Lesson video

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 explain why Viking York was an important international trading centre for the Vikings.

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 merchant, Baltic, carnelian, amber, silk.

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

Merchant, Baltic, carnelian, amber, silk.

Good job.

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

Here are the definitions for each of our keywords.

A merchant is a person who trades goods with other countries.

The Baltic is the area surrounding the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe.

Carnelian is a brownish-red mineral that is often used as a gemstone to make jewellery.

Amber is hardened resin from ancient trees, which has been preserved as a fossil over time.

Silk is a fine, soft, and shiny material produced using the thread of a silkworm.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords, and when you are ready to continue, press Play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson, Viking York, a centre for trade, excavated items from around the world.

In the first learning cycle, we will explore how we found out about Viking York as a centre for trade.

So how did Viking York become a centre for trade? Hm, let's take a look at York on the map there.

You can see that it's surrounded by the River Ouse and the River Foss.

Or when the Vikings invaded and settled in York, they were able to take advantage of its location and change from invaders to merchants.

The Vikings created a major crossing over the River Ouse, with a main street, Micklegate, the Great Street leading to it.

This crossing is still there today.

Other streets such as Ousegate, Warmgate, and Fossgate created a centre of trading activity along the riversides.

Can you imagine the activity all along those rivers? The Rivers Ouse and Foss provided easy access routes in and out of York.

With the Viking Superior shipbuilding skills, the rivers enabled them to trade across the world.

Their impressive long boats were very strong, which allowed the Vikings to carry heavy goods such as timber and to survive travelling long distances.

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

How did the River Ouse and Foss help the Vikings with global trade? They provided easy access routes.

They were wide for many boats.

They had lots of marine life for fishing.

Hm, what do you think? Pause the video here and have a quick discussion with your partner, and when you are ready to continue, press Play.

What did you think? If you said, "They provided easy access routes," you are absolutely right.

Well done.

The Vikings set up trading routes across the Baltic Sea and along a number of rivers, including the Volga in Western Russia.

Viking merchants also travelled down the Dnieper River and across the Black Sea to Miklagard, which was the capital of the Byzantine Empire at the time.

Let's take a moment to look at this map of Viking trade routes.

Can you see where the green arrow travels, how far it travels, and where it goes to? Take a moment, pause the video here and have a good look at the rivers and the seas in which the Vikings travelled.

And when you are ready to continue, press Play.

Now, these vast trading routes meant that the Vikings travelled all over the world to trade the items that their craftspeople made, as well as items such as honey, tin, wheat, wool, wood, iron, fur, leather fish, and walrus ivory.

Now, although there was no evidence of animal furs found during the Coppergate excavation, it is likely that the Vikings traded furs too, especially as they traded with colder places like Norway and Russia.

Furs have probably not been found as they break down, and so they're not preserved very well.

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

Is Laura correct? Laura says, "I think Vikings are fierce warriors that only invaded other countries." Discuss with your partner, is Laura correct or not? Hm, pause the video here, and when you are ready to continue, press Play.

What did you think? Well, in this case, Laura is not correct.

Vikings did not just invade other countries, they were merchants that travelled all over the world to trade goods.

Well done if your discussion with your partner revealed that Laura wasn't correct.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to write two sentences to explain how York became a centre of trade.

A good answer will include Rivers Ouse and Foss, access, merchants, and trade.

So grab yourself a pen and some paper and give yourself enough time to write two sentences to explain how York became a centre of trade.

And when you are ready to continue, press Play.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an example? So your answer could have included, "York became a centre of trade because the Rivers Ouse and Foss provided easy access routes in and out of York and connected the town to the rest of the world.

The York Vikings became merchants and traded items that the Viking craftspeople made, as well as items like honey, fish, furs, and wheat." Well done for completing that learning task.

Let's move on to the second part of our lesson, we're going to explore excavated items from around the world.

Now, these items were found by archaeologists in Coppergate.

What are these items and what do they tell us about trade, do you think? Hm, have a quick discussion with your partner.

Have you ever seen these items before? What do you think they tell us about trade? Pause the video here, and when you are ready to continue, press Play.

What did you think? Well, carnelian is a brownish-red mineral that is often used as a gemstone to make jewellery.

It is likely that carnelian came to York via Viking merchants in Russia.

And amber, amber is hardened resin from ancient trees, which has been preserved as a fossil over time.

Amber was also used by the Vikings in their jewellery as it comes in beautiful different shades of orange.

It is thought that amber travelled along the River Ouse and Foss to Jorvik from Scandinavia and the Baltic region.

