Books by Shane McLeod
"The conquest and settlement of lands in eastern England by Scandinavians represents an extreme m... more "The conquest and settlement of lands in eastern England by Scandinavians represents an extreme migratory episode. The cultural interaction involved one group forcing themselves upon another from a position of military and political power. Despite this seemingly dominant position, by 900 CE the immigrants appear to have largely adopted the culture of the Anglo-Saxons whom they had recently defeated. Informed by migration theory, this work proposes that a major factor in this assimilation was the emigration point of the Scandinavians and the cultural experiences which they brought with them.
Although some of the Scandinavians may have emigrated directly from Scandinavia, most of the first generation of settlers apparently commenced their journey in either Ireland or northern Francia, particularly Frisia. Consequently, it is the culture of Scandinavians in these regions that needs to be assessed in searching for the cultural impact of Scandinavians upon eastern England. This may help to explain how the immigrants adapted to aspects of Anglo-Saxon culture, such as the issuing of coinage and at least public displays of Christianity, relatively quickly. The geographic origins of the Scandinavians also explain some of the innovations introduced by the migrants, including the use of client kings and the creation of ‘buffer’ states.
"
database by Shane McLeod
This website/blog (link above) comprises a list of culturally Scandinavian Viking Age burial site... more This website/blog (link above) comprises a list of culturally Scandinavian Viking Age burial sites in modern-day Scotland. Most of the burials included grave-goods and are dated c. 850-950. The regional lists include (in order from top to bottom) burials where the site is known exactly, or at least to within 25m; those where the burial site is known to within 100m; and those where the approximate burial site is known but not to within 100m. The list excludes numerous burials where the site cannot be determined with any confidence. Photographs and maps are included of each site, along with a brief description and bibliographic literature. GPS points and NGR are also included to facilitate site visits. The emphasis is upon the location and visibility of the burials within the landscape, and what natural and man-made features were visible from the sites.
Articles & Book Chapters by Shane McLeod
Journal of the North Atlantic, 2024
This article explores the navigation and seafaring strategies used by Norse mariners in and aroun... more This article explores the navigation and seafaring strategies used by Norse mariners in and around the Northern Isles of Scotland. To do so we draw upon a diverse range of sources including saga accounts, placenames, archaeological remains, early historic maps as well as logistical considerations. This diachronic perspective is inspired by Christer Westerdahl’s “maritime cultural landscapes” methodology as well as recent studies of prehistoric seafaring. It is demonstrated, through close examination of the available evidence, that the Norse mariners had very well-developed strategies to avoid dangers as well as maximize their efficiency at sea to ensure that journeys were as safe and fast as possible. Topics explored include navigation markers, naming strategies, landing places, portages, beacons, anchorages and pilots.
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 2015
This note assesses the likely location of the 'Ardvonrig' accompanied Viking Age burial found in ... more This note assesses the likely location of the 'Ardvonrig' accompanied Viking Age burial found in 1862 on the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, and considers whether the exact location of the burial can be determined following a visit to the site in 2014. The possible reasons for the choice of burial location are then assessed.
Viking Camps: Case Studies and Comparisons, 2023
Our understanding of the winter camps used by the Viking Great Army in
England between CE 865 and... more Our understanding of the winter camps used by the Viking Great Army in
England between CE 865 and 878 has benefitted greatly from the discovery and excavation of the camps they used at Torksey (872–3), Repton (873–4), and possibly Aldwark (875–6). These excavations have greatly fleshed out the scanty written sources on winter camps and provided an insight into such things as positioning and defences, activities carried out in the camps, the size of the camps and, crucially for this paper, the number of likely inhabitants. The area covered by the camp at Torksey, fifty-five hectares, suggests that it could have accommodated between 1,500 and 5,000 inhabitants (Hadley & Richards 2016: 26, 59), which is clearly at odds with the notion that Viking armies numbered in the hundreds rather than thousands (Sawyer 1971: 125–129). An interesting aspect of the Torksey excavations was the range of activities taking place at the camp in the winter of 872–3. These include metal-working, woodworking and textile working, trading, and possible currency production. Crucially, there is some evidence for local Anglo-Saxon
metal-workers, as well as women (Hadley & Richards 2016: 54–55, 57–58). This suggests that the number of people present in the winter camps does not necessarily represent the number of people in the Great Army, as once the army was established in a winter camp for a number of months they could have been joined by traders, crafts-people, and family members. Regardless of the total number of occupants that inhabited the camp, the Torksey winter camp suggests that the army numbered at least 1,000 warriors, meaning that a large number of warriors was traversing England when they were not in a winter camp. This raises a number of logistical questions about the Great Army: what mode of transport did they use? Which routes did they take? How far could they travel each day? Where did they stay when they were not in a winter camp? How much food was required during a journey and how did they acquire it? This paper intends on making a start on answering these questions.
Vikings and the Vikings: Essays on Television's History Channel Series, 2019
In 'Vikings', Scandinavian women are regularly depicted as warriors, or shieldmaidens, fighting b... more In 'Vikings', Scandinavian women are regularly depicted as warriors, or shieldmaidens, fighting both in international raids and in defending their homes. But is this portrayal likely to be accurate? Following an examination of the depiction of warrior women in the series, this essay will try to answer this question by focusing on one of the regions that shieldmaidens in the series are shown fighting in, Anglo-Saxon England. England benefits from having primary written sources for the Viking Age, as well as numerous excavations, including the burials of three females with weapons, making them potential shieldmaidens.
Northern Scotland, 2019
The Funeralscapes team comprise three academics in contrasting but
complementary disciplines. Sha... more The Funeralscapes team comprise three academics in contrasting but
complementary disciplines. Shane McLeod, a historian of the Viking Age was
based at the University of Stirling, Frances Wilkins, an ethnomusicologist based
at the Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen, and Carlos Galán-Díaz, an
environmental psychologist who was then based at dot.rural at the University of
Aberdeen. The project emerged from a funding competition run by the Centre
for Academic Development entitled ‘How to Collaborate Virtually’ where early
career researchers were encouraged to collaborate together, online, to produce a
funding application for £1000 to carry out an interdisciplinary, inter-institutional
project. On winning this competition our goal in conducting this project was
to explore the idea of working with participants to use historical re-enactment,
using sound including song, as a means of gaining a greater understanding of
the historical landscape, and exploring emotional reactions to this form of place-based, contextual learning.
Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association, 2018
Human sacrifice, as part of pre-Christian religious rites, is one of a number of violent attribut... more Human sacrifice, as part of pre-Christian religious rites, is one of a number of violent attributes commonly associated with the Vikings both in post-Viking Age medieval written and visual sources and in popular imagination, the latter perhaps best exemplified by the ‘blood eagle’ as performed on Jarl Borg and King Ælle of Northumbria in the popular television show Vikings. But is there any unequivocal contemporary evidence for human sacrifice? This paper will briefly discuss the problems of interpreting the evidence for human sacrifice, before concentrating on the evidence from Britain and Ireland. Despite the silence of contemporary insular written sources, it is found that there is one certain and other probable examples of human sacrifices in the
archaeological records of England, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ireland. Amongst the probable examples is a new suggestion that human sacrifice occurred at Whithorn, the site of a Northumbrian bishopric and monastery, but now in southern Scotland. Discussion of Whithorn will be the focus of the article. The evidence for human sacrifice will be briefly discussed with regard to the active practice of Norse religious beliefs in Britain, and in the Scandinavian acculturation to indigenous practices,
including Christianity, in the ninth and tenth centuries CE.
Gender and Mobility in Scotland and Abroad, 2018
This chapter will investigate the record of culturally ‘Scandinavian’ Viking Age burials in Scotl... more This chapter will investigate the record of culturally ‘Scandinavian’ Viking Age burials in Scotland to assess the age and sex ratios of those buried, as well as the mobility of those assessed by isotope analysis. This will lead to a discussion of migration routes to Scotland during the Viking Age, and address issues of identity.
Beyond Borealism: New Perspectives on the North
Despite the relative abundance of culturally Scandinavian burials (ie. those with grave-goods or ... more Despite the relative abundance of culturally Scandinavian burials (ie. those with grave-goods or otherwise different to indigenous burials) in present-day Scotland, only five Christian cemeteries are known with certainty to be associated with Scandinavian burials, although there are another three possible examples. Of the five certain sites, two are in the northern isles of Orkney and Shetland and three are in southern Scotland. This paper provides a brief overview of all eight sites before concentrating on the five certain examples. It considers the possible reasons for the choice of this burial location, and what it may say about the religious affiliation of the deceased and those who buried them, and the acculturation process between the immigrants and local populations. The different political circumstances in the regions of the sites are also examined. The paper concludes that there is no single answer to explain the phenomenon, and that it may point to the deliberate adoption of multiple burial locations by an incoming population wanting to fulfill multiple objectives: demonstrating their legitimacy, remembering their cultural heritage, and adapting to the practices and practicalities of their new home.
