Previous excavations led by the Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape Superintendency revealed remnants of a forum, sculptures, bathhouses, streets, and domus adorned with vibrant-colored marbles and mosaics.
The recent excavations, conducted on a mere tenth of the 44-acre site, have exposed the largest non-stratified archaeological area in Northern Italy. Among the treasures discovered are over 3,000 Roman coins, predominantly silver and bronze, and numerous gems engraved with images honoring Roman deities. Notably, a rare silver quinary from 97 BCE was found in the corridors of a newly discovered theatre complex.
To keep this coherent, I am going to start with a brief overview of the academic research conducted on the possibility of vikings having travelled to Oak Island. I will then touch briefly on academics who have posited that the Oak Island treasure could be related to vikings. From this information I will showcase the most likely connection, with examples from other viking colonies.
After that, I will go through the finds that occurred on the island from both archeological digs, and smaller finds from metal detecting. I will then categorise these finds into ones that definitely cannot have a connection to vikings, versus those that have some degree of plausibility.
There is evidence of upright timbers being placed around docking areas in the viking age, as an attempt to shore up a rivers edge. So I suppose 13th century timber fragments beneath what appears to be a wharf, or dry docking area for ships, makes some sense. Stones might have been placed in order to move a larger transport ships onto shore. Again, I am not an expert in dry-docking, or in viking ships. However, I am going to attach a link to a Masters Thesis which expands on viking age docking areas, and their suspected infrastructure. I think the consensus is that it really depended on the size of the ship. Smaller ships could pull right up onto shore with little issue, whereas large transport ships would need some kind of infrastructure.
The coin found on Oak Island that is being heralded as a Templar coin is in such rough shape. That makes it difficult to attribute to anything. However, we are creating deniable plausibility here for the Templar narrative. I am going to link a YouTube video to a clip from the show for us to examine.
Now, I do kind of agree with their interpretation of the symbol on top being a cross. But I want to throw into the mix just two coins from the viking era. These looked shockingly similar to a Templar coin and could be as credible a contender as anything else.
This is plausible, since garnets were one of the most popular gemstones coveted during the Viking Age. The brooch found on the show was dated roughly to the 1500s or 1600s. This put it in the realm of the possible.
There is also a non-semi-precious gemstone brooch made of gold plated leaded glass with a threaded technique. The jewellery was dated to the 14th century or earlier. This certainly puts it within the Viking period of craft making, and trading.
The ring definitely looks like something that would have been found in a viking hoard. I have a ring I actually purchased on Ebay from a viking find. They were able to make decorative pieces and it looks to be in similar shape to my own.
It makes sense that during their sea-faring they would absolutely visit Nova Scotia. If they discovered Oaks on the island and wanted to harvest them during their own period of deforestation it would also make sense for them to drag a ship up on shore for a summer and clear the land of trees.
Maybe they did that really quickly and then pulled up anchor and moved on? I think to be convinced further I would need to find more evidence of people summering on the island. There is very little evidence of structures, hearths, tools for fishing or killing wild animals. We would expect to see more signs of life if people had spent any amount of time on the island.
My name is Jennifer MacLellan. I am PhD candidate in History at the University of Iceland, in Reykjavik. I study the transition period from Pagan to Christianity during the Viking Age. I am also a Psychotherapist and use that knowledge to study emotion, and somatic experiences in the saga literature. My blog explores historical and pop culture references to Viking history using evidence based research.
Vikings history is as extensive as the people it studies. The seafaring Vikings (in Danish, the Vikinger) were a group of people that came from the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. They made an enduring name for themselves in the 8th through the 11th centuries for being tactical warriors, smart traders, and daring explorers. In fact, they arrived in America 1,000 years before Columbus ever did, and archeologists have found some of their remnants scattered as far east as Russia. This is the true story of Vikings history.
