An Examination of Viking Age Harbors and Trade

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Port of Call: Archaeologies of Labor and Movement through Ports", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

It has become increasingly common to understand Vikings, or medieval Scandinavians, beyond their role as raiders of the Medieval Period and to see them in other jobs, such as skilled traders. This is made clear through the many trading centers throughout the Northern European region. Many of these centers arose alongside natural harbors and fjords, eventually becoming some of the largest trading cities during this period. This paper examines various harbors throughout the Viking Age and the people who operated within them. These sites offer a glance at the livelihoods of medieval Scandinavians and their neighbors through the study of material goods, settlement patterns, and trading patterns. The goal of this paper is to continue an examination of the lives of laborers and the public involved in these regions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023   •
• Port of Call: Archaeologies of Labor and Movement through Ports

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow