Viewed in context of a much longer-term perspective on climatic data from ice core samples, the warming hockey stick effect that the earth is undergoing becomes much flatter, less impactful, and less dramatic than earlier, much more severe periods of warming that have occurred with nearly regular frequency during the earth’s history – the most recent being the Medieval Warm Period roughly 1000 years ago.

In fact, when I was doing archaeological research on a Viking-period farm in the Southern Uplands of southwest Scotland near the village of Moniaive in the 1970s, which had been occupied from roughly AD 975 – AD 1150, one could see clear evidence that the climate was deteriorating over the life of the settlements, becoming wetter and cooler as time passed. The changes were evidenced by the presence of more and more drains being put in, which had not been needed when the five adjacent farmsteads had been originally settled, but which became necessary to provide proper drainage as the climate shifted, becoming wetter. Upland farming at these altitudes occurred (and was only possible) during the Medieval Warm Period, which lasted from AD 800 – AD 1300.

The farms were abandoned by 1150, although at least one farm remained in the glen, which is marked on the first map of that part of Scotland (late 1500s) as “Craiglirian Farm”, although it was located nearly ¾ mile down the glen towards Moniaive where it was warm enough to support a minor hay crop each year for the farm’s cattle. Present day Craiglearan Farm (structure built in the 1880s) is located on or very close to the position indicated for the farm on the late 1500s map.

The main medieval road from Dumfries to the northwest across the Southern Uplands, went up the glen where the Craiglearan farm sites were located, passing just beyond and above them on the north slope of the glen. The road skirted a bog at the head of the glen whose origins dated back to the end of the last glaciation (approximately 10,000 – 12,000 years ago in this area). The Viking-period farmsteads were located on relatively level ground along the sides of the bog and also just below it (slightly down the glen), with the fields occupying the less steep slopes adjacent to the farmsteads. Because of the depth of the bog (approximately 10 meters), accurate carbon dating and pollen samples could be taken, which showed the range of climatic vacillation from the time of the end of the last glaciation to the present.

The glen contained Bronze Age and Iron Age sites, which pre-dated the Viking-period farmsteads (which were Hiberno-Norse or “Galghaidhil” settlements most likely, evidenced by primary buildings having outcurving side walls, constructed of drystone foundations and lower walls, probably with turf upper walls and thatched roofs – similar to the so-called “Black Houses” of the Outer Hebrides and Orkney that date in the cultural origin to the Viking period) by several thousand years, but which had no evidence for agriculture. Presumably the growing season was too cool and too short during those times to allow cropping at that altitude.

Unfortunately, the sites were largely destroyed a few years ago, when an afforestation project was undertaken in the glen, which impacted most of the south side of the stream running out of the bog and down the center of the glen.

However, as the climatic optimum (i.e., the Medieval Warm Period) ramped up in Northern Europe, upland farming at sites like Craiglearan became possible; the Viking-period farmsteads’ in-fields were divided from their outfields by drystone walls composed of monolithic boulders; the same type of walls were also used to separate one field from another. Modern drystone walls are constructed much differently and never use monolithic stones in their construction.

Evidence of early ridge-and-furrow agriculture was in evidence in the enclosed fields. The ridges of the ridge-and-furrow pattern were distinctively different in width and height from later medieval ploughed fields (the former being broader and shorter, the latter being narrower and taller) that can be seen in low angle light at other places in the district (but not in Craiglearan Glen). It was not possible to determine what, specifically, was being cropped in the various fields, although a preliminary pollen analysis indicated the presence of cereal grains (probably rye) during the period of occupation of the five Viking-period farms.

As time went on through the 11^th / 12^th centuries, the climate changed and the climatic optimum gave way over the next several hundred years to what became known as the Little Ice Age (mid-1600s – late 1800s).

Here’s a relatively recent photo of the upper glen taken from Craiglirian Craig, which sits several hundred feet above where the Viking-period farms were located.