In Orkney, most Scandinavian accompanied burials are close to the sea, settlements, and, to a les... more In Orkney, most Scandinavian accompanied burials are close to the sea, settlements, and, to a lesser extent, pre-Viking Age monuments. The first two were largely prosaic choices, but the latter may indicate an aspect of the mindset of the incoming elite. Based on studies of the re-use of pre-Viking Age monuments in Viking Age Scandinavia, I propose that this
association was deliberate and related to a desire to legitimize the occupation of the land and signal the control of the seaways. I also suggest that burial re-use was common before prominent settlement mounds began to perform these functions.
Limina: A Journal of Historical and Cultural Studies, Mar 20, 2015
The wide-ranging interests of the Scandinavians who controlled Dublin from 851, known as the dubh... more The wide-ranging interests of the Scandinavians who controlled Dublin from 851, known as the dubh gall (and later the Uí Ímair), have been noted by some scholars. At various times they are thought to have controlled or exercised some form of over-lordship over the Kingdom of Northumbria, northern Wales, and southern Scotland, including the Kingdom of Strathclyde. Although evidence from present-day northern England and southern Scotland are often assessed separately, it is important to note that much of southern Scotland was part of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria up to c. 950 CE. It is argued in this paper that the political interests of Scandinavian kings of York (members of the dubh gall/Uí Ímair), often aligned with the Archbishop of York and the Community of St Cuthbert, explains much of the evidence for Scandinavian burial and settlement.
Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society, 2014
A collection of metalwork — a sword, penannular brooch, and sickle — was found close together in ... more A collection of metalwork — a sword, penannular brooch, and sickle — was found close together in 1989 at Carronbridge in north-central Dumfriesshire and they are thought to have been deposited in the ninth or tenth centuries. In the published report it was suggested that they belonged to a ‘lone traveller’, and a later review of the burial concluded that it should be raised ‘to the category of pagan Norse burials marked as “uncertain’’’. Having reconsidered the evidence and viewed the location of the Carronbridge burial I suggest that it should be moved to the ‘certain’ category. A short review of the evidence for Scandinavians in Dumfriesshire is also given, including the circumstances that may have led to the burial.
Journal of the North Atlantic, Apr 2014
This note reports on the recent rediscovery of runestone U 170 near Bogesund in Sweden. In partic... more This note reports on the recent rediscovery of runestone U 170 near Bogesund in Sweden. In particular, the
position of the monument within the 11th-century landscape is examined in light of the informative text that provides important
information on early churchyard burial in central Sweden. The likely reason for placing a Christian monument at
the edge of a pre-Christian burial ground is commented upon, including the likelihood of continued ancestor worship, as
is its relationship to water.
Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association vol 9
Various types of evidence have been used in the search for Norse migrants to eastern England in t... more Various types of evidence have been used in the search for Norse migrants to eastern England in the latter ninth century. Most of the data gives the impression that Norse females were far outnumbered by males. But using burials that are most certainly Norse and that have also been sexed osteologically provides very different results for the ratio of male to female Norse migrants. Indeed, it suggests that female migration may have been as significant as male, and that Norse women were in England from the earliest stages of the migration, including during the campaigning period from 865.
Uses the account of Ohthere and runic inscriptions to demonstrate that at least some members of t... more Uses the account of Ohthere and runic inscriptions to demonstrate that at least some members of the Scandinavian aristocracy had a sense of belonging to supra-regional entities.
Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association, 2006
Feeding the micel here in England c. 865-87
by Shane McLeod
"With the question of the probable ... more Feeding the micel here in England c. 865-87
by Shane McLeod
"With the question of the probable size of ninth-century Viking armies remaining unresolved, this paper examines one of the primary impediments to fielding a large army: the availability of food. Perhaps the best documented Viking army of the century, the great army during its campaign in England, is the focus of this investigation. It is argued that historians have often ignored probable sources of food for the army, particularly the likelihood that food was regularly provided as part of peace treaties, and have consequently overstated the difficulty of maintaining a large army in hostile territory. Furthermore, the role that the kingdoms conquered by the great army and subsequently held on its behalf by puppet administrations may have played has also not been considered.
A short blog entry for the Histories of Emotion page. Link above!
