Copyright C 2000

Acta Archaeologica vol. 71, 2000, pp. 3547

Printed in Denmark All rights reserved

ACTA ARCHAEOLOGICA
ISSN 0065-001X

THE EARLY VIKING AGE IN NORWAY

by
B M

NEW LIGHT ON THE DARK 600s

The rich archaeological finds from the Viking Age in
Norway are traditionally explained by rapid cultural
and social advances following new contacts with
Western Europe after 793. An argument for a rather
sudden change of the society at that time is the hypothesis that the 600s was a Dark Age of stagnation
in South Norway after an economic and political collapse of society in the late sixth century (Gudesen
1980, 124, 136; Helgen 1982, 51; Magnus & Myhre
1986, 398).
In North Norway and Trndelag it seems that the
economic, social and political situation was stable
throughout these centuries. Recent archaeological research in South Norway may indicate that the proposed stagnation of the 600s was not so dramatic as
earlier believed. New intensive investigations in marginal agrarian areas like the mountains, the woodlands and along the outer coast show that hunting,
the use of summer pastures, iron extraction, fishing
a.s.o. continued, and at some places even were expanding during the seventh century (Myhre 1993;
based on Alsaker 1989; Bjrgo 1986; Bjrgo et al.
1992, 302308; Magnus 1974; 1986; Martens 1988,
8285).
Clearly the marginal areas must have been exploited from neighbouring agrarian settlements and
population centres, but we have until now not been
able to find these sites. In my opinion one of the reasons is the lack of intensive investigations.
The recent investigations at Borre in Vestfold is an
example of how intensive studies at a central agrarian
area may give us a new understanding of the settle-

ment development during the so-called dark 600s

(Myhre 1992a; 1992b). We know Borre as a Viking
Age cemetery of large mounds where the rich ship
burial from about AD 900 was found in 1853. The
new investigations showed that the earliest large
mounds were built already about AD 600, and the
others during the following centuries until 900. Pollen
analyses and landscape studies tell about a continuity
of land use and settlement since the Early Iron Age
in the neighbouring area (Jerpsen 1993; 1996, 88,
109, 163) (Fig. 1).
From about AD 600 the cultivation was intensified,
large fields were taken into use, the woodland disappeared and new kinds of herbs and crops were introduced. Instead of a dramatic stagnation during the
seventh century, we are now able to demonstrate
settlement expansion and a development into an intensively used agrarian landscape. Such a change of
the landscape happened at the same time as the first
large mounds were built, probably as burial places for
a political elite of chieftains or petty kings.
But we have not yet found the houses and the
graves of the ordinary people in the Borre area.
Further investigations must be carried out, not only
at Borre, but in other central agrarian areas in South
Norway, if we shall be able to demonstrate clearly
a continuity of settlements and land-use through the
seventh and eighth centuries.
Probably many farms and settlements in South
Norway were left during the sixth century, and in
some areas the population was reduced in number.
This may not have been the result of a general crisis
in society, but rather, as found in Denmark, the result

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Acta Archaeologica

Fig. 1. The cemetery of large mounds at Borre, Vestfold, which can be dated to c. 600 (Mounds 6 and 7) and to c. 900 (Mound 1 where
the rich ship-burial was found in 1853). Map, Myhre 1992a, fig. 57.

of a reorganisation of settlements, a new settlement

pattern and another way of using the landscape
(Hedeager 1992, 224; Nsman 1991, 168; Nsman &
Lund 1988, 22750).
The hypothesis is that a new economic and social
organisation may have led to a centralisation of farms
and agrarian settlements, allowing for a better control
of the land and the agrarian resources in the hands of
the aristocracy and the richest farmers. These major
landowners may also have organised a major part of
the exploitation of resources in the mountains and
along the coast.

