Prof. Dr. JANE KERSHAW, University Oxford
Date: 24.11.2025, 12.30h, Hörsaal 7

Place: lecture room 7, Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology

University Vienna
Franz Klein Gasse 1
1190 Vienna
Austria

Information and registration (present or online): HEAS Seminar Series – Archaeological Science 2025-2026

Abstract: The Viking Age (c. 800 -1050 AD) is widely recognised as a pivotal episode of cultural expansion in Eurasia, yet its origins remain poorly understood. In a recently concluded 5-year project, we aimed to address the question of where, when and how the Viking Age began through the large-scale geochemical analysis of a major spoil of Viking expansion: silver.
Analysing over 300 Scandinavian silver products (rings/ ingots) for lead isotopes and trace elements, we quantified the relative amounts of eastern, Islamic and western European silver in use during the eighth and ninth centuries. We found a dominance of trade-related Islamic silver in most regions and, for this silver, an earlier date of import than the extant coin record suggests. Together, these results provide strong grounds for situating the origins of the Viking Age not in western Europe as normally assumed, but across the Baltic, in Eastern markets.

Folder: Jane Kershaw_poster