scholarly journals Vikings, Rus, Varangians: The "Varangian Problem" in View of Ethnicity in Archaeology

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-108
Author(s):  
Charlotta Hillerdal
Keyword(s):  
Viking Age ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Scientific Debate ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Primary Chronicle

The Scandinavian activity in Russia during the Viking Age has left traces in both the archaeological and the written material. In the 13th century Russian annals, "The Primary Chronicle", a story is told ofhow "Varangians from beyond the sea" founded the first Russian realm. The Varangians have been interpreted as Scandinavians, and the archaeological material has been connected with this story. This has resulted in a scientific debate, which in many cases has been steered by nationalistic feelings and political aims.

scholarly journals Arheologija Silbe i silbenskih grebena

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Smiljan Gluščević
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Neighboring Group ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
The Past ◽  
Modern Age

The article deals with the archaeological material recorded over the past decade on the island of Silba and on its seabed. The island is located on the most important seafaring route that led from the northern to southern Adriatic. The source of the earliest – albeit scarce – information about its population is the island’s prehistoric hill-fort. As for the life on the island in Antiquity and Late Antiquity, the graves and sarcophagi recorded there can be used as evidence of it. In terms of the number of finds, the seabed off Silba is much richer than the island itself, particularly the area near Sveti Ante Cove and Cape Arat, where Antiquity remains and Modern Age glass objects were found. Grebeni – the neighboring group of three reefs – were also included in the excavations. They were fatal for numerous ships of the Antiquity, as well as for one Late Medieval ship and one Modern Age ship. The most important finds include those from a mid-1st-century AD ship (a large quantity of material which is mostly unique for the Adriatic), a bell from the second half of the 13th century, and a ship with mid-17th-century cannons, anchors and ceramics. We should add to these the find of a shipwreck with Baetical amphorae (type Dr. 20) – the first such find on the Adriatic seabed. 

scholarly journals ANTHROPOMORPHIC REPRESENTATIONS ON MEDIEVAL RINGS IN SERBIA

2016 ◽  
pp. 45-57
Author(s):  
VESNA MANOJLOVIĆ NIKOLIĆ
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Research ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Ethnic Affiliation ◽  
Time Space ◽  
12Th Century

Jewellery represents a very indicative and chronologically sensitive type of archaeological material, expressing the fashion and style of a certain period, and certain examples have characteristics related to specific cultures and indicating ethnic affiliation of persons wearing it. Medieval rings, just like jewellery in general, represented an integral part of the traditional garb as well as a decorative piece that an individual carried in life and was often buried with it too. Their unchanging shape makes them the most conservative piece of jewellery, which has retained the same form until the present time. What varied through time/space were materials the rings were made of, the quality of production, the choice of motives and also the appearance of the hoop and the shape of the head of the ring.This paper offers an analysis of medieval rings with anthropomorphic representations. According to the number of figures represented on the head of the ring, two groups are distinguished: rings with one or with two human figures. With respect to the elements represented alongside the figure defining it more precisely, the first group includes rings with warriors and holy warriors. With respect to the variations in compositions with two figures, we can distinguish four groups of rings: the ones with a cross between human figures; the ones with hands raised in the act of benediction; the ones with a halo; the ones without a halo around the figures’ heads.The rings are dated back to the 12th century and the first decades of the 13th century. According to results of archaeological research, they are mostly found on necropoles in Eastern Serbia. Similar to the most of the rings from this period, they belong to the Byzantine cultural circle, i.e. they imitate Byzantine models, and certain examples can be linked to the strengthening of Christianity among the Slav populations of the Balkans. 

