1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:05,500 Last time, in Blood of the Vikings, I found new evidence for hit -and -run 2 00:00:05,500 --> 00:00:06,820 by Vikings from Norway. 3 00:00:08,980 --> 00:00:13,660 Tonight, my journey follows the first invasion of England by Danish Vikings. 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,280 The first Viking warrior to be excavated in modern time. 5 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:23,420 How did he get such brutal wounds? 6 00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:28,920 Are these brooches evidence of the Vikings' trading? 7 00:00:29,500 --> 00:00:30,500 Or settling down? 8 00:00:35,740 --> 00:00:40,160 And can genetics help us to track Viking immigrants in Dark Age Britain? 9 00:01:12,259 --> 00:01:17,640 They were described as a great raiding army, bigger than any Viking force that 10 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:18,640 had been seen before. 11 00:01:20,740 --> 00:01:24,020 By 865, they'd laid waste to much of Europe. 12 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:29,000 Hungry for new targets, they set a course across the Channel, to Britain. 13 00:01:45,390 --> 00:01:49,450 English monks reported that it was somewhere here, along the coast of East 14 00:01:49,450 --> 00:01:52,950 Anglia, that the Vikings first came to Britain as a full -scale army. 15 00:01:53,470 --> 00:01:57,430 It marked the beginning of a century of fighting, not just for the land of 16 00:01:57,430 --> 00:01:59,830 England, but for the very souls of its people. 17 00:02:03,770 --> 00:02:07,750 Historical records are sketchy. We don't know what triggered the invasion. 18 00:02:08,350 --> 00:02:12,370 but it's likely the force numbered several thousand, gathered from a ragbag 19 00:02:12,370 --> 00:02:17,690 pirate groups and led by Danish chieftains like Guthrum, Halfdan and the 20 00:02:17,690 --> 00:02:19,290 ferocious Ivar the Boneless. 21 00:02:22,230 --> 00:02:25,090 Once ashore, they took horses and headed inland. 22 00:02:30,330 --> 00:02:35,430 The area that is now England. 23 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:40,440 was populated by a mixture of indigenous Britons and invading Angles and Saxons. 24 00:02:40,820 --> 00:02:42,580 There were four separate kingdoms. 25 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:48,080 Wessex was under Saxon rule, while Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia were 26 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:49,160 controlled by Angles. 27 00:02:53,820 --> 00:02:57,400 Divided, they were vulnerable to the Vikings' tactics of surprise. 28 00:03:32,910 --> 00:03:37,970 866, here the raiding army went from East Anglia over the mouth of the Humber 29 00:03:37,970 --> 00:03:38,970 York City. 30 00:03:41,260 --> 00:03:44,340 An immense slaughter was made of the Northumbrians. 31 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:52,300 The Vikings' trail of destruction is easy to follow from grim accounts in the 32 00:03:52,300 --> 00:03:53,460 Anglo -Thaxon Chronicle. 33 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,880 869. Here the raiding army took winter quarters at Thetford. 34 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:05,480 And the Danish killed the king. 35 00:04:11,730 --> 00:04:14,370 870, here to Reading in Wessex. 36 00:04:14,970 --> 00:04:21,070 A great slaughter was made. There were many thousands killed and fighting went 37 00:04:21,070 --> 00:04:22,130 on till night. 38 00:04:27,990 --> 00:04:31,970 These writings paint a vivid picture of the impact of the Viking army on 39 00:04:31,970 --> 00:04:34,890 England. But were events really this dramatic? 40 00:04:35,150 --> 00:04:38,050 And did Viking warriors eventually become Viking settlers? 41 00:04:40,810 --> 00:04:44,910 I hoped to find new evidence by following in the tracks of the great 42 00:04:47,310 --> 00:04:52,650 873. In this year, the army went from Lindsay to Repton and took up winter 43 00:04:52,650 --> 00:04:55,610 quarters there, and they conquered all that land. 44 00:04:58,610 --> 00:05:01,070 My journey brings me to a village in the Midlands. 45 00:05:01,810 --> 00:05:06,650 Repton, in the 9th century, was home to the main royal monastery of Mercia, so 46 00:05:06,650 --> 00:05:09,230 capturing it was an important victory for the Vikings. 47 00:05:11,270 --> 00:05:14,350 But for once, we have more than just the monks' words. 48 00:05:15,970 --> 00:05:20,090 What's really exciting to me is that this is the only place in the whole of 49 00:05:20,090 --> 00:05:24,270 England where archaeological discoveries bring us face to face with this 50 00:05:24,270 --> 00:05:25,710 terrifying Viking army. 51 00:05:32,230 --> 00:05:36,430 The first clear evidence appeared at the ancient parish church of St Whiston's. 52 00:05:41,610 --> 00:05:46,450 In the 1970s and 80s, an excavation was mounted here by Oxford archaeologists, 53 00:05:46,670 --> 00:05:51,470 Professor Martin Biddle and his Danish -born wife, Birte Kolby Biddle. 54 00:05:51,990 --> 00:05:56,330 It was this place with its stone buildings, its wealth, its people who 55 00:05:56,330 --> 00:05:59,870 ransomed, its books who could be ransomed, that attracted the Vikings in 56 00:05:59,870 --> 00:06:00,870 autumn of 873. 57 00:06:02,030 --> 00:06:06,010 When they came, this place was the most important place in Mercia. 58 00:06:06,610 --> 00:06:08,570 And they caused mayhem. 59 00:06:08,790 --> 00:06:10,330 They damaged the church. 60 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,800 so that it had to be rebuilt afterwards. They turned it into a fortress. They 61 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:16,820 buried their people outside it and inside it. 62 00:06:18,060 --> 00:06:20,580 It's a pivotal site in the history of England. 63 00:06:20,900 --> 00:06:22,120 But there's one thing that is certain. 64 00:06:22,380 --> 00:06:24,960 It would be best not to be here in 873. 65 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,400 The Middles started by investigating the history of the church. 66 00:06:28,940 --> 00:06:33,860 But before long, strong evidence emerged in Repton for the presence of Vikings. 67 00:06:34,500 --> 00:06:37,100 Well, we might have a ditch in here. 68 00:06:38,190 --> 00:06:40,230 So we're trying to find the edges of the ditch. 69 00:06:40,910 --> 00:06:45,230 The ditch was part of a massive D -shaped enclosure that ran between the 70 00:06:45,230 --> 00:06:50,110 and the River Trent, a classically Viking defensive structure with the 71 00:06:50,110 --> 00:06:51,110 part of the fortress. 72 00:06:53,530 --> 00:06:57,630 Then pagan burials began to appear right next to the church. 73 00:06:58,050 --> 00:07:02,610 And we were digging here, and gradually we came down to the lair. 74 00:07:02,910 --> 00:07:06,630 We found a stone, a little stone mound here. 75 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:08,120 a broken sandstone. 76 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:14,200 Excavated that, and below that we found two graves, and one of them was lying 77 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:15,200 just there. 78 00:07:16,380 --> 00:07:21,060 We were excavating it. It seemed special, maybe, because of the stones 79 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:26,140 A very experienced volunteer was digging the head end of it, and she said, I 80 00:07:26,140 --> 00:07:27,140 found something strange. 