AGRARIAN SETTLEMENTS
In South Norway few farms and houses from the seventh and eighth centuries have, as indicated, been
found and excavated. But strangely enough the situ-

ation is not so much better when we take a look at

the archaeological material from the ninth century,
the Early Viking Age.
The traditional view of a settlement expansion and
increase in population during the ninth century has
mainly been based on the large number of grave
finds, and on the study of the chronology of farm
names. However, many of the farm names that traditionally were dated to the Viking Age, like those
ending on -stad and -land, now seem to have been in
use already during the earlier centuries (Salvesen
1990; Lken & Srheim 1990). The arguments for a
strong settlement expansion during the Early Viking
Age, built on farm name studies alone, are not convincing any more.
Archaeological investigations in West Norway have
demonstrated that many farms from the Migration
Period were deserted during the sixth and seventh

The Early Viking Age in Norway

centuries. If there was a population pressure during
the Early Viking Age, we would have expected a resettlement on these deserted farms. In SW Norway
several hundred farm houses from the Roman and
the Migration Periods have been excavated, as well
as about 50 from the High Middle Ages (10501350).
The number of excavated houses from the Viking
Age can, however, be counted on a few hands (Myhre
1980, 94140).
It is surprising that most of the investigated deserted farms from the Migration Period were not resettled until the High Middle Ages, only very few during the Viking Age. Even large deserted farms in central parts of the plain of Jren, like Lyngaland and
Hanaland in Time county were not re-settled before
AD 1000 (Petersen 1936, 37, 81; Myhre 1980, 125,
236, 348).
The general impression is that the Early Iron Age
settlements, as well as those from the Viking Age,
were concentrated to what has always been considered the best agrarian areas. From these population cores a strong settlement expansion to more marginal areas can be documented during the Roman
and Migration Periods, as well as the High Middle
Ages, but only on a small scale during the Merovingian and Early Viking Age.
At Borre in Vestfold, during the Iron Age and the
Viking Age, most farms are found in the valleys and
on the ridges where also the majority of barrows are
mapped. Not until the High Middle Ages is a strong
settlement expansion documented into the neighbouring areas, previously used for arable fields. The
Medieval farms often had names ending on -rud
(Jerpsen 1993; 1996, 29, 127).
The settlement development has been well studied
in the Lofoten area in North Norway, especially on
the island of Vestvgy. Olav Sverre Johansen has
come to the conclusion that the number of farms were
kept on the same level from the Migration Period
through the Viking and High Middle Ages. This
extraordinary result is explained by a stable economy
based on husbandry and fishing in a special coastal
climate throughout the centuries (O.S. Johansen
1982, 63).
A conclusion to be drawn from such local studies
is that generally speaking, a major settlement expansion to marginal agrarian lands started during the

37

Late Viking Age or the High Middle Ages. A population pressure during the Merovingian Period and the
Early Viking Age can so far not be documented.

VIKING AGE HOUSE STRUCTURES

The few excavated Viking Age house structures from
South Norway are, generally speaking, rather small.
Some are of the same type as the well-known Viking
halls found in Scandinavia and on the Atlantic Islands, e.g. at Oma in Time on Jren (Petersen 1933,
66; Myhre 1980, 345) and at Sndre Nygrd in
Fberg, East Norway (Komber 1989, 153). At Ytre
Moa in Sogn the small structures were rectangular
with an entrance at one end, actually a house type
not so very different from the Dublin Viking houses
(Bakka 1965). The Ytre Moa farmhouses are exceptional among the excavated Viking Age structures;
they indicate that the parting up of the Iron Age longhouse into smaller buildings with different functions
had started about AD 800 or earlier. Characteristic
for most Viking Age house structures is that the byre
is no longer a part of the long-house, as normally
during the Migration Period. The byre was now
usually a separate building (Myhre 1982, 195).
In North Norway, however, several later longhouses with a byre have been excavated. They are
parted up in smaller rooms, as in the Migration
Period. The best example is the great building from
the eighth century at Borg in Lofoten, 83 m long
(Munch 1991). A 40 m long long-house with a byre,
dated to the eighth and ninth centuries has recently
been excavated at ker, Hedmark in East Norway
(Pil 1994).
The corner timbering technique, known e.g. from
the Gokstad grave chamber, has been documented in
domestic houses from the Late Viking Age at Vesle
Hjerkinn, Dovre (Weber 1986, 197). A kind of stave
construction in three-aisled buildings seems to be the
dominating building technique during both the
Merovingian Period and the Early Viking Age.
Differentiated building customs during the Viking
Age have been documented. There are regional and
social differences to be seen. A clear change of house
types about AD 700, as has recently been documented in Denmark (Hvass 1993), cannot be demonstrated in Norway as of yet, but it is highly probable

