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What Vikings really looked like

What Vikings really looked like
The fine decoration of the Oseberg ship in Norway, which was buried in the year 834, provides clues to what Vikings looked like. Inside the ship were two women and the archaeologists believe the ship has served as a sarcophagus. (Photo: Annie Dalbéra) There’s no shortage of myths about the appearance of our notorious Viking ancestors. To find out more about these myths, ScienceNordic’s Danish partner site, videnskab.dk, asked its Facebook readers to list their favourite myths about what the Vikings looked like. We have picked out five myths from the resulting debate and asked researchers to help us confirm or bust these myths. Armed with this information, our graphic designer then took a shot at drawing some examples of our infamous forefathers, which you can see in our picture gallery. The five myths are: MYTH 1: Vikings were dirty and unkempt Unwashed, rough warriors with froth hanging out of the corners of the mouth. But that’s unlikely to be true: It wasn’t enough just to be clean. Related:  HistorySami - Northern Scandanavia

10 Forgotten Nations That Once Ruled The Land History Rome annihilated Carthage to ensure it would never again rise as a major threat. The Ottomans forever ended Byzantium’s glory. The vast armies of Persia were repeatedly beaten back by the Greeks, subjugated by the might of Alexander, and destroyed by the rise of Islam. 10BurgundyWestern Europe France’s greatest historical rivals are often considered to be England or Germany. We’ve previously mentioned how Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, divided the Carolingian Empire among his sons. For a time, it seemed that fortune favored Burgundy. 9NovgorodEastern Europe The city of Novgorod, whose residents sometimes called it “Lord Novgorod the Great,” truly lived up to its name. By the 14th century, Novgorod had become one of the busiest trading ports in Europe—an estimated 400,000 people lived in the city. Sadly, this state of affairs wouldn’t last forever. Ivan III, also known as “Ivan the Great,” invaded the city in 1471, subsequently annexing it in 1478. 6MajapahitSoutheast Asia

Sami people Traditionally, the Sami have pursued a variety of livelihoods, including coastal fishing, fur trapping, and sheep herding. Their best-known means of livelihood is semi-nomadic reindeer herding. Currently about 10% of the Sami are connected to reindeer herding and 2,800 are actively involved in herding on a full-time basis.[8] For traditional, environmental, cultural and political reasons, reindeer herding is legally reserved only for Sami people in certain regions of the Nordic countries.[9] Etymologies[edit] The first known historical mention of the Sami, naming them Fenni, was by Tacitus, about 98 CE.[13] Variants of Finn or Fenni were in wide use in ancient times, judging from the names Fenni and Phinnoi in classical Roman and Greek works. In Sweden and Finland, Lapp is common in place names, such as Lappi (Länsi-Suomen lääni) and Lapinlahti (Itä-Suomen lääni) in Finland; and Lapp (Stockholm County), Lappe (Södermanland) and Lappabo (Småland) in Sweden. Homeland of the Sámi people

Viking History - About.com Guide to the Ancient Norse By K. Kris Hirst Viking history traditionally begins in northern Europe with the first Scandinavian raid on England, in AD 793, and ends with the death of Harald Hardrada in 1066, in a failed attempt to attain the English throne. During those 250 years, the political and religious structure of northern Europe was changed irrevocably. Some of that change can be directly attributed to the actions of the Vikings, and/or the response to Viking imperialism, and some of it cannot. Viking Age Beginnings Beginning in the 8th century AD, the Vikings began expanding out of Scandinavia, first as raids and then as imperialistic settlements into a wide swath of places from Russia to the North American continent. The reasons for the Viking expansion outside of Scandinavia are debated among scholars. continue reading below our video At the time of the expansion, the Scandinavian countries were each experiencing a centralization of power, with fierce competition. Viking Age: Settling Down Viking Economics

11 Things You May Not Know About Ancient Egypt — HISTORY Lists Ancient Egypt stood as one of the world’s most advanced civilizations for nearly 3,000 years and created a culture so rich that it has spawned its own field of study. But while Egyptian art, architecture and burial methods have become enduring objects of fascination, there is still a lot you probably don’t know about these famed builders of the pyramids. From the earliest recorded peace treaty to ancient board games, find out 11 surprising facts about the Gift of the Nile. Along with King Tut, perhaps no figure is more famously associated with ancient Egypt than Cleopatra VII. But while she was born in Alexandria, Cleopatra was actually part of a long line of Greek Macedonians originally descended from Ptolemy I, one of Alexander the Great’s most trusted lieutenants. For over two centuries the Egyptians fought against the Hittite Empire for control of lands in modern day Syria. After a long day’s work along the Nile River, Egyptians often relaxed by playing board games.