81 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:30,620 And I said, what is it, Joan? 82 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:32,800 Well, it's shaped like an anchor. 83 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,100 I said, oh my God, it's a sword hammer. 84 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:43,540 And Thor's hammer is the mark of the pagan god Thor, and pagan Vikings, men 85 00:07:43,540 --> 00:07:48,440 especially, would be buried with that as a sign of his power, like we could be 86 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:49,440 buried with a cross. 87 00:07:55,580 --> 00:08:00,000 And I was actually digging the foot end, and I said, it's very strange, he's got 88 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:01,780 three legs, and I said, oof! 89 00:08:02,060 --> 00:08:03,760 We've got a sword. We've got a Viking sword. 90 00:08:04,060 --> 00:08:07,800 And I just ran off to find Martin and tell him all about it. And there it was. 91 00:08:15,180 --> 00:08:18,620 Mysteriously, a boar's tusk had been placed between the man's legs. 92 00:08:21,060 --> 00:08:25,140 And at the top of his femur was what looked like a particularly nasty wound. 93 00:08:29,230 --> 00:08:33,650 It's the first Viking warrior grave in England to be excavated using modern 94 00:08:33,650 --> 00:08:34,789 archaeological techniques. 95 00:08:40,010 --> 00:08:41,789 He was buried with a companion. 96 00:08:42,510 --> 00:08:46,890 And nearby, a third skeleton was found buried with a Viking gold ring. 97 00:08:51,890 --> 00:08:55,890 But if these were members of the Great Army, where are the others? 98 00:08:57,070 --> 00:08:59,650 The Biddles turned their attention to the vicarage garden. 99 00:08:59,990 --> 00:09:03,890 So there was this mound in the garden, and the vicar said to us, look, we might 100 00:09:03,890 --> 00:09:05,290 have to sell off the vicarage garden. 101 00:09:05,590 --> 00:09:06,610 Never happened, fortunately. 102 00:09:07,390 --> 00:09:10,570 Please come and have a look at this mound first, tell us what it is. And so 103 00:09:10,570 --> 00:09:12,090 that's how we started here in 1980. 104 00:09:12,410 --> 00:09:14,370 So when you came here, there was still a mound, was there? 105 00:09:14,670 --> 00:09:15,950 There was indeed, yes. 106 00:09:18,930 --> 00:09:23,690 The Biddles' research uncovered a strange report of an excavation way back 107 00:09:23,690 --> 00:09:24,690 1686. 108 00:09:28,110 --> 00:09:33,250 One Thomas Walker told the story of how he dug up an enigmatic mound and 109 00:09:33,250 --> 00:09:39,430 discovered a stone coffin containing a humane body nine foot long, surrounded 110 00:09:39,430 --> 00:09:40,430 a hundred other bodies. 111 00:09:44,410 --> 00:09:49,210 Was this the same mound as the one at the bottom of the vicar's garden? 112 00:09:49,870 --> 00:09:51,710 Martin and Beata wanted to know. 113 00:09:52,630 --> 00:09:53,950 Well, now, what on earth is it? 114 00:09:54,860 --> 00:09:59,560 The worst possible is that it's a Victorian garden feature when the house 115 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:02,980 built. Next possibility, medieval mill mound. 116 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:08,280 Next possibility, Viking burial mound. So we don't know and we'll have to find 117 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:09,280 out. 118 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:17,720 Gradually, as the first layers were removed, evidence of a pagan burial 119 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:18,720 was revealed. 120 00:10:19,660 --> 00:10:22,000 But what they eventually found... 121 00:10:22,220 --> 00:10:24,020 was beyond all their expectations. 122 00:10:31,260 --> 00:10:38,120 They unearthed the bones 123 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:44,180 of 250 people lying in an ancient charnel house which had later been 124 00:10:44,180 --> 00:10:45,180 a pagan mound. 125 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:48,060 80 % of the bodies were male. 126 00:10:48,460 --> 00:10:51,940 And even though many of them were particularly tall, there was no sign of 127 00:10:51,940 --> 00:10:53,740 giant mentioned in 1686. 128 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:58,480 But among the bones were clues that pointed to the great army. 129 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:03,280 So we had this extraordinary mass of completely disordered human bones, but 130 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:09,480 also got four and a half silver pennies, absolutely datable to 873 -4, exactly 131 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:12,920 when the Anglo -Saxon chronicle says the Vikings wintered here. 132 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:18,500 The evidence from the coins points to the use of the mound at the time of the 133 00:11:18,500 --> 00:11:19,500 Great Army. 134 00:11:19,580 --> 00:11:21,140 But what about the missing giant? 135 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:28,560 By coincidence, one of the army's original leaders, Ivor the Boneless, 136 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:32,340 his immense physical stature, is thought to have died in 873. 137 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:38,080 One might discuss whether it's either or not, but this is a very coherent 138 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:41,520 suggestion that it is. It has to be an absolutely major leader. 139 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:46,140 We know it's 873 -4, so it's one of those very, very rare occasions when 140 00:11:46,140 --> 00:11:49,060 archaeology actually does confront a historic event. 141 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,560 We have the historic event in the Anglo -Saxon Chronicle. We've got these things 142 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:55,000 happening here. We now can flesh out that enormously. 143 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:56,800 We've got this great person buried. 144 00:11:57,000 --> 00:11:58,160 It might be either. 145 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:03,380 The big problem is who are these people buried around the central burial? 146 00:12:03,770 --> 00:12:07,610 Are they English, are they Mercians, or are they Scandinavian? 147 00:12:10,710 --> 00:12:15,210 We may not have found the Viking's leader, but we do have the warrior with 148 00:12:15,210 --> 00:12:16,390 Thor's hammer and sword. 149 00:12:17,430 --> 00:12:21,810 His skull has been sent to medical artist Dr Caroline Wilkinson at 150 00:12:21,810 --> 00:12:22,810 University. 151 00:12:23,330 --> 00:12:26,530 She'll use the anatomy of the skull to put a face to him. 152 00:12:28,030 --> 00:12:31,490 Initially, this technique was developed as a forensic tool for the 153 00:12:31,490 --> 00:12:32,910 identification of... 154 00:12:33,590 --> 00:12:34,670 unidentified bodies. 155 00:12:35,730 --> 00:12:40,290 As you can see here the muscles of the face have been built onto the skull one 156 00:12:40,290 --> 00:12:41,290 by one. 157 00:12:41,770 --> 00:12:45,730 So we start with the larger muscles that you use for eating and talking and 158 00:12:45,730 --> 00:12:50,290 opening and closing your eyes and then we end up with these finer muscles that 159 00:12:50,290 --> 00:12:52,210 you use for facial expression. 