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When Irish archaeologists working under Dublin’s South Great George’s Street unearthed the remains of four young men buried with fragments of Viking shields, daggers and personal ornaments, the excavation appeared to be simply more evidence of the Viking presence in Ireland. At least 77 Viking burial sites have been found across Dublin since the late 18th century. All have been dated to the ninth or tenth centuries on the basis of artefacts that accompanied them, and the South Great George’s Street burials seemed to be further examples. Yet when archaeologist Linzi Simpson sent the remains for analysis, the tests showed that the men had been buried in Irish soil years, or even decades, before the accepted date for the establishment of the first year-round Viking settlement in Dublin.
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Simpson’s findings are now adding new weight to an idea gaining growing acceptance — that instead of a sudden, calamitous invasion, the arrival of the Vikings in Ireland started with small-scale settlements and trade links that connected Ireland with northern Europe. And, further, that those trading contacts may have occurred generations before the violent raids described in contemporary texts, works written by monks living in isolated monasteries. These were often the only places where literate people lived and were especially targeted by Viking raiders for their food supplies and treasures. Scholars are continuing to examine the texts written by monks, but are also considering the limitations of using them. ‘Most researchers accept now that the raids were not the first contact, as the old texts suggest,’ says Viking expert Gareth Williams. ‘How did the Vikings know where all those monasteries were? It’s because there was already contact. They were already trading before those raids happened.’