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Books by Shane McLeod
Although some of the Scandinavians may have emigrated directly from Scandinavia, most of the first generation of settlers apparently commenced their journey in either Ireland or northern Francia, particularly Frisia. Consequently, it is the culture of Scandinavians in these regions that needs to be assessed in searching for the cultural impact of Scandinavians upon eastern England. This may help to explain how the immigrants adapted to aspects of Anglo-Saxon culture, such as the issuing of coinage and at least public displays of Christianity, relatively quickly. The geographic origins of the Scandinavians also explain some of the innovations introduced by the migrants, including the use of client kings and the creation of ‘buffer’ states.
"
database by Shane McLeod
Articles & Book Chapters by Shane McLeod
England between CE 865 and 878 has benefitted greatly from the discovery and excavation of the camps they used at Torksey (872–3), Repton (873–4), and possibly Aldwark (875–6). These excavations have greatly fleshed out the scanty written sources on winter camps and provided an insight into such things as positioning and defences, activities carried out in the camps, the size of the camps and, crucially for this paper, the number of likely inhabitants. The area covered by the camp at Torksey, fifty-five hectares, suggests that it could have accommodated between 1,500 and 5,000 inhabitants (Hadley & Richards 2016: 26, 59), which is clearly at odds with the notion that Viking armies numbered in the hundreds rather than thousands (Sawyer 1971: 125–129). An interesting aspect of the Torksey excavations was the range of activities taking place at the camp in the winter of 872–3. These include metal-working, woodworking and textile working, trading, and possible currency production. Crucially, there is some evidence for local Anglo-Saxon
metal-workers, as well as women (Hadley & Richards 2016: 54–55, 57–58). This suggests that the number of people present in the winter camps does not necessarily represent the number of people in the Great Army, as once the army was established in a winter camp for a number of months they could have been joined by traders, crafts-people, and family members. Regardless of the total number of occupants that inhabited the camp, the Torksey winter camp suggests that the army numbered at least 1,000 warriors, meaning that a large number of warriors was traversing England when they were not in a winter camp. This raises a number of logistical questions about the Great Army: what mode of transport did they use? Which routes did they take? How far could they travel each day? Where did they stay when they were not in a winter camp? How much food was required during a journey and how did they acquire it? This paper intends on making a start on answering these questions.
complementary disciplines. Shane McLeod, a historian of the Viking Age was
based at the University of Stirling, Frances Wilkins, an ethnomusicologist based
at the Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen, and Carlos Galán-Díaz, an
environmental psychologist who was then based at dot.rural at the University of
Aberdeen. The project emerged from a funding competition run by the Centre
for Academic Development entitled ‘How to Collaborate Virtually’ where early
career researchers were encouraged to collaborate together, online, to produce a
funding application for £1000 to carry out an interdisciplinary, inter-institutional
project. On winning this competition our goal in conducting this project was
to explore the idea of working with participants to use historical re-enactment,
using sound including song, as a means of gaining a greater understanding of
the historical landscape, and exploring emotional reactions to this form of place-based, contextual learning.
archaeological records of England, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ireland. Amongst the probable examples is a new suggestion that human sacrifice occurred at Whithorn, the site of a Northumbrian bishopric and monastery, but now in southern Scotland. Discussion of Whithorn will be the focus of the article. The evidence for human sacrifice will be briefly discussed with regard to the active practice of Norse religious beliefs in Britain, and in the Scandinavian acculturation to indigenous practices,
including Christianity, in the ninth and tenth centuries CE.
association was deliberate and related to a desire to legitimize the occupation of the land and signal the control of the seaways. I also suggest that burial re-use was common before prominent settlement mounds began to perform these functions.
position of the monument within the 11th-century landscape is examined in light of the informative text that provides important
information on early churchyard burial in central Sweden. The likely reason for placing a Christian monument at
the edge of a pre-Christian burial ground is commented upon, including the likelihood of continued ancestor worship, as
is its relationship to water.
by Shane McLeod
"With the question of the probable size of ninth-century Viking armies remaining unresolved, this paper examines one of the primary impediments to fielding a large army: the availability of food. Perhaps the best documented Viking army of the century, the great army during its campaign in England, is the focus of this investigation. It is argued that historians have often ignored probable sources of food for the army, particularly the likelihood that food was regularly provided as part of peace treaties, and have consequently overstated the difficulty of maintaining a large army in hostile territory. Furthermore, the role that the kingdoms conquered by the great army and subsequently held on its behalf by puppet administrations may have played has also not been considered.
