Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival 2026

The Viking Age (800-1050 AD) was a period of maritime expansion and transformation, shaping the lives of coastal communities from the Caspian Sea to Newfoundland. Explorers, fisherfolk, raiders, traders, and settlers travelled incredible distances over some of the most dangerous seas on earth, often multiple times within individual lifetimes. Although archaeological, linguistic, and genetic evidence provides us with the origin and destination points of these voyages, we know very little about what happened on the sea: what sailing and navigation techniques were used? What routes were followed? And why were the Vikings such successful seafarers?In this talk I will try to answer these questions by drawing on the results of my doctoral research project, in which I reconstructed Viking Age seafaring routes by conducting experimental voyages throughout Scandinavia onboard traditional Norwegian clinker boats. These voyages also helped establish the seafaring capabilities of the Vikings, allowing us to make more informed judgements about the geographical extent of their travels, and identify potential areas for future archaeological excavations. Finally, my research evaluated the relationships between indigenous North Americans and Viking settlers in and around Greenland, where the common pursuit of key resources led to cross-cultural tensions, just as it does today.