Much of what we know about the Vikings comes from archaeological excavations and metal detected finds. Viking towns in Britain and Ireland - like those at York, Dublin, Lincoln and Waterford - have produced spectacular artefacts, including the remains of Viking streets and houses.

Lots of objects have also been found in Viking graves, thanks to the practice of burying people with what archaeologists call ‘grave-goods’. The most impressive grave-goods are complete Viking ships, discovered under burial mounds where they formed the centrepiece of elaborate funerals. Ships have also been found as wrecks around the Scandinavian coastline.

New discoveries are being made all the time in the UK, often through the use of metal detectors. Some of these are huge treasure hoards numbering thousands of individual objects.

Oseberg ship