Thralls in the Archaeological Material

2021 ◽  
pp. 232-270
Author(s):  
Stefan Brink
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Viking Age ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Other World

It is natural that archaeology becomes a very important source for an non-literacy (pre-historic) society such as Viking-Age Scandinavia. The problem here isif it is possible to excavate “unfreedom”? Many archaeologists have addressed this conundrum. I am in this book assuming that the so-called double burials, where one of the burid has been decapitated, can be one of the more “certain” cases, where we can assume that the decapitated has been a slave, which has been thrown into the grave to follow his master to the other world. Also some circumstantial evidences have been highlighted by archaeologists, supposed to be linked with slavery, such as pit houses, pottery, iron shackles, DNA and strontium analyses.

scholarly journals Valhall and Helgafell: syncretistic traits of the Old Norse religion

1969 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 66-99
Author(s):  
Odd Nordland
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Population ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Old Norse ◽  
Viking Age ◽  
Place Names ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
The World

The religion of the Viking age, the pre-Christian faith,  presents itself as a syncretism, It is quite peculiarly evident from the tradition surrounding the origin of the gods in Åsgard. The gods behind the palisade of this mythological dwelling place were of two kinds, the result of an exchange of hostages after war between the æsir and the vanir. From the flock of vanir came the two fertility-gods: Njgrbr and Freyr to dwell in Åsgard and be accepted there on equal terms with the other gods around the "allfather", Othin. This quite remarkable information, concerning the syncretism of the eddic religion, is generally interpreted as a historic reminiscence of a contrast between a fertility religion, and a more aristocratic and warlike religion attached to the cult of Othin. The fertility religion then is often conceived of as old traits belonging to the indigenous population of Scandinavia, while the Othin-cult as something which was introduced by the same innovations that brought the Indo-European boat-axe people to our part of the world. We know the result of the process that created the heathen religion which reigned in our countries at the time Christianity was introduced here, but we are highly bewildered when faced with the task of describing the syncretistic process itself, and the religions that were a part of it. This is true despite our abundant material of mythological poetry, legends and 13th century information. This too, despite our extremely favorable situation of being in possession of the exiting amount of theoforic place-names.

scholarly journals A Saga for Dinner: Landscape and Nationality in Icelandic Literature

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinhard Hennig
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Literature ◽  
Viking Age ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Important Argument ◽  
Considerable Resistance ◽  
Siglo Xix ◽  
Historical Reliability ◽  
Nature Preservation ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Saga Literature

Iceland’s attempted industrialisation through an expansion of hydropower and aluminium smelters can lead to a significant reshaping of the country’s landscapes. There has been considerable resistance against such plans since the 1970s, culminating in the debate about the Kárahnjúkar project between 2001 and 2006. The book Draumalandið. Sjálfshjálparbók handa hræddri þjóð [Dreamland. A Self-Help Manual for a Frightened Nation] by the writer Andri Snær Magnason has been particularly influential. It combines ecological consciousness with an appreciation of Iceland‘s literary tradition and history. Thus it displays a view of landscape which connects nature preservation closely to cultural achievements and to national sovereignty. This perception of landscape originates from the assumption that Iceland experienced a golden age from the beginning of colonisation in the Viking age until the subordination under the Norwegian and later Danish kings in the 13th century, which led to an all-embracing degeneration. Nationalist poets such as Jónas Hallgrímsson in the 19th century based their demands for independence on Iceland‘s medieval saga literature and the country‘s landscapes. These seemed to provide evidence for a high culture in unity with nature during the time of the Commonwealth. Although the historical reliability of the sagas is doubtful, they are still used as an important argument in Draumalandið. Now the narratives as such are put in the foreground, as they can give value and meaning to the landscapes and places they describe. Thus a turn from a realistic to a more constructivist perception of landscape can be observed in contemporary Icelandic environmental literature.  El intento de Islandia por industrializarse a través de la expansión hidroeléctrica y fundiciones de aluminio puede llevar a la reestructuración significativa del paisaje nacional. Existe una resistencia considerable a estos planes desde los 70`, culminando entre el 2001 y 2006 en el debate sobre el proyecto Kárahnjúkar. El libro Draumalandið. Sjálfshjálparbók handa hræddri þjóð [País de sueños. Un manual de autoayuda para una nación temerosa] del escritor Andri Snær Magnason ha sido particularmente influyente. El libro combina conciencia ecológica con una apreciación histórica y tradicional islandesa, presentando una mirada paisajística que conecta de forma cercana la preservación de la naturaleza con logros culturales y soberanía nacional. La percepción de paisaje se origina a partir del supuesto de que Islandia experimentó una edad de oro desde el comienzo de la colonización, en la época vikinga, hasta la subordinación bajo los reinos noruegos y daneses (siglo XIII), la que llevó a una envolvente degeneración. Poetas nacionalistas como Jónas Hallgrímsson (siglo XIX), basaron sus demandas independencistas en las sagas medievales y en los paisajes del país. Esto proporcionó evidencia de una cultura unida con la naturaleza durante el “Commonwealth”. Aunque la fiabilidad histórica de las sagas es dudosa, aún son usadas como un importante argumento en Draumalandið. Actualmente las narraciones como esta pueden dar valor y sentido al paisaje y los lugares que se describen. En este contexto, en la literatura ambiental islandesa contemporánea se observa la existencia de un giro desde una percepción realista del paisaje a una más constructiva.

