River Kings

Jarman has produced a wide ranging history of the Vikings, and introduced a number of new or newly adapted ideas, without conclusively being able to state these as fact. While that is slightly frustrating (and some reviewers were less than pleased) I personally found this a very readable series of likely ideas.
The book is based on bioarcheology - which refers to the scientific study of human remains from archaeological sites. The means used by Jarman - the latest forensic techniques - are isotope analysis, strontium analysis and the ongoing improvement of DNA analysis. Google will assist those who want real detail of these techniques, but my (very) simplistic summary is that isotope analysis allows the tracing of geographic origins of the sample (ie that person, not their ancestors). This means the grave goods, which sometimes accompany a burial, are no longer the sole determinant of where a person may have originated - easily flawed as the good may be trade goods or gifted items, rather than having originated with the person. Strontium analysis indicates whether a diet was predominantly terrestrial or marine in nature - useful for those coastal dwelling and seafaring Vikings. DNA while reliable, traces ancestor history rather than the recently changing expansion of a people, such as the Vikings were.

The main topics included - the role of women for the Viking expansion and raids; whether the Rus people were a combination of Viking and Slavic; and how far east the Vikings travelled for trade as well as raiding at the same time they were expanding west.

Jarman uses multiple archeological sites, analysis of many relics and of course bones and teeth for her findings as well as historical references in writing to piece together her layers of evidence, and does a reasonable job of tying things together into a narrative. While there may be issues of conclusion jumping and layering on hypotheses to trouble a specialist, this wasn't an issue for a layman such as myself. There were also short interludes of fictionalised scenarios written to illustrate a possible background to an archeological find, which I found both helpful and entertaining, but at times the story could have been moved on a bit quicker.

The Black Sea, Byzantium (Istanbul) and the Silk Road all feature in the sweeping history of trade and warfare, along with the more obvious Viking origin countries and the expected UK, Ireland and mainland Europe. There was a great deal covered, some in fine detail, some more broad, but it is beyond my ability in a short review to summarise much more. Yes a small carnelian bead is the start and end point of this book, but in reality that is just a device of focus to wrap a narrative around. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this as a basic introduction to some aspects of Viking history.

4 stars