Kr. Fire hundre år senere, i 542, skrev den lærde grekeren Prokopius at det var 13 kongedømmer i Scandza, ett av dem var
trolig Hedmark. I løpet av de neste 500 årene ble disse småkongedømmene samlet til to større kongedømmer: Norge og Sverige. Med kristningen tidlig på 1000-tallet forsvant vikingtidens småkongedømme Hedmark. I Heimskringla fremstiller Snorre Sturlason
(1179–1241) Ringsaker som sentrum for motstanden mot Olav Haraldssons politiske prosjekt og kristning av Upplǫnd (fig. 1.). Fra mer pålitelige skaldekvad fra 1000-tallet forstår vi at Hedmark var et eget småkongedømme før Olavs erobring. Dette kongedømmet var nært alliert med andre kongedømmer i Upplǫnd – det siste norrøne området som ble kristnet i Norge. Er det spor etter disse alliansene i det arkeologiske materialet? Kan bygdeborger og senere ryttergraver belyse
ulike former for militært samarbeid mellom de fire-fem kongedømmene som kjempet mot Olav og kristningsprosjektet? I dette kapitlet skal vi undersøke bakgrunnen for at Ringsaker kirke fikk den betydningen
den fikk: nemlig som fylkeskirke, eller såkalt tredingskirke, for Hedmark og Østerdalen. Hovedfokus er prosessene som ledet fram til kristningen av Upplǫnd, der Ringsaker sammen med 11 andre kirker kom til å
danne hovedstrukturen i en ny kirkeorganisasjon fra 1020-årene. Men først: Hva betyr egentlig Ringsaker og hva slags sted var dette?
This book discusses the 1st-11th century developments that led to the formation of the three Scandinavian kingdoms in the Viking Age. Wide-ranging studies of communication routes, regional identities, judicial territories, and royal sites and graves trace a complex trajectory of rulership in these pagan Germanic societies. In the fi nal section, new light is shed on the pinnacle and demise of the Norwegian kingdom in the 13th-14th centuries.
The book seeks to revitalise the somewhat stagnant scholarly debate on Germanic rulership in the first millennium AD. A series of comprehensive chapters combines literary evidence on Scandinavia’s polities, kings, and other rulers with archaeological, documentary, toponymical, and linguistic evidence. The picture that emerges is one of surprisingly stable rulership institutions, sites, and myths, while control of them was contested between individuals, dynasties, and polities. While in the early centuries, Scandinavia was integrated in Germanic Europe, profound societal and cultural changes in 6th-century Scandinavia and the Christianisation of Continental and English kingdoms set northern kingship on a different path. The pagan heroic warrior ethos, essential to kingship, was developed and refined; only to recur overseas embodied in 9th–10th-century Vikings. Three chapters on a hitherto unknown masonry royal manor at Avaldsnes in western Norway, excavated 2017, concludes this volume with discussions of the late-medieval peak of Norwegian kingship and it’s eventual downfall in the late 14th century. This book’s discussions and results are relevant to all scholars and students of 1st-millenium Germanic kingship, polities, and societies.
FREE DOWNLOAD HERE:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110421101
Universitetet i Bergen (2015). Det ble undersøkt 30 kokegroper og to dyrkingslag. Metodisk ble det observert flere strukturer enn det LBI-prosjektet hadde tolket som strukturer i sin undersøkelse. Det
var bra sammenfall mellom innmålte strukturer og strukturene vi avdekket under utgravningen.
Datering av feltet var 380 f. Kr. til 630 e. Kr, med hovedbruksfase mellom 0-300 AD. Det dreier seg altså om et felt med 1000 års brukstid. Flere kokegroper hadde flere bruksfaser, med flere hundre års mellomrom. Kokegropfeltet gikk ut av bruk rundt 600 e. Kr. men det antatte senere
tingstedet på Tjølling kirke vitner om fortsatt bruk av området som samlingsted.
Lunde tolkes som et aktivitetsområde for tingstedet på Tjølling. Ses Lunde i sammenheng med kokegropfeltet på Bommestad 4 km nord, er det visse fellestrekk som gjelder lokalisering og funksjoner der begge kan tolkes som steder der folk oppholdt seg under tingsamlinger i eldre
jernalder. Stedene rommet trolig mange funksjoner, selv om det bare er matlagingsfunksjonen som kan påvises direkte. Indirekte viser omfang, gjenbruk, og strukturene til en rituell praksis av stort
omfang og av lang varighet, som kan ha sammenheng med viktige fellesanliggende for mennesker fra større områder, der det er nærliggende å tenke på sosiale, rettslige, militære og politiske
funksjoner.