As both carnelian and amber were found by archaeologists amongst the excavated objects at Coppergate, this suggests that the Vikings were successful merchants all over the world as these items are not naturally found in Britain.

And other evidence from Viking York demonstrates further links with many parts of the world.

Objects found at Coppergate come from Norway in Northern Europe, the Rhineland in Western Europe, Uzbekistan in Central Asia, and the Red Sea, part of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia.

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

Objects found at Coppergate are evidence of Viking trade around the world.

Is that true or false? Hm, what do you think? Is that true or false? Well, if you said that that is true, you are absolutely right.

How do we justify our answer? Let's take a look at these two statements here.

Objects found at Coppergate came from Russia, the Baltic, Norway, the Rhineland, Uzbekistan, and the Red Sea.

Objects found at Coppergate only came from Russia and the Baltic.

Hm, what do you think? Pause the video here and have a quick discussion with your partner.

Which of these two statements helps to justify your answer? And when you are ready to continue, press Play.

What did you think? If you said, "The objects found at Coppergate came from Russia, the Baltic, Norway, the Rhineland, Uzbekistan, and the Red Sea," you are absolutely right.

Those items certainly came from all over the world.

Around 23 fragments of silk were found during the excavation at Coppergate.

In fact, an almost complete silk hooded-shape cap was found with only the chin straps missing.

Silk fibres are produced by silkworms when they spin themselves into a cocoon on their journey to becoming a silk moth.

It is thought that the silk in Viking York came from the Byzantium in the Middle East, and it was likely traded in Russia first.

And do you know where silk originally came from? Well, originally, silk came from China.

Therefore, the discovery of silk shows that the trade route that the Vikings used from Byzantium to Jorvik extended even further, all the way to China.

Why else was the discovery of silk in Viking York impressive? It's already impressive that it travel all that way from China, potentially.

Now, it is particularly impressive that the evidence of silk was found in Viking York because silk is a fine and soft material which breaks down really easily.

So it is rare when evidence of silk survives from such a long time ago.

And this emphasises the peaty soil at Coppergate was very good at preserving Viking evidence.

That's pretty amazing, isn't it, that something that would break down so easily was actually so well preserved in Coppergate because of that amazing peaty soil.

A cowrie shell is another object that was excavated at Coppergate.

It is likely to have come from the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden.

The cowrie shell is further proof of the Vikings being successful worldwide merchants.

Similarly, an Arabic coin was also found by archaeologists at Coppergate, which also suggests that the Vikings successfully traded with the Middle East.

This is confirmed by an Arabic scholar from the time who wrote about Viking trading expeditions to Baghdad in the Middle East.

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

Where did the Vikings trade each item from? Hm, we have carnelian, amber, and silk.

Where did each of those items come from? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner.

Can you figure it out? And when you are ready to continue, press Play.

What did you think? Let's take a look, shall we? Carnelian comes from Russia, amber comes from the Baltic region, and silk comes from Byzantium.

Well done if you remembered where each of those items the Vikings traded from.

This brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to write one paragraph to explain how items excavated at Coppergate show that the York Vikings traded across the world.

And you could use the following images to help you.

So we have an image of amber, carnelian, silk, and the cowrie shell.

So take some time now.

Make sure you've got yourself a pen and some paper and write one paragraph to explain how items excavated at Coppergate show that the York Vikings traded across the world.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time, and when you are ready to continue, press Play.

How did that go? So your answer could include something like this, "Items excavated at Coppergate show that the York Vikings traded across the world because archaeologists discovered carnelian, amber, silk, and a cowrie shell, which do not originally come from York or Britain.

Carnelian came to York via Viking merchants in Russia, and amber travelled to Jorvik from Scandinavia and the Baltic region, and the cowrie shell likely came from the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden.

Silk in Viking York came from Byzantium in the Middle East and was likely traded in Russia first.

However, silk originally came from China, which suggests that trade routes were even bigger than the ones Viking merchants were involved in." While done if you were able to write a paragraph to explain those items that were excavated at Coppergate and how they showed that the York Vikings traded across the world.

Well done for completing that learning task.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about the York Vikings as merchants and traders.

We've certainly learnt a lot.

York was an important centre for Viking trade and goods arrived from across Europe and the Middle East.

The Rivers Ouse and Foss provided an easy access route for merchants from across the world.

The remains of silk, cowrie shells, carnelian, and amber were found in Coppergate.

These objects are evidence of worldwide trade links with the Middle East, Russia, and the Baltic region, but also show trade routes at the time went as far as China.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

We've certainly learned a lot.

It's been very interesting.

I hope to see you in the next lesson.

See you then.