ARCH30980 The Viking Age: Studies in the Archaeology of northern Europe, c.AD700–1050

Academic Year 2023/2024

This module will take an archaeological approach to the study of the Viking Age in its broadest sense, an era characterised by intensive social and material entanglements involving raiders, traders, and settlers from Scandinavia across a swathe of territory stretching from Central Asia to North America, c.AD700–1050. Ireland had a particularly important role in the Viking Age, and will thus feature prominently in the module, but there will also be a strong focus on Britain and Scandinavia, with the eastern Baltic, Russia and Ukraine, Western and Central Asia also featuring. The module will consist of a region-by-region survey before focussing on a series of particular themes such as exchange, migration, state-formation and ritual practices. The approach will principally be archaeological, but recourse will be made during lectures to documentary evidence at times.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

Having taken this module, students will:
– be familiar with the archaeology of Ireland, Britain, Scandinavia, and beyond to areas such as the eastern Baltic, Western and Central Asia in the period c.AD700–1050.
– will have learned about the challenges and opportunities of multidisciplinary approaches, from documentary sources to archaeological data
– be aware of national repositories of archaeological data in several countries, in addition to the online catalogues of several key museums.
– have formed deeper ideas in relation to systems of exchange, settlement, migration, identity formation, landscapes, and the application of theoretical approaches to archaeological data.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

40
Autonomous Student Learning

40
Lectures

16
Seminar (or Webinar)

4
Field Trip/External Visits

4
Total

104
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Biweekly lectures will be accompanied by a series of targeted seminars conducted by the module co-ordinator and other experts. There will also be a museum visit to the National Museum in Kildare Street (Wednesday, 14 February 2024; date TBC) and a fieldtrip to a series of sites in Dublin associated with the Scandinavian diaspora (Saturday, 8 April 2024, date TBC). Assessment will take the form of a mid-semester project and end-of-semester essay. Approaches to teaching and learning may include:
– Lectures and seminars with in-class activities, discussions and debates to facilitate active and task-based learning
– Fieldtrips to put learning into practice
– Assigned materials for out-of-class engagement: academic articles and book chapters, documentaries, film-clips, and passages of historical fiction
– The development of critical writing and presentation skills 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Assignment: Write and record a 10-minute video presentation consisting of a contextual object biography of one item of material culture dated to the Viking Age and associated with the Scandinavian diaspora. Week 5 n/a Graded No

30
Essay: Write a 3000-word essay on one of a list of five topics (listed in Module Handbook) (end of Week 13) Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

70

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Written feedback will be provided in digital form on the two assignments after they have been corrected, followed by group feedback given to the class. Module participants will be provided the opportunity to pick a peer-review partner to discuss their work over the the course of the semester, with a short video guide to peer-reviewing made available on the module platform. Module participants will also be provided the opportunity to carry out self-assessment activities relating to the topics discussed in the lectures and seminars and the assigned reading.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
 
Spring
      
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Mon 15:00 - 15:50
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 12:00 - 12:50
Spring