In recent years, the phenomenon of the Viking camp has attracted attention from archaeologists, historians and numismatists, especially in England and Ireland, in part as the result of discoveries by metal detectorists.
Although references to Viking camps generally occur in the context of military activity, archaeological investigation of sites such as Torksey and Aldwark in England and Woodstown and Annagassan in Ireland suggest a wider range of economic activity including elements of production and exchange, and this is reinforced by references in Frankish sources.
It has previously been proposed by the author and others that the camps were an important stage in the development from predominantly rural societies in the Scandinavian homelands to the establishment of major urban centres such as Dublin, Lincoln and York, but this presentation will explore possible models of how the camp phenomenon developed. In particular, it will consider whether the archaeological signatures of the camps overseas might facilitate the identification of similar sites in the Viking homelands.
The seminar will start with an introduction by Professor Svein H. Gullbekk, and it is a co-operation between SENKU and Centre for Viking-Age Studies (ViS).