SITUNE DEI 2009

Experimental ‘Viking voyages’ on Eastern European rivers 1983–2006

Rune Edberg

Abstract. Several experimental boat voyages Soviet Union on its way to the Black Sea. on rivers in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR The crew was however forced to turn back have taken place during the last decades. All at the easternmost Polish border. At the time have confirmed that travelling on rivers, against of renewed efforts with Krampmacken in stong current or in shallow waters, is a chal- 1985, the expedition picked up where it had lenging and sometimes quite impossible task. been forced to leave off, but instead fol- The notion that Scandinavians brought their lowed the river Vistula (Wisla) upstream as own vessels to and across Russia, as sometimes far as possible. From there, the crew, with suggested by imaginative scholars, is neither the help of a cart, pulled the boat across the supported by archeological and historical re- Carpathian Mountains, and continued on to search, nor by these experiments. Miklagård (Constantinople / Istanbul) via the rivers Ondava, Bodrog, Tisza and he 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union Danube (through Poland, Czechoslovakia, Tlead to a considerable loosening of pre- Hungary, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Bulgaria viously strict travel restrictions for foreign and Turkey). Krampmacken was 8 meters visitors. This meant that it became possible long (fig. 2). The design was based on a to study the conditions applicable to the Gotlandic boat find. Erik Nylén headed the Viking Age voyages on the eastern water- project, and I participated on one leg of the ways first hand. Since then, a number of journey. voyages have been undertaken (fig. 1). In The Norwegian Havørn expedition be- the present article, I will briefly present came pioneers in the newly ex-Soviet states. them, and try to establish what they have ac- In 1992, it traveled down parts of the rivers complished and what they have added to Daugava (in Latvia) and Dnepr (in the previous research. Ukraine). Havørn was a 16 meters long As early as 1983, a Swedish expedition ship, a 2/3-scale replica of the Gokstad ship traveling in the boat Krampmacken, at- (fig. 3). A group whose driving force was tempted to obtain permission to cross the Thor Engøy owned the ship.

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From the Varangians to the Greeks undertaken with the two ships, in 1994 and The next attempt was made by the Swedish 1996–2000, mainly took place on open wa- Aifur expeditions in 1994, 1996 and 2001, ter, and to some degree on West European respectively. The route went through the rivers affected by the tide. The experiences rivers Neva, Volkhov, Lovat, Usvyatya and gained from those trips fall outside the Kasplya in Russia, the Dnepr in Russia and scope of this paper, but in the year 2000, the the Ukraine and the Daugava in Belarus and Heimlösa Rus traveled up the Don and con- Latvia. The goal of the expedition was to tinued to Volgograd via the Volga–Don travel the “Road from the Varangians to the canal, and from there on to Astrakhan on the Greeks” as it is outlined in the Russian Pri- Volga (fig. 6). These expeditions were lead mary Chronicle. by the owner of the boats, Fredrik Koivusa- The Aifur was 9.5 meters long, based on lo. a combination of several Viking Age origi- My latest example is a Polish expedi- nals (fig. 4). She was collectively owned by tion, which traveled on the rivers Vistula, an organization consisting of ten members Bug and Dnepr (in Poland and the Ukraine) with Jan Johansson as chairman. I was re- onboard the boat Welet in 2006. The Welet sponsible for documenting it all. was a 12 meters long replica of a Viking The 1996 Aifur voyage ended at the Age boat find from Danzig-Ohra (Gdansk- mouth of the river Dnepr (in the Ukraine), Orunia) (fig. 7). Henryk Wolski headed the but the Himingläva expedition, which took expedition. place in 2004, acted as a geographical con- We may see more expeditions of this tinuation of the Aifur voyages. Himingläva kind, but then again, maybe not. One of the started out at the mouth of the Dnepr with factors that deter potential arrangers of such the Caspian Sea as its goal. The idea was to voyages is the very thick red tape and the recreate a trip that is known from Swedish corruption that rages within the old Soviet rune stones and Icelandic sources, often re- areas. These problems only seem to com- ferred to as The Voyage of Ingvar (“Ingvar pound with each year. It was because of the Far-traveled”). After that, the expedition problems like that, that the 2004 Himinglä- traveled across the Caucasus, partially on va expedition had large parts of its travel rivers and partially by land with the help of plans spoiled by bullheaded Russian au- oxen (in Georgia and Azerbadzhyan). The thorities at the border crossings. In 2006 9.75 meters long Himingläva was modeled Henryk Wolski had to dole out a large sum the largest of the smaller boats found in con- of pledge money in order to get the Welet junction with the Gokstad ship find (fig. 5). across the Ukrainian border. The worst case Håkan Altrock owned the boat and also scenario is that the research window that headed the expedition. was opened to foreign researchers in 1991 has been slammed shut for now. The Don and the Volga The Finnish boats Rus and Heimlösa Rus Varying quality were both 12-meter long replicas of a find Whatever the future holds, there have now made in the inner parts of the Gulf of Fin- been enough successful attempts at these land, the so-called Lapuri boat. The voyages types of journeys that we can flesh out a few

