Conference: Linking Places in the Emerging Viking Age

The conference program consists of 30 paper presentations (20 min), and is organised by the research project Viking Nativity: Gjellestad Across Borders (niku.no).  

Conference program

Day 1: 17^th October

• 10:00: Open for registration
• 10:55: Welcome!

Session 1: Between Central Places and Ruler Sites

• The Viking Nativity Project 
• Ranrike: Gjellestad’s southern neighbours in the Viking Age by Bjørn Bandlien 
• Is there a landscape of power in the most western part Sweden between 200 to 1100 AD? by Roger Nyqvist 
• The fortifications of pre-Viking Age Sweden – a coast to coast comparison by Anders Bornfalk Back
• Signaling sites in Viking Age Norway; beacons and maritime defense systems by Marie Ødegaard 
• Scandinavian Personal Names and Occupational Terms in England: Links to the Homelands, and Scandinavians with Ships’ by Lesley Abrams
• Sea-kings and Vikings West over Sea: the Emerging Orkney Earldom by Judith Jesch
• The unstable chieftains’ residences in Norway (Scandinavia) by Knut Paasche and Jon Vidar Sigurdsson 
• Central, to whom? Exploring the concept of (de)centralisation in Viking-Age society by Ben Raffield 
• On the Religious Aspects of Rulership and Ruler’s Sites by Sofie Bønding 
• The Arena of Rulers. Elite settlements and monumental graves in the strategies for power and glory by Annelie Nitenberg 
• Borre – the seat for over-kings in Viken (550-900 AD) by Terje Gansum 
• End of session discussion

Session 2: Central Places in their Landscape

• People, Place and Power. Exploring social relationships at the 7^th century royal site of Yeavering by Sarah Semple 
• Hidden From View: A Remote Sensing Approach to the Viksletta Palaeolandscape by Lars Gustavsen
• Boat graves in a Mälar landscape context by John Ljungkvist 
• Sheltered from the rough seas of Vesterhavet – determining the function of the site of Vester Vandet in North-west Denmark by Arne Anderson Stamnes and Niels Algreen Møller
• Jellhaug revisited by Rebecca J S Cannell 
• 17:40: End of session discussion

Conference Dinner: 17^th October

• 19.00–21.00: Attendees are welcome to join the conference dinner will an informal buffet held at the venue
• 21.00–: From 21.00 a table reserved in a nearby bar for those who wish to continue 

Day 2: 18^th October

• 09:00: Welcome 

Session 3: Materialities of the Viking Age

• Whetstone trade – connecting people and places by Irene Baug
• Viking Age bullion economy in the hinterlands of Kaupang, Skiringssal: The evidence from metal-detecting by Aina Margrethe Heen Pettersen 
• Making a warrior: deconstructing martial culture by Declan Taggart and Marianne Moen
• The Second Viking Age? Kings and fleets in the North Sea world by Caitlin Ellis
• The boat chamber grave from Hedeby and its culture-historical context by Thorsten Lemm 
• Experiences of working with an older material – the example of Valsgärde 5 & 13 by Stella Carlson and Jonas Wikborg 
• Elite centres and beyond by Mari A. Østmo and Christian L. Rødsrud 
• End of session discussion

Session 4: Ships, Harbours and Exchange

• Marketplaces, ports of trade and early towns: – similarities, differences and interpretations based on the archaeological evidence by Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson
• Travel and Communication in Norse Scotland: the Role of Portages and Inland Waterways by Alex Sanmark
• Recalibrating the search for a Late Iron Age harbour at Avaldsnes by Håkon Reiersen
• Emblem of an Era: How the Longship became the Symbol of the Viking Age by Theofano Moraiti 
• Sailing through Time – Tracing the Roots of Nordic Seafaring with a Pollen Perspective by Morten Fischer Mortensen, Lisbeth Prøsch-Danielsen, Helge Høeg and Per Lagerås 
• The Ship Burial as a Source for the Norse Countries Expansion during the Viking Age by Knut Paasche and Ragnheiður Traustadóttir 
• 15:30: End of session discussion

Registration and payment

Please note that the registration form only provides the organisers with necessary information, and that attendance requires payment in advance, so please follow both the link for registration and payment.

There are limited places for both the conference and conference dinner, and admission by the principle ‘first come, first served’, so please make sure to book and pay well in advance. 

Registration form

Payment form