Norway's monument to 91 (Sami) murdered as witches 1593-1692 His firm paid a king-sized fine for trying to sell planes to Iran. That same company was a member of the politically connected Clinton Global Initiative. An Iranian businessman accused by the U.S. government of violating sanctions on Iran donated money to the Clinton Foundation, The Daily Beast has confirmed. Vahid Alaghband’s Balli Aviation Ltd., a London-based subsidiary of the commodities trading firm Balli Group PLC, tried to sell 747 airplanes to Iran, despite a federal ban on such sales. Alaghband is one of an array of questionable actors who’ve been found in recent months to give to the Clinton Foundation. But Alaghband stands out from the rest, because the beneficiary of his firm’s deals with Tehran was an Iranian airline accused by the U.S. government of working with the regime’s foreign intelligence operatives and shipping arms and troops to Syria. On the Clinton Foundation website, Alaghband’s company is listed as a donor in the $10,001 to $25,000 bracket.

Viking Age Food and Cuisine – Ancient History et cetera A Viking reenactor drinking ale. (Photo by Lovisa Olsson.) An Early Meal: A Viking Age Cookbook & Culinary Odyssey by Daniel Serra and Hanna Tunberg introduces readers to Viking Age food and cuisine from early medieval Scandinavia. Thoroughly based on archaeological finds, historical cooking methods, and current research, the book is a must-read for those interested in Old Norse culture and food history. Within its pages, the authors dispel many of the prevalent myths that persist about Viking Age food and cookery, share reconstructed recipes, and impart new information drawn from years of experimental research in the field. In this exclusive 2015 holiday season interview, Daniel Serra discusses Viking Age food and Old Norse culture with James Blake Wiener of Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE). JW: Mr. I have read that you are currently writing your doctoral thesis on a similar topic, so you must have a deep-seated curiosity in food history. I used quite a lot of Anglo-Saxon texts. Mr.

1922: The discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb — in color In 1907, Egyptologist and archaeologist Howard Carter was hired by George Herbert, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon to oversee excavations in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Carter had built a reputation for scrupulously recording and preserving discoveries. Carter searched the valley for years with little to show for it, which drew the ire of his employer. Revisiting a previously abandoned dig site at a group of huts, Carter started digging again, desperate for a breakthrough. On Nov. 4, 1922, his crew discovered a step carved into the rock. On Nov. 26, with Carnarvon at his side, Carter chipped open a small breach in the corner of the doorway at the end of the stairs.

What the Sami people can teach us about adapting to climate change Elina Helander-Renvall comes from Utsjoki, a place so obscure that even many Finns have little idea where it is. Utsjoki, or Ochejohka, Uccjuuha, and Uccjokk, depending on which local language you are speaking, is Finland's northern-most municipality. Straddling the border with Norway, it shivers, unregarded, deep inside the Arctic circle, a few icy miles from the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Utsjoki, population 1,034, is home to Finland's largest concentration of Sami speakers, the indigenous people once loosely known as Lapps who have eked out an itinerant existence herding reindeer across the frozen wastes of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and western Russia since the last Ice Age. Born and raised on the margin though she was, Helander-Renvall's message these days is strictly mainstream. In order to keep a reindeer herd out of trouble, for example, a knowledge of different types of snow could be decisive, Helander-Renvall said. The Arctic as a whole faces enormous challenges.

Timeline - The Viking Museum A Timeline of Viking History A.D. 436, This is the time of the legendary Sigurd the dragon slayer. Son of hero Sigmund and leading figure in the Volsung saga. Also known as Siegfried. 480, King Hadding of Denmark. Raised by giants he fought many a great battle. His tale is filled with fantastic creatures and magic. 520, Beowulf. Sources Haywood, John.

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