Historians use the term the Viking Age to describe the turbulent expansion of the Scandinavian people into Europe and Russia. Beginning in A.D. 793 with the Lindisfarne raid, Norwegians, Swedes and Danes set to raiding. Any unprotected community was a target. Vikings attacked places all along the coasts of Scotland, England, Ireland, France, Italy and inland Russia. They terrorized, plundered, traded, explored and finally settled and farmed all over the lands they encountered.
The true Vikings history is fascinating. Simply put, the Vikings were Norwegians, Swedes and Danes, men who were usually farmers, traders, blacksmiths, and craftsmen. For various reasons, they took to raiding towns, churches and monasteries. Many of the places they attacked were on the coasts as they were easiest to reach. With their swift and easily landed ships, the Vikings could quickly swarm over the communities, killing and looting, and just as fast return to their ships and leave. They were gone before any defense or counter-attack could be made.
Special ship construction techniques made the long ships and larger dragon ships versatile enough to sail great distances, carry up to 200 men, withstand rough seas while still being light enough to drag over land or carry through portages. Explore with us as we consider Viking ship building and navigation skills. Contemporaries of the Vikings were awed by their ships and sailing skills. Find out why by reading further.
The Scandinavians changed the history of Ireland, England, Russia and other European countries. They established new territories in Iceland, Greenland and temporarily, North America. From A.D. 793 to 1066, Vikings raided, traded, challenged, conquered and settled in many lands. Popular movies and novels give you a glimpse into their lives, but usually show only a part of the impact these energetic people had on the known world of the time. Reading here will give you a much better grasp of their impact on other cultures.
The Vikings practiced primogeniture, which means the eldest son inherits everything and any younger sons nothing. Without land to farm, younger sons would need to find a way to make a living. This theory seems likely at least as one of the factors leading to the Scandinavian expansion into Europe.
While in previous times, Scandinavians had traded with Europeans readily, as Europe became more Christian, Christian traders began to refuse to trade with pagans or Muslims. This created problems for the Vikings, and perhaps they saw raids as a way of fixing those problems.
Viking symbols play a large role in their iconography, just as they do in all societies. Symbols are cultural shorthand, a sign that conveys layers of meaning about the culture. The pagan Vikings used symbols to represent their gods, beliefs and myths.
The term aegishjalmr means the helm of awe or terror. The symbol was used most often in magic to induce delusion or forgetfulness. A special form of magic called seior was used to create illusions or to prevent people seeing things as they really are. Thus, this symbol was used to hide someone from his or her pursuers. It is mentioned often in the sagas as being used by women who performed this kind of magic. The Helm of Awe might be engraved onto a goatskin, which was then thrown over the head of the fugitive. Even after the advent of Christianity, belief in the aegishjalmr persisted.
What did Vikings eat? The Vikings farmed crops, grew gardens and raised animals, as is typical of food produced from a feudal economy. They ate what they produced on their farms or what they could hunt, fish or gather. Viking farms were generally small, but large enough to keep the family or extended family well-fed in good years. Their food was seasonal, so they might have a lot of food available to eat at some times of the year and very little to eat at others.
Icelanders discovered and settled in Greenland starting in the 980s. Erik the Red, an adventuresome and belligerent man, was exiled from Iceland for killing a man. During his three year-exile, Erik explored the southwest coast of Greenland. When he returned to Iceland, he bragged of the good land he had found, calling it Greenland to attract settlers. Icelanders settled in two main areas, the Eastern Settlement and the Western Settlement.
Farming was difficult, but settlers were able raise livestock and enough grain to feed them. Greenland was able to export furs, wool, sheep, whale blubber and walrus ivory. Due to the advance of the Little Ice Age, however, the colony declined during the 14th century. Life had become too hard, shipping too difficult due t o growing ice. By 1408, all the settlers were gone.
Vikings established home bases and trade centers in both Dublin, Ireland and York, England. Not only did these towns attract international traders, but many Viking craftsmen settled there. Their workshops produced cups, tableware, glass beads, pottery, drinking glasses, bone and antler combs, leather goods, jewelry, and cloth. Blacksmiths and armor makers produced swords, battle axes, chainmail and armor.
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