Jorvik
Viking name for York, England. York had been founded as the Roman legionary fortress of Eboracum and revived as the Anglo-Saxon trading port of Eoforwic. It was first captured by Swedish-led Danish Vikings in 866 and became the capital of a flourishing small kingdom; the Konungsgårthr survives as present-day King's Square, York. By ca 1000, Viking Jorvik had a population second only to London within the British Isles. William the Conqueror brought the independence of Jorvik to an end and established garrisoned castles in the city.
From 1976 the York Archaeological Trust conducted a five-year excavation in Coppergate, York, close to the cathedral, which uncovered incredibly well-preserved remains of Viking period timber buildings, workshops, fences, animal pens, privies, pits and wells together with artefacts of the time, preserved in anoxic wet mud. A shoemaker's wooden last, and even a minter's die for striking coinage were recovered. The lack of oxygen in the dense mud meant that decay bacteria were unable to break down embedded materials. Wood, leather, textiles, and plant and animal remains, which do not normally survive, were recovered in great quantities, to supplement the more usual pottery, metalwork and bones that are often all that remain in archaeological sites.
In the 10th century, Jorvik's trading connections reached to Byzantium and beyond: a cap made of silk survives, and coins from Samarkand were familiar enough and respected enough for a counterfeit to have passed in trade, and be recovered a millenium later. Amber from the Baltic is more expected in a Viking site— at Jorvik a symbolic axehead of amber was found— but a cowrie shell must have come from the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf. Christian and pagan objects have survived side-by-side, usually taken as a sign that Christians were not in positions of authority.
The York Archaeological Trust took the decision to recreate the excavated part of Jorvik on the site, peopled with figures and sounds as well as pigsties, fish market and latrines to bring it fully to life. The Jorvik Viking Centre opened in April 1984 and proved to be a major visitor attraction.
