Viking artefacts from southern Scotland and northern England : cultural contacts, interactions, and identities in peripheral areas of Viking settlement
This thesis explores the portable, non-indigenous material culture strongly related, but not exclusive, to one specific ethnic group in the medieval period. It is based on the idea that people from different cultural backgrounds cannot come into contact with each other without their identities being altered in some significant way, and these altered identities will be expressed in their material culture. During the period c.800-1100, the Vikings initiated contact with the inhabitants of Britain, first by raiding and attacking, then by trading and settling amongst the local populations. Whereas most research of Viking and local interaction has focused on Viking settlements in the Northern and Western Isles or the Anglo-Scandinavian town of York, this thesis focuses on the peripheral areas of Viking political control: northern England and southern Scotland. It is in these regions where there are increasing amounts of evidence of Viking activities and interactions with the local peoples. Three key research questions are asked of the materials found within the study area: 1) how and why did items of âVikingâ material culture enter regions outside of the centres of traditional Viking settlements? 2) How and
Buchanan, Courtney Helen
CC Archaeology
Viking artefacts from southern Scotland and northern England : cultural contacts, interactions, and identities in peripheral areas of Viking settlement. This thesis explores the portable, non-indigenous material culture strongly related, but not exclusive, to one specific ethnic group in the medieval period. It is based on the idea that people from different cultural backgrounds cannot come into contact with each other without their identities being altered in some significant way, and these altered identities will be expressed in their material culture. During the period c.800-1100, the Vikings initiated contact with the inhabitants of Britain, first by raiding and attacking, then by trading and settling amongst the local populations. Whereas most research of Viking and local interaction has focused on Viking settlements in the Northern and Western Isles or the Anglo-Scandinavian town of York, this thesis focuses on the peripheral areas of Viking political control: northern England and southern Scotland. It is in these regions where there are increasing amounts of evidence of Viking activities and interactions with the local peoples. Three key research questions are asked of the materials found within the study area: 1) how and why did items of âVikingâ material culture enter regions outside of the centres of traditional Viking settlements? 2) How and
viking artefact southern_scotland northern_england cultural contact interaction identity peripheral area viking settlement explores portable non indigenous material_culture strongly relate exclusive specific ethnic_group medieval_period base_idea people_different cultural_background come_contact without identity alter significant way alter identity_express material_culture period vikings initiate contact inhabitant britain first raid attack trade settle amongst local_population whereas viking local interaction focus viking settlement northern western_isles anglo scandinavian town york focus peripheral area viking political control northern_england southern_scotland region increase_amount evidence viking activity interaction local_people three_key question_ask material find_within study_area item viking material_culture enter region outside centre traditional viking settlement