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Aifur (2001)

Havørn (1992) Aifur (1994–1996) Krampmacken (1983–1985) Heimlösa Rus (2000) Welet (2006)

Himingläva (2004)

Fig. 1. Schematic map of the various expeditions discussed in the paper, drawn by the author.

general implications. The basis of such con- of my knowledge, there is no documenta- clusions is, of course, the available docu- tion in the true meaning of the word regard- mentation, which varies in quality. This ing the Havørn’s voyages. There are, how- causes a problem for the interpretation in it- ever, some unpublished accounts that cover self. parts of the journey (Engøy 1992; Altrock The most well documented of these voy- 1993). To my knowledge, there is, as of yet, ages were the Krampmacken expedition no documentation regarding the Welet’s (Nylén 1983, 1987a, 1987b: also Oreheim voyage in 2006, other than a TV documen- 1989; Sjöstrand 1988) the Aifur expedition tary and on the Internet (http:// welet. (Edberg 1998, 2002), and the Himingläva best.net/pl). expedition (Altrock 2005). The Rus expedi- There were also large differences in tion is documented in a book (Koivusalo preparations, starting points, ambitions and 1996) while documentation of the Heimlösa organization between the expeditions. This, Rus voyages only appears to be available on too, must be observed when evaluating the line (www.qnet.fi/rus-project/). To the best

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Fig. 2. Krampmacken under sail on the Vistula River in 1983. Photo courtesy of Erik Nylén.

Fig. 3. Havørn was forced to interrupt the jour- Fig. 4. Aifur in shallow water on the Lower Lovat ney up the Daugava River in 1992. Photo cour- in 1996. Photo courtesy of the The Aifur associ- tesy of Håkan Altrock. ation.

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Fig. 5. Himingläva with draft oxen in a mountain Fig. 6. Heimlösa Rus under sail on the River pass in the Caucasus, 2004. Photo courtesy of Don in 2000. Photo courtesy of Fredrik Koivu- Håkan Altrock. salo.

Fig. 7. Welet under sail on the River Bug in 2006. Photo courtesy of Henryk Wolski. outcomes. The following are examples of The carefully selected crew of Kramp- this. macken put in a lot of practice before it set off. The crew sailed around Gotland and Amphibian vessels? back and forth to the mainland. They did The scholar’s own preexisting knowledge not, however, practice traveling on any riv- always plays a role in what types of ques- er. When it came to those points during the tions he will pose. 1983 and 1985 journeys, when the boat had For example, Erik Nylén had researched to be rowed or towed up-stream on the Vis- the ships depicted on the Gotlandic picture tula and Bug rivers, the crew was unable to stones, and as a result, he come up with the travel any more than ten kilometers per day, theory that relatively small vessels could despite much toil. It became obvious that have traveled across the Baltic ocean and on this vessel was not suited for this purpose. rivers, as well as being pulled across land When, after some time, farther progression between the rivers. In other words, they on the rivers became entirely impossible, would have been used much in the way of Erik Nylén had the crew, partially aided by an amphibian vessel. horse, pull the boat on wheels across the

