No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
The Irish Viking Age: A Discussion of Architecture, Settlement Patterns, and Identity
Abstract
This paper discusses both the urban and the rural architecture of the Irish Viking Age. Looking firstly at the extremely well-preserved Hiberno-Norse urban settlements, especially the Type 1 houses, it finds that the true nature of this architecture is a hybrid of both Norse and Irish characteristics. It considers the nature of the proposed ‘Viking’ rural settlements in Ireland and concludes that some of these may be better considered as expressions of a Hiberno-Norse identity rather than evidence of a simplistic, and misleading, ‘Viking’ settlement pattern. Returning to the well-preserved urban archaeology, the author applies Access Analysis to a single building level from Fishamble St. in Dublin, concluding that these homes were carefully organized with controls over movement and access. Finally, the Access Analysis methodology is applied to the Hiberno-Norse rural settlements and finds that some of the buildings demonstrate similar patterns of movement to those observed at Fishamble St. This hints that there may have been closer relationships between these sites and perhaps may be the first signs of an observable ‘mental template’ regulating the Hiberno-Norse architecture of Ireland.
This article explores the ways in which medieval Icelanders imagined the food and culinary practices of their Viking-Age ancestors. Through a critical synthesis of vocabulary and narrative in sagas, poetry and law texts, it becomes possible to move beyond isolated references to food and culinary practice, and to begin to consider attitudes to particular foods and technologies. The survey identifies some apparent constants in culinary memory – boiling, the use of kettles – as well as contrasting cooking and eating practices in elite and non-elite circles, and in foreign and domestic settings. The textual evidence thus usefully augments and nuances what can be gleaned from the material remains of culinary practice in Viking and medieval Iceland.
This is, undoubtedly, a very extensive topic as we know that Vikings went to many places not just only for raiding but for establishing colonies and trading outposts. All the Viking activities were concentrated between the years 800 AD to about 1100 AD, many scholars characterise this period as the Viking Age. Briefly, there are many reasons for the emergence of this age. Different historians have different theories of what spurred the Viking expansion-some state that there were too many internal conflicts among the Scandinavians, others say that the land lost its fertility, the peninsula became overcrowded, and many, many other theories. This essay is going to discuss and present the impact that Vikings had on the society and politics of the countries they settled in.
In this book, Marianne Hem Eriksen explores the social organization of Viking Age Scandinavia through a study of domestic architecture, and in particular, the doorway. A highly charged architectural element, the door is not merely a practical, constructional solution. Doors control access, generate movement, and demark boundaries, yet also serve as potent ritual objects. For this study, Eriksen analyzes and interprets the archaeological data of house remains from Viking Age Norway, which are here synthesized for the first time. Using social approaches to architecture, she demonstrates how the domestic space of the Viking household, which could include masters and slaves, wives and mistresses, children and cattle, was not neutral. Quotidian and ritual interactions with, through, and orchestrated by doorways prove to be central to the production of a social world in the Viking Age. Eriksen's book challenges the male-dominated focus of research on the Vikings and expands research questions beyond topics of seaborne warriors, trade, and craft.
From 1962 to 1981, the National Museum of Ireland carried out a series of excavations in Dublin that revealed the Viking Age and medieval core of the city. Collectively these are the most significant urban excavations of this period in Western Europe as the sheer number and preservation quality of houses and plots revealed is unparalleled elsewhere. A number of famous Quaternary scientists visited and sampled the sites, most notably Frank Mitchell and Russell Coope, whose small but significant analysis of insect remains from Christchurch Place was published in 1981. However, despite the fact that York had set the standard for environmental analysis of large urban sites during this same period, only limited further analysis took place. The second boom phase for urban archaeology in Dublin (from approximately 1994–2008) saw an increased emphasis placed on environmental analysis, including insect studies, but has not necessarily resulted in increased publication or accessible results. More recently, however, insect analysis has been undertaken from Fishamble Street, ultimately inspired by Russell Coope's earlier study, which gives fascinating insights into the urban landscape of early Dublin. The differentiation between subdivisions within houses and the influence of the Viking European trading network on Dublin is well attested in the results. This research will result in an increased opening up of this iconic group of excavations to further study and extended bioarchaeological analysis.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.