Ben started following the journal Viking and Medieval Scandinavia.
Ben followed the research interests: Portable Antiquities Scheme and Anglo-Saxon settlement patterns (Archaeology)
Ben added talks.
- Archaeology
- Battlefield Archaeology
- Conflict Archaeology
- Contemporary Military Archaeology
- Crusader Archaeology
- Death and Burial (Archaeology)
- Early Medieval Archaeology
- Early medieval Britain (Archaeology)
- Medieval Archaeology
- Militarized Landscapes
- Military Architechture
- Roman military archaeology
- Viking Age Archaeology
- Viking Age Conflict Archaeology
- Anglo-Saxon settlement patterns (Archaeology)
- Archaeology Of Colonialism (in Archaeology/Historical Archaeology)
- Archaeology of Iceland
- Celtic Archaeology
- Experimental Archaeology
- Folklore Archeology
- Hellenistic and Roman Fortifications
- Portable Antiquities Scheme
- Prehistoric Conflicts
- Roman Army
- Roman archaeology
Papers
Contribution to Edgeworth 2008: "The Tempsford Project: An Interim Report"
Contribution to the above article, written by Dr. Matt Edgeworth. Published in 'South Midlands Archaeology'.
The article describes an archaeological site at Blunham, Bedfordshire. The site is postulated to be the lost Viking fortress at Tempsford, which is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 917. In this year a Danish army was encamped at Tempsford whilst raiding Bedford and the surrounding area. The fortress was however besieged and captured by an Anglo-Saxon army, resulting in the death of the Danish king and several jarls.
'Plundering the Territories in the Manner of the Heathens': Identifying Viking Age Battlefields in Britain.
Published in 'Rosetta' Issue #7
'Battle' is a word often associated with the Viking Age in England and there are numerous references in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles to the conflict that took place as the Anglo-Saxons fought to keep Viking incursions at bay. There is no doubt that hostile encounters between the two sides were violent and bloody, with the Anglo-Saxons fighting to hold on to territories that were now not only under threat from other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, but also from 'heathens' and foreign enemies who were set on conquering England for their own. These battles were to take place for over two and a half centuries from the first recorded raid at Lindisfarne, Northumbria, in 793 until the famous Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066.
Archaeology as a discipline knows relatively little of how these people fought each other for possession of English soil and wealth. There are numerous contemporary references to battles in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, but these state little more than there being a 'great slaughter' at a certain location, with the victor occasionally being named. We are not sure of the size of the battles both in terms of area and the number of combatants, nor are we sure of the tactics used.
This article will attempt to construct a theoretical model for Viking Age battlefields, utilising a synthesised approach of literary and historical evidence alongside archaeology from a number of different time periods, including prehistory. The study of the Early Medieval period and the Viking Age cannot be undertaken simply from a historical, literary or archaeological viewpoint, but a combined approach has the potential to allow a much more comprehensive view of warfare in the period.