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Carpathians and the Dukla pass (500 meters rolling ships and boats long distances on above sea level). logs, also came across as unrealistic. The best part of the journey with Kramp- macken was that Erik Nylén never gave in Unfortunate consequences to temptation by allowing engines or other To a large extent, the Aifur expeditions of anachronisms. The expedition did, howev- 1994, 1996 and 2001 followed in the foot- er, allow the use of a car to haul provisions steps of the Krampmacken expeditions. and extra crew to trade off with, which was However, poor practical leadership had also the case with Havørn, Aifur and some unfortunate consequences. The voy- Himingläva. ages’ research program was abandoned at a couple of occations and tractor and truck Heroic toil transports robbed the expedition of some Havørn’s 1992 trip on the Daugava begun important experiences. once the lower parts of the river had been The 2004 Himingläva expedition ran in- bypassed and the boat launched in to similar problems, despite a clearly de- Aizkraukle, upstream of three hydroelectric fined and determined leadership. As an ex- power plants built in the 1900’s, whence the ample, the expedition crossed the eastern crew and ship was brought by truck. In open part of the Black Sea by car ferry. The lack water on the Baltic, the boat had proved to of time also caused the journeys through be a good sailing vessel, but on the rivers Georgia and Azerbaydzhyan to be under- the opportunities to sail were few and far taken in an ahistorical fashion. between, and the crew was reduced to row- The 2006 Welet expedition partially ing or towing the ship from shore. This traveled along the route that Erik Nylén worked reasonably well up until Jekabpils, originally had planned for Krampmacken, where a 300 meters long section of 8-knot i.e. Vistula–Bug and across the border to the rapids was transversed only after three days Ukraine. Although the commander in of heroic toil. After this, the crew was charge of the Welet expressed thoughts forced to transport the ship by truck for along the line of experimental archaeology, some distance. The river is unregulated be- one is left with the impression that he had yond Jekabpils, and the journey could con- expected to travel rather quickly, and there- tinue until Kraslava where, once again, a fore did not hesitate to apply anachronistic truck had to be brought in, this time across methods to achieve his goal. The Welet the water shed all the way to Mogilyev on passed through locks (among other places at the Dnepr. From that point on, the Havørn the 22 meter high Wloclawek dam in Vistu- traveled towards the Black Sea mostly by la the same spot that the crew of Kramp- engine. macken managed to pass by way of pulling The most obvious of the Havørn legacies the boat overland), and also resorted to came to be the shattering of old stereotypes overland transport whenever it seemed suit- relating to the idea that eastward Viking able. An onboard motor was used intermit- voyages with this type of vessel had been tently. Regardless of this, there is still much practical. In light of the experience of the to be learned from this expedition. The expedition, the popular image of crews truck transport across the border was the re-

40 EXPERIMENTAL ‘ VIKING VOYAGES’ sult of the Bug’s low water level. The con- newer travelers’ logs. The author’s rash siderably smaller boat Krampmacken also conclusion, i.e. that basically all rivers had problems with sandbars and currents in would have been easily passable during the this same spot. After the boarder crossing, Viking Age, was the foundation upon which the Welet was launched in Dniestr, where the planning of the Krampmacken expedi- downstream rowing and sailing worked tion rested. well for quite a distance, up until the power plant by Novodniestrovsk. Beyond that Neglected information point, the crew was forced to resort to a very In 1993–1994, when the Aifur organization long overland transport across the Ukraine, prepared for the expedition, it was quite dif- past the politically turbulent Moldavia, all ficult to obtain data for planning at a rea- the way to the mouth of the Dniester. sonable cost. Our main sources of informa- tion were the US Air Force’s topographical Maps and Preparations maps in the scale of 1:500 000, which were As long as the Iron Curtain remained in available in Sweden at that time. It was not place, studying maps was the most common until the 1996 voyage that we were able to – and often the only – way for Western obtain reliable regional Russian maps scholars to estimate which waterways (oblast-) in scales of 1:500 000 and would have been viable options back in the 1:200 000. By the time the 2001 voyage Viking Age. It was easy to overestimate the took place, the situation had improved even possibilities that way, every blue line on the farther. For example, we were able to pur- map appeared to be a possible route. Older chase excellent, previously classified, Be- research also pointed to a connection be- larus maps in the scales of 1:100 000 and tween archaeological finds and the rivers, 1:50 000 in a bookstore in Riga. These even and many scholars felt this meant that they showed the rapids of the Daugava River, had enough proof, albeit indirect, of jour- and the average speed of the river’s current neys by boat. was marked at regular intervals. In Latvia, I Before the Krampmacken expedition, also bought a handbook of the Soviet wa- Erik Nylén had one of his students perform terways, printed in the 1970’s. a study (Elmér 1982). The account of po- However, some of the same areas that tential river routes between the Baltic and were neglected during the planning stages Miklagård makes for a very interesting doc- of the Krampmacken expedition were also ument of that era in itself. Elmér’s source overlooked during the planning for the Ai- material consists entirely of relatively fur expedition. The library searches were small-scale maps. It shows data regarding not as thorough as they could have been, the length of each river, and there is also and after a short reconnaissance trip along some information about height above sea the Lovat in 1995 I underestimated the po- level, collected from the maps. There is no tential problems that could be encountered material from hydrological and similar on this leg of the journey. The consequence sources, and there is no information about was that the following year, as the expedi- the conditions of the rivers, that may have tion reached the impassable middle part of been gleaned in historical sources and/or the river, the crew was mentally unpre-

