Viking Camp Complete with Ship Building and Weapon Workshops Unearthed in England

Ancient Origins

The craftsmanship and shipbuilding capabilities of the Vikings are often overshadowed by stereotypical images of violent invaders, plunderers, and explorers. But it is worthwhile to remind ourselves that there were everyday aspects to the lives of the Norse men and women as well. Discoveries like recent excavations in Derbyshire help us reflect on the oft-forgotten skills of Vikings away from their homeland.

 A press release by the University of Bristol says that the Viking winter campsite from 873-874 has been known about in the village of Repton since 1975. However, the recent excavations by a team of University of Bristol archaeologists has exposed a larger area for the site to include sections used as workshops and for ship repairs.

A Viking ship. ( The-Wanderling)

According to the Daily Mail, ground penetrating radar revealed pathways and gravel platforms which were probably used as the foundations for tents or temporary timber buildings. One of the paths led to a mass grave site inside a deliberately damaged Saxon building which was discovered in the 1980s. New radiocarbon dating of a sample of the almost 300 people suggests that these are the remains of warriors who died in battle around the time of the camp’s usage. The team also noted that the building which housed the dead had once been used for a workshop.

Regarding artifacts, the archaeologists found some lead game pieces at the Viking camp. Broken pieces of weapons such as arrows and battle axes suggest that metal working took place at the site and Viking ship nails provide a clear indication for repairs likely taking place there as well.

Top: Fragment of axe-head found in association with Viking camp material. Bottom: Arrowhead found in association with Viking camp material. ( Cat Jarman, University of Bristol )

Speaking on the site, Cat Jarman, a PhD student at the University of Bristol, said:

“Our dig shows there was a lot more to the Viking Camp at Repton than what we may have thought in the past. It covered a much larger area than was once presumed – at least the area of the earlier monastery – and we are now starting to understand the wide range of activities that took place in these camps.”

Stamps showing ‘Everyday Life in the Viking Age.’ ( Public Domain )

The existence of the Viking winter camp was documented in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It mentions the ‘Great Army’ annexing the kingdom of the Mercian king Burghred in 873. In fact, it has been argued that part of the reason that location was chosen for the camp was due to the nearby monastery which held the bodies of Mercian kings. The closeness to the river Trent would have also played a role.

The results of the excavations will be presented on the BBC Four series ‘Digging for Britain’ on November 22.

Students excavating the winter camp. ( Cat Jarman, University of Bristol )

Vikings are certainly a hot topic these days. Dramas such as Vikings (History Channel) and The Last Kingdom (BBC) have propelled an interest in the Norsemen to a new generation. Despite their popularity, there is much that people still misunderstand about the Viking age and its people. As Mark Miller reflected in a previous Ancient Origins article , a recent survey of 2,000 people in the UK shows,

“many British people are clueless about the Vikings. In fact, 20 percent didn’t even know Vikings were from Scandinavia. And 10 percent think the Viking Age happened much later, mistakenly thinking from the 15th to 18th centuries. Another 25 percent did not know the Vikings attacked the British Isles, instead thinking they raided South America.”

Danes invading England. From "Miscellany on the life of St. Edmund," 12th century. ( Public Domain )

A popular error regarding the appearance of a Viking is the 19th century myth of the Viking horned helmet . This stereotypical image has been traced to the 1800s, when Gustav Malmström, a Swedish artist, and Wagner’s opera costume designer Carl Emil Doepler both decided to depict Vikings in horned helmets. In contrast, depictions of warriors from the Viking age show them in iron or leather helmets, if they are even wearing the headgear at all.

A stereotypical painting by Mary McGregor from 1908 of Leif Ericson landing at Vinland ( Public Domain )

Top Image: A Viking weapon workshop. Credit: Kevin Roddy

By Alicia McDermott

Where Did It Begin? Gathering Place for the Battle of Salamis is Found

Ancient Origins

Archaeologists think they have found where the Greek fleet gathered before the 480 BC Battle of Salamis, fought between Greeks and Persians in the bay of Ampelakia. The team studying the area found antiquities in the water and did a survey using modern technology to nail the site down.

 The underwater archaeology team studied three sides of bay on the east coast of Salamis Island in November and December. The focus of the study, which researchers are conducting in a three-year program, was in the western part of the bay, the Greek Reporter says.