The view in the photo is to the northwest, up the glen in the direction of Ayrshire. The sites were located just out of the photo down the hill to the right. The forests were not there when the sites were excavated in the 1970s. Unfortunately, the deep ploughing required for afforestation has destroyed most of the sites of the Viking-period farms, as well as the Bronze Age cairn field and Iron Age platform settlement in Craiglearan Glen.

The road running along the forest edge in the photo is also new and follows, more-or-less, the general course of the medieval road. The post-Pleistocene bog was, unfortunately, drained to allow reforestation; regardless, farming in the Viking period was possible at and just above the level of the forest – it is now impossible to raise crops at that altitude, due to the short growing season and the temperatures (too cold).

Climate does, in fact, change, and although we do need to be – and should be – good stewards of the earth, the earth’s climate has shifted significantly for at least the past several million years and will continue to shift over time, growing warmer or colder, as a result of largely unknown mechanisms – and regardless of what mankind does or doesn’t do.

The Norse vikings (my PhD dissertation was “The Norse Viking Settlement of Southwest Scotland”, so I have a number of tidbits for cocktail party conversation – which are probably only interesting if you’re talking with a bunch of archaeologists or historians – think “Ross” on “Friends”, so be careful!) sacked and burned their way through much of Ireland in the 800 and 900s (with the help of some of the Irish, who were always warring among themselves) and eventually settled in parts of Ireland, setting up trading establishments that are now the major cities of Ireland: Cork, Dublin, Waterford, Wexford, Limerick.

Towns with names like “Waterford” and “Wexford” incorporate the Old Norse word “fjord”, such as the fjord you see in the opening slide of the presentation (a fjord is “a long body of water extending into the land from the sea, with steep hillsides coming down to it along its length” or something like that). The first element of those names incorporates a person’s name, e.g., “Wexna fjord” (or the fjord of Wexna) and have persisted as trading establishments since their foundation in the 800s.

The Norse Kings of Dublin and Man were as powerful in their day as the King of England and actually controlled a vast stretch of real estate reaching from Norway to Iceland to Ireland and up / down the west coast of Scotland + the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.

(Danish Vikings, primarily, sacked and conquered the southern part of England; the Norse Kings of Dublin conquered most of the northern part of England and took over the city of York ["Yorvik" in Old Norse] as their capital in the north of England. Swedish Vikings mainly headed east and down the major rivers of what’s now western Russia to Constantinople [now Istanbul] which was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire – known at the time as the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Emperor’s personal bodyguard was known as the Varangian Guard [real bad ass characters] and were exclusively Vikings, mainly from Sweden.

As a point of information, the Swedish Vikings were known as the “Rus” to the local Slavic populations along the rivers they traveled and conquered, in what’s now western Russia and the Ukraine; they set up trading establishments in places that grew into cities over time, such as Kiev; yes, the word “Russia” comes from the word for the Swedish Vikings – the Rus. More than you probably ever wanted to know.)

The same element (“fjord”) is also found in Scotland – where the Norse vikings also settled, primarily among the western islands and along the western / southern coasts – in the word “forth” or “firth”.

If you look at a map of Scotland and look at the notch of sea above the Isle of Man (another major Norse settlement and center of the Kingdom of Man) between the Southwest coast of Scotland and the Northwest coast of England, you’ll see it’s named “The Solway Firth” – that’s directly from Old Norse “sula vatr fjord”, meaning “muddy water fjord” – much of the Solway Firth is tidal and becomes a muddy plain when the tide is out.

Solway Firth, Scotland - The Tide is Out

If one looks at a map of modern Germany and finds the Rhine, follow the Rhine downstream (to the north) and you’ll find the city of Koblenz. Koblenz is a rather industrialized city that has a small historic district on the west bank of the Rhine, just below where the Rhine is joined by the Mosel (or Moselle) River, flowing generally from the southwest to the northeast until it joins the Rhine at Koblenz.