160 00:12:52,910 --> 00:12:58,230 So at the finished muscle stage that you can see here you can already see the 161 00:12:58,230 --> 00:13:02,030 shape and proportions of the face and the overall shape. 162 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:06,520 You can already get some idea of what this person's going to look like. 163 00:13:23,700 --> 00:13:28,900 By coincidence, while Caroline was working on the skull, a pathologist 164 00:13:28,900 --> 00:13:31,840 passing by noticed something unusual about it. 165 00:13:32,660 --> 00:13:36,500 Prompted by his comments, the Biddles invited him to take a fresh look at the 166 00:13:36,500 --> 00:13:37,399 whole skeleton. 167 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:43,300 The probable cause of death is two superimposed penetrating wounds here. 168 00:13:43,940 --> 00:13:49,720 Two separate wounds delivered one after the other. The width of the wound is too 169 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:51,880 narrow for an Anglo -Saxon sword. 170 00:13:52,660 --> 00:13:56,240 The only thing that really fits the bill is a two -edged long thin spear. 171 00:13:56,660 --> 00:13:58,340 But there are other wounds. 172 00:13:58,580 --> 00:14:01,360 For example, the arm here. 173 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:08,940 has been struck by some very sharp object which has cut right through 174 00:14:08,940 --> 00:14:14,000 and into the bones of the lower arm. So that is a slicing wound, then? It is a 175 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,560 wound that has come straight down the arm. 176 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:20,540 Effectively, he's had a chunk of his arm cut out. 177 00:14:21,460 --> 00:14:25,380 But is that the sort of injury that you could sustain if you were fighting, you 178 00:14:25,380 --> 00:14:27,380 know, glancing sword black or something like that? 179 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:29,020 Yes, but that wouldn't kill him immediately. 180 00:14:30,860 --> 00:14:37,830 Then... In the spine, there is an area here in the lower 181 00:14:37,830 --> 00:14:43,530 thoracic spine where there is very clear evidence of a cut like this across the 182 00:14:43,530 --> 00:14:46,770 body of the vertebrae. But is that inside? 183 00:14:47,090 --> 00:14:49,910 That is inside. That's done from the body cavity. 184 00:14:50,810 --> 00:14:54,990 So this man must have been at least partly eviscerated. 185 00:14:55,510 --> 00:14:56,830 Had his guts taken up? 186 00:14:57,210 --> 00:15:01,210 That was an injury that was brought about after death. 187 00:15:01,630 --> 00:15:03,910 But this is deliberate mutilation, isn't it? Yes. 188 00:15:04,110 --> 00:15:06,070 And what about this wound on the thigh? 189 00:15:06,630 --> 00:15:13,610 Yes, that's certainly a wound, and it extends actually just onto the edge of 190 00:15:13,610 --> 00:15:14,610 the pubic bone. 191 00:15:14,970 --> 00:15:21,070 You can see the continuity of the blow. Oh, I see. So it's not just in there. In 192 00:15:21,070 --> 00:15:24,890 the process, he would probably have lost his left testis and most of his penis. 193 00:15:25,230 --> 00:15:27,870 The blow would have come from just about where I'm standing, I think, and it 194 00:15:27,870 --> 00:15:30,990 would be something like a blow like that, right down, with... 195 00:15:31,420 --> 00:15:35,860 A long -handled iron axe. We've looked together at the shape of that cut. 196 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:41,400 It's quite a big blade, isn't it? And we are all of the opinion, I think, that a 197 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,380 thickening axe blade is the more likely implement. 198 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:49,820 And you'll remember, Julian, that it was just in that position, lying across the 199 00:15:49,820 --> 00:15:54,480 bottom of the grave here, that we found the tusk of a wild boar. 200 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:58,160 And we've always had the suspicion, without, of course, the medical 201 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:04,120 be certain, that that might have been a substitute for his missing parts, so 202 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:07,160 that literally he would be complete on going to Valhalla. 203 00:16:10,780 --> 00:16:16,340 There is also evidence of hacking at the feet. 204 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:21,220 We've placed the bones of the feet here in no particular arrangement because 205 00:16:21,220 --> 00:16:22,400 they are so cut about. 206 00:16:28,189 --> 00:16:33,110 Surely, whoever did this must have really hated this person to have treated 207 00:16:33,110 --> 00:16:38,630 in this way. This treatment reflects not only what the Anglo -Saxon population 208 00:16:38,630 --> 00:16:43,510 feels about the Vikings, but also what the Vikings did to the local population. 209 00:16:43,890 --> 00:16:46,510 So this is revenge, basically? This is revenge. 210 00:16:48,550 --> 00:16:55,470 Here is a vivid picture of a violent death, a gruesome 211 00:16:55,470 --> 00:16:57,170 expression of the hatred of the time. 212 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:14,240 But this man, who was so brutally butchered and who was laid to rest with 213 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:18,520 companions in the shadow of the church that they desecrated, is not the only 214 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:20,740 evidence from Repton for the Viking dead. 215 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:32,500 Just two miles away in the hills near the village, around 60 other mounds have 216 00:17:32,500 --> 00:17:35,540 been found which point to more pagan Viking burials. 217 00:17:37,980 --> 00:17:43,370 Over the years, The occasional artefact has been uncovered here, like this sword 218 00:17:43,370 --> 00:17:45,870 with human bone burnt onto it. 219 00:17:51,730 --> 00:17:56,010 Prompted by the discoveries in Repton, archaeologists have decided to find out 220 00:17:56,010 --> 00:17:57,110 what else might be here. 221 00:17:57,710 --> 00:18:02,470 The excavation is being run by a man who I've met before in a confusion over a 222 00:18:02,470 --> 00:18:04,370 hotel booking at an archaeological conference. 223 00:18:05,750 --> 00:18:06,750 Hello, Julian. 224 00:18:07,130 --> 00:18:08,130 Hello, Julian. 225 00:18:08,210 --> 00:18:11,270 It's my namesake, Dr Julian D. Richards. 226 00:18:12,070 --> 00:18:14,670 Yes, in fact, there are two mounds here. 227 00:18:15,090 --> 00:18:19,330 There's a large one that we've nearly completely excavated and then a smaller 228 00:18:19,330 --> 00:18:21,890 mound to the south of it. 229 00:18:22,150 --> 00:18:25,930 Unlike the Biddle's mound at the church, these are not yielding complete 230 00:18:25,930 --> 00:18:26,930 skeletons. 231 00:18:27,170 --> 00:18:30,370 Instead, there's evidence of a very different burial rite. 232 00:18:32,170 --> 00:18:36,030 There's loads of charcoal, isn't there? That's right. It's just coming up where 233 00:18:36,030 --> 00:18:39,490 we're trowing here. You can see it starting to show through. 