Ruins of ancient classical city and the port of Salamis (5th to 2nd BC) Ampelakia. (CC BY SA 4.0)

The Greek Ministry of Culture issued a statement about the research that states:

“This is the commercial and possibly military port of the Classical and Hellenistic city-municipality of Salamis, the largest and closest to the Athenian state, after the three ports of Piraeus (Kantharos, Zea, Mounichia). It is also the place where at least part of the united Greek fleet gathered on the eve of the great battle of 480 BC, which is adjacent to the most important monuments of Victory: the Polyandreion (tomb) of Salamis and the trophy on Kynosoura. References to the ancient port of Salamis responded to works geographer Skylakos (4th c. BC), the geographer Stravonas (1st Century BC-1st Century AD) and Pausanias (2nd century AD).”

 A Ministry of Culture statement on the findings also says the researchers discovered ancient structures on three sides of the bay—south, north, and west. These structures are sometimes seen as the water level changes. In February, the ebb reduces the depth of the waters by half a meter (about 1.6 ft.)

An archaeologist excavates a ship-shed at Mounichia Harbor, another body of water involved in the battle of Salamis, on a very rare day of good visibility in the waters. (University of Copenhagen)

The team saw remnants of fortifications, buildings, and harbor structures as they did aerial photography and photogrammetric processing. They also studied topographical and architectural features of visible structures, thus creating the first underwater archaeological map of the harbor. The map will help in future studies of the port.

 Also, the geoarchaeological and geophysical research being done by the team, which is from the University of Patras, resulted in fine digital surveys that are expected to aid in the reconstruction of the paleography of the site.

Some of the architectural features in the bay of Ampelakia near the ancient ruins of the port town of Salamis. (Chr. Marabou)

There is another ancient Greek location sharing the name of this notable island. As Ancient Origins’ April Holloway reported in 2015, Salamis on the island of Cyprus was a large city in ancient times. It served many dominant groups over the course of its history, including Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, and Romans. According to Homeric legend, Salamis was founded by archer Teucer from the Trojan War. Although long abandoned, the city of Salamis serves as a reminder of the great cities that existed in antiquity, and an indicator of how far we have come in the past few centuries.

Bronze statue depicting legendary archer, Teucer, the legendary founder of Salamis. (CC BY SA 2.5)

Ancient Origins also reported in 2016 that in 493 BC, Greek general and politician Themistocles urged Athens to build a naval force of 200 triremes as a bulwark against the Persians, who’d attacked and been repelled on land at the Battle of Marathon. Within three years, Persia unsuccessfully attacked Greece again, including by sea this time. So instead of the West being influenced by Persia, it remained under the sway of Greek religion and culture, including the democratic style of government that is purportedly the epitome of civilization.

Top image: ‘Battle of Salamis’ (1868) by Wilhem von Kaulbach. Source: Public Domain

By Mark Miller

Vikings Brutally Slain in 750 AD May Have Been on a Peaceful Mission

Ancient Origins

When people think of Vikings going on voyages, many imagine a bloodthirsty crew bent on evil and domination, and armed to the teeth for the looting and pillaging of helpless villagers. That may have been true of some Viking missions, but perhaps not all.

Researchers analyzing two apparent Viking ship burials from more than 1,000 years ago in the Baltic Sea have published a new article in the journal Antiquity. The authors speculate that this crew, who died violent deaths, was intent on more a more peaceful mission.
The men aboard the two ships were carefully buried on their ships, says an article about the research in USA Today:

Whoever interred the dead aboard two ships in what is now Salme, Estonia, in about 750 AD went about their work with great care and respect. Many of the 41 bodies were carefully positioned, and valuables were scattered among the remains. Researchers found swords bedecked with gold and jewels and hundreds of elaborate pieces from a chess-like strategy game called Hnefatafl, or The King's Table. They also found two decapitated hawks and the skeleton of a large dog, which had been cut in half.

 

They were young, tall men. One stood nearly 6 feet—which was much taller than average for the time. Chemical analysis of their teeth and the design of the rich artifacts they were buried with makes the researchers think the men were from central Sweden, according to archaeologist and co-author T. Douglas Price, an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

These elaborate, gilded sword handle parts found aboard the ships show the weapons may have been more for show than for battle. Photo by Reet Maldre

The remains of the men on the larger ship had stab wounds, decapitation signs and the arm bone of one man and another man’s leg bone were cut by a blade. Their fancy weapons may have been more ceremonial than practical war-making implements. Warriors of the Viking era usually used spears and battle axes instead of swords, co-author Jüri Peet told USA Today. Peet, who headed the excavations, is with Estonia’s Tallinn University.

“Game pieces and animals seem impractical for a military expedition but would’ve provided welcome amusement on a diplomatic trip,” USA Today says. “The men may have been on a voyage to forge an alliance or establish kinship ties, Peets says, when unknown parties set upon them.”

