Viking Age in Estonia

• 1. Buried Warriors And Salme

  ›

  In 2008, archaeologists uncovered two wooden ships near the village of Salme on Saaremaa. These vessels were used for ship burials around AD 700 to 750 during the Nordic Iron Age. Excavations revealed the remains of more than forty warriors killed in battle inside these boats. The site contained numerous weapons and other artifacts that pointed to a violent end for those who sailed into the Baltic Sea. This discovery provided rare physical evidence of early Viking activity in the region before written records became common.

  1

• 2. Scandinavian Cultural Zone

  ›

  The areas of Northern and Western Estonia belonged to the Scandinavian cultural sphere during the Viking Age. This zone covered approximately two-thirds of modern-day Estonia including Ösel. Archaeological finds show that weapons and dress pins from this period matched types found in Sweden. A cult site at Viidumäe on Saaremaa yielded items with typical Scandinavian decorations alongside local dress pins. These objects indicate considerable Swedish impact on Saaremaa's culture already before the tenth century. The four distinct provinces of Saaremaa, Läänemaa, Harjumaa, and Virumaa had separate names in Scandinavian sources.

• 3. Sagas And Conflicts

  ›

  Snorri Sturluson relates in his Ynglinga saga how King Ingvar Harra fought pirates from Estonia in the seventh century. He fell in a battle against men of Estland who came down with a great army. Another account describes Norwegian Queen Astrid escaping with her son Olaf Tryggvason from Novgorod around 967. Vikings from Estonia raided their ship killing some crew members and taking others into slavery. Six years later Sigurd Eirikson spotted Olaf in a market on Saaremaa and paid for his freedom. A battle between Estonian and Icelandic Vikings off Saaremaa is described in Njál's saga as occurring in 972 AD.

• 4. Iron Exports And Silver Hoards

  ›

  The most definitive export from the area of Estonia during the Viking Age was iron found as bog iron in several places. Export of this raw material started before the Final Iron Age ended. Swords and spears were manufactured locally using Petersen's K type blades which were the most numerous in the tenth century. The largest Viking-Age hoards found in Estonia have been at Maidla and Kose. These treasures mostly contain silver coins and bars. The earliest coin hoards discovered are Arabic Dirhams dating back to the eighth century. Out of fifteen hundred published coins, one thousand are Anglo-Saxon.

• 5. Population Growth And Settlements

  ›

  The population of Ancient Estonia in the late Iron Age circa 1100 AD reached an estimated 150,000 people. This figure represents a five-fold increase from approximately thirty thousand inhabitants during the Roman Iron Age around 400 AD. For comparison the population of Norway between 1000 AD and 1100 AD stood at around two hundred thousand people. Finnic tribes lived in both Northern Western and Southeastern Estonia around AD 1000. There are also mentions of a possible Norse settlement in Harjumaa on the eleventh century.

• 6. Wood And Stone Ramparts

  ›

  Fortifications in Viking Age Estonia were initially built out of wood and sand before being upgraded with large stone ramparts. The fort at Iru in north-western Estonia was the most thoroughly investigated site used during this period. Its beginning marked the most active phase of construction for that specific stronghold. There are forty-one known forts in Estonia from the second half of the first millennium. Thirty-seven of those were built or remained in use during the Pre-Viking and Viking Ages. These structures were mostly situated in settlement centers near rivers which served as transport mechanisms.

• 7. End Of An Era And Crusades

  ›

  The end of the Viking Age in Estonia is defined by the abandonment of centers with a fort and a settlement. New burial places emerged alongside larger cemeteries and wheel-thrown pottery appeared in the archaeological record. Winter Rye began cultivation while village settlements replaced older patterns. With the rise of centralized authority along with bolstering coastal defense these raids became more risky and less profitable. By the eleventh century Scandinavians frequently clashed with Estonian Vikings leading to German Danish and Swedish participation in Northern crusades. Local tribes eventually underwent baptism military occupation and sometimes extermination by foreign forces.