This beautiful ear scoop was discovered in excavations on the island of Birka (Björkö) in the late nineteenth century. It features a figure which has been interpreted as a valkyrie, and was probably a very high-status item.For higher…
A small sign marking the location of the Viking Age boat burial near Scar, on the north coast of Sanday, Orkney. Excavated in November/December 1991 and published in Olwyn Owen and Magnar Dalland, Scar: A Viking Boat Burial on Sanday, Orkney, 2000.
The Ballynolan thistle brooch was found near Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick, and is housed in the collections of the MAA, Cambridge. Discovered 1836 by a Mr John Kennedy whilst clearing stones. This Celtic style of brooch was typical of Ireland, and was a…
One section of the Skylitzes manuscript illustrates how the Varangian Guard, an elite mercenary unit mainly consisting of Scandinavians in Byzantine service, dealt with the death of one of their number. The deceased had attempted to rape a woman, so…
An oval brooch (Sweden) in the collections of the MAA, Cambridgein the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge. Oval brooches were a distinctively Scandinavian dress item, and are relatively rare finds in England.
Photo of a woman in traditional Norse dress outside the reconstruction of Tjodhilde's Church in Qassiarsuk, Southern Greenland by Franziska Mahler - Visit Greenland