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and shallow coastal waters as well as the open
ocean, which allowed them to colonize new
lands (Iceland, Greenland) and overpower other
people in the British Isles and continental
Europe as far south as the Mediterranean Sea
(Savage 1995).
The importance of wetlands is demonstrated
by Viking settlements, which were often placed
on estuaries, fjords, or coastal embayments. For
example, a l eet of Viking ships was discovered
and excavated from the l oor of Roskilde Fjord,
a shallow estuary, on the island of Sjælland,
Denmark in 1962 (Fig. 9-16A). Five ships were
scuttled about AD 1070 in a channel of the fjord
in order to protect Roskilde, then the capital of
Denmark, from potential attack from the sea
(Viking Ship Museum 2010). The aquatic way of
life was so important that Vikings even departed
life in ships (Fig. 9-16B).
As the preceding archaeological examples
demonstrate, the human presence in Nordic
lands became increasingly important during the
late Holocene. People utilized wetlands directly
and impacted them indirectly through agricul-
ture, building settlements and other activities,
all of which modii ed drainage and vegetation.
Most of these changes took place in prehistory,
but were nonetheless substantial in altering
wetland habitats, particularly in the more popu-
lated southern and western portions of the
Baltic region.
Figure 9-14.
Stone monument marking the discovery
site of the Sun Chariot, one of the most famous Bronze
Age artifacts from Denmark, dating from about 1400 BC.
The Sun Chariot depicts a horse-drawn, six-wheeled
wagon in cast bronze with a gold-covered sun disk that
displays a spiral motif. The Sun Chariot (Solvognen)
was found when the Trundholm Mose (bog) in
northwestern Sjælland was plowed for the i rst time in
1902 (National Museum of Denmark 2010a). Modii ed
from original photograph by Jom; obtained from
Wikimedia Commons
9.4.2 North America
As the Laurentide Ice Sheet shrank toward
central Canada at the end of the Pleistocene and
in the early Holocene, a multitude of proglacial
lakes developed along the retreating ice margin.
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A
B
Figure 9-15.
Danish bog bodies. A. The head of Tolland Man is restored and displayed at the Silkeborg Museum.
This person was likely a holy man, who was sacrii ced, judging by the condition of his skin and stomach contents.
B. Grauballe Man is displayed at the Mosegård Museum near Århus. It is likely that he was executed or the victim
of crime, as suggested by the slash across his throat. Photos by J.S. Aber.
