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River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Road
A brilliant new history that dramatically reassesses how far the Viking world extended.
Dr Cat Jarman exposes the unexpected routes that Viking travel and trade took - and how these kings of the river were frequent travellers of the Middle East and the Silk Road.
One June day late in the eighth century, Norse seafarers arrived at the English island of Lindisfarne. They waged a savage attack on its unsuspecting abbey, and with this, the Age of the Vikings was born. These roving pillagers spent the next few hundred years raiding and trading a path across Northern and Western Europe. Except, that's not quite true. It's just a convenient place to start the story - a story that has seen radical new discoveries over the past few years.
Dr Cat Jarman works on the cutting edge of bioarchaeology, using forensic techniques to research the paths of Vikings who came to rest in British soil. By examining teeth that are now over one thousand years old, she can determine childhood diet, and thereby where a specimen was likely born. With radiocarbon dating, she can ascertain a death date down to the range of a few years.
In 2012, a carnelian bead came into her temporary possession. River Kings sees her trace its path back to eighth-century Baghdad, discovering along the way that the Vikings' route was far more varied than we might think, that with them came people from the Middle East, not just Scandinavia, and that the reason for all this unexpected integration between the Eastern and Western worlds may well have been a slave trade running through the Silk Road, and all the way to Britain.
River Kings is a major reassessment of the Vikings, and of the medieval world as we know it.
Dr Cat Jarman exposes the unexpected routes that Viking travel and trade took - and how these kings of the river were frequent travellers of the Middle East and the Silk Road.
One June day late in the eighth century, Norse seafarers arrived at the English island of Lindisfarne. They waged a savage attack on its unsuspecting abbey, and with this, the Age of the Vikings was born. These roving pillagers spent the next few hundred years raiding and trading a path across Northern and Western Europe. Except, that's not quite true. It's just a convenient place to start the story - a story that has seen radical new discoveries over the past few years.
Dr Cat Jarman works on the cutting edge of bioarchaeology, using forensic techniques to research the paths of Vikings who came to rest in British soil. By examining teeth that are now over one thousand years old, she can determine childhood diet, and thereby where a specimen was likely born. With radiocarbon dating, she can ascertain a death date down to the range of a few years.
In 2012, a carnelian bead came into her temporary possession. River Kings sees her trace its path back to eighth-century Baghdad, discovering along the way that the Vikings' route was far more varied than we might think, that with them came people from the Middle East, not just Scandinavia, and that the reason for all this unexpected integration between the Eastern and Western worlds may well have been a slave trade running through the Silk Road, and all the way to Britain.
River Kings is a major reassessment of the Vikings, and of the medieval world as we know it.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published February 18, 2021
About the author
Cat Jarman
3 books92 followersCat Jarman, PhD, is a bioarchaeologist and field archaeologist specializing in the Viking Age and Viking women. She uses forensic techniques like isotope analysis, carbon dating, and DNA analysis on human remains to untangle the experiences of past people from broader historical narratives. Dr. Jarman has contributed to numerous television documentaries as both an on-screen expert and historical consultant, including programs for the BBC, History Chanel, Discovery, among others. She lives in Britain.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 361 reviews
November 12, 2022
Jarman has produced a wide ranging history of the Vikings, and introduced a number of new or newly adapted ideas, without conclusively being able to state these as fact. While that is slightly frustrating (and some reviewers were less than pleased) I personally found this a very readable series of likely ideas.
The book is based on bioarcheology - which refers to the scientific study of human remains from archaeological sites. The means used by Jarman - the latest forensic techniques - are isotope analysis, strontium analysis and the ongoing improvement of DNA analysis. Google will assist those who want real detail of these techniques, but my (very) simplistic summary is that isotope analysis allows the tracing of geographic origins of the sample (ie that person, not their ancestors). This means the grave goods, which sometimes accompany a burial, are no longer the sole determinant of where a person may have originated - easily flawed as the good may be trade goods or gifted items, rather than having originated with the person. Strontium analysis indicates whether a diet was predominantly terrestrial or marine in nature - useful for those coastal dwelling and seafaring Vikings. DNA while reliable, traces ancestor history rather than the recently changing expansion of a people, such as the Vikings were.
