Prehistory Portal

Join Dr. Irina Manea on an amazing journey through Ancient Scandinavia, a true "laboratory" for investigating the development of human societies from the melting of the ice sheets to the dawn of the medieval world. In this module, we'll explore together how a barren land, freshly exposed by retreating glaciers around 13,000 BC, was pioneered by resilient hunter-gatherers and eventually transformed into the seat of powerful Norse kingdoms. We begin with the Late Paleolithic foragers and hunters who settled the Norwegian coast by boat with remarkable speed, covering over 2,000 km in just a few centuries. We walk the road to farming, leading to a landscape defined by tens of thousands of megalithic tombs and the mastery of polished flint technology. Reaching the shining Nordic Bronze Age, we discover a period of expansive dynamism where an elite warrior class funded a spectacular culture of gold and bronze by monopolising the international amber trade and financing long-distance sea voyages. From the Tollense Valley battlefield to the ritual weapon sacrifices found in Danish bogs, we witness the formation of "central places" like Uppåkra and Gudme in the Iron Age, multifunctional hubs where powerful rulers controlled trade, religion, and the military centuries before the first true towns appeared. Although best known for its Viking Age, Scandinavia boasts an enormously rich prehistory well worth investigating. Week 1: Deep prehistory Week 2: The first farmers: Neolithic Scandinavia Week 3: Of art and war: the Nordic Bronze Age Week 4: Secrets of the Iron Age [show less]