The year that made York
In just one year Viking York was transformed from village to high rise city, an experience brought to life in the new Jorvik centre, writes Joann Fletcher
Joann Fletcher
Wed 11 Apr 2001 22.34 EDT
W hoever thought that urban sprawl, congestion and pollution are problems exclusive to modern living had better think again. Current research by the York Archaeological Trust show that the perils of urban life were also part of the past.
The results are part of intensive scientific research following the trust's Coppergate excavations. Over a five year period, around half a million artefacts were recovered beneath the streets of modern York, and it is the subsequent analysis of this staggering amount of material which has begun to reveal an amazing picture of Viking life.
Despite its origins as the Roman city of Eboracum, modern York derives its name from its Viking past. As Jorvik it was one of their principal cities as the Vikings spread west from Scandinavia to conquer an area of Britain stretching from East Anglia to Northumberland. Dialects and place names still reflectViking origins. Scarborough for example is named after Norse warlord Thorgils Skarthi. The names Erik Bloodaxe and Thorfin Skullsplitter speak for themselves. Yet contrary to their traditonal image as marauders in horned helmets leaving terror in their wake, the Vikings were no more violent than many other ancient cultures. They were among the finest sailors ever to take to the seas, and traded as far away as Uzbekistan. They even reached North America in the late 10th century.
Famed for their superbly crafted longboats, they also used their construction skills to settle the areas they conquered. Ten tons of preserved building timbers were discovered during the York excavations, but the real surprise came when 400 of these timbers were recently subjected to dendrochronology (tree-ring analysis). Almost all gave exactly the same date - 975 AD.
It is described as "a quite revolutionary finding" by the Viking historian Richard Kemp. In the space of a single year, great swathes of forest were cut down as part of a massive redevelopment scheme. Hovels of wattle-and-daub were replaced with sturdy timber-framed buildings, the sheer scale of the project belying the myth that Viking York was little more than a village.
With a population of around 10,000 and rising, space was at a premium, and forced to build upwards they soon had a skyline of high-rise structures. According to Kemp, director of the recently opened Jorvik centre, "the Jorvik of AD975 was probably the 10th century equivalent of Hong Kong or New York" - and just like them, it suffered from high levels of pollution.
The distribution of finds has pinpointed the precise location of industries within the Viking commercial district of Coppergate, while biological analysis of eight tons of soil has provided a good insight into the state of the environment. Traces of a beetle which only thrives in wet conditions has shown that people lived and worked in permanently damp conditions on the banks of the River Foss which, while vital to international trade as gateway to the North Sea, clearly suffered from increasingly high levels of pollution. Only the most hardy fish species managed to survive.
Microscopic scrutiny of the contents of open cesspits located right next to the wells supplying drinking water, have revealed the eggs of internal parasites and the inescapable conclusion that almost everyone suffered from worms. Head lice eggs have been found between the teeth of the small bone combs recovered in large numbers, and archaeologists have found leather shoes with small holes cut out to ease the pressure on ancient bunions.
Gving an increasingly comprehensive picture of 10th century living, this information has all been brought together at Jorvik, which in its previous incarnation as the Jorvik centre pulled in more than 12 million visitors since it first opened in 1984. Now following a £5m overhaul, it promises "intimate insights" into Viking life caught at a precise moment in time - 5.30 pm on the afternoon on October 25, AD 975, the year of the great rebuilding programme.
T ravelling in high-tech "time capsules", visitors are taken right into the heart of bustling commercial and residential districts to peer into backyards and bedrooms for a flavour of a long gone lifestyle.
Ambient sounds recreate the noise of city life. Conversations in Anglo-Norse compete with a cacophony of geese, ducks and pigs; real heat blasts out of the blacksmith's workshop and a chill breeze captures the conditions of a late autumn afternoon.
Technology creates all the corresponding smells which waft past - "a technique which means that the distinctive smell of sawn bone hits you just as you pass the bone worker's stall, but is gone by the time you arrive at the cesspit to leave you fully receptive to the next smell", says Kemp. The experience can even be taken home, courtesy of the Viking scratch-and-sniff books for sale alongside more scholarly publications.
Ending with what seems like a standard display of artefacts, a series of clever special effects suddenly brings them to life - a hammer suddenly wielded by a blacksmith, a knitted sock appearing on the end of a Viking leg, 'wow-factor' material at its very best.
Visitors are even encouraged to handle the original artefacts at the nearby ARC (Archaeological Resource Centre), and it is plain to see people get a real kick out of this direct contact with their own past.
Already scribbling down ideas for Jorvik 2011, Kemp wants to share his subject with as many people as possible. "After all", he says, "there's nothing so exciting as a Viking".
• Jorvik opens 9am-5.30pm every day except Xmas Day. Go to www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk or call 01904 643211. ARC opens to general public 7-22 April and 26 May- 2 June, 11am-3.30pm. For information about York Archaeology Trust's excavation courses for the public, contact hdawson@yorkarchaeology.co.uk or call 01904 663000.