The main topics included - the role of women for the Viking expansion and raids; whether the Rus people were a combination of Viking and Slavic; and how far east the Vikings travelled for trade as well as raiding at the same time they were expanding west.
Jarman uses multiple archeological sites, analysis of many relics and of course bones and teeth for her findings as well as historical references in writing to piece together her layers of evidence, and does a reasonable job of tying things together into a narrative. While there may be issues of conclusion jumping and layering on hypotheses to trouble a specialist, this wasn't an issue for a layman such as myself. There were also short interludes of fictionalised scenarios written to illustrate a possible background to an archeological find, which I found both helpful and entertaining, but at times the story could have been moved on a bit quicker.
The Black Sea, Byzantium (Istanbul) and the Silk Road all feature in the sweeping history of trade and warfare, along with the more obvious Viking origin countries and the expected UK, Ireland and mainland Europe. There was a great deal covered, some in fine detail, some more broad, but it is beyond my ability in a short review to summarise much more. Yes a small carnelian bead is the start and end point of this book, but in reality that is just a device of focus to wrap a narrative around. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this as a basic introduction to some aspects of Viking history.
4 stars
The book is based on bioarcheology - which refers to the scientific study of human remains from archaeological sites. The means used by Jarman - the latest forensic techniques - are isotope analysis, strontium analysis and the ongoing improvement of DNA analysis. Google will assist those who want real detail of these techniques, but my (very) simplistic summary is that isotope analysis allows the tracing of geographic origins of the sample (ie that person, not their ancestors). This means the grave goods, which sometimes accompany a burial, are no longer the sole determinant of where a person may have originated - easily flawed as the good may be trade goods or gifted items, rather than having originated with the person. Strontium analysis indicates whether a diet was predominantly terrestrial or marine in nature - useful for those coastal dwelling and seafaring Vikings. DNA while reliable, traces ancestor history rather than the recently changing expansion of a people, such as the Vikings were.
The main topics included - the role of women for the Viking expansion and raids; whether the Rus people were a combination of Viking and Slavic; and how far east the Vikings travelled for trade as well as raiding at the same time they were expanding west.
Jarman uses multiple archeological sites, analysis of many relics and of course bones and teeth for her findings as well as historical references in writing to piece together her layers of evidence, and does a reasonable job of tying things together into a narrative. While there may be issues of conclusion jumping and layering on hypotheses to trouble a specialist, this wasn't an issue for a layman such as myself. There were also short interludes of fictionalised scenarios written to illustrate a possible background to an archeological find, which I found both helpful and entertaining, but at times the story could have been moved on a bit quicker.
The Black Sea, Byzantium (Istanbul) and the Silk Road all feature in the sweeping history of trade and warfare, along with the more obvious Viking origin countries and the expected UK, Ireland and mainland Europe. There was a great deal covered, some in fine detail, some more broad, but it is beyond my ability in a short review to summarise much more. Yes a small carnelian bead is the start and end point of this book, but in reality that is just a device of focus to wrap a narrative around. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this as a basic introduction to some aspects of Viking history.
4 stars
March 15, 2021
This book really hit a sweet spot for me in so many ways: having studied archaeology and Old Norse at university, attending the University of Oslo (how did I ever miss the cache of Viking skeletons in the basement?!), half a dozen trips along the Silk Road, married to a Brit and walking dogs through the countryside wondering why there were so many mounds in some fields...and writing (and ghost-writing) books on Norwegian life and culture. So it was with pure anticipation that I settled down one rainy evening with River Kings and boy was I not disappointed. Not only is Cat Jarman an archaeologist, but a non-squeamish forensic archaeologist who enjoys digging around (not only in graves) but also in history and language as much as I do.
