Year 12 History Trip to the Jorvik Viking Festival and DIG


March 9th, 2007

15th and 16th February 2007

Year 12 students currently study a course focusing on the Reign of Alfred the Great, 871-899. The course is predominantly based around Alfred’s relationship with the Vikings, and students consider why Alfred was one of the few Anglo-Saxon kings to successfully resist and defeat the invading Danes.

Nineteen students set out for York on two separate days to help enhance their knowledge of the Vikings. Though Alfred had little direct dealing with the Danes of Northumbria, the festival provides useful background information on their lives and the trip made it clear that Vikings were not simply barbaric warriors.

The first trip allowed students to peruse various outside stalls and chat to ‘real’ Vikings about different aspects of their lives. One student was horrified by the collection of animal skins for sale while others took pleasure in stroking the skin of a wild boar. The group were also able to sample various weapons including swords and shields and some managed to squeeze their big heads into Viking helmets. One elderly Dane approached one young man and he was told in no uncertain terms that she could crush him very easily with her warrior skills. By his own admission, he was left in no doubt that this was true.

This same student was also taken aback later in the day when he asked a passer-by whether he was a Viking, only to discover that in fact he was just a native of York with an extremely large and pointy yellow beard. Luckily, no offence was taken.

The other group of students were struck, not literally, by the size of certain weapons such as the crossbows and swords, and were lectured on the vast array of arrows that would have been fired from beautifully crafted bows. This same group were also able to sample the lesser known feature of Viking life. A number had a go at willow weaving and most produced their own willowed fish, of which they were very proud. The group were also given a talk by Magnus Sigurdsson, who has provided swords, spears and shields for many films. Some students also enjoyed the playing of the hurdy-gurdy while others were enthralled by the puppet show, ‘Thor the Giant Killer.’

It was decided that the afternoon session for both groups would involve a slight change of direction, as we made our way to DIG, York’s archaeological adventure. After a brief outline of how an archaeologist operates, the students chose a trowel and spent the next twenty five minutes in four specially adapted ‘dig zones’. Here they tried to avoid getting sand in their shoes whilst attempting to unearth skeletons and other relics, all replicas of actual discoveries made in the city. A number of students suggested they would be interested in attending a real dig. They were then able to sample a variety of artefacts, trying to guess whether they were jaw bones, sheep skulls or teeth. During a lecture on the Viking artefacts, they were shown items such as an original ice skate, though the highlight was a Viking ‘pooh’, believed to be the oldest Viking faeces in existence. Students were not so much amazed by its age, but by the shear size of the excrement. Only two students were keen on handling the evidence – this was no surprise to anyone who knows them!
 


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