234 00:18:43,590 --> 00:18:48,390 The charcoal suggests that the bodies were cremated before burial, a practice 235 00:18:48,390 --> 00:18:50,590 common amongst pagan Vikings at the time. 236 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:03,860 Some important clues to who these people were have survived the burning, like 237 00:19:03,860 --> 00:19:07,500 this Viking ring pin that would once have fastened a Viking's cloak. 238 00:19:10,180 --> 00:19:14,060 But it doesn't necessarily mean that these people were part of the great 239 00:19:18,500 --> 00:19:23,200 If these really are the burial mounds of part of the Viking army, then why is it 240 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:27,260 that on top of this hill they're cremating their dead and then raising a 241 00:19:27,260 --> 00:19:28,460 over the funeral pyre? 242 00:19:28,860 --> 00:19:32,560 Whereas down in the valley, they're burying their dead in the grounds of a 243 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:33,560 Christian church. 244 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:39,640 I think it would be just too big a coincidence to have these two very 245 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:44,420 significant, very unusual Viking sites within just a few kilometres of one 246 00:19:44,420 --> 00:19:46,740 another and then not to be associated. 247 00:19:48,330 --> 00:19:53,570 We have one group of Vikings choosing to bury their dead at Repton, another 248 00:19:53,570 --> 00:19:58,930 group choosing to go back to a very pagan, cremation, animal sacrifice 249 00:19:58,930 --> 00:20:03,390 rite on a hilltop overlooking it. I think this relates to divisions within 250 00:20:03,390 --> 00:20:04,390 Viking camp. 251 00:20:08,010 --> 00:20:12,670 Although there's no direct evidence to back up Julian's theory, if, as he 252 00:20:12,670 --> 00:20:15,410 believes, they represent two rival factions of Vikings, 253 00:20:16,120 --> 00:20:18,920 It could help to explain what the monks reported next. 254 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:27,860 874. The Viking army left Repton and split up into two bands. 255 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:32,640 One band, under Halfdan, set out for the province of the Northumbrians. 256 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:38,480 875. 257 00:20:38,820 --> 00:20:42,820 Halfdan shared out the whole province between himself and his men, and 258 00:20:42,820 --> 00:20:44,820 with his army, cultivated the land. 259 00:20:46,730 --> 00:20:50,650 This marks the beginning of a whole new phase of the Viking Age in England. 260 00:20:51,170 --> 00:20:54,830 It's the first time that the chronicles make any reference to the Vikings 261 00:20:54,830 --> 00:20:56,750 settling down and farming. 262 00:21:01,490 --> 00:21:06,630 In the spring of 874, while Halfdan's band were heading to Northumbria, the 263 00:21:06,630 --> 00:21:08,870 other group, led by Guthrum, headed south. 264 00:21:09,950 --> 00:21:13,090 Their mission? To smash the Wessex Saxons. 265 00:21:15,050 --> 00:21:18,230 They must have fancied their chances against the Saxons' young king. 266 00:21:18,670 --> 00:21:20,490 His name was Alfred. 267 00:21:23,770 --> 00:21:27,490 For four years, the Viking army batted its way through Wessex. 268 00:21:28,090 --> 00:21:30,230 The Saxons were on the run. 269 00:21:31,010 --> 00:21:34,770 To win power, the Vikings needed Alfred, dead or alive. 270 00:21:36,870 --> 00:21:38,550 But Alfred evaded capture. 271 00:21:39,590 --> 00:21:42,510 He ran away and lived deep in the Somerset Marshes. 272 00:21:43,820 --> 00:21:45,900 where he disguised himself as a peasant. 273 00:21:46,900 --> 00:21:49,880 And a famous legend of Alfred comes from this time. 274 00:21:50,380 --> 00:21:52,960 He'd been given shelter in a swineherd's hut. 275 00:21:54,820 --> 00:21:58,500 The swineherd's wife left him watching some cakes baking on the fire, but 276 00:21:58,500 --> 00:22:02,660 perhaps lost in thoughts of his threatened kingdom, Alfred let them 277 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:09,740 Unaware that she was talking to King Alfred, the woman gave him a good 278 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,120 The king was at his lowest ebb. 279 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:20,180 We'll never know how Alfred managed to recover from these debts, to raise an 280 00:22:20,180 --> 00:22:22,380 army and face the Vikings head to head. 281 00:22:22,820 --> 00:22:26,200 But we do know that the decisive battle was Eddington. 282 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:32,720 I met on Salisbury Plain, the likely battle fight, by my guide, a local 283 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:33,720 expert. 284 00:22:34,540 --> 00:22:39,480 Alfred would be keeping to the low ground and not trying to expose himself 285 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:44,280 much. But Guthrum would have been sticking on the high ground to be able 286 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:45,280 observe his movement. 287 00:22:45,700 --> 00:22:51,320 And then, of course, Alfred would have to break cover and form into battle to 288 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:52,320 meet him. 289 00:22:56,540 --> 00:23:01,160 And then they would have formed somewhere on one of these ridges up 290 00:23:01,380 --> 00:23:05,660 A line of breath feels interlocked. 291 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:15,080 And they would have come against each other, shouting ruderies, banging their 292 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:16,120 shields with their swords. 293 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:28,080 And then there would have been an absolute hand -to 294 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:29,080 -hand clash. 295 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,820 Brutal, rough, vicious fight. 296 00:23:39,690 --> 00:23:43,090 So this really was the showdown, was it? Absolutely. 297 00:23:43,330 --> 00:23:47,310 Absolutely. It was totally the showdown. And the advantage, of course, Alfred 298 00:23:47,310 --> 00:23:49,310 had was that he probably had more troops. 299 00:23:53,510 --> 00:23:58,610 At length, he gained the victory through God's will. He destroyed the Vikings 300 00:23:58,610 --> 00:24:02,650 with great slaughter and pursued them, hacking them down. 301 00:24:12,620 --> 00:24:16,220 It's largely because of his great victory against the Vikings that Alfred 302 00:24:16,220 --> 00:24:17,220 known as the Great. 303 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:21,560 But it's also for the way that he improved the organisation and learning 304 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:22,560 his kingdom. 305 00:24:22,740 --> 00:24:26,900 My son's school in the heart of Wessex is just one that's named in his honour. 306 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:42,360 Simon, what would have happened if Alfred had lost? 307 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:47,440 Yes, I can barely bear to think of what the consequence would have been, but 308 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:53,220 certainly it would have involved a much larger spread of the Vikings into 309 00:24:53,220 --> 00:24:58,260 Wessex and the consequences for the English would have been quite different. 310 00:24:59,300 --> 00:25:03,400 Professor Simon Keynes has translated the peace treaty that was drawn up after 311 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:04,560 that decisive battle. 