Viking Britain by Aaisha and Numa

Viking houses Viking houses were built of wood, stone or blocks of turf - depending on local materials. The houses were long box-shapes with sloping thatched or turf roofs. The walls were made of wattle (woven sticks, covered with mud to keep out the wind and rain). The floor of a Viking house was often dug below ground-level, perhaps this helped keep out draughts.

Viking medicine Onion soup was fed to the injured to identify injuries that were beyond treating! Stinky! They use boiled-down cows urine to keep a wound from getting infected.

Viking food From bones, seeds and other food remains at Viking sites, we know they ate meat from farm animals, and from wild animals that they hunted, and collected foods such as berries and nuts. They cooked meat in a big stew-pot over the fire, or roasted it on an iron spit. Fish and meat were smoked or dried to preserve it. Viking bread was made from rye or barley flour. They used milk mostly to make cheese and butter, then drank the buttermilk left over. At a feast, guests drank ale and mead (a strong drink made from honey). People drank out of wooden cups or drinking horns (made from cow-horns). Feasts were held to mark funerals and seasonal festivals, such as midwinter. Some feasts lasted over a week!

Viking weapons The Vikings fought using long swords and axes. A good sword was handed down from father to son, but Vikings also buried weapons with their owner when he died. Wood rots and metal rusts away after a thousand years or more in the ground, but some remains show what the weapons were like.Vikings did not wear much armour, though some chieftains wore mail coats. Most relied on a round wooden shield for protection. On their heads, they wore helmets made of leather or iron. A Viking saying was, 'Never leave your weapons behind when you go to work in the fields - you may need them'.

Viking clothes Vikings wore clothes similar to those of people in England, Scotland and Wales at this time. Men wore tunics and trousers. Women wore long dresses, with a kind of long apron. Clothes were made from wool, linen and animal skins. Mostly people dressed to keep warm!

Viking toys One Viking game involved a type of bat and ball and was called ‘Kingy bats’. The children would make a circle and each hold a round circle of wood. They would then pass a simple ball of tied fabric around the circle without letting it fall to the ground. The ball may have been hit into the air as it was passed from one Viking child to another.

Thank you for reading our presentation by Aaisha and Numa