The Scandinavians from the Vendel Period to the Tenth Century: An Ethnographic Perspective

Using the evidence of archaeology, poetry, legal texts and annals, this volume investigates the social, economic and symbolic structures of early Scandinavia at the time of the Viking expansion. The contributors provide an outline ethnography, covering dwellings and settlements, kinship and social relations, law, political structures and external relations, rural and urban economies, and the ideology of warfare. The topics are discussed through case-studies from the contributors' recent research, illustrating the changing scholarly interpretations of this formative period in Scandinavian history. By addressing these key research questions, the contributions trace the background to and the impact of urbanisation and Christianisation, and the development of royal power, which stimulated the transition from the Viking Age to the medieval period in Scandinavia. This book brings together for the first time in English a wealth of current Scandinavian archaeological, historical and cultural research.