scholarly journals Who Could ‘the Godless Ishmaelites from the Yathrib Desert’ Be to the Author of the Novgorod First Chronicle? The "Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius" in Medieval South and East Slavic Literatures

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 369-389
Author(s):  
Zofia Aleksandra Brzozowska
Keyword(s):  
Original Version ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Greek Translation ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
Primary Chronicle

The work of Pseudo-Methodius, whose creation (in the original Syrian version) dates back to ca. 690, enjoyed considerable popularity in Medieval Slavic literatures. It was translated into Church Slavic thrice. In all likelihood, these translations arose independently of each other in Bulgaria, based on the Greek translation, the so-called ‘first Byzantine redaction’ (from the beginning of the 8th century). From Bulgaria, the Slavic version of the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius spread to other Slavic lands – Serbia and Rus’. In the latter, the work of Pseudo-Methodius must have been known already at the beginning of the 12th century, given that quotations from it appear in the Russian Primary Chronicle (from the second decade of the 12th century). In the 15th century, an original, expanded with inserts taken from other works, Slavic version also came into being, known as the ‘interpolated redaction’. All of the Slavic translations display clear marks of the events that preceded them and the circumstances of the period in which they arose. Above all, the Saracens – present in the original version of the prophecy – were replaced by other nations: in the Novgorod First Chronicle we find the Mongols/Tatars (who conquered Rus’ in the first half of the 13th century).

scholarly journals Archaic Martial Traditions in High Medieval Scandinavia: A Glimpse of Viking Age Warfare?

Viking ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beñat Elortza Larrea
Keyword(s):  
Viking Age ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Skaldic Poetry ◽  
Military Transformation ◽  
The Military

Most written evidence regarding warfare in Viking Age Scandinavia originates either from contemporaneous chronicles – recorded by those at the receiving end of Norse attacks – from skaldic poetry, or from high medieval Scandinavian texts. However, these sources often prove problematic: either in the form of chronicles from other parts of Europe, whichoften exaggerate the brutality of Viking raids, or from 13th century Icelandic writers, who embellish accounts of long deceased rulers. This article explores archaic martial features found in 12th- and 13th-century contemporaneous sagas and treatises to identify and analyse the continued influence of Viking Age military practices in high medieval Scandinavia. By comparing information found in three medieval texts to scholarly contributions on Viking Age warfare; skaldic poems; and archaeological evidence, this article aims to identify Viking Age military features that survived the military transformation, which followed the periods of internal struggles that the Scandinavian kingdoms underwent from the 1130s onwards.

scholarly journals Volga Bulgaria and Old Rus’. Comparative Characteristics of Attire of Adornments in Reconstructions of the 11th – 13th Centuries

