Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 2 hrs ago
New book explores overlooked lives in the Viking Age
Archaeologist Neil Price’s new book examines more than 20 Viking Age burials to explore the people behind the remains.
The Viking Age is often dated from A.D. 793 to 1066, and Vikings were part of a wider Scandinavian world that sailed, traded and fought across distant regions.
Price’s book looks beyond the familiar image of Viking life to include groups often overlooked in accounts of the period.
These include thralls, enslaved people who were sometimes sacrificed in burials.
The book also considers powerful women, including people buried with weapons or remembered as sorceresses and matriarchs in Sweden and Denmark.
Together, the burials offer a more diverse picture of Viking Age society.
The book is published by Basic Books in 2026.
Neil Price’s new book examines more than 20 burials from the Viking Age.
The book highlights the diversity of people who lived in Scandinavia during the period.
It discusses overlooked groups, including enslaved people known as thralls.
Price also explores powerful women, including a shield-maiden, a sorceress and an elderly matriarch.
- Who
- Archaeologist Neil Price wrote the book.
- What
- The book explores more than 20 burials and overlooked lives from the Viking Age.
- When
- The Viking Age is often dated from A.D. 793 to 1066; the book was published in 2026.
- Where
- The burials discussed are from the Viking Age; examples mentioned are in Sweden and Denmark.
- Why
- The book aims to reveal the diversity and complexity of people who lived during the Viking Age.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The Viking Age is often dated to this period.
Neil Price’s book, The Sea-King and the Sorceress: Life and Death in the Viking Age, was published.
- Burials investigated
- More than 20
- Book
- The Sea-King and the Sorceress: Life and Death in the Viking Age
- Author
- Neil Price
- Publisher and year
- Basic Books, 2026
- Viking Age dates
- A.D. 793 to 1066
What people are saying
It gives us a glimpse of a different kind of Viking life
Sources
Related news
Jonathan the tortoise’s genes may offer clues to healthy aging
Black hole-inspired quantum teleportation works without quantum magic
A 1960 population study predicted a Doomsday date in November 2026
The Hindu Group e-book examines India’s clean energy transition
Newly Identified Four-Winged Dinosaur Offers Clues to Flight
Mostly stable weather forecast across Spain, with scattered light rain
AI recording revives a lost sparrow song in Buenos Aires
Seabird colonies can help keep nearby coral reefs healthy
Pennsylvania’s Hydrogen Hubs Stall Amid Federal Funding Uncertainty
Fire ant nest found at logistics centre in Sydney’s inner west
UK supermarket suppliers face concentrated climate risks, analysis finds
