The book about Vikings in the East deals with cultural contacts and exchange along the road to Byzantium. Can we trace the Scandinavian presence in Eastern Europe on the basis of written sources and archaeological finds? Who were the Rus? And Varangians? What was the difference between these two groups of Scandinavian origin active in the East? Why did Northmen build large mounds in Rus? and what rituals took place near them? Were they assimilated or simply culturally acclimatized in these areas? What was the Scandinavian contribution in the spread of eastern Christianity? How extensive was the Byzantine influence in the North? Trying to find out answers to all these questions, the author seeks to uncover the most reliable stories in ambiguous written and archaeological sources.
Author(s): Fedir Androshchuk
Series: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Byzantina Upsaliensia, 14
Publisher: Uppsala University
Year: 2013
Language: English
Pages: VIII+272
Acknowledgements v
Introduction 1
Sources, methodology and terminology 2
1. Vikings in the East – A General Outline 11
Vikings in the south-eastern Baltic area: Grobiņa and Wiskiauten 11
Geographical distribution of Scandinavian artefacts in Eastern Europe 16
The River Volchov and Lake Ladoga region 16
Rjurikovo Gorodišče 20
Other Russian towns in north-western Russia 21
The Volga–Oka region 21
The region of the Desna River (Šestovycja and Černihiv) 25
The River Dnieper area (Gnëzdovo and Kiev) 29
Crimea 32
Modern reserach on Scandinavian activity in the East 33
Material culture and identity 38
2. Identifying Northmen in Southern Rus' 45
Rus' as a people and a territory in written sources 45
Rus' identity as manifested in material culture 51
Rus' as a state: some indications in the material culture 57
The origin of Rus' 58
State formation and material culture 60
3. The role of Dereva and Volhynia in contacts between Northmen and Slavs in the 9th–11th centuries 65
Written sources about Iskorosten' 67
The archaeology of Iskorosten' 69
Sources and resources of the land of the Derevlians 73
Territorial structure of the Derevlian principality 74
Owners and governors in the land of the Derevlians 79
4. Byzantium and the Viking World – Archaeological Evidence for Contacts (9th–10th c.) 91
Traces of the first contacts 93
Archaeological evidence for contacts in the 10th century 96
Reliquary crosses 96
Finger rings 97
Buckles 99
Pottery 100
Glass 104
Silk 107
Weapons 108
Lead seals 110
Coins 113
"The route from the Varangians to the Greeks" – archaeological and textual record 117
The dissemination of Byzantine culture into the Viking world – how and why? 125
5. Rituals of Power: Great Mounds and "Mound-Sitting" in Rus' and Scandinavia 131
6. Contacts between Sweden and Southern Rus' (11th–12th c.) 145
The "Scandinavian antiquity" of Ukraine: a general outline 154
Weapons 158
Silver hoards 161
7. Symbols of Faith or Symbols of Status? Christian Objects in Viking Rus' Contexts 169
8. Cemeteries and the Shaping of an Early Christian Urban Landscape in Scandinavia and Rus' 187
Christian cemeteries at Birka and Sigtuna 189
Northmen and the early Christian cemeteries in Kiev 193
Some Final Remarks:
Vikings in the East – Cultural Adaptation and Shaping Identities 213
Bibliography 229
Abbreviations 229
Sources 229
Secondary literature 232
List of Illustrations 265
Index 269