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Acta Archaeologica

Fig. 2. Radiocarbon dates from thirty-three house sites in the mountain valleys at Nyset-Steggje in Sogn. These were used as settlement
sites. After Bjrgo et al. 1992, fig. 213.

that new house types were introduced before AD 800

also in South Norway.

Fig. 3. Radiocarbon dates from iron extraction sites at Msstrand,

Hardangervidda. After Martens 1988, fig. 101.

EXPLOITATION OF NON-AGRARIAN
RESOURCES
Intensive archaeological investigations in the mountain areas, in the woodlands and along the outer coast
have produced a large amount of empirical data on
the exploitation of non-agrarian resources during the
Viking Age and the centuries before. Of special interest is the extraction of iron, and the quarrying of soap
stone and slate for hones, the hunting of reindeer and
elks and the use of summer pastures in the mountains
(Magnus 1986; Bjrgo et al. 1992, 285) (Fig. 2). Along
the coast specialised fishing sites have been found
(Magnus 1974), and in North Norway it can be shown
that fishing activities became more important for
farmers particularly in the outer coastal districts. The
so-called farm mounds which really are tells created
by continuous settlement through the centuries until
today, have presented us with excellent evidence for
intensive fishing activities and husbandry after the
localisation of farmsteads during the Viking Age, at
some sites even earlier (Bertelsen 1984, 144; 1989;
Urbanczyk 1992, 105).

The process of iron extraction has been well

studied at Dokkfly, Msvatn, and Hovden in South
Norway, and in the Trndelag (Fig. 3). At Dokkfly
and in the Trndelag the production started around
the birth of Christ (Jakobsen and Larsen 1992, 73;
Farbregd et al. 1985), at Msstrand during the sixth
century (Martens 1988, 85), and at Hovden about AD
900 (Bloch-Nakkerud 1987, 135). Generally speaking
the production during the Early Viking Age seems to
have been on a level not so much higher than during
the Iron Age. A major expansion is very well documented from about AD 900 and into the High
Middle Ages.
A similar development is found when it comes to
hunting of reindeer and elks. On the Hardangervidda
and in the Dovre area hunting structures, bone and
garbage deposits, pit falls, and intricate trapping systems for large scale hunting have been excavated. At
Dovre Egil Mikkelsen found that both the large trapping system and the pit falls were mainly Medieval,
earlier hunting mostly carried out by bow and arrow

The Early Viking Age in Norway

(Mikkelsen 1994, 98111) (Fig. 4). On the Hardangervidda trapping systems seem to have been used on a
moderate scale already in the Migration Period, but
also here mainly in the Middle Ages (Blehr 1973,
108). The large scale trapping systems for elk hunting
at Dokkfly are dated to the Roman and Medieval
times, respectively (Jakobsen and Larsen 1992, 131
35). Also in North Norway (Olsen 1987; Storli 1994,
78) and in North Sweden (Mulk 1994, 168, 249) most
large trapping systems are Medieval.
Generally speaking, the exploitation of non-agarian
resources was carried out on a similar scale during
the Roman/Migration Period and the Early Viking
Age. It was intensified enormously during the Late
Viking Age, and especially during the High Middle
Ages. We must conclude that it is not possible to show
that there was a special pressure on these resources
during the eighth and ninth centuries.

DEMOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENTS
Many publications indicate that there was a considerable population growth in Norway during the eighth
century, and population pressure is often mentioned
as the factor that might explain the first emigration
to the Western Isles. Recent archaeological investigations (referred to above) do not support such a conclusion. Most important in this connection is the indication that so many farms with names ending on -land
and -stad seem to have been settled already during the
Migration and Merovingian Periods and cannot be
taken as evidence for a settlement expansion in the
Early Viking Age, at least not without excavations on
each site (Salvesen 1990; Lken and Srheim 1990,
184190). The number of grave finds from the Viking
Age is in some regions much larger than during the
Merovingian Period, but there is a continuous increase through the centuries, more graves from the
9th and early 10th centuries than from the 8th century. A possible change in burial customs should also
be taken into consideration when interpreting the increase in numbers of graves.
The agrarian settlements seem to have been concentrated in the same central areas during both the
Iron and the Viking Age, and a major expansion into
marginal agrarian areas did not start before the Late
Viking Age and, especially, the High Middle Ages.

39

Fig. 4. Radiocarbon dates from house sites and middens at Hardangervidda. After Mikkelsen 1994, fig. 75.

One explanation for such a development may be that

when the settlement abroad came to an end during
the 10th century, more marginal land at home had to
be taken into use.
It is a major problem that we have found so few of
the major farms or even houses from the Viking Age.
The long-houses at Borg in Lofoten, at ker in Hedmark, and at Oma on Jren are exceptions. On sites
to be excavated in the future we should expect to find
groups of long-houses and small, specialised structures. Villages, similar to those found in Jutland
(Hvass 1993; Bender Jrgensen and Eriksen 1995),
may also have existed in Norway. For these reasons,
it is very difficult to calculate the number of population. One of the major future tasks of Norwegian archaeologists should be to locate and excavate major
agrarian settlements from the Viking Age.

TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
Major technological improvements have been mentioned as important for the understanding of the development of Viking Age society. I shall shortly comment upon the techniques of soil cultivation, the techniques of iron extraction and the change from rowing
to sailing ships.
An intensive way of cultivating the soil of the fields
is well-known from post-medieval times. In West Norway it is called mould or turf manuring. Earth,
mould, turf, and humus were brought into the the
cattle byre, mixed with animal manure, and later
used as fertilizer on the fields. Through the years,

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Acta Archaeologica

thick layers of soil accumulated, and very high linchets developed at the lower edges of the fields. As a
consequence of this intensive soil preparation and
manuring the fields did not have to lie fallow. Even
rather small fields, that could be tilled by spade, gave
very high yields of barley or oat. A similar cultivation
technique is called Plaggen Dngung in North Germany, and documented from the Roman Period onwards. In Norway, this kind of turf manuring was
long thought to be a Medieval invention, but is now
proven to be at least from the eighth century, may be
from the Migration Period (Kvamme 1982, 129;
Myhre 1985, 81; Opedal 1994; ye Slvberg 1976,
110).
In the Early Iron Age, iron was produced in shaft
ovens, built over a pit dug into the ground. The slag
was collected in the pit, and the process had to be
stopped when the pit was full. To continue, new pits
were often dug, and a new shaft of burnt clay made.
During the Viking Age and the High Middle Ages
another technique was introduced; permanent shaft
ovens. In these, it was possible to tap the slag by collecting it at the side of the oven. The works around
the furnace were better organized, with special pits
for charcoal burning and roasting of the bog ore. The
oven was often covered by a roof, and even special
structures were built. The extraction was highly effective, and it was possible to produce a large amount of
iron. Recent investigations in Norway and Sweden
have shown that this new technique was introduced
long before the Viking Age, probably as early as the
seventh century (Larsen 1991, 275; Jakobsen & Larsen 1992, 80; Espelund 1989).
The introduction of the sailing ship has by many
been mentioned as the decisive factor that triggered
the Viking activities across the open sea. The Oseberg
ship, now dated to c. 820 (Bonde 1994, 141), is the
oldest preserved ship built for sailing and fits well with
the earliest known Viking raids. The badly preserved
ship from the grave mound Storhaug near Avaldsnes
in Rogaland, probably from about AD 700, seems to
have been built mainly for rowing (Opedal 1998). So
is apparently the Kvalsund ship from the seventh century (Shetelig & Johannesen 1929). But ships with
sails are presented on the Gotland Picture Stones
from the late seventh century onwards. The use of
sailing ships in the North Sea area long before AD

