The World

in The Viking Age

Edited by Søren M. Sindbæk & Athena Trakadas

The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde 2014

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 The World in the Viking Age
Edited by Søren M. Sindbæk & Athena Trakadas
© The Viking Ship Museum and the authors 2014
Danish translations: Tríona Nicholl & Athena Trakadas
Design and layout: Carl-H.K. Zakrisson & Tod Alan Sporl
Printed in Denmark by Narayana Press, Gylling
isbn: 978-87-85180-70-4
Published with support from:
Dronning Margrethes og Prins Henriks Fond
Augustinus Fonden
D/S Orients Fond
Additional photo credits
pp. 12-13: Werner Karrasch © Viking Ship Museum
in Roskilde.
pp. 38-39: The David Collection, Copenhagen,
Denmark. Inv. no. 27/2003.
pp. 66-67: © Istanbul University Yenikapı Shipwrecks
Project Archive.
pp. 92-93: © Trustees of the British Museum.
pp. 9, 19, 24, 44, 63, 70: © Viking Ship Museum
in Roskilde.

Publications by
The Viking Ship Museum
Vindeboder 12
dk-4000 Roskilde, Denmark

All dates in the volume are abbreviated

BCE / CE = Before Common Era / Common Era
AH = Anno Hegirae (in the year of the hijra)

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 anton englert · louise kæmpe henriksen · søren m. sindbæk · anne c. sørensen · athena trakadas
Foreword
Many of the sea routes that connect the
world were discovered long before mod-
ern history begins. At that time, known
in Northern Europe as the Viking Age,
unknown oceans across the world were
being transformed into familiar waters
where sailing ships travelled with ease
between nascent towns and harbours.
These ships, laden with cargo and with
seafarers who met foreign cultures,
created unexpected connections be-
tween people from the Arctic Circle to
the oceans south of the equator.
Some travel accounts have handed
down glimpses of these voyages to the
present day. However, it is archaeologi-
cal discoveries in particular which un-
cover the story of Viking-Age seafaring
and voyages of exploration. In recent
years, finds from ships, harbours and
trading towns around the world have
provided new insights into the changes
that took place among coastal socie-
ties, during a time known in many
places as a dark period between
antiquity and modern civilisation.
97004_verden i vikingetiden_.indd 3
This book was created together with
a special exhibition at the Viking Ship
Museum in Roskilde. The World in the
Viking Age reveals a world history con-
cerning ships, people and objects on
the move. It is a story that challenges
entrenched ideas about the past and
present, and about the skills and op-
portunities of previous generations.
The Viking Ship Museum’s unique ar-
chaeological collection of ships and
boats is world renowned as a part of
Scandinavian cultural heritage. The
fact that this maritime culture and
technology is also part of a global story
is less well known.
The book and exhibition have been
produced with help from researchers
from five continents. A close coopera-
tion with the research project Entrepot at
Aarhus University and the University of
York, Great Britain – an initiative fi-
nanced by the Danish Council for Inde-
pendent Research’s researchers career
programme, Sapere Aude – has been
particularly helpful in giving the exhi-
bition a strong foundation. This coop-
eration also included an international
research conference, which took place
in April 2013, contributing invaluable
knowledge to The World in the Viking
Age.1 Many of the new results that are
presented in the book and exhibition
are the culmination of the Entrepot pro-
ject’s exploration of maritime exchange
networks and urbanisation from the
North Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.
This exhibition project would not
have been possible without the gener-
ous support of the following founda-
tions: Dronning Margrethes og Prins
Henriks Fond, Augustinus Fonden, D/S
Orients Fond, and Knud Højgaards
Fond.
Finally, sincere thanks to Tinna
Damgård-Sørensen, director of the Vi-
king Ship Museum, for confidence in
the project, and fair wind throughout.
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 søren m. sindbæk ohThere’S World
Introduction: The World
in the Viking Age 8 janet bately
Ohthere’s voyages
søren m. sindbæk
The making of the Viking Age 21
anton englert
Scandinavian ships and
seafaring 26
anton englert
Opening up the Northern Seas:
the Gokstad ship 30
sarah croix
The loom and the sail 32
dries tys
The Low Countries and
the Northern Seas 34
steven p. ashby & ashley coutu
Arctic resources and
urban networks 36
Overleaf: Gaia, a Norwegian-built reconstruction of the Gokstad ship, an archaeological find dating to the late 9th century
(Photo: Svein Olav Løberg, boat guild GAIA).
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ABhArA’S World
dionisius a. agius
14 Abhara’s voyages 40
timothy power
The Abbasid Indian Ocean trade 46
stephanie wynne-jones
Africa’s emporia 50
jeremy green & athena trakadas
Ships of the Indian Ocean 54
tom vosmer
The Belitung shipwreck and
Jewel of Muscat 58
julian whitewright
Maritime rhythms of the
monsoon 62
jason hawkes &
stephanie wynne-jones
India in Africa 64
helle horsnæs
Changing hands: the Skovsholm
dirham hoard 65
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 TheodoSioS’ World neTWorkS Notes 126
jonathan shepard unn pedersen References 130
Theodosios’ voyages 68 Kaupang: Viking-Age expansion
to the North 96 Index 136
sauro gelichi
The sea of Venice: new cities mateusz bogucki List of authors 137
and the Adriatic Mediterranean Truso, silver and trade 98
economy 74
chris lowe
ufuk kocabas˛ The Inchmarnock ‘Hostage
Constantinople’s Byzantine harbour: Stone’ 100
the Yenikapı excavations 78
sven kalmring
athena trakadas Hedeby from the sea-side 102
A sea in transition: ships of the
Mediterranean 82 j.c. moesgaard & ole kastholm
Making new money:
.
Is˛ ıl özait-kocabas˛ the Hedeby coin 104
The Yenikapı 12 wreck: connecting
Constantinople 86 kristoffer damgaard
Aylah, “Palestine’s harbour
jonathan shepard & j.-c. cheynet on the China Sea” 106
The seals of Theodosios 88
sorna khakzad & athena trakadas
helle horsnæs The world in a grain of sand:
Theophilos’ coin: treasure Siraf 108
and image 90
stephanie wynne-jones,
alison crowther & mark horton
Zanzibar: a network society 111
john miksic
The Srivijaya Empire and its
maritime aspects 115
jun kimura
Seafaring in the Far East 118
søren m. sindbæk
Suzhou, China, and the Maritime
Silk Road 121
søren m. sindbæk &
athena trakadas
The journey of ideas 124

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