Course Catalogue

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This course will take a detailed look, from an archaeological point of view, at Scandinavian activity in Scotland in the period from c. AD 800-1300. It will have a particular focus on the nature and character of rural settlement and economic activity.

Two one-hour sessions per week over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus. This is one of the honours optional courses in Archaeology and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into Archaeology, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

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The standard assessments for this course are: 

■ Coursework: one 2,500 word essay (50%)  

■ Examination: one 90-minute examination (50%) 

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available: 

■ There are no alternatives to the Essay, but flexible deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustment (Students should follow the usual process for extensions). 

■ There are no alternatives to the assessments, but extra time can be offered as reasonable adjustment. 

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.  

This course aims to:

■ examine Scandinavian activity, particularly settlement, in Scotland between c.AD800 and 1300

■ engage with the diverse forms of archaeological evidence available for this period, including settlement, burial and hoards

■ identify regional and chronological variations within the Scottish corpus

■ relate this archaeological evidence to broader interdisciplinary and international approaches to the Viking and Late Norse periods

■ assess the impact of Scandinavian settlement on Scotland

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

■ identify a range of archaeological sources for Scandinavian settlement in Scotland, including settlement sites, graves and hoards

■ place this archaeological evidence in a broader interdisciplinary context, including the evidence of place-names, documents and numismatics

■ relate Scotto-Norse activity to comparable 'Viking' evidence elsewhere in these islands

■ evaluate the long-term impact of Scandinavian activity on northern and western Scotland

■ relate a range of different types of evidence to specific research questions and issues