Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about the Vikings, so you'll be able to recall anything you already know about the Vikings, and we are going to explore the question, how do we know so much about Viking York? So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe some of the features of the Coppergate area of Viking York.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are workshop, blacksmith, wood turner, cobbler.

I'm going to say those again, and I would like you to repeat them after me.

Workshop, blacksmith, wood turner, cobbler.

Good job.

Let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Here are the definitions for each of our keywords.

A workshop is a room or building where a particular type of work takes place, like jewellery making A blacksmith is a craftsperson who makes and repairs things in iron by hand.

A wood turner is a craftsperson who calves wood as it rotates to create a symmetrical object like a table leg.

A cobbler is a craftsperson who mends shoes as their job.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we will be working through together in today's lesson.

Viking houses.

How do we know How the Vikings were craftspeople? And what was a Viking hall used for? In the first learning cycle, we will explore how we found out about how the Vikings lived.

The Coppergate excavation unearthed many items that told archaeologists about how the Vikings lived.

Did they find anything that tells us what they lived in? Hmm, I wonder.

Well, these are two of the objects that were excavated.

What do you think they might have been for? We have a Roman tile and woven twigs with mud on top.

Hmm, what do you think? Well, woven wattles are building materials and they tell us what the Vikings would've used to make walls, pathways, and screens.

Wattle is made by weaving flexible branches around straight sticks, and then mud is put on top to create that building material.

Each building had a very large central fire that had reused Roman tiles around the edges, and they were also used around the edges of the buildings.

This suggests that the Vikings reused building materials that they found nearby.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Can you describe how the Vikings used these items woven wattle, and a Roman tile? Pause the video here, take some time to describe, have a discussion with your partner, and restart the video when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Let's take a look, shall we? Woven wattles were used to make walls, pathways, and screens, and Roman tiles were put around the edge of the fire in the centre of the house.

Good job.

When four Viking house plots were excavated in the street of Coppergate, the archaeologists discovered that the buildings were across one floor and were made of wooden posts, woven wattles, thatched roofs, and earth floors.

The buildings were around seven metres long and 4.

5 metres wide.

Excavations also found that post and wattle buildings were later replaced by buildings with a type of cellar, which was thought to be used for storage.

These buildings used planks of oak and stood in tightly packed rows along the area of Coppergate.

The space between these buildings, was likely filled with animal pens and a cesspit.

Now a cesspit, was a hole outside dug for toilet waste, so it would've made it a very dirty and bad-smelling place to live.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

How did the Viking buildings change over time? They added an attic.

They added a cellar.

They were made of stone, hmm.

Pause the video here, have a quick discussion with your partner, and restart when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said they added a cellar, you're absolutely right, well done.

This brings us to our first learning task.

Can you describe Viking Coppergate to your partner? In your description, include what you might see and smell, the building materials the Vikings used, how the Viking houses changed over time.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to describe Viking Coppergate to your partner, and restart when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Let's take a look at an example.

Your answer might have included.

"Viking Coppergate was full of tightly packed wooden buildings with animal pens and cesspits filling the space in between, this meant it would've been very smelly and dirty! The early Viking buildings in Coppergate were across one floor and were made of wooden posts, woven wattles, thatched roofs, and earth floors.

These were later replaced by buildings with a cellar for storage." Well done for completing that learning task.

We're now ready to move on to the second part of this lesson.

We're going to explore how we know the Vikings were craftspeople.

The buildings that were excavated at Coppergate showed evidence of workshops where the Vikings would craft items. This suggests that the Vikings were skilled craftspeople, not just fierce warriors who invaded places, which is how they have often been remembered.

What evidence did the archaeologists find, I wonder? Well, let's take a look.

The excavations unearthed evidence of entire processes of making things.

What do you think these items tell archaeologists? Hmm, take a take a look at that photo there, what is it showing us? Well, iron objects such as knives and tools suggest the existence of a blacksmith's workshop.

At the Coppergate excavation, evidence of the entire process of metalworking was found, from metal ores, metal separating trays, moulds, through to the finished iron pieces.

Viking metal workers were producing iron objects, as well as working in gold and silver, and making cheap jewellery in lead or copper.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What does a blacksmith do? Hmm, make leather shoes, makes jewellery out of bone, makes and repairs things in iron, what do you think? Pause the video here, have a quick discussion with your partner.

What does a blacksmith do? And restart, when you're ready to continue, what did you think? If you said, makes and repairs things in iron, you're absolutely right, well done.

The excavation also revealed hundreds of these objects.

What do you think these were used for? Take a look at the photos there of the objects found in the Coppergate excavation, hmm.

Well, these wooden items are evidence of a wood turner creating wooden cups and bowls.

Wooden objects that were found in Viking York are evidence of a wood turner's workshop.

The wood turner would've created wooden cups and bowls by turning them on a rotating pole.

Evidence suggests that the wood turners were producing these items in large quantities, as so many were found by archaeologists.

In fact, the name Coppergate actually comes from the Old Norse words, meaning "the street of the cup-makers," how fascinating.

What skills might someone need to make these items? You have strips of leather in that photo and a comb made from bone, hmm.

Well, piles of leather point out where the leather workshop would've been and where leather workers carried out their crafting activities.