This book works well on many levels. It's a wonderfully easy introduction to Viking history and ways (sometimes with the author speaking with spade in hand, and other times as a University lecturer), while also providing enough new material to keep those who already know quite a bit about the subject, turning the pages. It was especially exciting learning about all the advances that have been made that are applicable to the work she does (I thought LIDAR--a remote sensing technology--was only helpful in spotting underground foundations, but I discovered it has many more tricks up its sleeves), DNA sampling, mitochondrial tracing, etc. It appears that science (facts) has finally caught up with fiction in forensics. And I must have stood in front of the Oseberg ship in the Oslo Viking Museum a dozen times and I only learned now that the two skeletons were both women! (I guess they didn't know that back in 1966 at the time of my first visit.) I hope the signage has been updated to share this fact with visitors.
If you're interested in any of the above topics, you'll definitely enjoy the book. My only complaint was I didn't feel the maps were adequate for following the rivers and routes described, which was a major part of the story, and I wanted more photographs of the runes, gravesites, etc.
This book works well on many levels. It's a wonderfully easy introduction to Viking history and ways (sometimes with the author speaking with spade in hand, and other times as a University lecturer), while also providing enough new material to keep those who already know quite a bit about the subject, turning the pages. It was especially exciting learning about all the advances that have been made that are applicable to the work she does (I thought LIDAR--a remote sensing technology--was only helpful in spotting underground foundations, but I discovered it has many more tricks up its sleeves), DNA sampling, mitochondrial tracing, etc. It appears that science (facts) has finally caught up with fiction in forensics. And I must have stood in front of the Oseberg ship in the Oslo Viking Museum a dozen times and I only learned now that the two skeletons were both women! (I guess they didn't know that back in 1966 at the time of my first visit.) I hope the signage has been updated to share this fact with visitors.
If you're interested in any of the above topics, you'll definitely enjoy the book. My only complaint was I didn't feel the maps were adequate for following the rivers and routes described, which was a major part of the story, and I wanted more photographs of the runes, gravesites, etc.
December 29, 2021
The summary of this:
The Vikings were in Derbyshire. Maybe, but we can't possibly say for sure.
The Vikings were in the Ukraine. Maybe, but we can't possibly say for sure.
The Vikings in the East might have travelled to the West, but we can't possibly say for sure.
The evidence for revelation this is a bead found an excavation in Repton in Derbyshire and one similar found north of Kyiv.
It took 300 pages to ascertain that, maybe, but we can't possibly say for sure. I am not sure whether the author is attempting to balance the findings from the archaeological research cited in this book with a note of caution because that's the academically responsible thing to do, but the lack of anything substantive in terms of commitment to the findings irritated and at the end I didn't think I'd learned very much from this book.
The Vikings were in Derbyshire. Maybe, but we can't possibly say for sure.
The Vikings were in the Ukraine. Maybe, but we can't possibly say for sure.
The Vikings in the East might have travelled to the West, but we can't possibly say for sure.
The evidence for revelation this is a bead found an excavation in Repton in Derbyshire and one similar found north of Kyiv.
It took 300 pages to ascertain that, maybe, but we can't possibly say for sure. I am not sure whether the author is attempting to balance the findings from the archaeological research cited in this book with a note of caution because that's the academically responsible thing to do, but the lack of anything substantive in terms of commitment to the findings irritated and at the end I didn't think I'd learned very much from this book.
March 9, 2022
The fundamental questions asked by this book is “Were the Rus’ of Scandinavian origin? Were they Vikings? How far east did they travel?” There is also a lot of discussion about the role of women.
Cat Jarman is a bioarchaeologist, i.e. she forensically analyses teeth and bones to enhance the information that can be gleaned from archaeological sites. Starting at a site in Repton in Derbyshire, England, she aims to trace the passage of a carnelian bead found in a grave. This eventually takes us on the journey we are expecting but not until the second half of the book. While I found the extensive background in the first half interesting, I was getting impatient to set sail on our journey!
Research supports the proposition that the Rus’ were either of Scandinavian origin or were composed of different groups including Vikings. Jarman considers that the latter were mainly from Sweden, crossing the Baltic Sea to travel inland via the Dnieper or Volga to reach the Black and Caspian Seas. All this was happening from the early 9th century, at the time when Danish and Norwegian Vikings were heading west. Once on the Black Sea, ships would travel around the coast to reach Constantinople/Byzantium, known by the Rus’ as Miklagard. Runic engravings are to be found on pillars in Hagia Sofia.