312 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:08,700 This is the earliest surviving manuscript of... 313 00:25:09,020 --> 00:25:15,620 the treaty between Alfred and Gudrum. This is a very important moment in 314 00:25:15,620 --> 00:25:17,480 Anglo -Saxon political history. 315 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:22,260 The treaty shows that Alfred's victory was not as complete as it's often 316 00:25:22,260 --> 00:25:23,260 described. 317 00:25:23,380 --> 00:25:27,800 Far from being able to banish the Vikings back to Denmark, Alfred found it 318 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,640 necessary to do a deal with them and carve England in two. 319 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,200 And the text goes straight on to describe this. 320 00:25:47,870 --> 00:25:54,310 The boundary between Alfred's land and the Vikings ran from east of London to 321 00:25:54,310 --> 00:25:55,310 near Chester. 322 00:25:55,610 --> 00:25:59,830 Alfred's compromise with the Vikings ensured a period of stability and, 323 00:25:59,850 --> 00:26:02,410 importantly, time to build up his defences. 324 00:26:03,150 --> 00:26:07,350 So although he accepted Viking rule in the north, he still managed to enlarge 325 00:26:07,350 --> 00:26:09,430 his own territory to include part of Mercia. 326 00:26:10,250 --> 00:26:14,950 Guthrum became king of East Anglia, but he was forced to accept Christianity. 327 00:26:16,570 --> 00:26:21,150 When Alfred signed the treaty, he was acknowledging for the first time that 328 00:26:21,150 --> 00:26:22,330 Vikings were here to stay. 329 00:26:22,990 --> 00:26:27,290 The area north of the boundary that he'd agreed with Guthrum was to become known 330 00:26:27,290 --> 00:26:28,290 as the Danelaw. 331 00:26:28,610 --> 00:26:31,190 But just how Viking was it? 332 00:26:31,850 --> 00:26:35,870 A big problem is that the historical record for northern England now comes to 333 00:26:35,870 --> 00:26:39,830 halt. The Vikings destroyed monasteries, and with them, their written records. 334 00:26:40,110 --> 00:26:42,410 It was complete media blackout. 335 00:26:45,650 --> 00:26:49,690 But one important piece of evidence that had survived is place names. 336 00:26:51,010 --> 00:26:55,990 To start with, there are over 850 place names in England that end in B -Y. 337 00:26:56,470 --> 00:26:59,670 That's the old Danish name ending for farmstead or village. 338 00:27:01,660 --> 00:27:03,160 Selby and Derby, for example. 339 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,840 Add to this those place names that have got other Scandinavian endings, like 340 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:14,860 Thwaite and Thorpe, and those that combine a Viking name with a Saxon 341 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:20,120 like Grimston, for example, and you end up with over 3 ,000 Scandinavian 342 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:21,580 -influenced place names in England. 343 00:27:33,450 --> 00:27:37,810 When the BY place names are plotted on a map of England, they fit in almost 344 00:27:37,810 --> 00:27:39,850 perfectly with the area of the Danelaw. 345 00:27:41,630 --> 00:27:45,230 This is strong evidence that the Vikings had a big impact in northern and 346 00:27:45,230 --> 00:27:46,230 eastern England. 347 00:27:46,430 --> 00:27:50,630 And if these places really are where the Vikings settled, then I should be able 348 00:27:50,630 --> 00:27:52,710 to find archaeological evidence to back this up. 349 00:27:54,330 --> 00:27:58,550 But until recently, no clear signs of a Viking settlement had ever been 350 00:27:58,550 --> 00:27:59,550 discovered. 351 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:03,680 It's something that's puzzled historians for decades, but new evidence is 352 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:07,820 starting to emerge. And it comes not from archaeologists, but from amateur 353 00:28:07,820 --> 00:28:08,820 enthusiasts. 354 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:18,700 It's difficult to describe an emotion. It's just a buzz to think that I've got 355 00:28:18,700 --> 00:28:25,360 something that was lost all those years ago. It's just a buzz. 356 00:28:28,430 --> 00:28:33,510 that when I pick an object up, I really get a sense of connection to the person 357 00:28:33,510 --> 00:28:35,510 that owned it and lost it. 358 00:28:36,930 --> 00:28:42,730 The best thing I have found recently is a Viking harness pendant with the two 359 00:28:42,730 --> 00:28:45,350 stylised serpents swarming their own tails. 360 00:28:46,090 --> 00:28:49,770 I remember very clearly the first Viking object I ever found. 361 00:28:49,990 --> 00:28:52,030 It was just in the middle of a cloud field. 362 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:54,940 and it was a lovely trefoil strap distributor. 363 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:59,940 And as soon as I unearthed it, I knew what it was, and I just sat there, gave 364 00:28:59,940 --> 00:29:03,520 out a yell, and sat there cheering in the middle of a muddy ploughed field. 365 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:10,840 To actually hold a Viking artefact would mean that I'm taking myself back 366 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:17,760 in history, back in time to when the Vikings probably first 367 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:18,760 came here. 368 00:29:18,980 --> 00:29:20,760 They may be plundering a village. 369 00:29:21,470 --> 00:29:26,110 They may be having a fight and they've lost whatever it is that I found. 370 00:29:26,550 --> 00:29:32,510 And a very interesting Viking buckle, which is complete with its signed 371 00:29:33,070 --> 00:29:35,070 That is a very unique one. 372 00:29:36,030 --> 00:29:39,610 As an archaeologist, I've got very mixed feelings about metal detecting. 373 00:29:40,130 --> 00:29:42,570 I've seen the damage that it can do to ancient sites. 374 00:29:42,870 --> 00:29:46,870 And personally, I feel that the only people who should dig up artefacts are 375 00:29:46,870 --> 00:29:49,150 those who are going to make sure that they end up in a museum. 376 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:55,780 But having said this, I can't deny that objects of Viking date excavated and 377 00:29:55,780 --> 00:30:00,060 recorded properly and reported to museums have made an enormous difference 378 00:30:00,060 --> 00:30:01,400 our understanding of this period. 379 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:09,100 A new scheme designed to encourage metal detectorists to declare their finds has 380 00:30:09,100 --> 00:30:14,080 yielded hundreds of Viking artefacts from the Danelaw. It's very stiff. 381 00:30:15,950 --> 00:30:20,410 Dr Kevin Leahy, from the North Lincolnshire Museum, believes that they 382 00:30:20,410 --> 00:30:21,990 very important story to tell. 383 00:30:22,670 --> 00:30:27,010 Until recently, until these detective files started to come out, it could be 384 00:30:27,010 --> 00:30:32,550 seriously argued that all we saw in 877 was a change in leadership. 385 00:30:33,030 --> 00:30:37,850 The leaders of the Great Army came in and took over. They just sacked the 386 00:30:37,850 --> 00:30:40,610 and took over the running of Lincolnshire themselves. 387 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:46,660 and there was no folk movement. Now we're getting good evidence for a 388 00:30:46,660 --> 00:30:47,439 of people. 