THE WINTER CAMP OF THE VIKING GREAT ARMY, ad 872–3, TORKSEY, LINCOLNSHIRE

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a multidisciplinary project that has revealed the location, extent and character of the winter camp of the Viking Great Army at Torksey, Lincolnshire, of AD 872-3. The camp lay within a naturally defended area of higher ground, partially surrounded by marshes and bordered by the River Trent on its western side. It is considerably larger than the Viking camp of 873-4 previously excavated at Repton, Derbyshire, and lacks the earthwork defences identified there. Several thousand individuals overwintered in the camp, including warriors, craftworkers and merchants. An exceptionally large and rich metalwork assemblage was deposited during the Great Army's overwintering, and metal processing and trading was undertaken. There is no evidence for a pre-existing Anglo-Saxon trading site here; the site appears to have been chosen for its strategic location and its access to resources. In the wake of the overwintering, Torksey developed as an important Anglo-Saxon borough with a major wheel-thrown pottery industry and multiple churches and cemeteries. The Torksey evidence allows for a radical reappraisal of the character of Viking winter camps, and the legacy of the Viking Great Army for Anglo-Saxon England.

The Scale and Impact of Viking Settlement in Northumbria

“…We would also like to thank our two anonymous reviewers whose comments have allowed us to make a number of clarifications and improvements to our text. Hadley and Richards 2000; the term 'Anglo-Scandinavian' is used in this paper to refer to the settlement phase when there is clear cultural admixture and the development of hybrid cultural forms, whereas the terms 'Viking' and 'Scandinavian' are used to refer to the period of raids and Viking armies, and to unambiguously Scandinavian activity.…”

The slave markets of the Viking world: comparative perspectives on an ‘invisible archaeology’

“…86 While these captives may have been taken in order to provide various services within the camps themselves, it is also possible these sites served as central slave trading nodes. 87 As noted above, potential evidence for trade in the form of silver and weighing equipment has been found at or in the vicinity of a number of known and purported Viking camps that were established in Ireland and England from the mid-ninth century. 88 Many of the sites established by Viking groups operating on the coast and inland waterways of Irelanddescribed in contemporaneous sources as longphuirt (sing.…”

Viking VR

“…Torksey is unusual as an archaeological site as its finds represent a single massive event. Torksey is also notable for its scale as several thousand warriors, camp followers, traders and artisans lived there for less than a year making the camp one of the largest settlements in England at the time [14]. The extent of the camp highlights the size of Viking armies in the late ninth century and finds from the site demonstrate a number of significant features of Viking culture, such the scale of looting of gold and silver, as well as the extent of international trade (e.g.…”

“…The site of the camp is now open farmland and details of its composition are only known through a number of objects recovered by amateur metal detectorists and by archaeologists [14]. Objects found at the site are, in many cases, heavily weathered and damaged, some consisting only of partial fragments (see figure 2).…”