A very interesting read from an archaeological and a historic perspective. I found it a little bit dry at times and was impatient to start the journey to the Silk Road. It would have benefited from more photographs and maps for reference. The subtitle is perhaps misleading as the link is in some ways tenuous. The carnelian bead may have travelled along the Silk Route to reach Constantinople where it was purchased by someone who brought it back to Scandinavia and thence to England. It’s doubtful that the Rus’ or Vikings travelled further than Baghdad but that does not diminish their accomplishment.
Cat Jarman is a bioarchaeologist, i.e. she forensically analyses teeth and bones to enhance the information that can be gleaned from archaeological sites. Starting at a site in Repton in Derbyshire, England, she aims to trace the passage of a carnelian bead found in a grave. This eventually takes us on the journey we are expecting but not until the second half of the book. While I found the extensive background in the first half interesting, I was getting impatient to set sail on our journey!
Research supports the proposition that the Rus’ were either of Scandinavian origin or were composed of different groups including Vikings. Jarman considers that the latter were mainly from Sweden, crossing the Baltic Sea to travel inland via the Dnieper or Volga to reach the Black and Caspian Seas. All this was happening from the early 9th century, at the time when Danish and Norwegian Vikings were heading west. Once on the Black Sea, ships would travel around the coast to reach Constantinople/Byzantium, known by the Rus’ as Miklagard. Runic engravings are to be found on pillars in Hagia Sofia.
A very interesting read from an archaeological and a historic perspective. I found it a little bit dry at times and was impatient to start the journey to the Silk Road. It would have benefited from more photographs and maps for reference. The subtitle is perhaps misleading as the link is in some ways tenuous. The carnelian bead may have travelled along the Silk Route to reach Constantinople where it was purchased by someone who brought it back to Scandinavia and thence to England. It’s doubtful that the Rus’ or Vikings travelled further than Baghdad but that does not diminish their accomplishment.
September 1, 2022
A really good, accessible introduction to the worldview of Vikings and the scope of their world. Rather than trying to provide a comprehensive potted history of the Viking period, Cat Jarman focuses instead on exploring what archaeological finds—starting with a single carnelian bead found in the excavation of a grave site in England—can tell us about the sprawling long-distance networks of trade, conflict, and colonialism that defined the age. I particularly appreciated the clear way she laid out for the general reader the kinds of ways that historians and archaeologists can use sources and the difficulties of interpretation that always occur. This would be a particularly useful book to use in the undergraduate classroom, but I think it would also be of interest to anyone who wants an up-to-date introduction to the Viking world.
December 2, 2022
129th book of 2022.
2.5/3. The book starts strong with a heavy leaning into the archaeological, which I find fascinating to read about. A lot centres around graves found in Repton. Jarman talks about the wounds these people (warriors) suffered, the isotopes and DNA and how these things can be explored with modern technology. Interesting stuff. Once the book gets going though I generally found Jarman's prose lifeless and a little stiff. The scope widens to the east and the Vikings' influence and journeying, lots about the Rus' too. Sadly, Jarman's narrative isn't overly engaging and the interesting subject gets lost in telling prose and distanced observations. Of course, any book about the Vikings is going to lack concrete knowledge as there isn't masses of concrete knowledge. A book of theories and apocryphal stories as expected, I just wish it had been told better.
2.5/3. The book starts strong with a heavy leaning into the archaeological, which I find fascinating to read about. A lot centres around graves found in Repton. Jarman talks about the wounds these people (warriors) suffered, the isotopes and DNA and how these things can be explored with modern technology. Interesting stuff. Once the book gets going though I generally found Jarman's prose lifeless and a little stiff. The scope widens to the east and the Vikings' influence and journeying, lots about the Rus' too. Sadly, Jarman's narrative isn't overly engaging and the interesting subject gets lost in telling prose and distanced observations. Of course, any book about the Vikings is going to lack concrete knowledge as there isn't masses of concrete knowledge. A book of theories and apocryphal stories as expected, I just wish it had been told better.
