Museum Screen Time: expert reacts to the Viking Age in Pop Culture

Abstract

• Watch Galloway Hoard Researcher and Early Medieval archaeologist Dr Adrián Maldonado as he reacts to depictions of the Viking Age in movies, TV and video games. Did vikings really burn their dead in boats on the water? How stark was the divide between vikings, Picts and Britons? And what's up with all the blue face paint? The Viking Age in Scotland spanned from the late 8th century AD to the 13th century. Pop culture depictions of this period double down on warfare, rigid identities and iconic imagery including longships and battleaxes. But how accurate is this view of the Viking Age? Content warning: footage includes depictions of violence and funerary rituals