800 is thus quite possible (Crumlin-Pedersen 1990;

Haywood 1999).
Peter Sawyer has recently published a new reading
of a part of Alcuins letter on the raid at Lindisfarne,
which is of great interest for the discussion about an
early use of sailing ships (Sawyer 1995). The passage
nec eiusmodi naufragium fieri posse putabatur is usually read
nor was it thought that such an inroad from the sea
could be possible. Traditionally, it has been suggested that Alcuin by this meant that the use of sailing
ships coming in from the sea was something new. According to J.F. Niermeyer, naufragium in Alcuins time
did not mean shipwreck as in classic Latin, but the
meaning is clearly loss or ruin with no maritime association (Sawyer 1995, 3). So, according to Sawyer, Alcuin was not referring to the use of sailing ships and
a crossing of the North Sea as something unusual, but
the destruction of the holy place.
We must admit that we have very limited knowledge about the introduction of sails in West Scandinavia, and we can therefore not use the introduction of
sailing ships to explain the first Viking raids. It may
just as well be that the sail was introduced because
the Scandinavian chieftains of the eighth century
wanted to intensify the trading and raiding across the
open sea (see also Hines 1996, and Herns 1997).

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CENTRES

To identify economic and political centres of the Viking Age, archaeologists have studied the distribution
of richly equipped graves, treasure finds, imported
precious objects and coins, large monuments, like
grave mounds, special house sites, large boat houses,
and trading sites (e.g., Fabech & Ringtved 1991;
Mikkelsen & Larsen 1992; Ringstad 1991; Sognnes
1979; Wik 1991).
I would like to present shortly some examples of
recent studies on political centres in different parts of
Norway. In this connection the earliest dating of such
central places will be of special interest.
In North Norway centres have been predicted on
the basis of special clusters of houses, so-called court
sites (Fig. 5). At the largest court sites as many as 16
houses may be found. They have been interpreted as
military sites, barracks where the chieftains men
could gather when needed. Another interpretation is

The Early Viking Age in Norway

41

Fig. 5. Aerial photo over the Kaupang area. Photo, Department of Archaeology, University of Oslo.

that they were thing-sites laying close to the chieftains

farm. Large boat houses, numerous grave finds and a
concentration of farm sites are often found near the
court sites. On such a basis a chieftains center at
Borg in Lofoten was predicted before the large longhouse was found on the site (O.S. Johansen 1982, 65).
The 83 m long building with very special finds of
imported goods gives us an impression of how such
aristocratic sites may have looked like during the
eighth and ninth centuries.
At least eleven court sites have so far been found in
North Norway. The largest ones, at Bjarky, Steigen,
Leknes, and Tjtta, have been dated from the Roman
until the Viking Age. Some smaller sites are from the
first period, the largest ones mainly from the later.
Only few sites have so far been totally excavated, thus

there are still chronological problems to be solved

(Johansen & Sbstad 1977, 13; O.S. Johansen 1989,
30; Wik 1983).
A special study of possible political centres on the
Helgeland coast in North Norway shows that these
are to be found on islands along the main sailing
route, where there is also good arable land. Most centres are found at the mouth of large fiords going into
the mountainous inland that seem to have been
settled by Saami people. The sites have been interpreted as centres in redistributive economic systems
reaching from the sea to the North Scandinavian inland (Wik 1985, 231).
The written sources indicate a close co-operation
between the Saami and the Norse populations during
the Viking Age. The Saami may have paid some sort

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Acta Archaeologica

Fig. 6. Norwegian central places (in capitals) and mountain sites

mentioned in the text. The central places in northern Norway are
so-called court-sites. After Myhre 1998, fig. 16.

