SCAN 2202 Lecture 19: SHIPS AND VIKINGS AT SEA
8 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
In scandinavia, the waterways have always offered better ways of communication than the mainland. Boats and ships were, and are, fundamental to survival and societal development. Ships represent concrete material responses to needs that were important enough to be met with massive ivestments of time, energy and economy. Experimental archaeology suggests that the cost of building a 30m longship required 40,000 working hours. Included production of iron, ropes and sails, but not transportation costs. With a 12 hour workday and a surplus production of 10%, this would require 100 persons working for one year. Manning such a ship for 4 months would require that 70 men were taken out of productions and had to be fed. Figures indicate that seafaring demanded a heavy burden on society, and required a high level of organization. The nordic term for naval organization is leidanger, a term known from the medieval period, but with possible origins in the viking age.
