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Scandinavian York - Episode 18036
184 Plays6 years ago
Jórvík, the scandinavian name for the southern kingdom of Northumbria, which roughly corresponds to present day Yorkshire, and also its capital city York, was controlled by a succession of Norse warrior-kings between the late 9th and early 10th century CE.
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Transcript
Introduction to ARK365 Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
You're listening to the Archaeology Podcast Network. Jorvik, the Scandinavian name for the southern kingdom of Northumbria, which roughly corresponds to President Yorkshire and also its capital city, York, was controlled by a succession of Norse warrior kings between the late 9th and early 10th century CE.
Podcast Details and Hosts
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This is episode 36 for February 5th, 2018.
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I'm Chris Webster and welcome to the ARK365 podcast, 2018 edition. ARK365 is a podcast today, every day, in 2018.
Historical Context of York
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This episode is written by Christopher Booth. The city of York was founded as a Roman fortress and town called Eberachum and revived as an Anglo-Saxon trading town called Euphoric.
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York was first captured by a Norse monarch in 866. Ivar the Boneless, leading a Danish army referred to as the Great Heathen Army in Anglo-Saxon chronicles, invaded Northumbria from East Anglia, where they had landed. The Danes took control of the southern half of Northumbria, which was called Dira, in 867, but they failed to take territory from Wessex and Mercia in the later 860s. Successive Norse monarchs controlled varying amounts of Northumbria between 875 and 954 when the kingdom was annexed into the Kingdom of England.
Economic Growth Under Norse Rule
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During this period, the kingdom, also sometimes called the Denala, was closely associated with the Viking Kingdom of Dublin in Ireland. All the Viking coinage for this kingdom appears to have been minted at York, which shows that the city was a unique economic center within Northumbria. During the period of Norse control, new streets lined with regular timber-framed houses were added to the city as it enlarged between 900 and 935. These dates were obtained from a tree ring chronology known as Dendrochronology carried out on post preserved in anaerobic clay subsoil.
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Place name evidence also suggests that there may have been a Viking royal palace constructed outside of the East Gate of the former Roman fortress.
York's Prosperity in the Kingdom of England
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After the Kingdom of Northumbria was merged into the Kingdom of England, the title of Jorvik became redundant and was succeeded by the title Earl of York, created in 960. However, loss of political independence did not stud the region's economic success and by 1000, the city had a population second only to that of London.
Trade and Cultural Insights from Excavations
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Between 1976 and 1981, the York Archaeological Trust conducted five years of excavations in and around Coppergate in central York. These investigations demonstrated that in the 10th century, Jorvik had extensive trade connections as far-flung as the Byzantine Empire, evidenced by textiles, coins from Samarktland, cavalry shells from the Red Sea or Persian Gulf,
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and an unusual Baltic amber axe head, which was presumably ceremonial. It is also interesting to note that artifacts related to both Christian and Pagan religion survived in layers dating to the same period.
Jorvik Viking Center and Conclusion
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After the completion of the excavation, the York Archaeological Trust set up the Jorvik Viking Center as a recreation of the Copper Gate site, as it would have been in the Viking period, and have continued to excavate other sections of the Viking city, which means that York is now one of the best understood Viking era cities in England. Thank you.
00:03:03
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Thanks for listening to Ark 365. If you want to hear more Ark 365, check out www.arkpodnet.com slash ark365 for the 2017 and 2018 episodes. Check out arkpodnet.com slash ark365-g30 for the last 30 episodes. Please subscribe and rate on your service of choice. We're available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play among others. Support the APN at arkpodnet.com slash members. Thanks for listening and thanks for being awesome.
00:03:33
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This show is produced and recorded by the Archaeology Podcast Network, Chris Webster and Tristan Boyle in Reno, Nevada at the Reno Collective. This has been a presentation of the Archaeology Podcast Network. Visit us on the web for show notes and other podcasts at www.archpodnet.com. Contact us at chrisatarchaeologypodcastnetwork.com.