At the place where the Rhine and Mosel merge, there is an extensive park known as the Deutsches Eck, or the “German corner”, which features a large monument and mounted statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I that proclaims the might and power of Germany being as powerful as these two great European rivers, especially where they flow together to form an even mightier single stream.

Kaiser Wilhelm I, Germany 1871 - 1888

During Kaiser Wilhelm I’s reign (King of Prussia from 1861 – 1888 and German Emperor [Kaiser] from 1871 – 1888) his Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, achieved German unification and established the German Empire, hence the analogy and representative importance of the Deutsches Eck for the unified German nation and Empire.

View is to the southwest of the Deutsches Eck – the Rhine flows from left to right at the foot of this photo, with the Mosel flowing toward the camera, joining the Rhine just to the right of the monument and park; Wikimedia photo by Holger Weinandt, GFDL permission

Just behind the statue are the remnants of fortifications that have occupied this site in one form or another for at least a millenium. The Romans built a series of fortifications here, with a civilian vicus becoming established in the area that is now covered by Koblenz’ old town (unfortunately, during World War II much of Koblenz was flattened by Allied bombing campaigns and not many historic buildings survived the war; during the war, it was the headquarters of German Army Group B, which caused particularly heavy attacks against the city by Allied bombers seeking to wipe out the headquarters – and nearby bridges, train yards, and river barge depots. Nevertheless, Koblenz’ old city occupies the site of a settlement going back to at least Roman times).

The original Roman legionary fortress established at Koblenz in or about 8 or 9 BC by Nero Claudius Drusus (the youngest son of the Roman Empress Livia Drusilla from her marriage to the Tiberius Nero, and stepson of Livia Drusilla’s second husband, the Emperor Augustus) became known as Castellum apud Confluentes, or “(at the) merging (of the rivers)”, which evolved over time into the modern name “Koblenz”.

In 55 BC Julius Caesar had a bridge built across the Rhine from what is now Koblenz to Andernach on the east bank, so it is likely there was some sort of military emplacement established at that time to protect the bridge; however, the fortress established by Drusus is considered the first substantial Roman fortification built to protect the river crossing and one of a string of posts established by Drusus to control the west bank of the Rhine for Rome.

As a point of information, as part of this campaign to control the west bank of the Rhine and to position Roman forces to begin conquest of the Germanic tribes on the east bank, other fortresses were established that have persisted for the past two millenia as major cities in Germany and the Netherlands: Mainz (Mogontiacum), Koblenz (Confluentes), Bonn (Bonna), Cologne (Colonia), Neuss (Novaesium), Birten near Xanten (Vetera), and Nijmegen (Noviomagus). I think it’s fascinating that the names of each of the modern cities so closely resemble their original Latin names – but that’s a topic to explore in another post.

The Romans realized that if they could control the strategic juncture of these two mighty rivers, they could control the commerce and politics of much of central Europe, employing these watercourses for a wide variety of commercial and extensive empire-building activities, throughout the large geographical catchment area of the two rivers.

A second bridge across the Rhine was built in AD 49 (remains of which can still be seen), with a second castellum built in the 2nd century. The Frankish attacks of the mid-3rd Century destroyed the second fortification, although the bridge itself seems to have continued in use for an unknown period of time. Temples to Mercury and Rosmerta (a Gallo-Roman deity) remained in use until the 5th Century AD.

In the next post we will begin examining Rome’s influence on the Mosel and will also being exploring many of the ruins that still exist from Roman times.

Villa Rustica Restored Roman Villa in Mehring, Mosel, Germany

This blog will divide entries into two broad categories – Old World and New World – with subcategories below those.

Some entries will cover an historic topic of interest to me, while others will provide in-depth coverage on some archaeological topic that I find interesting.

Sometimes we’ll take a bit of a detour and discuss linguistics, anthropology, physical anthropology and current events in the framework of a relevant historical perspective.

I hope you will enjoy reading my posts, as much as I’m going to enjoy writing them.

Let’s get started . . . .