It seems that year 2015 is the year in which British early medieval archaeologists decided to finally adres ideas put forward by Barnett (2008). I have to say, it is about time to wave good bye to the based on circumstantial evidence ideas of shortage of wives as a cause of Viking age rides. However I am concerned still concerned about how does the other British researchers question that concept.
A newest example is What really caused the Viking Age? The social content of raiding and exploration by the co-author of previously discussed article - S.P Ashby (2015). He discusses the powers of forgein objects in the process of creation of elite social identity and a mean of gaining status as a proof of bravery related to raiding and traveling activities. Utilizing a fashionable turn towards object agency (which is a very problematic issue in archaeology since it is very rarely defined in anyway in articles that utilize it) and object biographies in my view he recycle the concept that the Viking age was mainly caused by the need of young generation of warriors to prove themselves and gain status. It is not a new idea by any means but what had to be said, it is nicely repacked in some theoretical concepts. A lack of theory (except the topics of urbanization and emergence of states) is what plagues the Viking age research and introducing concepts well known in prehistory seems to be a good way forward.
What I find very much necessary to point out is that forgein exotic objects (but also transformed practices) made their way to Scandinavia before the Viking age, often ending up in burials. They attest that elites were well connected to their insular and continental counterparts. Inhabitants of the peninsula were not a band of savages that waited until 793 to pop up and introduced themselves to the civilized world. The key question is the scale of those contacts before the final decades of the 8th c. In my opinion the answer to that question does not lie in the Births Isles, but it is buried in archaeological store houses in Scandinavia, were results of many years of excavation awaits a careful examination. A key issue is identification of the fragmented glass material from so-called Central Places of south Scandinavia. Another important area in which origins of the Viking age, inexplicably defined as time of riding and extensive traveling could be sought are the southern and eastern coast of Baltic that seem to be witnesses to earliest example of different expeditions, both peaceful or warlike.
Ashby seems to finally recognize the elitaristic focus of viking age research, writing about warrior elite and their means of producing their social status. In my opinion the whole research that is connected to the viking age is biased towards the members of social elite. The definition of Viking Age as period of rides and trade expedition further places the focus on the prominent members of the population, that were able to afford an expense of going abroad and on the members of the costal urban communities that usually were the target of those travels. With this developments taking place the Viking age studies will further exclude the majority of the population. In my studies of rural burial grounds of South Western Scania - one of the most populated regions in early medieval Denmark, I have found out that there is no change in the burial customs during the transition from Late Vendel to the Viking age. What is even more puzzling - there aren’t much finds that might have derived from riding activities in western Europe. This would suggest a limited impact of the social changes brought by the Viking expeditions. This stands in strong contrast to areas of western Norway, most often discussed in research. The true changes starts to take place in South Western Scania in the 10th c. due to the creation of the Danish state by the Jelling dynasty - and then the Insular connections become more prominent, however still not on the cemeteries. Also the older central places, with a pre-Viking age continuity are abandoned and new centers rise to power. Viking age, defined as a time of raids and travels, with a strict chronological boundaries, have a very limited applicability in archaeology.
A source critical concern of mine is also the fact that author utilized mainly english or written in english literature. Also worrying is the time depth of the article, operating around the well established as the beginning of the Viking age, final decades of 8th that in my opinion seriously limits the potential for new discoveries.
literature:
Ashby S.P 2015. What really caused the Viking Age? The social content of raiding and exploration, Archaeological dialogues 22 (1)
Barnett J. 2008. What caused the Viking Age?, Antiquity 82
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