Traces of Contacts : Magyar Material Culture in the Swedish Viking Age Context of Birka

• Excavations of martial structures of the Viking Age trading post of Birka have uncovered new evidence of contacts between Scandinavia and the early Magyar settlement territory. These new finds have led to a revision of the finds in the other contexts of Birka. Both graves and settlement layers show evidence of possible Magyar contacts. Why is it surprising to find objects of Magyar origin in the context of a Viking Age trading post? We know that Scandinavians were frequent travellers during Viking Age; and the cultures and people they came in contact with are reflected in the archaeological material in different ways. There are considerable differences between a casual or occasional contact in a limited situation on the one hand and the deep level of contact resulting from years of living together on the other hand. The transfer of immaterial culture from one group of people to another requires deeper and longer contacts than that of material culture. This paper deals with traces of contacts with the Magyar culture found in the context of the trading post of Birka in Central Sweden.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi -- Arkeologi (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology -- Archaeology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Viking warrior

warfare

archery

Magyar

Birka

arkeologi

Archaeology

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kap (subject category)