But another expert on the Viking era, Jan Bill of the Norway Museum of Cultural History, told USA Today that gaming to pass the time was probably habitual on Viking battle voyages. “Whether this group was on a diplomatic mission, or raiding, or both, I don't think we can decide from the evidence of what was used as grave goods,” Bill is quoted as saying.
Workers laying electrical cables discovered the first ship, the smaller one, on the shore of Saaremaa Island in the Baltic Sea in 2008. Officials called a halt to work, and Peet began excavations.

This modern Google map show Saaremaa Island off Estonia’s coast.

In 2010 the larger of the two ships was found. Researchers assumed the men died a-viking—plundering or conquering. USA Today says the evidence provided by the artifacts didn’t jibe. Whatever they were doing, they apparently were involved in a wild battle in which they were overpowered.
If they truly were Viking vessels, they are the oldest known Viking ships found in the region, says an article on World-Archaeology.com. They are about 100 years older than the Osenberg boat of Norway.

Prow of the Osenberg Viking ship in a museum in Oslo, Norway (Wikimedia Commons photo/Grzegorz Wysocki)

Carbon-14 dating of the human and animal remains placed them in life about 1,250 years ago.
The men were buried in a sitting position within the ships. Animal bones from the site showed butchering. “Perhaps they were part of a funerary feast, or supplies the crew had brought along for themselves,” says World Archaeology. “Interestingly, several decapitated goshawks and a sparrowhawk were also found. These birds of prey would have been used for hunting fresh food for the crew as they travelled along the shoreline.”
Usually horse and dog bones are found in boat burials of prominent Vikings, but there were none of those at this one. “These, men were buried far from home, with only the possessions they carried aboard ship with them during their lifetime,” the article states.
Whoever they were and whoever killed them, their remains, the artifacts and the ships are providing researchers with vital information about the early Viking age.
Top image: Some of the skeletons found on one of the two Viking ships. Photo by Jaanus Valt
By Mark Miller

Ancient Origins

600-Year-Old Royal Ship of Henry V Found Buried in Hampshire River

A wooden shipwreck believed to be one of King Henry V’s greatest ships has been tentatively identified in the River Hamble in southern England. The 600-year-old warship, known as the Holigost (Holy Ghost) was commission by the king in his war against France.
The finding was announced today by Historic England, after it was spotted in an aerial photograph by British maritime historian, Dr Ian Friel. A faint U-shaped outline in the mud at the edge of the river is prompting an investigation using sonar, remote sensing, and drone equipment to create a computerized image of what lies beneath the mud.
The location is just 50 meters from the wreck of Henry V’s flagship, The Grace Dieu, the largest ship in Europe at the time – it measures 66 meters long.

The aerial photograph showing a U-shaped outline (circled blue) on the bank of the River Hamble, located just 50 meters from Henry’s flagship The Grace Dieu (circled green). Credit: Historic England.

Dr Friel first stated that the Holy Ghost wreck must be located in the River Hamble close to The Grace Dieu, more than 30 years ago. The Mail Online reports that after identifying the U-shape in grainy aerial photographs, he and a team of archaeologists visited the site at low tide and discovered something hard beneath the surface. But it is only now that Dr Friel has been able to present enough evidence to prompt a full-scale investigation by Historic England, who have said it is a “tangible link” to Henry V.

The River Hamble where the wreck of the Holy Ghost is believed to lie. Credit: Historic England

The Holy Ghost was constructed from the timbers of a captured Castilian ship, The Santa Clara, which had been overrun by English pirates in 1413. The ship was taken to Southampton, England, and rebuilt as part of King Henry V’s war machine. It was the third biggest ship in Henry’s navy, capable of carrying up to 200 crew and 750 tons of weapons and equipment.
The Holy Ghost joined the royal fleet in November, 1415, and fought in two major sea battles during the Hundred Years War – the Battle of Harfleur (1416) and the Battle of Chef de Caux (1417). The ship played a key role in conquering territory in France in the early 15^th century. However, after suffering serious damage, the ship was docked in the naval anchorage in the River Hamble and abandoned.

Depiction of the royal fleet of King Edward I of England. From Jean de Wavrin's 'Chronicles of England', c.1470-80.

Archaeologists believe that the wreck of the Holy Ghost is likely to be better preserved than that of The Grace Dieu, and they are hoping that it could reveal a great deal about life aboard the ship, naval warfare, as well as 15^th century shipbuilding.

“To investigate a ship from this period is immensely exciting,” said Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England. “It holds the possibility of fascinating revelations in the months and years to come.”

Featured image: A painting showing what the Holy Ghost ship would have looked like. Credit: British Library / Historic England.
By April Holloway