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Title:Kaupang in Skiringssal : Excavation & Surveys at Kaupang & Huseby, 1998-2003 -- Background & Results
Series:(Kaupang Excavation Project Publication Series, 1)
Author:Dagfinn Skre (ed)
ISBN:8779342590 : 9788779342590
Illustrations:colour illus & maps
Format:Hardback
Size:220x290mm
Pages:502
Weight: 2.535 Kg.
Published:Aarhus University Press - March 2007
List Price: 39.95 Pounds Sterling
Availability:In Print
Subjects:Celtic; Saxon; Germanic & Nordic archaeology: Norway


In Norway, not far from Oslo, archaeologists have uncovered Norway's largest Viking trading town. With its houses, workshops and burial sites Kaupang covered an area of about 50 decares (12.5 acres). The site lies in a small inlet, protected from the sea by two small islands. The sheltered location would have allowed sailing ships to travel in and out whatever the wind direction, perfect for the seafaring Vikings. Among the finds are walrus-tusk ivory from the north for the royal courts of the Continent, and soapstone containers from the Roman Empire on their way to wealthy households in Sweden and Denmark. In the 900s trading activities moved gradually to Toensberg farther north-east in Vestfold, and Kaupang slid into obscurity. This volume is the first in a series of eight publications on the important Kaupang excavations.

Introduction; Exploring Skiringssal 1771-1999; Preparing the New Campaign; Skiringssal, Kaupang, Tjolling -- the Toponumic Evidence; The Kaupang Cemeteries Revisited; Evidence from the Settlement Area 1956-1984; The Fieldwork 1998-2003: Overview and Methods; The Settlement: Extent and Dating; The Settlement: Artefacts and Site Periods; The Settlement: Character, Structures and Features; Geology, Soils, Vegetation and Sea-Levels in the Kaupang Area; Dendrochronological Dates From Kaupang; Interpreting the Plant and Animal remains from Viking-age Kaupang; Soils and Sediments in the Settlement and Harbour at Kaupang; The Skiringssal Cemetary; The Skiringssal Thing Site þjoðalyng; The Emergence of a Central Place: Skiringssal in the 8th Century; Towns and Markets, Kings and Central Places in South-Western Scandinavia c.AD 800-950.

"...this volume offers huge insights on an especially rich region in the Viking Age and as such is a majestic contribution to the study of urbanism in this period." -- Richard Hodges, Journal of Medieval Archaeology, Volume 51, November 2007. "In this study of Kaupang, Dagfinn Skre has given us a master-class in how to approach, research and publish a site of international archaeological significance. ... [the book] is that rare thing: an approachable and enjoyable excavation report, which also makes a major contribution to our understanding of the Viking Age. This book will be essential reading for students and scholars of urbanism and the Viking Age for many years to come." -- Olwyn Owen (Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland), Antiquity, June 2008.