of tax to the chieftains, as the famous Ottar told king

Alfred of Wessex at the end of the ninth century.
They may also have been incorporated into the redistributive system and even been protected by the chieftains as important producers of valuable goods (Odner 1983, 85; 1985). In the mountains and the nearest
valleys on the Swedish side of the border, many Saami house sites and settlements have been excavated
and are shown to be from the sixth century onwards
(Storli 1994, 45; Mulk 1994, 141). An archaeological
indication of trade and exchange of goods across the
Scandinavian peninsula is the many items of Finnish
or Baltic origin found along the outer coast of North
Norway, already from the eighth century onwards
(Sjvold 1974, 360364; Storli 1991; 1994, 108).
It is important to note that the archaeological material indicates a continuous economic, social, and
demographic development in North Norway from the
sixth century into the ninth and tenth centuries
(Vinsrygg 1979, 7377). Even at the main site at Borg
in Lofoten there was a 55 m long house already in

the Migration Period, enlarged to 83 m in the seventheighth centuries (Munch 1991).

In the region of Trndelag, distribution maps of
Viking Age material indicate two central areas in the
inner parts of the Trondheimsfiord. Around Levanger/Steinkjer in the North and at Stjrdal in the
South, rich finds have come to light from all periods
from the Roman Age onwards. Iron extraction sites
are numerous in the nearest inland, and the archaeological material indicates contacts eastwards along
the valleys and through the woodland to the Baltic
Sea (Sognnes 1991, 260). Notably, there are no indications of an earlier central place near the Late Viking and High Medieval city of Nidaros.
Viking Age central places in West Norway are
found in the fiord areas, where the main trading
routes are crossing the mountains, and where utility
goods could be collected (Sognnes 1979, 4549, 87).
At the mouth of one of the largest fiordsystems, the
central place Avaldsnes is situated at a strategic point
along the main coastal sailing route. Close to the site
of the Medieval church, possibly also the royal site of
king Harald Fairhair, the rich ship burials at Storhaug
and Grnhaug, probably from about AD 700 and the
tenth century, have been excavated. Another large
mound, where no grave have so far been found, is C14 dated to the sixth-seventh centuries (Opedal 1998).
As earlier shown, the cemetery of large mounds at
Borre in Vestfold has a history from about 600 until
900. During the early part of this period large
mounds of a similar size were built in some of the
central areas of East Norway, along the main river
valleys, and at the Oslo Fiord, at sites with a good
agrarian potential, and a dense population, and
where it was possible to exercise some control over
the important communication and trading routes between the coast and the inland. While large mounds
from the Early Iron Age were mostly built at ordinary
cemeteries belonging to a farm or a group of farms,
after AD 600 we often find the large mounds isolated
from other monuments, and placed individually in
the landscape (Gansum 1995, 228).
In South Vestfold, the Kaupang area must have
been a central place during the Early Viking Age
(Blindheim, Heyerdahl-Larsen & Tollnes 1981;
Blindheim & Heyerdahl-Larsen 1995; Hougen 1993)
(Fig. 5). We shall probably look for the seat of a petty

The Early Viking Age in Norway

king at Huseby-Tjlling, a few kms inland from the
trading site itself. The excavators have come to the
conclusion that the earliest finds from the Black Earth
area are older than AD 800, probably from the second part of the eighth century. At the well excavated
cemeteries in the neighbourhood very few graves can
be dated to the seventh and eighth centuries
(Blindheim, Heyerdahl-Larsen & Tollnes 1981, 39
47; Blindheim & Heyerdahl-Larsen 1995, 12; Forseth
1993), but with the new research results from Borre
in mind and remembering that only a very small
part of the Black Earth has been excavated so far it
would not be surprising if the earliest phase of the
trading site at Kaupang once will be dated back to
about the early part of the eighth century, like Ribe
in Jutland.
New trading places from the Migration and
Merovingian Periods have recently been found in
Denmark and Sweden.They are situated at good harbours close to rich settlement sites where political centres existed long before the Viking Age, e.g. Gudme
on Funen (Jrgensen 1995), and Helg in Scania
(Callmer 1995, 53). In Norway, Kaupang in Vestfold
is still the only trading place found.
As mentioned above, central places in North Norway and Trndelag, at Avaldsnes in Rogaland, and
Borre in Vestfold seem to have a history going back
several centuries before AD 800. Continuity, and a
gradual development from the sixthseventh centuries have been demonstrated. One of the major future
tasks of Norwegian archaeology is to search for trading sites from the Merovingian Period and the Early
Viking Age, similar to the ones recently found in
Denmark and Sweden.

