Towns and Commerce in Viking-Age Scandinavia

The Viking Age, from c. 750 to 1050 CE, was a period of social change in Scandinavia, leading to the integration of Scandinavia into occidental Europe. Sven Kalmring's book explores the emergence of towns and commerce in Viking-age Scandinavia and their eventual demise, using the towns of Hedeby, Birka, Kaupang, and Ribe as case studies. He focuses on the reasons behind the emergence of towns and their decline, rather than tracing the results of urbanization.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 300 pages
Publication date: 25 January 2024
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

The Viking Age, spanning from approximately 750 to 1050 CE, marked a significant period of profound social transformation in Scandinavia. By the conclusion of this transformative era, Scandinavia had successfully integrated itself into the broader European continent, leaving behind its pagan periphery status. Archaeological evidence provides compelling evidence of this process, which encompassed and interlaced Christianization, state formation, and the emergence of urbanization in Scandinavia. In this comprehensive volume, Sven Kalmring adopts an interdisciplinary and geographically diverse approach to exploring the origins and eventual decline of towns and commerce in Viking-age Scandinavia. Through the analysis of four key towns—Hedeby, Birka, Kaupang, and Ribe—Kalmring meticulously tracks the distinct characteristics of these urban communities while contextualizing them against the backdrop of traditional social structures within the Viking world. Instead of solely tracing the outcomes of Viking Age urbanization or mapping that process through the establishment of economic networks, Kalmring delves into the underlying reasons behind the emergence and eventual decline of towns. This approach offers a fresh and insightful perspective on the complex and multifaceted nature of this historical era.

Weight: 504g
Dimension: 228 x 153 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781009298094