4th April 2017 - Hampus Norrgren
A Viking legacy – Iron Age journeys and findings
A Viking legacy – Iron Age journeys and findings
Many people have heard about the Vikings and their exploits, their travels and journeys to distant lands. Known as discoverers, conquerors, traders and warriors the memories of these Scandinavian brigands still echo well into modern times.
We will discuss some of where, how’s and why’s of the Viking age, the process leading up to it and where it all ended.
The lecture will touch on subjects such as pagan religion, ideology, of course showcasing important archeological findings and sites. We will also highlight some of their journeys, exploits and discuss their society in light of recent archeological discoveries.
The concept of Vikings and the Viking age will be problematized by looking at different aspects of Viking age society. Either if it were for pillage, plunder, trade, colonization or occupation, the 8th to 11th centuries saw a remarkable highpoint in activity bound outward from Scandinavia. Leaving behind a near apocalyptic event the Vikings emerged onto the world stage of politics with a fury that left its mark on world history. We will thus discuss some of the reasons behind the Viking age journeys and why they went where they did.
This will be done by taking a look at some of the pre Viking age history, at some of the centralization tendencies we are able to discern in the archeological material. By looking through a long time perspective at famous Iron Age sites such as Old Uppsala, Birka and Ströja among others we can discuss the hard facts of archeological results in light of the written material left to us. Some of the Viking age sagas, runestones and other written material that can be interpreted to have an Iron Age origin will be presented through the lens of archeological results and by doing that try to come closer to our Viking age legacy.
Hampus Norrgren is an MA student at Uppsala University, has worked with archeological fieldwork for the past 5 years, is currently working as a project leader at the company Arkeologikonsult. His master thesis focuses on the centralization process seen during the pre-Viking Iron Age and the emerging relationship between the high chieftans of the pre Viking age society and the newly emerged Norse pagan religion.
He has also worked as a guide at some of Sweden’s most famous archeological sites and regularly hold presentation and lectures for students and the interested public at universities and at local museums.
We will discuss some of where, how’s and why’s of the Viking age, the process leading up to it and where it all ended.
The lecture will touch on subjects such as pagan religion, ideology, of course showcasing important archeological findings and sites. We will also highlight some of their journeys, exploits and discuss their society in light of recent archeological discoveries.
The concept of Vikings and the Viking age will be problematized by looking at different aspects of Viking age society. Either if it were for pillage, plunder, trade, colonization or occupation, the 8th to 11th centuries saw a remarkable highpoint in activity bound outward from Scandinavia. Leaving behind a near apocalyptic event the Vikings emerged onto the world stage of politics with a fury that left its mark on world history. We will thus discuss some of the reasons behind the Viking age journeys and why they went where they did.
This will be done by taking a look at some of the pre Viking age history, at some of the centralization tendencies we are able to discern in the archeological material. By looking through a long time perspective at famous Iron Age sites such as Old Uppsala, Birka and Ströja among others we can discuss the hard facts of archeological results in light of the written material left to us. Some of the Viking age sagas, runestones and other written material that can be interpreted to have an Iron Age origin will be presented through the lens of archeological results and by doing that try to come closer to our Viking age legacy.
Hampus Norrgren is an MA student at Uppsala University, has worked with archeological fieldwork for the past 5 years, is currently working as a project leader at the company Arkeologikonsult. His master thesis focuses on the centralization process seen during the pre-Viking Iron Age and the emerging relationship between the high chieftans of the pre Viking age society and the newly emerged Norse pagan religion.
He has also worked as a guide at some of Sweden’s most famous archeological sites and regularly hold presentation and lectures for students and the interested public at universities and at local museums.