In a series of richly illustrated chapters, we explore the emergence and development of mechanisms for consensus. We begin with a historiographical exploration of assembly research that sets the intellectual agenda for the chapters that follow. We then examine the emergence and development of the thing in Scandinavia and its export to the lands colonised by the Norse. We consider more broadly how assembly practices may have developed at a local level, yet played a significant role in the consolidation, and at times regulation, of elite power structures. Presenting a fresh perspective on the agency and power of the thing and cognate types of local and regional assembly, this interdisciplinary volume provides an invaluable, in-depth insight into the people, places, laws, and consensual structures that shaped the early medieval and medieval kingdoms of northern Europe.
In a series of richly illustrated chapters, we explore the emergence and development of mechanisms for consensus. We begin with a historiographical exploration of assembly research that sets the intellectual agenda for the chapters that follow. We then examine the emergence and development of the thing in Scandinavia and its export to the lands colonised by the Norse. We consider more broadly how assembly practices may have developed at a local level, yet played a significant role in the consolidation, and at times regulation, of elite power structures. Presenting a fresh perspective on the agency and power of the thing and cognate types of local and regional assembly, this interdisciplinary volume provides an invaluable, in-depth insight into the people, places, laws, and consensual structures that shaped the early medieval and medieval kingdoms of northern Europe.
The Vikings fought for power, wealth, and land in many areas of the Northern hemisphere, and left traces of their activities from Canada in the West to the Caucasus in the East. In many parts of Europe visual, literary, and material culture contain influences of past Viking activities.
This volume offers new insights on Viking female warriors; local defense systems; a Danish-Obodrite attack on a Frankish fortress; deeply rooted traditions relating to weapon production; viking encampments in Atlantic Europe; rune carvers in campaign; textiles essential for sea journeys, and related warfare; the symbolic power of weapons; the roles of Rus’ captives and slave soldiers; as well as the relationship between Viking and Norse settlers, and the local Picts of the Western Isles.
Viking Special Volume 1 is co-funded by the Centre for Viking-Age Studies (ViS) and the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo.
The publication is part of the Joint Research Program (Forskning i fellesskap) conducted by the University Museums of Norway and co-funded by The Research Council of Norway.
og matematiker Klaudios Ptolemaios omtalte dem som Chaideinoi, omkring år 150 e. Kr. Fire hundre år senere, i 542, skrev den lærde grekeren Prokopius at det var 13 kongedømmer i Scandza, ett av dem var
trolig Hedmark. I løpet av de neste 500 årene ble disse småkongedømmene samlet til to større kongedømmer: Norge og Sverige. Med kristningen tidlig på 1000-tallet forsvant vikingtidens småkongedømme Hedmark. I Heimskringla fremstiller Snorre Sturlason
(1179–1241) Ringsaker som sentrum for motstanden mot Olav Haraldssons politiske prosjekt og kristning av Upplǫnd (fig. 1.). Fra mer pålitelige skaldekvad fra 1000-tallet forstår vi at Hedmark var et eget småkongedømme før Olavs erobring. Dette kongedømmet var nært alliert med andre kongedømmer i Upplǫnd – det siste norrøne området som ble kristnet i Norge. Er det spor etter disse alliansene i det arkeologiske materialet? Kan bygdeborger og senere ryttergraver belyse
ulike former for militært samarbeid mellom de fire-fem kongedømmene som kjempet mot Olav og kristningsprosjektet? I dette kapitlet skal vi undersøke bakgrunnen for at Ringsaker kirke fikk den betydningen
den fikk: nemlig som fylkeskirke, eller såkalt tredingskirke, for Hedmark og Østerdalen. Hovedfokus er prosessene som ledet fram til kristningen av Upplǫnd, der Ringsaker sammen med 11 andre kirker kom til å
danne hovedstrukturen i en ny kirkeorganisasjon fra 1020-årene. Men først: Hva betyr egentlig Ringsaker og hva slags sted var dette?
