Secrets Of The Viking Ship with Bettany Hughes

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Summary

The historian investigates the discovery of a group of Viking graves in the eastern Baltic that date back over 1200 years, predating the established start of the Viking era. Bettany follows the investigation from Estonia to Sweden, uncovering how scientists and archaeologists reconstructed the men's origins, kinship and fate, and uncovered a tantalising question. Could one of these warriors have been the legendary Viking king who inspired an epic saga?

Review

David Butcher

The internet will tell you that the Viking age began with an attack by Norsemen on Lindisfarne in AD 793. That expedition launched the “raiding, trading civilisation” that went on to terrorise swathes of Europe – or so the received wisdom goes. Except… Bettany Hughes has news for us.

The latest evidence from an extraordinary grave site in Estonia suggests that decades earlier, bands of warriors from Sweden were already ranging across the Baltic. On the island of Saaremaa, workmen found a mass of bones in 2008 that turned out to be the remains of 40 unusually tall men buried in longboats, with swords, gaming pieces, war dogs and birds of prey buried alongside them.

It’s a tale of archaeological drama, clever science with strontium isotopes and what one expert calls “the find of the century”. It may also involve the skeleton of a legendary Swedish king.

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rolenamePresenterBettany HughesDirectorOlly BootleExecutive producerNick CatliffProducerJohnny Crockett

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