What Caused the Viking Age?

Interesting article, though I think it is too apt to dismiss climate change as a factor. The (albeit poor) climatological records we have of this age show shifts in weather patterns that correspond to Viking activity. The hypothesis suggests that colder weather would drive cod populations into more southerly waters. Cod was a staple in the diet of vikings as well as European militias as it could be stored for over a year without spoilage if dried properly. Pursuing cod that migrated away from iceland and scandinavia, the vikings would come into contact with other Europeans. Pursuing cod south from Greenland would lead to the discovery of America. Though a shortage of lovin’ would certainly be motivation enough for viking exploits, it need not be considered the only factor.

The theory that Vikings suffered from a shortage of women reminded me of a story I just read in the Boston Globe. It talks about how archeologists are currently finding evidence that vindicates Heinrich Schliemann. He thought that the modern-day hill of Hisarlik in Turkey was the ruins of the ancient city of Troy from Homer’s Illiad. His theory was thought to have been discredited, but more recently cuneiform tables written in Hittite have been unearthed at the site. They date from a layer with evidence of pillaging and burning, and they mention invaders with names very close to Homer’s Achaeans. On the fourth page of the article:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/09/28/hidden_his tories/?page=4

The journalist reports that probably Homer’s Greeks came to Troy to steal women. Greek noblemen had large harems, which created a shortage of women ad left ordinary Greeks without wives, motivating them to raid other cities to rape and steal their women.

I was just about to mention China …