This book discusses the 1st-11th century developments that led to the formation of the three Scandinavian kingdoms in the Viking Age. Wide-ranging studies of communication routes, regional identities, judicial territories, and royal sites and graves trace a complex trajectory of rulership in these pagan Germanic societies. In the fi nal section, new light is shed on the pinnacle and demise of the Norwegian kingdom in the 13th-14th centuries.
The book seeks to revitalise the somewhat stagnant scholarly debate on Germanic rulership in the first millennium AD. A series of comprehensive chapters combines literary evidence on Scandinavia’s polities, kings, and other rulers with archaeological, documentary, toponymical, and linguistic evidence. The picture that emerges is one of surprisingly stable rulership institutions, sites, and myths, while control of them was contested between individuals, dynasties, and polities. While in the early centuries, Scandinavia was integrated in Germanic Europe, profound societal and cultural changes in 6th-century Scandinavia and the Christianisation of Continental and English kingdoms set northern kingship on a different path. The pagan heroic warrior ethos, essential to kingship, was developed and refined; only to recur overseas embodied in 9th–10th-century Vikings. Three chapters on a hitherto unknown masonry royal manor at Avaldsnes in western Norway, excavated 2017, concludes this volume with discussions of the late-medieval peak of Norwegian kingship and it’s eventual downfall in the late 14th century. This book’s discussions and results are relevant to all scholars and students of 1st-millenium Germanic kingship, polities, and societies.
FREE DOWNLOAD HERE:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110421101
determinations from Vestfold, Norway. The modelled radiocarbon data show a decrease in activity concurrent with the climatic events and plague epidemics that took place in the mid-6th century, and provide another proxy for the significant changes that occurred during this time. The results may support the idea that fimbulvetr was the start of a long-lasting cooling period combined with severe population declines and a dramatic decrease in cultural activity. In the past and present, the investigated area represents a heartland of rural production and settlements in Scandinavia. The time span of the crises is fundamental to our academic understanding of the character and societal impacts of
the crises, and this study examines it more precisely than previous work.
landscape during the Iron Age and medieval period. I would like to explore these issues, drawing upon an archaeological source unique
to Norway, the so-called courtyard sites. A courtyard site is essentially ‘a collection of houseplots set in a semi-circular formation facing a central open space (tún)’. Thirty such sites are known from the west coast of Norway from Agder in the south to Hålogaland in the north.
Seminar “Rechtsräume”, Max-Planck-Institut für Europäische Rechtsgeschichte, Frankfurt, organised by Professor Caspar Ehlers
The workshop was arranged by Thorsten Lemm (Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen Schloss Gottorf), Lisbeth Eilersgaard Christensen (Odense bys museer), and Anne Pedersen (Nationalmuseet København / Jelling project)
This session explores the potentials of an archaeology of military communications. From antiquity to the present day, armed forces required systems of military communication: to coordinate troops in the field, warn of imminent threats, and signal between naval and terrestrial forces. A range of written, archaeological and toponymical evidence confirms the importance of beacons and lookouts to the networks of local and regional communications; systems with fire on mountain peaks are attested by Homer and similar systems were used all over Europe until the Napoleonic Wars. Recognising how and where such communications worked is fundamental to understanding systems of military organisation, defensive capabilities, and the nature of hostilities in the past – yet they have so far featured little in archaeological debates. This session will examine the problems and potentials of this topic. What is the archaeological signature of beacons, look-outs, and signalling systems? How can systems of visual and audible signals be reconstructed? What are the relationships between communications, landscape, and better-attested military installations, such as strongholds, linear defences, routes and landing places? How does an archaeology of military communications give insights into the social worlds of past people; how does the routinization of war and the threat of attack affect people and their institutions?
Call for papers: EAA 2020,
Contributions are sought from scholars working in archaeology, history, toponomy, landscape studies. We particularly welcome papers that discuss the physical evidence for military communications; the geographic extents of beacon and other signalling sites; papers that explore their links to mobilisation, movement, strategy, and other military sites and defense networks (e.g. hillforts, castles, place names indicating military personnel/places, earthworks, and power centres, etc); and the social dimensions of civil defence and its impacts on people.
Deadline for submission of abstracts for papers and Pecha-Kucha presentations is 15 July 2018.
Deadline for registration to the conference is 15 November 2018.
http://www.khm.uio.no/forskning/forskergrupper/vis/arrangementer/vis-conference-2018.html