There is evidence of leather boots and shoes, which would've been made and repaired by a cobbler.

Other items such as belts, straps, and pouches were also found in these workshops.

Some of them were very detailed, which suggests that Viking craftspeople were very skilled at their work.

Archaeologists also found lots of tools the craftspeople would've used in Viking York, including needles and balls of beeswax, which were used to make it easier for the needles to go through the thick leather.

Items such as combs and jewellery were also found in the excavation.

Combs were one of the most commonly found objects at Coppergate with many being beautifully decorated.

Combs were used by the Vikings for grooming their hair and beards and forgetting rid of head lice, oh, dear.

The combs were made by specialist carvers of bone and antler.

Each stage of the process of making combs was found from sorn-off cuts of antler to the finished product.

Bone and antlers were used for other items in Viking York, such as rings, pieces for board games, ice skates, and handles for knives, and other tools.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Can you draw a line to match the object found to the craftsperson who would've made it? So we have a blacksmith, wood turner, cobbler, wooden objects, iron objects, strips of leather.

Pause the video here, and when you are ready to continue, press play.

How did you get on? Shall we take a look? Well, a blacksmith, their object that they would make are iron objects.

A wood turner is the craftsperson who would make wooden objects, and a cobbler is someone who would've used leather to repair shoes.

Well done if you matched those correctly.

Here is a statement I would like you to think about.

"Vikings are known for only being fierce warriors." This statement is incorrect.

Explain to your partner why this statement is incorrect using what we have learned.

So pause the video here, and explain to your partner why this statement is incorrect using what we have learned, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

How did that go? Let's take a look at what you could have said.

You could have said something like this.

"Vikings are also known for being skilled craftspeople.

Evidence from Coppergate shows that the Vikings were blacksmiths, cobblers, and wood turners." So they weren't only fierce warriors, good job.

This brings us to our second learning task.

For each Viking York workshop, can you add drawings and labels to show the different crafts made there? So we've got a blacksmith's workshop, a wood turner's workshop, and a cobbler's workshop.

So add drawings and labels to show the different crafts that they made in each of these Viking York workshops.

Pause the video here, give yourself enough time to complete this learning task, and restart when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Let's take a look.

So the blacksmith's workshop.

The blacksmith made knives and tools out of iron by hand.

So you might have drawn some iron tools or iron knives.

In the wood turners workshop, they made bowls and cups out of wood, so you might have drawn different bowls and cups.

And then in the cobbler's workshop, they made and repaired leather boots and shoes.

So you may have added those to your drawings.

Well done, for completing that learning task.

We're now going to move on to the third part of this lesson.

What was a Viking hall used for? A large hall was important to Viking life and had been used for many years as a gathering space for the community.

They were also used for celebrations.

Celebrations usually included musical performances, storytelling, and feasting.

The hall was typically a large, long building with a single room and was owned by the Viking king.

Often the walls were decorated with tapestries, showing Viking stories of heroes, and their gods and goddesses.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Where were Vikings celebrations held? Inside the community hall, inside the crafts people's workshops, inside the Vikings wattle houses, what do you think? Pause the video here, and have a quick discussion with your partner, and restart when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said inside the community hall is where Viking celebrations are held, you are absolutely right, well done.

A Viking hall was also used as a place where arguments were heard and resolved.

The community would gather in the hall to vote on the outcome of the argument.

These arguments may have included things like deciding who owned a piece of land or how to punish a criminal.

Viking laws were not written down, so laws were passed on from person to person by word of mouth.

People who broke the law, became known as outlaws and were banished from the community.

This harsh punishment was designed to discourage Vikings from breaking the law.

Let's pause here.

Which of the following were Viking halls not used for? Storytelling and musical performances, fighting and battles, settling arguments? Mm, pause the video here and have a quick discussion with your partner.

Which of the following were Viking halls not used for? And when you're ready to continue, press play.

What did you think? If you said fighting and battles, you're absolutely right.

This brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to explain why the hall would've been important to the Viking community at Coppergate.

Your answer could include who owned the Viking hall, what the Viking hall was used for, and what the Viking hall was decorated with.

So pause the video here, and give yourself enough time to explain why the hall would've been important to the Viking community at Coppergate.

And when you are ready to continue, press play.

How did that go? Let's take a look at what your answer could have included.

"A Viking hall would have been important to the Viking community at Coppergate as it was a community gathering space owned by the Viking king.

It was used for celebrations which involved music, storytelling, and feasts.

The walls of the Viking hall were decorated with stories about Viking heroes, gods, and goddesses.

The hall was also used for hearing and resolving arguments.

If a Viking was found guilty of breaking the law, they would become an outlaw and be banished from the community." Well done, for completing that learning task.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about Viking York: The houses, halls, and craftspeople.

Coppergate was full of tightly packed wooden and wattle houses.

The space between these was likely filled with animal pens and cesspits, making Coppergate a dirty and smelly place! Many Vikings in York were craftspeople, blacksmiths, wood turners, cobblers, jewellery, and comb makers, and they had workshops attached to their houses.

A Viking hall was an important community building owned by the king and used for celebrations with music, feasting, and storytelling.

The hall was also used for listening to and resolving arguments.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today, and I hope to see you at the next lesson.

See you then.