January 29, 2022
Loved reading this. It's written by an archaeologist and the details are fascinating and it is refreshingly different in structure, voice and content to other overviews of the Viking Age I have read. Each section was full of a lot of 'maybes' but each maybe was still exciting to consider and imagine. Read this! Vikings as you've never seen before.
September 10, 2024
Absolutely engrossing and very informative. At no times was I bored or wanted to skip parts, in all actuality I would've wished for more to read! Jarman has a good grasp on the literary sources as well and her contextualisation of them is splendid. Reading this felt like stepping into a time machine.
December 20, 2021
Most people who have had to do a smattering of history will have come across the Vikings and learnt about their antics. They were renowned sailors, fierce warriors and tyrants who raided and sacked many seaside towns and villages around the coast of the British Isles. The hoards that they left contained all manner of precious items that had come from all over Europe and even as far as India.
One of these precious items was a carnelian bead that came into her temporary possession just over a decade ago. Where this bead came from originally is the question that could not be answered without first asking many more questions about these people. Uncovering some of the answers to these is the subject of this book.
Dr Cat Jarman is very well placed to do this too, she works on the cutting edge of bioarchaeology, examining graves and artefacts and looking at the DNA of the men and women interred over 1000 years ago. Her story will reveal details of some of the people, where they came from, when they died and how they were related to other Vikings. I learnt how a fish-based diet can make remains seem much older than they actually are, that the chance find of runic graffiti in a church showed the presence of Vikings in the most unexpected of places.
There are stories in every place she looks, the mass graves and ship burials tell of a culture that was aggressive and highly developed. Evidence of Vikings moving through the rivers of Europe and dragging their boats overland to reach the middle east where they traded and raided in equal measure.
I really liked this, Jarman has done an excellent job of teasing out the stories from the science. The research is meticulous and she has got the mix of narrative and detail just about right. If you want a history book that makes you think again about the Vikings and the way that they changed the European continent, then this is a really good place to start.
One of these precious items was a carnelian bead that came into her temporary possession just over a decade ago. Where this bead came from originally is the question that could not be answered without first asking many more questions about these people. Uncovering some of the answers to these is the subject of this book.
Dr Cat Jarman is very well placed to do this too, she works on the cutting edge of bioarchaeology, examining graves and artefacts and looking at the DNA of the men and women interred over 1000 years ago. Her story will reveal details of some of the people, where they came from, when they died and how they were related to other Vikings. I learnt how a fish-based diet can make remains seem much older than they actually are, that the chance find of runic graffiti in a church showed the presence of Vikings in the most unexpected of places.
There are stories in every place she looks, the mass graves and ship burials tell of a culture that was aggressive and highly developed. Evidence of Vikings moving through the rivers of Europe and dragging their boats overland to reach the middle east where they traded and raided in equal measure.
I really liked this, Jarman has done an excellent job of teasing out the stories from the science. The research is meticulous and she has got the mix of narrative and detail just about right. If you want a history book that makes you think again about the Vikings and the way that they changed the European continent, then this is a really good place to start.
April 24, 2021
It was ok. The argument is definitely important, and persuasive - the Vikings' eastward journeys were more significant than westward, as they travelled via the Volga and Dnieper to Istanbul, and even Baghdad, connecting northern Europe to the Silk Roads. Also, they were violent, entrepreneurs, from a mix of people groups, and female as well as male. The most interesting thing I learned is that there was in all probability a shared currency between Scandinavia and the Arab world in the 9th century, as dirhams and Scandinavian silver coins were measured with the same weight system! Also cool to see the ways historical DNA analysis and strontium readings are revolutionising bioarchaeology. The reason the book is only ok, though, is that it's not until the final section of three that Jarman actually gets to the eastward journey! Before that we spend a lot of time in Repton, then in Scandinavia - which is fine, but didn't meet my expectations of genuinely focussing on the east. Also, if I'm really honest, I didn't enjoy the writing style. Could be in part because I listened to the audiobook, but I found the narrative cyclical and confusing, with lots of technical detail and not always a clear sense of where we were going and why. I really wanted to love this book - but sadly, although I learned a lot from it, it didn't steal my imagination the way I hoped it might.
