Theme:
4. Persisting with Change: Theory and Archaeological Scrutiny
Session format:
Round table (without formal abstracts, only list of confirmed discussants / session co-organisers to be provided)
Title:
Contacts, Movements, Migrations in the Viking Age: Maritime Aspects of the Norse Expansion into the North Atlantic
Content:
This session is run by participants of the ongoing research project The Norse and the Sea, which explores the maritime cultural landscape in Scandinavian Scotland (c. AD 790-1350) and addresses the overarching questions of contacts, movements and migrations. This session draws its inspiration from the work of Christer Westerdahl to focus upon the Maritime Cultural Landscape, encompassing places on land that provide clues to sailing routes and navigation. As well as archaeology, both excavations and geophysics, evidence such as placenames, logistics, written sources and early maps will be investigated in an attempt to understand sailing and navigating. Discussion will be guided by short specialist papers on topics such as mental mapping, landing places, navigation, beacons, portages, evidence for Norse raids and migration, the logistics of raiding and migrating by Viking Age ships, the locations of culturally Scandinavian burials, settlements and assembly sites in relation to sailing routes and navigational hazards. The session aims to explore how these various aspects interacted with each other and the navigation strategies employed by the Norse during their successful expansion westwards often in dangerous and unfamiliar waters. Can different strategies designed for particular circumstances be found?
Keywords:
Viking Age, Navigation, Material culture, Burial, Sailing, Landing places
Session associated with MERC:
yes
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Alexandra Sanmark (United Kingdom) 1
Co-organisers:
Shane McLeod (United Kingdom) 1
Erman Lu (Germany) 2
Affiliations:
1. University of the Highlands and Islands
2. University of Kiel
THIS SESSION CAN NOT BE SELECTED AT THIS MOMENT