41 RUNE EDBERG pared, become negatively surprised, and ac- manufactured using only period tools and cepted an offer of tractor transport. methods. The opposing camp is of the opin- ion that it works just fine to attempt a jour- Prejudices and lack of knowledge ney, as long as the vessel is a reasonably Today, as I look back on things, I also get a close facsimile of the original boat, espe- feeling that many of us Swedes who took cially considering the fact that it never will part in the Krampmacken and Aifur expedi- be possible to recreate a 100% accurate re- tions subconsciously viewed Eastern Eu- construction of a prehistoric boat. All of the rope, and the Soviet Union in particular, as boats presented in this article more or less terra incognita, unknown land. The 1000 belong in the latter camp. years between now and the Viking Age was It becomes even more obvious that ex- a black hole. This may partially have been perimental boat archaeology cannot be caused by the essentially different political compared to scientific experimentation systems and by the language barrier. There when you consider that the crew must con- were also not many of us who had visited sist of modern people, inevitably steeped in the Eastern Block as tourists. Oftentimes we a modern mould. They are volunteers, who were prejudicial and had a lack of knowl- participate at their own expense and under edge. In regards to the Soviet Union and the their own terms. One can say that the par- ex-Soviet Union, our non-existent or rudi- ticipants join up in order to have their pre- mentary knowledge of the Russian lan- existing conceptions fulfilled, much in the guage leading to actually existing informa- same manner as the researcher poses his tion not being utilized at the planning question according to his own preexisting stages. conceptions. The modern mindset is thus re- The development of the Internet shortly vealed on all levels. thereafter lead to a revolution regarding available information, so that the Himinglä- Active Material Culture va expedition did not have any problem ob- People are, however, influenced by their taining good, large scale maps of their pro- environment. It is the active role of the ma- posed route in 2004. Their reconnaissance terial culture: the character of the voyage and other preparation seem to have been changes if you have a motor onboard, since much more adequate (although this expedi- it demands to be used. Mobile phones, GPS, tion ran into other obstacles like the ones computers and satellite connection are oth- mentioned before, and to which we will re- er flagrant examples of how the modern era turn later in the article). sneaks into the experimental journeys. The Krampmacken expedition took place in the Copies and mentality 1980’s, before the inception of mobile One commonly voiced viewpoint is that on- phones and GPS, which gave it a slightly ly ships and boats that are as realistic a copy different character than the later expedi- of the original as possible will do if one ex- tions. In the relatively short time span cov- pects to be able to come to any reliable con- ered by this paper, about two decades, the clusions of such experiments. According to improved telecommunications along with such viewpoints, the boats should also be