February 10, 2021
Fascinating, engaging, and wide-ranging. Cat Jarman takes the reader on an epic journey from Repton in Derbyshire across half the globe to Gujarat in India, following the trail of a carnelian bead. In doing so, she takes the reader on an adventure through cutting-edge archaeology, Viking Age history, political upheavals, and her own personal search for the origins of this tiny piece of exotic jewellery. She confronts many of the important debates on the Viking Age head-on, looking at Scandinavian involvement in the east, the roles of women, and the usefulness of metal-detectorists, among many others. And she does this with a wonderful narrative flair that is at once accessible and informative. An excellent - and timely - work that is well worth a read.
October 22, 2021
Loved this, so interesting
April 29, 2021
This was a really interesting read. I particularly liked the level of detail on newer scientific archaeological methods. Learned lots of niche things like the fact that you have to account for a marine diet when carbon dating remains - because carbon hangs around in the ocean for a long time between being taken from the atmosphere to being consumed, a person who ate predominantly fish would get dated as centuries older than they are if this isn't taken into account. And archaeologists can work out where someone lived in different periods of their lives by the composition of different bones.
Most interesting for me were the examples of circular reasoning I've seen in so many reviews of gender-linked literature. It's very telling that male burials with sword etc are automatically interpreted to be warriors, but when later genotyping reveals that a burial is of a woman, suddenly there is a different explanation for what she was buried with. It shows how much we interpret history through our own assumptions.
I feel that this suffered a little by not having a clear thesis that I understood from the outset, but it was nonetheless fascinating.
Most interesting for me were the examples of circular reasoning I've seen in so many reviews of gender-linked literature. It's very telling that male burials with sword etc are automatically interpreted to be warriors, but when later genotyping reveals that a burial is of a woman, suddenly there is a different explanation for what she was buried with. It shows how much we interpret history through our own assumptions.
I feel that this suffered a little by not having a clear thesis that I understood from the outset, but it was nonetheless fascinating.
April 6, 2021
Extremely well-told account of the global reach of Vikings, the archaeological and scientific tools that allow researchers to learn more about them, and the gradual re-evaluation of long-held beliefs about who these Scandinavians are. Also nice to see my town Uppsala mentioned in the literature, even if it's in the context of the ritual sacrifice of slave children :/
This book is also broad in the best possible way, always going into just the right amount of depth regarding, say, strontium analysis of enamel to discover where geographically a specimen was likely to have grown up, or the political barriers that came with trying to understand Viking links to the East during the Soviet Union years, or the growing evidence that women likely played a crucial role (perhaps even on the battlefield?) in Viking life. Jarman also avoids the need a lot of popular science books seem to have to exaggerate the evidence or make grandiose claims, rather letting her cool research speak for itself. Five out of five beads.
This book is also broad in the best possible way, always going into just the right amount of depth regarding, say, strontium analysis of enamel to discover where geographically a specimen was likely to have grown up, or the political barriers that came with trying to understand Viking links to the East during the Soviet Union years, or the growing evidence that women likely played a crucial role (perhaps even on the battlefield?) in Viking life. Jarman also avoids the need a lot of popular science books seem to have to exaggerate the evidence or make grandiose claims, rather letting her cool research speak for itself. Five out of five beads.
March 1, 2022
I have to say I was a bit disappointed in this book. I had read a review, immediately put it on my Christmas list, received in and looked forward to reading it. Although there were lots of bits I was interested in, particularly the way archeological practice has changed, and the extent of the “Viking” influence, I did not find the writing style especially appealing and the whole approach was rather “bitty”.
December 3, 2023
Diez años de trabajo en estas páginas, una obra divulgativa de Historia de sobresaliente.