389 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:53,720 And this pattern of Viking signs corresponds fairly well with the 390 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:58,800 of Danish place names, all the B -Ys and Thorps that we've got in Lincolnshire. 391 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,180 It's the everyday objects that are getting Kevin excited. 392 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:04,900 Small metal fittings. 393 00:31:05,210 --> 00:31:09,310 brooches, things like that that were worn by Danish women and we'll be sure 394 00:31:09,310 --> 00:31:11,310 they were worn by Danish women because they're such 395 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:15,620 Danish peasant women because they're such poor quality. They wouldn't be 396 00:31:15,620 --> 00:31:17,980 acceptable to an Anglo -Saxon woman. 397 00:31:18,260 --> 00:31:23,000 No Dane is going to come over here and give a little brooch like this to his 398 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:25,780 English girlfriend and expect her to be impressed. 399 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:30,600 The woman who wore this little brooch was making a statement about her Danish 400 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:33,240 ancestry, about her cultural links. 401 00:31:33,500 --> 00:31:37,860 This sort of poor quality metalwork doesn't really travel between cultures. 402 00:31:38,670 --> 00:31:42,150 Are these objects changing our whole picture of Viking settlement, then? It 403 00:31:42,150 --> 00:31:49,130 a real folk movement, but not just a wholesale uprooting of people, leaving 404 00:31:49,130 --> 00:31:51,430 Denmark absolutely empty. 405 00:31:52,750 --> 00:31:56,850 We now have a picture of Danish Viking invaders bringing their women with them, 406 00:31:56,970 --> 00:31:58,390 perhaps settling down. 407 00:31:59,030 --> 00:32:01,450 But where are their houses and their farms? 408 00:32:03,210 --> 00:32:07,790 A couple of years ago, detectrists searching a remote area of North 409 00:32:08,300 --> 00:32:11,780 turned up a small cluster of unusual Scandinavian -style objects. 410 00:32:14,340 --> 00:32:18,500 A geophysical survey of the area revealed what looked like the outline of 411 00:32:18,500 --> 00:32:19,500 buildings. 412 00:32:19,980 --> 00:32:23,980 Their investigation was another task for Dr Julian D Richards. 413 00:32:31,980 --> 00:32:36,250 And we moved northwards, we moved... and put a trench in the direction over here 414 00:32:36,250 --> 00:32:38,690 where we're going. So it's on the crest of the ridge here. On the crest of the 415 00:32:38,690 --> 00:32:39,690 hill, that's right. 416 00:32:39,850 --> 00:32:45,130 And here we found what we think is an Anglo -Scandinavian farmstead, a Viking 417 00:32:45,130 --> 00:32:46,130 settlement. 418 00:32:47,170 --> 00:32:53,510 It had a massive entranceway looking to the south, looking down this valley over 419 00:32:53,510 --> 00:32:54,510 there. 420 00:32:55,410 --> 00:32:59,550 And this had a huge ditch with a bank. 421 00:33:00,379 --> 00:33:04,600 behind it, probably a palisade on top of that, probably a wooden gatehouse as 422 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,780 well. Surely this wouldn't have been the only farmstead in the area, though, 423 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:10,840 would it? No, I think there would have been lots of Anglo -Scandinavian 424 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:14,960 settlements around here, probably one every mile, for that matter. So how many 425 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:16,080 of these do we know about, then? 426 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:21,220 We don't know about any of them. This is unique, and the Vikings do seem to be 427 00:33:21,220 --> 00:33:22,220 invisible. 428 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:25,960 At last, some evidence for a Viking village. 429 00:33:26,670 --> 00:33:28,990 But perhaps they preferred to live in towns. 430 00:33:30,090 --> 00:33:34,450 My next stop is York, which, according to the history books, was a major power 431 00:33:34,450 --> 00:33:35,950 base for the kings of the Danelaw. 432 00:33:36,330 --> 00:33:41,790 And the city is full of Viking names, roads ending in gate, the Scandinavian 433 00:33:41,790 --> 00:33:43,470 word gata meaning street. 434 00:33:44,710 --> 00:33:50,290 In the 70s, on Coppergate, archaeologists raced against time to dig 435 00:33:50,290 --> 00:33:53,990 Viking Age York before they disappeared under a new shopping centre. 436 00:34:00,910 --> 00:34:04,470 We thought that there would be Viking remains of some sort, but the finds 437 00:34:04,470 --> 00:34:08,030 made have exceeded our wildest expectations. These fantastic buildings 438 00:34:08,030 --> 00:34:12,870 six feet high and the 13 ,500 good objects we've got, way beyond our best 439 00:34:14,610 --> 00:34:17,630 York provides a picture of a wealthy trading centre. 440 00:34:18,190 --> 00:34:22,830 There were exotic items like amber from the Baltic and silk from the 441 00:34:22,830 --> 00:34:23,830 Mediterranean. 442 00:34:24,290 --> 00:34:30,050 There were dyes for minting coins, scales and an enormous amount of 443 00:34:30,889 --> 00:34:33,270 York became a Viking boon town. 444 00:34:33,909 --> 00:34:37,590 But none of this evidence tells us just how many Vikings settled. 445 00:34:38,270 --> 00:34:40,650 So can genetics answer this question? 446 00:34:51,150 --> 00:34:55,409 The BBC has joined forces with University College London. 447 00:34:55,949 --> 00:35:00,490 to collect DNA samples from volunteers across England, Scotland, Wales and 448 00:35:00,490 --> 00:35:01,490 Ireland. 449 00:35:02,930 --> 00:35:07,110 In a pioneering survey, they'll be searching for signs of Viking genetic 450 00:35:07,110 --> 00:35:09,090 inheritance in the male Y chromosome. 451 00:35:10,450 --> 00:35:15,490 The DNA from Britain and Ireland will be compared to other samples taken in the 452 00:35:15,490 --> 00:35:18,450 Viking Scandinavian homelands and in Northern Europe. 453 00:35:19,630 --> 00:35:23,210 And you don't have to look far to find people with theories on their Viking 454 00:35:23,210 --> 00:35:24,210 ancestry. 455 00:35:24,410 --> 00:35:28,570 The name Rima is derived from Rima, which is Norse for a leather worker. 456 00:35:28,830 --> 00:35:33,790 And curiously enough, I trained as a saddler and my dad was a leather worker 457 00:35:33,790 --> 00:35:34,790 well. 458 00:35:35,630 --> 00:35:37,410 Now what's your name, please? 459 00:35:38,810 --> 00:35:42,870 DNA can be extracted from cells scraped from the inside of the cheek. 460 00:35:43,290 --> 00:35:47,710 But in England, the scientists have teamed up with the National Blood 461 00:35:47,710 --> 00:35:49,970 increase the numbers of volunteers giving samples. 462 00:35:55,340 --> 00:35:59,320 The team will try and find out if the Vikings settled in large numbers, and 463 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:02,580 where. It's something that's never been achieved before. 