Norse invasion not as violent as once thought
Stories of Bronze Age Scandinavian invaders killing men and enslaving women may have to be rewritten thanks to the discovery of a series of virtual “time capsules” in the Outer Hebrides.
Archaeologists have published the results of over 20 years of work in South Uist uncovering settlements dating from the Bronze Age to the modern era.
The team said the research challenges the existing belief that the Norse period marked a cataclysmic change in the Hebridean way of life.
The archaeological evidence suggests a greater degree of intermixing and continuity with the Scandinavian invaders than has previously been accepted.
The team explored hundreds of sites including Neolithic tombs, early Bronze Age occupations, Norse dwellings and blackhouses.
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