42 EXPERIMENTAL ‘ VIKING VOYAGES’ other innovations have shrunk the psycho- along the coast of the pro-Russian splinter logical distance considerably. republic of Abkhasia in 2004, and the Welet It has also become apparent that the was unable to travel across the stretch of the rivers themselves have changed, too, both Dniestr that borders the pro-Russian splin- by natural processes, and, more often than ter republic Transnistria in Moldavia. not, by human intervention. Ture Arne pho- tographed the Aifur rapids on the Dnepr in Bureaucracy and hospitality 1913, but when the Aifur passed that same Border crossings have sometimes been bu- spot, a 100-meter deep dam covered it. Be- reaucratic nightmares, and problems with yond that, each power station affects the riv- visas have forced crewmembers to have to er both up stream and down. Depending on stay behind or cut short their participation the terrain, the effect can sometimes be no- early. As a rule, the expeditions have had ticeable for hundreds of kilometers. Even very small budgets to work with, or have before these hydroelectric dams became a been self financed, so that payment of the decisive factor, extensive rock clearing and bribes demanded to police and other offi- dredging work was commonly performed to cials have barely been feasible. facilitate navigation and log driving. The Occasionally, a problem of a different untrained eye does not catch such measures. kind cropped up, especially for the Aifur ex- pedition in Latvia in 2001 and for the Political problems Himingläva expedition in Georgia in 2004. Armed with the practical experiences of the This was just how to handle a much too hos- 1983 journey on the Vistula and Bug rivers, pitable local population – it is not easy to Erik Nylén expressed the opinion that “the turn down invites to village feasts, and one rivers seem not to have changed much in the cannot fail to attend parties put on by the past 1000 years” (Nylén 1983:104). The host country’s various organizations and au- fact that hydroelectric power stations had thorities, who may have done everything in been built did not escape him. However, any their power to facilitate the realization of good reference book will also confirm that the expedition. The result is that it some- in the case of the Vistula River, for example, times becomes very difficult to find the time extensive straightening of the river’s course to complete the mission itself. as well as clearing of both the shoreline and river bed have taken place, especially after Achievements and conclusions WW II. The intention was to make the river Despite the weaknesses and shortcomings Eastern Europe’s main transport artery. previously discussed, one must not under Nylén was wrong. any circumstances throw out the baby with Another problem for the interpretation is the bath water and view what actually was the political situation. All the experimental achieved, oftentimes entailing great person- projects carried out to date have been al sacrifices and selfless effort, as a failure. strongly affected by political circum- (Of course, from a scientific standpoint, stances, even after the fall of the Soviet failures can be just as important as success- Union. As an example, the Himingläva ex- es.) The fact of the matter is that by now, pedition was denied permission to travel many attempts have been done on many

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Eastern European rivers, big and small, ta, which provides a striking example of the with boats and ships of a Scandinavian condition of the water table, is easily acces- Viking Age design. The documentation and sible over the Internet. project evaluations that have been per- In other words, there will be times when formed to date, especially those from the travel on a river is not possible, and river Krampmacken, Aifur and Himingläva ex- travel, especially against the current, has its peditions, have provided an empirical foun- own peculiarities and difficulties. Keeled dation for the discussion relating to pre-his- ships and boats have proven to be relatively toric travel and communication. The single heavy to handle. It is also never easy to most important point to be made regarding move ships and boats long distances across these expeditions is that these were theoret- land. That is why river traveling, as a gen- ical ideas that were put into practice, which eral rule, is a time consuming endeavor, is always a good starting point in scientific even when viable. matters. Some conclusions may seem em- barrassingly simple, but when compared to Travelers followed the river certain older literature, it becomes apparent A clear example is the often cited passage that there were many misconceptions about from the Russian Primary Chronicle regard- the possibilities and limitations of riverine ing “The road from the Varangians to the travel. Greek” that follows along the River Lovat. Over time, the Aifur expedition became in- Varying conditions on the rivers timately familiar with the dramatic season- One such circumstance that is often disre- al changes in the river’s water table, its rel- garded in the discussion is the fact that there atively steep slope, and the hundreds of are great differences between each and rocky rapids. The Lovat runs for approxi- every river. Some are wide and deep while mately 540 kilometers, and experiments some are narrow and shallow, and some- showed that boat travel was not a viable op- times vice versa. The water table also dif- tion on its middle and upper parts. Compar- fers from year to year and from season to isons to written sources indicated that this season, and often radically. A lot of water also had been the case in historic times, and (spring thaw) implies swifter currents, the archaeology of the river paints much the whereas a low water table (summer same picture. This is not to say that the drought) means a continuous risk of run- chronicle is lying, but rather, that it should ning aground. Ten years ago, when I was be interpreted as an indication of travelers trying to evaluate the 1994–1996 Aifur ex- following the river and took advantage of pedition, and tried to find detailed informa- the sailable portions. The rest of the journey tion about the water table of the rivers in had to be completed on foot, on horseback northwestern Russia, this information was or on sleigh. entirely inaccessible. Through a Swedish The Krampmacken expedition utilized hydro expert who had been on assignment draft horses on the leg of the journey that in Novgorod, I was eventually able to ac- saw them intersect southern Poland. In my cess and publish information for the opinion, this must be viewed as an ad hoc Volkhov River. In this day and age, such da- solution, and to have oxen pull the boat