August 12, 2021
If you are ever interested in reading about Vikings, this book will give you an overview on what their lives looked like. You will learn what we’ve collected till now about how they conducted their lives, how they traded and sold goods, how they traveled and who they met on the way, their religious believes, the women’s part in the Vikings world and many curiosities and evidence on what was discovered so far.
It’s fascinating and compelling. I cannot say it reads like fiction because it doesn’t. It’s a dense and compacted book on this thematic and I will only recommend to those who are curious about what Vikings like was like.
It’s fascinating and compelling. I cannot say it reads like fiction because it doesn’t. It’s a dense and compacted book on this thematic and I will only recommend to those who are curious about what Vikings like was like.
December 28, 2021
This was a fascinating exploration of the Viking period, broad in both scope and geography. I was particularly fascinated by the River Kings' expansion eastwards, down rivers, across expanses of land; I'd never really envisaged this kind of thing happening, I'd not credited them with such flexibility.
One thing: there were not enough maps. I reached for my phone on several occasions to look up a place or a river; in a book of this type more detailed maps - and diagrams - would definitely be helpful.
One thing: there were not enough maps. I reached for my phone on several occasions to look up a place or a river; in a book of this type more detailed maps - and diagrams - would definitely be helpful.
July 25, 2022
This would be a great book if the author’s narrative style was more engaging.
March 16, 2022
I enjoyed the introduction to Viking archeology. However, I found many of the arguments interesting but highly speculative. As a career academic, I do love a good argument when it’s backed with solid evidence. I suppose archeology has a problem producing evidence that’s incontrovertible because it’s hard to find and interpret archeology. So I wonder if a preponderance of evidence is needed to say that Vikings indeed traded, explored, and pillaged the from eastern to Western Europe and Asia or whether merely suggestive evidence is enough. This is a cracking good tale, though and aim glad to have read it.
March 20, 2021
A fascinating history of the Vikings, told from a very unusual perspective and incorporating all the latest finds and information available. Dr Jarman writes engagingly and makes the narrative exciting throughout. We see the Vikings as they really were and realise what an amazing and diverse group of people they were - not all from one country, but sharing a cultural heritage, customs and beliefs. Their utter fearlessness and thirst for adventure (and silver!) shines through, but most of all, they are shown here as an awful lot more than just the feared raiders and marauders history has portrayed them as. Highly recommended!
April 21, 2023
Using a carnelian bead found in a 9th century AD viking burial as her starting point, Jarman traces what we know of the peripatetic history of the vikings, from Scandinavia to western Europe, and to regions further east, including Ukraine - where many stayed and became one set of ancestors of the Russian and Ukrainian people - and perhaps as far as Mesopotamia. The bead itself was probably mined and crafted in Gujarat, which allows Jarman to further step back and give us a picture of how interlinked the ancient world was, by exploration, journeys of raiding and conquest, but most of all, through trade routes.
Much of this is based on the latest bio archaeology and carbon dating techniques, but textual sources include chronicles, traveller's tales and documents dating to the so called viking age and its aftermath. So a lot of this is speculative, but history is not the tidy narrative of our school textbooks. Instead it's a series of investigations, hypotheses, further investigations and, occasionally a bit of an adventure, like the vicarious one involved in following this book from Derbyshire to Gujarat.
Much of this is based on the latest bio archaeology and carbon dating techniques, but textual sources include chronicles, traveller's tales and documents dating to the so called viking age and its aftermath. So a lot of this is speculative, but history is not the tidy narrative of our school textbooks. Instead it's a series of investigations, hypotheses, further investigations and, occasionally a bit of an adventure, like the vicarious one involved in following this book from Derbyshire to Gujarat.
