GALL-GHAIDHEIL

THE WESTERN ISLES IN THE VIKING WORLD

ACTIVITY SHEETS

BEFORE THE VIKINGS

Iron Age House - Bostadh

The Vikings settled in the Western Isles in about 790 AD. Before they arrived people lived in farming communities, mostly on the machair and the hill slopes, and the islands had a large population. Many of the islanders were Christian, and there were a lot of small churches and monasteries. Excavations by archaeologists have uncovered the homes of the people who lived then, and by looking at the things they found we can get some idea of how people lived in the Western Isles in the late Iron Age.

Bostadh - A Late Iron Age Village

Find the case with this title. It is full of things made of

1

2

Write down THREE things a pin could be used for:

1

2

3

In this case there are some combs, they were probably used to comb hair, or even as hair decoration. In the case called Everyday Life in about AD 750 you will find a different kind of comb - it is called a weaving comb and was used to push the thread together on a loom. In the boxes below write down everything you can about:

(Look at the spindle whorls in the case, to give you some ideas)

How do we know that people were making things out of metal here?

THE VIKINGS IN THE WESTERN ISLES

The Western Isles were stopping places on the Viking raiding and trading routes from Norway to Ireland and England on the sea roads. The Vikings in Norway began to run out of land and started to look for other places where they could settle. Not all Vikings were raiders.

Look at the map showing trade routes. Make a list of six things you would like to trade if you were a Viking:

Find the case called Trading and Raiding. In it you will see a sword and a steatite bowl. Using the trade routes map to help you, find out

where the sword came from:

where the steatite bowl came from:

In the case next to the map are some Viking hoards of gold and silver. These had been hidden, usually by being buried.

Why do you think their owners never came back for them?

The silver is broken into pieces, called hack silver. What was it used for?

THE LEWIS CHESS SET

Look at these drawings of chessmen. Put a tick next to the ones you can see in the case.

What are they made from?

Go back to the trade routes map and see if you can find out where the raw material for the chessmen came from

Upper Gallery

THE NORSE HOUSE

The house that has been built here is the living end of a Viking longhouse. Have a good look at the way it is built and the things that are in it, and then fill out the comparison grid:

Would you like to live in a Viking longhouse? YES ___ NO___

Give the reasons for your answer:

PINS AND NEEDLES

In the case Everyday Life in Viking Times there are more pins! What are they made of?

What are the needles made of?

Compare the contents of this case with the case downstairs called Everyday Life c.AD 750. What do you notice?

Viking clothes were all made by hand, from the plucking of the fleece, or sowing of flax seed, to the finished garment. The Vikings brought flax to the islands. It was used to make a fabric called linen. Nettles could also be used to make a similar material! Children wore clothes that were like those worn by grown ups. Using the models in the case in the entrance put clothes on these two figures:

There is a Viking boot in the upper gallery. How is it fastened?

What is the skate made of?

GRAVES FROM VIKING AGE CEMETERY, CNIP

How many burials were found altogether at Cnip?

Below are drawings of the Viking lady as she might have looked when she was alive, and her skeleton. The things she was buried with are numbered, write in what each thing is next to its number

		1
		2
		3
		4
		5
		6
		7
		8
		9
		10

Do you think she was a pagan or a christian? Give reasons for your answer.

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Ag Obair Còmhla airson nan Eilean
Working together for the Western Isles

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