464 00:36:05,210 --> 00:36:08,910 Just from the place name, you of course don't know what happened in terms of the 465 00:36:08,910 --> 00:36:13,170 people. You can imagine an elite group coming into an area and declaring the 466 00:36:13,170 --> 00:36:16,650 name of the place, whatever they want it to be. It doesn't mean that they 467 00:36:16,650 --> 00:36:20,170 brought an awful lot of people with them. And I think fundamentally that's 468 00:36:20,170 --> 00:36:24,270 archaeologists and historians have been fighting so long about these questions, 469 00:36:24,290 --> 00:36:28,810 because it really just is hard to know what went on in terms of the people from 470 00:36:28,810 --> 00:36:30,390 a little bit of cultural information. 471 00:36:31,250 --> 00:36:36,870 But in principle, we can get at that question directly using genetics. So it 472 00:36:36,870 --> 00:36:41,930 really does simply open up a new perspective into what is an old and very 473 00:36:41,930 --> 00:36:43,270 difficult debate to resolve. 474 00:36:44,430 --> 00:36:46,810 But Goldstein's team have had a setback. 475 00:36:47,490 --> 00:36:51,330 While there are clear genetic patterns which distinguish the Norwegian Vikings 476 00:36:51,330 --> 00:36:55,230 from other groups in northern Europe, it's not been possible to distinguish 477 00:36:55,230 --> 00:36:57,290 Danish Vikings quite so neatly. 478 00:37:01,290 --> 00:37:05,670 Three centuries before the Vikings arrived, Britain was invaded by two 479 00:37:05,670 --> 00:37:08,670 groups of Europeans, the Angles and the Saxons. 480 00:37:09,290 --> 00:37:12,990 Both came from virtually next door to what would become the Danish Viking 481 00:37:12,990 --> 00:37:17,390 homeland, and it's proving tricky to separate these three groups of invaders 482 00:37:17,390 --> 00:37:18,390 genetically. 483 00:37:18,530 --> 00:37:22,530 But at least they seem to have a different genetic signature from the 484 00:37:22,530 --> 00:37:24,910 population, the native Britons. 485 00:37:25,580 --> 00:37:29,640 Although we haven't been able so far to distinguish the Danish and Anglo -Saxon 486 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:32,900 contributions, we have in fact been able to learn something about the genetic 487 00:37:32,900 --> 00:37:37,300 history of England anyway, because what we can do is just lump together the 488 00:37:37,300 --> 00:37:41,420 Danes and the Anglo -Saxons and consider those as invaders in England. And then 489 00:37:41,420 --> 00:37:45,100 we can ask the question, what proportion of England comes from that invading 490 00:37:45,100 --> 00:37:47,200 population and what proportion is indigenous? 491 00:37:48,860 --> 00:37:54,000 So if we lump together all the invaders, the Vikings, the Angles and the Saxons, 492 00:37:54,460 --> 00:37:55,460 What do we find? 493 00:37:56,140 --> 00:38:00,460 Then we can see immediate patterns in England, and in particular, when we look 494 00:38:00,460 --> 00:38:05,860 in the general area of the Dane law, there's greater contributions from these 495 00:38:05,860 --> 00:38:09,500 invading populations in comparison with areas farther south. 496 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:15,540 So we can see some very clear patterns in England that tell us something about 497 00:38:15,540 --> 00:38:19,140 the genetic history of England that wasn't known before. So this is all new 498 00:38:19,140 --> 00:38:21,880 stuff, then? This is all new. So this is very interesting that we've got this 499 00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:23,240 pattern straight away. 500 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:29,240 So the people who live in the north and east of England have more Viking and 501 00:38:29,240 --> 00:38:32,560 Anglo -Saxon in their blood than those who live in the south and west. 502 00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:38,120 It's extraordinary that the genetic trace of these invaders is still 503 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:42,100 today, over 1 ,500 years after the first of them landed. 504 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:51,160 Although the Danish Vikings had made themselves at home in the Danelaw, the 505 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:53,260 peace between Viking and Saxon was uneasy. 506 00:38:54,380 --> 00:38:58,600 Sporadic fighting with Wessex resumed, and 20 years after the finding of the 507 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:01,980 peace treaty, the Saxons were threatening to overrun the Danelaw. 508 00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:13,800 But then something happened to reignite the power struggle. 509 00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:18,920 In 902, the Viking kings of Dublin were suddenly kicked out by the Irish. 510 00:39:19,740 --> 00:39:21,100 They headed for England. 511 00:39:21,850 --> 00:39:24,790 Once more, the Vikings were a force to be reckoned with. 512 00:39:25,210 --> 00:39:30,070 Only this time, they weren't Danes. The heathens described in the Irish annals 513 00:39:30,070 --> 00:39:31,710 were of Norwegian origin. 514 00:39:33,770 --> 00:39:37,970 The Norwegian Vikings had taken the sea road around the northern and western 515 00:39:37,970 --> 00:39:39,590 isles of Scotland to Ireland. 516 00:39:40,370 --> 00:39:43,750 Dublin was a major trading post and the centre of their power. 517 00:39:44,050 --> 00:39:46,490 So what happened when they got kicked out? 518 00:39:48,330 --> 00:39:49,730 A clue was found. 519 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:55,560 On the route from Norwegian Viking Dublin to Danish Viking York at 520 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:03,140 It was here in 1840 that a group of workmen were repairing the banks of the 521 00:40:03,140 --> 00:40:07,600 Ribble. As they dug, their spades crunched into something metallic. 522 00:40:16,620 --> 00:40:21,820 They discovered an astonishing 8 ,500 pieces of silver weighing nearly 40 523 00:40:22,460 --> 00:40:26,760 They'd stumbled across what is still to this day the largest hoard of Viking 524 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:28,260 treasure ever found. 525 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:35,360 It dates to the beginning of the 900s, exactly when the Vikings were being 526 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:36,380 expelled from Dublin. 527 00:40:37,460 --> 00:40:42,280 The leading authority on the Curedale hoard is Professor James Graham 528 00:40:43,630 --> 00:40:49,090 The single largest component of the ornamented material in the hoard is of 529 00:40:49,090 --> 00:40:54,530 we would call Hiberno Viking origin, made by Viking craftsmen working in 530 00:40:54,530 --> 00:41:00,310 Ireland. Most particularly these very characteristic broadband arm rings that 531 00:41:00,310 --> 00:41:02,670 have this very bold stamping. 532 00:41:14,060 --> 00:41:18,480 Who were these people? Who were the people who buried it? It's more than 533 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:24,660 ordinary merchant's hoard or the pay of a Viking crew 534 00:41:24,660 --> 00:41:26,140 member. 535 00:41:27,950 --> 00:41:33,930 I quite fancy the old theory that it was in some way an army paycheque and that 536 00:41:33,930 --> 00:41:39,130 it was related with the attempts of the Dublins who had been expelled from 537 00:41:39,130 --> 00:41:42,730 Viking Dublin to build up their resources. I think that's the general 538 00:41:42,730 --> 00:41:49,030 context in which one could envisage the sort of accumulation of silver 539 00:41:49,030 --> 00:41:50,930 deriving in northwest England. 