HISTORICAL CONCLUSIONS
In this short review, it has been shown that according
to the available archaeological material, the years
around AD 800 were not a period of dramatic economic and cultural change in Norway, as often postulated. New house types appear, the sailing ship is
possibly introduced, and the number of grave finds is
larger than before. But when it comes to settlement
patterns, numbers of farms and the exploitation of
non-agrarian resources, major new developments
have not been documented. It is not possible to find

43

evidence for a strong population pressure which

should make it necessary to start an emigration westwards. Important technological improvements connected with iron extraction and manuring of fields
were introduced already in the seventh century. Many
of the strong political centres have a long history before 800.
The traditional hypothesis of an economic and
demographical crisis in the late sixth and early seventh centuries have been questioned. At least in
North Norway, Trndelag and in some districts of
East Norway settlement continuity is demonstrated.
The major changes that we note in the archaeological
record from South and West Norway are tentatively
interpreted as a consequence of re-organisation of
settlement, and of a social and political development
that led to centralisation of power in the hands of the
aristocracy and leading farmers.
During the seventh and eighth centuries a few
strong, petty kingdoms were established, and from
their centres widespread redistributive economic systems were established. To these centres various goods
from different ecological zones could be transported
and converted into prestige and authority through gift
exchange, generousity, feasts and administrative trade
(see Christophersen 1989, 121). From such strongholds it was also possible to exercise some control
over important communication routes along the coast
and fiords and through the inland valleys up to the
mountain plateaus.
I have argued that these Norwegian petty kingdoms were integrated into the large scale economic
and political networks that developed around the
southern shores of the North Sea during the late seventh and the eighth century (cf. Appendix). On both
sides of the English Channel, major emporias and
market places were established. After AD 700 not
only prestigious goods were exchanged, but also commodities produced by craftsmen and specialists in the
emporias. The long distance trade also included products like iron, hones, lava for quernstones, antlers,
whalebones, and probably furs and hides (Hodges
1989, 162; Jensen 1991, 23; Nsman 1990; 1991,
171; Myhre 1992a, 1992b & 1993).
Norwegian petty kings and chieftains seem to have
participated in such a network of trade, alliance, and
warfare between the political centres in Scandinavia

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Acta Archaeologica

and the North Sea region. The exchange system

brought valuables like glass, bronzes, beads, jewellery,
and weapons from the Continent, and probably also
from the British Isles, to Norwegian chieftains as far
north as Borg in Lofoten already during the eighth
century. In addition to the mentioned commodities,
ideas, ideologies, and knowledge were probably also
exchanged.
Therefore, the Scandinavian upper social strata
was not isolated from the rest of Northern Europe
during the Merovingian Period, but shared cultural
ideas and values with other Germanic kingdoms, also
Christian ones.
Christian symbols and impulses may even have
been introduced into Norwegian societies during the
eighth and ninth centuries (Herns 1993, 108;
Fuglestvedt & Herns 1996). Some Insular, ecclesiastical objects may have come to Norway already during the eighth century, but the vast majority of such
objects is found in Norwegian graves from the ninth
century. There must be a direct connection between
the plundering of churches and monasteries on the
British Isles, as told by the written sources, and the
many Insular objects found in Norwegian graves
(Bakka 1963; 1971; Wamers 1985). Such objects, as
well as treasure finds of gold, silver and coins, show
that the chieftains now were able to enlarge their income through plundering and valuables paid as
ransom.
It seems that a relative peaceful period of trade and
interaction across the North Sea was followed by a
more warlike period in the eighth century, at the same
time as Insular missionary activities on the Continent
were intensified. The Carolingians expanded northwards until the Elbe, threatening the Danes. This
ideological and military conflict probably also included the control over the long distance trade and
the emporias of the North Sea. An interesting hypothesis is that the political situation on the Continent
may be one of the reasons for the interest among the
Norwegian chieftains for contact and trade with Picts,
Scots, and Irish groups across the northern part of the
North Sea (Hines 1996). Conflict between heathen
Scandinavian kingdoms and the Christian powers on
the Continent and in England may be one of the reasons for the Viking raids and plundering of churches
and leading monasteries after AD 790. Indeed, the

