Submit abstract here before May 31st.

What was the role of central places in the creation, consolidation, and maintenance of collective identities, polities, and kingdoms in first-millennium Scandinavia?

In this conference we want to explore what kind of places are ‘central’ to political systems and constellations in the emerging Viking Age. How were they were ‘central’ – and how did they relate to each other and their landscapes?

The conference will focus on the social, political, and religious aspects of different ‘centres’ of the first millennium (session 1), what constitutes the Viking Age (session 2), exploring centres from an archaeological landscape perspective (session 3), and the role and significance of ships, harbours, and exchange to the emerging sociopolitical systems of the Viking Age (session 4). Through this we will connect the changing roles and the landscape placing of differing centres in first millennium Scandinavia.

We welcome papers that explore the conference and session’s themes and issues that connect different types of places together in the Viking Age, be it identity, connectivity, political, social, or religious links. Although the conference has a Scandinavian focus, we also welcome studies of the Viking Diaspora or comparable sites beyond Scandinavia.

The Linking Places conference is organised by the Viking Nativity Project (Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research/ University of Oslo), which is investigating the landscape context of the Gjellestad ship burial.

Abstracts should be up to 300 words and can be submitted here. Please write the abstract in English. The submission deadline is 31st May.

Registration for the conference will be open from 30th May to 6th September. The registration fee for the conference will be around 250 NOK per day, including lunch, with an optional conference dinner. The conference venue is the Proffessorboligen, central Oslo.