540 00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:57,880 The Cuyadale hoard contained silver from as far away as the Hindu Kush. 541 00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:02,600 But what caught my attention was a beautifully preserved group of coins 542 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:03,600 Viking York. 543 00:42:06,840 --> 00:42:10,520 If a lot of this material seems to have come from Ireland, how do you explain 544 00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:13,480 the coins from Viking York? I mean, was this... 545 00:42:13,790 --> 00:42:17,650 The York Vikings giving a donation to these people to help them in their 546 00:42:17,650 --> 00:42:23,210 efforts. Well, it wouldn't surprise me if that was the explanation, because so 547 00:42:23,210 --> 00:42:28,950 many of the York coins have come freshly from the moneyers' workshops. 548 00:42:29,230 --> 00:42:30,910 They can never have been in circulation. 549 00:42:31,450 --> 00:42:35,070 Just down here, for instance, you can see how fresh it is. 550 00:42:41,670 --> 00:42:45,690 The Kewardale Hoard is more than simply an amazing find of Viking treasure. 551 00:42:46,130 --> 00:42:49,550 It seems to be saying something to us about the politics of the time. 552 00:42:50,310 --> 00:42:52,170 Vikings raising money for arms. 553 00:42:53,010 --> 00:42:54,890 Norwegians and Danes forming an alliance. 554 00:42:55,970 --> 00:42:57,290 Ominous for their enemies. 555 00:43:00,810 --> 00:43:04,690 Apart from the hoard, archaeological records for the period are sparse. 556 00:43:05,110 --> 00:43:09,510 But there is one piece of evidence that's been staring us in the face for 557 00:43:09,510 --> 00:43:10,510 centuries. 558 00:43:12,490 --> 00:43:17,010 The Norwegians who came via Ireland have left their mark in stone across the 559 00:43:17,010 --> 00:43:18,010 northern Danelaw. 560 00:43:18,510 --> 00:43:22,270 Ancient images that still speak to us of Viking power. 561 00:43:29,490 --> 00:43:32,790 Hundreds of pieces have been identified across northern England. 562 00:43:37,050 --> 00:43:40,890 Their study has been a life's work for Professor Richard Bailey. 563 00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:48,120 These massive sculptures called Hogback were set over Viking period tombs. 564 00:43:48,650 --> 00:43:50,850 There's about 120 of them in the north of England. 565 00:43:51,070 --> 00:43:54,730 So rather than cutting up a cross, this is more like a gravestone. That's right, 566 00:43:54,790 --> 00:43:58,850 yes. And the shape is that of a Viking house, actually. That curved roof is 567 00:43:58,850 --> 00:44:01,630 exactly like we know Viking houses were in the period. 568 00:44:01,890 --> 00:44:03,710 Right. These are very expensive monuments. 569 00:44:04,050 --> 00:44:08,070 We know they were produced between about 920 and 950. 570 00:44:08,850 --> 00:44:14,010 That's a very high number of high -status people here who are 571 00:44:14,010 --> 00:44:18,550 stones, which in some sense, they look very high. to date, as Viking 572 00:44:18,550 --> 00:44:19,610 Scandinavians. 573 00:44:22,810 --> 00:44:27,610 Many Viking sculptures seem to mix Christian symbolism with rather warlike 574 00:44:27,610 --> 00:44:28,610 images. 575 00:44:31,490 --> 00:44:36,590 What we've got here is a little warrior with his pointed helmet, spear down one 576 00:44:36,590 --> 00:44:42,770 side, battle axe over here, up here a shield, a sword just here. So what sort 577 00:44:42,770 --> 00:44:45,670 statement were the Vikings making by putting up crosses like this? 578 00:44:46,080 --> 00:44:48,300 This is a real statement of power and control. 579 00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:51,560 This is me as a warrior. This is how I won the land. 580 00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:55,700 I may have been a farmer as well, but how I and my family want to be 581 00:44:55,700 --> 00:44:56,700 is as a warrior. 582 00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:06,680 To me, the evidence of the sculptures and the Viking place names suggests a 583 00:45:06,680 --> 00:45:09,620 formidable Viking elite controlling much of northern England. 584 00:45:10,340 --> 00:45:13,780 This was something that the Saxons would not be prepared to tolerate. 585 00:45:15,310 --> 00:45:20,230 Despite the arrival of the Norwegian Vikings, by 937, Alfred's grandson, 586 00:45:20,550 --> 00:45:22,070 Athelstan, had united England. 587 00:45:22,810 --> 00:45:26,550 But he hadn't reckoned on the Scots and the Irish joining forces with the 588 00:45:26,550 --> 00:45:30,290 Vikings. Their aim? To bring down Athelstan. 589 00:45:33,430 --> 00:45:38,530 The Anglo -Saxon Chronicle reports a huge battle between the Anglo -Saxons 590 00:45:38,530 --> 00:45:41,130 the united forces of the Vikings and their new allies. 591 00:45:41,810 --> 00:45:43,970 It was at a place called Brunnenborough. 592 00:45:44,970 --> 00:45:49,890 No -one's quite sure of the location of Brunnenborough, but some linguists have 593 00:45:49,890 --> 00:45:54,610 suggested that this old English name evolved to become Bromborough, which 594 00:45:54,610 --> 00:45:57,230 happens to be the name of this small town here on the Wirral. 595 00:46:00,730 --> 00:46:04,850 The description of the battle itself is one of the most lurid and gripping 596 00:46:04,850 --> 00:46:06,490 stories of Dark Age literature. 597 00:46:10,450 --> 00:46:12,410 Never yet in this island. 598 00:46:12,800 --> 00:46:17,140 was there a greater slaughter of people felled by the sword's edges. 599 00:46:21,680 --> 00:46:28,200 Here King Athelstan, leader of warriors, struck lifelong glory in strife round 600 00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:31,300 Brunnenborough, cloned for the shield war. 601 00:46:46,220 --> 00:46:52,740 They left behind to divide the corpses the horny -beaked black raven, greedy 602 00:46:52,740 --> 00:46:57,120 war -orc, and the wolf, grey beast of the forest. 603 00:47:03,380 --> 00:47:10,320 Then the northmen, disgraced in spirit, departed in nailed boats 604 00:47:10,320 --> 00:47:13,960 over deep water to seek out Dublin. 605 00:47:17,890 --> 00:47:19,630 Athelstan had taken the victory. 606 00:47:20,450 --> 00:47:25,610 The surviving Viking leaders, deserted by their allies, could now only hope to 607 00:47:25,610 --> 00:47:27,450 regain their old power base in York. 608 00:47:31,770 --> 00:47:35,670 After their crushing defeat at the Battle of Brunnenborough, the Vikings 609 00:47:35,670 --> 00:47:36,629 the retreat. 610 00:47:36,630 --> 00:47:41,250 The last Viking king of York, Eric Bloodaxe, was killed in 954, and his 611 00:47:41,250 --> 00:47:44,750 marked the beginning of a period in which England was united under the House 612 00:47:44,750 --> 00:47:45,750 Wessex. 613 00:47:45,930 --> 00:47:47,770 But the story was far from over. 614 00:47:48,070 --> 00:47:50,910 The Vikings would be back with a vengeance. 615 00:47:56,490 --> 00:48:01,110 Next time, my journey follows the trail of the first Norwegian Viking pioneers. 616 00:48:01,890 --> 00:48:05,490 Why did they set sail to the northern and western isles of Scotland? 617 00:48:05,930 --> 00:48:11,210 What happened when Vikings met Picts? And what drew them irresistibly down the 618 00:48:11,210 --> 00:48:12,230 sea road to Ireland? 619 00:48:13,260 --> 00:48:17,560 And genetics gives us our first glimpse of where the blood of the Vikings lives 620 00:48:17,560 --> 00:48:18,560 on today.