July 24, 2022
"Dad, tell me about the Vikings" I used to say to my dad when we were together on Wednesday evenings when mum had to go to college. After we'd loudly play the soundtrack from The Lion King, I would bombard him with questions about history. More often than not, I would want to be told about the Vikings (or, embarrassingly, about the black and white age...). His history lessons later turned out to be not so factual, but that was okay as my interest in this time period was sparked. The Vikings reappeared in my life in my degree when I studied Old English. These studies were mostly focused on linguistics and, later, literature. However, there was plenty of room for history too and I learned so much about the Viking Age as well as the legacy they left behind on the English language. You can imagine how excited I was when I first heard about this book. It did not disappoint. Each page brought along a wealth of knowledge and I was very happy to learn so much! It was fascinating. I particularly loved reading about the archeological tools and facts. I also loved the broader geographical scope the book took compared to my England-centered studies. I did delete a star though because there were some dull bits in the middle. I also strongly feel that the book could've done with a glossary because some of the technical terms and the people/places mentioned were hard to keep up with and were only explained once. I will definitely be rereading this book at some point. Highly recommend!
January 9, 2022
A fantastic look into the way "Vikings" expanded in the early medieval period. The economic incentives for expansion are considered, as are the relationships between them and the people they encountered. I particularly like the focus on trying to work out how things worked on a smaller level such as exactly how a ship would travel across Russia. There is also a convincing argument that women played a very prominent role in the society including it's military which finds a good balance between skepticism and extrapolation.
April 10, 2023
I thought I knew everything about the Vikings but – of course – I was wrong. Jarman’s analysis of Viking skeletons using the latest bioarchaeological developments reveals a great deal of detail which was formerly opaque. And the book also underlines the importance of Viking trade routes eastwards, not just westwards. A carnelian bead is taken from a Viking burial in Repton and its journey is traced backwards to its origins – an imaginative reconstruction which may have lots of uncertainties but which I thought was an effective motif.
Of course, much about the journey of the carnelian bead is speculation, and indeed there is a lot of information discussed here which is of the same stamp. Bioarchaeology shines a light in dark places but cannot give us total clarity of illumination: there will always be some mystery and uncertainty. But there is a great deal of thought provoking information here. Jarman is especially interesting on the place of women, pointing out the numerous fascinating female Viking burials, some of which – especially those buried with weapons – had previously been wrongly identified as male. (I am aware that there is at least one archaeologist who claims it is impossible to identify the biological sex of any human remains- on the grounds that gender is a construct separate from biological reality – but that is another story, and not something that Jarman discusses).
Of course, much about the journey of the carnelian bead is speculation, and indeed there is a lot of information discussed here which is of the same stamp. Bioarchaeology shines a light in dark places but cannot give us total clarity of illumination: there will always be some mystery and uncertainty. But there is a great deal of thought provoking information here. Jarman is especially interesting on the place of women, pointing out the numerous fascinating female Viking burials, some of which – especially those buried with weapons – had previously been wrongly identified as male. (I am aware that there is at least one archaeologist who claims it is impossible to identify the biological sex of any human remains- on the grounds that gender is a construct separate from biological reality – but that is another story, and not something that Jarman discusses).
November 5, 2023
An overview of the Viking era but man this book is wishy-washy. I get your trying to be academic and thus insisting more research needs to be done but...come on, if you can't stand for something what's the point. What could have been a really good book suffers from the author's inability to make a declarative statement.
There is good stuff in here but you have to be able to sift through the author's inability or unwillingness to decide the facts.
Irritating stuff.
There is good stuff in here but you have to be able to sift through the author's inability or unwillingness to decide the facts.
Irritating stuff.
February 25, 2023
I liked it, but i wouldn't say it was 'new' archaeology. Also I really didn't like the little fiction stories about the objects before the chapters. But I thought it was well written and a good quick read if you're just getting into this area of archaeology.
November 25, 2022
just when i thought this can't possibly get any more interesting, bam, smallpox 🤌🤌🤌
August 11, 2024
What is archeology if not informed speculation?
I’m not really that much of a fan of the Vikings but every now and then I do enjoy learning new things.
I’m not really that much of a fan of the Vikings but every now and then I do enjoy learning new things.
July 28, 2023
Bastante interesante desmenuzamiento de los hallazgos antropológicos sobre vikingos, especialmente sus costumbres asimiladas a los viajes y regiones remotas de su origen, y la relación que guardaron con otras civilizaciones a través de rutas comerciales. Punto extra: el aprender que una de mis películas favoritas tiene un fundamento histórico peculiar.
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