The Vikings were some of the first tech disruptors

The connections between technology, urban trading, and international economics which have come to define modern living are nothing new. Back in the first millennium AD, the Vikings were experts at exploring these very issues.

While the Vikings are gone their legacy is remembered, such as at the annual Jorvik Viking Festival in York. The Norsemen's military prowess and exploration are more often the focus of study, but of course the Vikings were more than just bloodthirsty pirates: they were also settlers, landholders, farmers, politicians, and merchants.

Between the 8th and 11th century (the Viking Age), Europe saw significant technological advances, not all of them Scandinavian — the Anglo-Saxons, Frisians and Franks were equal players. To understand these changes, we have to see them in the context of increasing contact between Scandinavia, the British Isles, and continental Europe — in which the Vikings were key players. Technological innovations such as the potter's wheel and the vertical loom transformed not only the types of products being manufactured in Viking settlements, but also the scale on which they were produced. Read more...

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