construction of advanced sailing ships in Scandinavia

during the eighth century might be an answer to the
need for regular crossing of the rough northern seas
(Herns 1997; Hines 1993; 1996; Myhre 1993; 1998).
According to this hypothesis, the plunderings should
not be explained by population pressure at home, the
invention of the sailing ship, or, as actions of pirates.
Many of the Viking raids in the late eighth and the
early ninth century may be considered as actions by the
chieftains to acquire wealth and treasures, but probably they were also incidents in a conflict between the
powers around the North Sea. In a broader perspective, the raids may be seen as parts of a conflict between
a heathen Germanic culture in the North and Christian kingdoms in the South and West.
From written sources, we know that the Viking activities abroad were important for the economic and
political organisation in Scandinavia during the ninth
and tenth centuries. What we need now is new archaeological research and investigations to understand more of the economic and political developments during the formative centuries between AD
600 and 800. We need both more empirical data and
a better chronology, just as much as we need bold
hypotheses and ideas to inspire us.

APPENDIX
Several archaeologists have argued for a direct line of communication between Norway and the British Isles in the Migration
Period and later (Carver 1990; Hines 1984, 293; 1993; 1996; Vierck 1970). A debate is also going on about the possibility of contacts across the North Sea to the North Atlantic islands during the
seventh and eighth centuries, not mentioned in the written sources.
Some of the arguments are, in short, as follows.
Early radiocarbon dates from settlement sites and houses of West
Scandinavian type on Iceland (Hermanns-Audardottir 1989, 46
53; 1991. For a discussion, see Nordahl 1988, 113; Sveinbjarnardottir 1990; Theodorsson 1998; Vilhjalmsson 1990; Crawford
1991; Kaland 1991; Mahler & Malmros 1991; Morris 1991a).
Early radiocarbon dates of the first indications of agriculture
(pollen analyses) on the Faroe Isles (J. Johansen 1985, 5660;
Hannon & al. 1998; Hannon 1999. For a discussion, see Arge
1990, 1416; Krogh 1986).
The use of reindeer antlers for comb making on Pictish as well
as Early Norse sites on Orkney and Shetland (Smith 1995,
Weber 1991, 171; 1995. For a comment, see Roesdahl 1994,
112).
A few grave finds from the British Isles and Ireland might be of
the late eighth century (Brgger 1930, 282; Myhre 1993, 190;
Shetelig 1954, 102. For a discussion see Crawford 1987, 40,

The Early Viking Age in Norway

206; Graham-Campbell 1990; 1994; Morris 1985, 221; 1991b;
Sawyer 1982; Wilson 1976).
Insular objects found in Norwegian graves might be earlier than
790 (Vinsrygg 1979, 6770; Myhre 1993, 189. For a discussion
see Bakka 1971; 1973; Geber 1991; Hines 1996; Vierck 1970;
1978; Wamers 1985).

45

However, firm evidence for a direct contact across the North Sea
between Norway and the Western Isles during the Merovingian
Period have not yet been presented. The discussion, therefore,
should be seen as a challenge and an inspiration for further research on early Norse settlement and trade in the Western Isles
before Viking raids are mentioned in written sources.

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