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But, according to Richards, “The more interesting
possibility is that they were already thinking about
seizing agricultural estates and acquired the plowshares
with that aim in mind.”T
he peace the Vikings had made with the Mercians in
Torksey was soon broken. The next year, 873 , accord-
ing to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Vikings charged
into the kingdom’s capital, Repton, some 60 miles southwest
along the Trent. There, they sacked a monastery, sent the king,
Burghred, fleeing to Paris, and replaced him with a figurehead
named Ceolwulf. This sort of bait and switch was typical of how
the Vikings managed to get the better of the Anglo-Saxons.
“The Anglo-Saxons did their standard thing of making an oath,
exchanging hostages, and paying the Vikings some money, and
then they expected the Vikings to go away,” says Kershaw. “But
the Vikings don’t play by the same rules. They take the money,says Richards. The site is generally dry today as a result
of nineteenth-century drainage projects, but the
researchers determined that in the ninth century
it was a natural island bordered by the River
Trent on the west and marshland on the other
three sides, which helps explain why the Vikings
camped there.
By the time the Viking Great Army overwintered
at Torksey, it had been in England for seven years and
had already conquered both East Anglia and Northumbria.
Archaeologists knew that it could be expected to have accumu-
lated a great deal of treasure, and, in fact, more than 120 Arabic
silver dirhams have been unearthed. As is characteristic of the
Vikings, the coins had been cut up into pieces to be traded for
the value of their metal. These coins are a strong sign of the
presence of Vikings, who are known to have traded slaves for
them in Eastern Europe. They are only rarely found in typical
Anglo-Saxon contexts. “Torksey has the largest concentration
of dirhams from any site in Britain or Ireland,” says Hadley. “So
that jumps out.” In addition, at least 60 pieces of hacksilver,
which was chopped up for use in trade, along with a dozen
pieces of rare hackgold, have been found. “If they lost that
much material,” asks Richards, “how much silver and gold
must there have been in circulation?”
The Vikings at the camp, according to Hadley and Rich-
ards, may well have engaged in trade of a sort with local
Anglo-Saxons. Scandinavians at the time generally used raw
metal for trade rather than coins. Several hundred weights of
the kind they are known to have used to facilitate exchange
have been found. However, although the Vikings had negoti-
ated a peace with the Mercians before setting up camp, it is
unclear, according to Kershaw, how cordial relations would
have been with those living nearby. “I don’t see what Viking
camps would have had to offer locals,” she says. “I see them as
being quite parasitic on the local landscape. They would have
had to acquire a lot of provisions to sustain a large army, but I
don’t think they would have done that peacefully. There might
have been forced, coercive trade, but I don’t think these are
places where you would walk up and buy a couple of pots. The
trade that was going on was probably more among the army
members themselves.”
The camp at Torksey would have been self-sustaining in
some respects. “It’s almost like a town on the move,” says Had-
ley. Life within its confines is becoming clearer for researchers.
Members of the army appear to have had leisure time on their
hands, as shown by the number of lead gaming pieces that
have been found at the site. The presence of metalworkers is
indicated by collections of scrap copper and iron, apparently
gathered to be melted down. Women seem to have been part
of the camp as well, as suggested by the discovery of spindle
whorls and other tools used to work textiles. It is unclear,
though, whether these were Scandinavian women who had
come along with the army as part of families, or captives
taken as spoils of war. Added to all this are hints of an aspiring
kingdom attempting to establish itself. Three iron plowshares
discovered together may have been headed for the scrap heap.
Several hundred weights found at the Torksey site
would have been used by the Viking army during the
course of trade, either among themselves or with
those living nearby.A Viking warrior unearthed at the site in Repton where the
Great Army camped over the winter of 873–874 was found to
have received severe injuries to the head and left thigh.