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (34) ◽  
pp. 125-144
Author(s):  
Natalya V. Zhilina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metal ◽  
Comparative History ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Folk Traditions ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
Made In

On the base of typical hypothetical reconstructions according to the stages of the development of the attire upon archaeological material the comparative history of attires of two states is restored. At the end of the 11th – in the beginning of the 12th century and later, the features of heavy metal attire were preserved, in Volga Bulgaria – of Finno-Ugric and nomadic, in Old Rus’ – mainly of Slavic one. At the end of the 11th – the first half of the 12th century noisy attires of different designs were formed. In the first half – the middle of the 12th century filigree, niello, openwork weaving were combined in Bulgarian jewelry. Adornments were complemented with bead pendants of new shapes. In Rus’, enamel attire of the sacred-ascetic style created innovations, the niello one was distinguished with a variety of ornamentation (wide bracelets), the filigree retained Slavic traditions. At the end of the 12th – the first third of the 13th century the best jewelry was created. In Bulgaria the temporal rings were complemented by a miniature filigree sculpture, necklaces and chains with pendants presented. Original filigree bracelets with oval endings were famous. In Rus’, enamel and black attires were made in exaggerated and lush styles; luxurious frames of jewelry with filigree technique were used. Filigree attire changed constructively, moving away from folk traditions. In Bulgarian attire the traditions of local and eastern jewelry combined; in Russian attire – of local and Byzantine jewelry.

scholarly journals Archaeological Research in the Seltpennoe Settlement 2019-2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (38) ◽  
pp. 35-49
Author(s):  
Evgeniy M. Pigarev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Cultural Layer ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Archaeological Methods ◽  
The Village ◽  
The City

The article discusses the results of archaeological research in 2019-2020, conducted on the territory of the village of Selitpennoe in the Astrakhan Region, which overlaps the cultural layer of the Selitrennoe settlement. The characteristic of excavations and pits with the most expressive finds is given. The distribution of archaeological material and numismatic finds in chronological and topographical aspects is analyzed. Two previously unknown urban necropolises and a pottery workshop discovered in the course of research are localized. The dynamics of changes in the area of the medieval city in the 14th -15th centuries is presented. The analysis of the coin case shows the predominance of coins of the 1330s-1350s and the products of the Sarai al-Jedid mint. It is proved by archaeological methods that there is no cultural layer of the 13th century under the modern village. As a result of the materials obtained, the Selitrennoe settlement is identified by the author with the capital of the Ulus of Jochi, the city of Saray al-Jedid.

scholarly journals No Man’s Land or Neutral Ground: Perceived Gendered Differences in Ideologies of War

Viking ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Moen
Keyword(s):  
Viking Age ◽  
Open Approach ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
Male Violence ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cultural Variables ◽  
No Man's Land ◽  
Neutral Ground

This article approaches gender in the Viking Age as a fluid social category, to be understood through an intersectional lens alongside other cultural variables. Using material from the Vestfold region, the article argues that the perceived genders encountered in mortuary remains from the area display a significant amount of social similarities. It therefore proposes to explore the expression of social roles across, rather than within gendered lines. The approach challenges the traditional tendency of dividing gendered archaeological remains based on a few, select categories singled out from the grave goods. It suggests that a more open approach would avoid overlooking real and tangible levels of shared expressions between graves assigned different gender in many mortuary contexts. The article challenges the idea of a Viking Age instigated by male violence and the interlinked belief that women are naturally less inclined to violence and more disposed to be nurturing and caring. These concepts are examined as modern constructs and as such they are not applicable to the past without scrutiny. I argue that the idea of a Viking Age warriorideology, which leaves no room for women, is culturally ingrained and needs to be questioned in light of both archaeological material and written sources. By critically examining the ideas mentioned above, wider discussions can be created, where gender does not necessarily play a limiting role in the enactment of certain social ideologies. Hence, this article does not seek to detail the specifics of female involvement in war, but rather to explore the cultural contexts that have influenced perceptions of such participation.

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