Although some of the Scandinavians may have emigrated directly from Scandinavia, most of the first generation of settlers apparently commenced their journey in either Ireland or northern Francia, particularly Frisia. Consequently, it is the culture of Scandinavians in these regions that needs to be assessed in searching for the cultural impact of Scandinavians upon eastern England. This may help to explain how the immigrants adapted to aspects of Anglo-Saxon culture, such as the issuing of coinage and at least public displays of Christianity, relatively quickly. The geographic origins of the Scandinavians also explain some of the innovations introduced by the migrants, including the use of client kings and the creation of ‘buffer’ states.
"
England between CE 865 and 878 has benefitted greatly from the discovery and excavation of the camps they used at Torksey (872–3), Repton (873–4), and possibly Aldwark (875–6). These excavations have greatly fleshed out the scanty written sources on winter camps and provided an insight into such things as positioning and defences, activities carried out in the camps, the size of the camps and, crucially for this paper, the number of likely inhabitants. The area covered by the camp at Torksey, fifty-five hectares, suggests that it could have accommodated between 1,500 and 5,000 inhabitants (Hadley & Richards 2016: 26, 59), which is clearly at odds with the notion that Viking armies numbered in the hundreds rather than thousands (Sawyer 1971: 125–129). An interesting aspect of the Torksey excavations was the range of activities taking place at the camp in the winter of 872–3. These include metal-working, woodworking and textile working, trading, and possible currency production. Crucially, there is some evidence for local Anglo-Saxon
metal-workers, as well as women (Hadley & Richards 2016: 54–55, 57–58). This suggests that the number of people present in the winter camps does not necessarily represent the number of people in the Great Army, as once the army was established in a winter camp for a number of months they could have been joined by traders, crafts-people, and family members. Regardless of the total number of occupants that inhabited the camp, the Torksey winter camp suggests that the army numbered at least 1,000 warriors, meaning that a large number of warriors was traversing England when they were not in a winter camp. This raises a number of logistical questions about the Great Army: what mode of transport did they use? Which routes did they take? How far could they travel each day? Where did they stay when they were not in a winter camp? How much food was required during a journey and how did they acquire it? This paper intends on making a start on answering these questions.
complementary disciplines. Shane McLeod, a historian of the Viking Age was
based at the University of Stirling, Frances Wilkins, an ethnomusicologist based
at the Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen, and Carlos Galán-Díaz, an
environmental psychologist who was then based at dot.rural at the University of
Aberdeen. The project emerged from a funding competition run by the Centre
for Academic Development entitled ‘How to Collaborate Virtually’ where early
career researchers were encouraged to collaborate together, online, to produce a
funding application for £1000 to carry out an interdisciplinary, inter-institutional
project. On winning this competition our goal in conducting this project was
to explore the idea of working with participants to use historical re-enactment,
using sound including song, as a means of gaining a greater understanding of
the historical landscape, and exploring emotional reactions to this form of place-based, contextual learning.
archaeological records of England, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ireland. Amongst the probable examples is a new suggestion that human sacrifice occurred at Whithorn, the site of a Northumbrian bishopric and monastery, but now in southern Scotland. Discussion of Whithorn will be the focus of the article. The evidence for human sacrifice will be briefly discussed with regard to the active practice of Norse religious beliefs in Britain, and in the Scandinavian acculturation to indigenous practices,
including Christianity, in the ninth and tenth centuries CE.
association was deliberate and related to a desire to legitimize the occupation of the land and signal the control of the seaways. I also suggest that burial re-use was common before prominent settlement mounds began to perform these functions.
position of the monument within the 11th-century landscape is examined in light of the informative text that provides important
information on early churchyard burial in central Sweden. The likely reason for placing a Christian monument at
the edge of a pre-Christian burial ground is commented upon, including the likelihood of continued ancestor worship, as
is its relationship to water.
by Shane McLeod
"With the question of the probable size of ninth-century Viking armies remaining unresolved, this paper examines one of the primary impediments to fielding a large army: the availability of food. Perhaps the best documented Viking army of the century, the great army during its campaign in England, is the focus of this investigation. It is argued that historians have often ignored probable sources of food for the army, particularly the likelihood that food was regularly provided as part of peace treaties, and have consequently overstated the difficulty of maintaining a large army in hostile territory. Furthermore, the role that the kingdoms conquered by the great army and subsequently held on its behalf by puppet administrations may have played has also not been considered.
conducted on the Island of Eigg are providing unique insights into the historical use of sound and landscape in this area. We’ll explore the reconstruction of these funerary traditions through photography, videography, and soundscapes accompanying the talk. The accompanying exhibition runs until Christmas.
The lecture and exhibition are free.