44 EXPERIMENTAL ‘ VIKING VOYAGES’ across some mountains in the Caucasus Scandinavian travellers most likely used Mountains (1150 meters above sea level), craft of this type. as was done on the Himingläva expedition, On the other hand, crossing the Baltic, was creative. But it should be viewed more carrying armed men, provisions and cargo, as an achievement in sports, rather than as a demanded seaworthy ships, quite unsuit- confirmation of facts given in Saga of Ing- able for river traffic. Viking Age centres in var the Far-traveled. Rus, such as Staraya Ladoga and Ryrikovo Gorodishche were not only political strong- Research breakthrough holds and emporia but also the nodes where In conclusion, the experimental voyages the means of sea, river and land transport have returned good results, which have were changed (cf. Sindbæk 2001). There, caused a revision of many opinions regard- seagoing ships could be left among coun- ing Viking Age river travel. Another impor- trymen and trading parters for the winter, if tant effect is that much of the experiences necessary (cf. Sorokin 2006). from these journeys have inspired various The suggestion that rowing-boats, like archaeological, historical and ethnological those often found in Swedish boat burials, studies, which have been carried out in or- regularly were used to cross the Baltic can der to place these experiments in their cor- hardly be sustained. The “Vikings” had the rect context and in order to judge their rele- know-how to make sailing vessels, big vance and validity. A good example of this enough to carry men and cargo for a safe is Søren Sindbaek’s study, where he studied passage even under rough weather condi- Staraya Ladoga, Timerovo, Gnezdovo and tions. Such ships are, of course, well known other Russian locations where finds of a by archaeologists (cf. Bill 1991). Scandinavian nature have been made, from the viewpoint of these places being used for The Volga Routes cargo storage and reloading at the turning To date, the routes stretching from Ladoga point between summer and winter transport towards Volga have not received the same (Sindbaek 2001). The large amount of practical-experimental attention as “The sleigh parts that have been unearthed in Road from the Varangians to the Greeks” Novgorod support this theory. I view this as and Ingvar’s route to the Caspian Sea. The a confirmation of the fact that a research Volga Road, most likely by way of Lakes breakthrough has taken place in the issues Onega and Beloozero, is generally assumed surrounding these topics. to have played a role in the connections be- There is a great need for a widening and tween Scandinavia, the Volga Bulgars and deepening of such studies. All kinds of the Caliphate in the 9th and 10th centuries. comparative material relating to just how The rich hunting grounds, which were to the traffic was set up and how it flowed in become the foundation upon which the these areas in pre-history is specifically prosperity of the medieval Novgorod Re- valuable. Locally made, light, flat-bot- public rested, lay directly north of this tomed boats have been standard on the route. The construction of the gigantic Eastern rivers in historical times and things canals and power plants in the last century were surely not different in prehistory. has transformed the waterways completely

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in this area. It is, however, not impossible Note. A Swedish version of this paper was that previously unexplored sources, both in published in Marinarkeologisk tidskrift, terms of the landscape and within the No. 1, 2008. archival material, could shed more light on many questions regarding long distance travel in this vast area.

References Nylén, E. 1983. I österled. Med vikingaskepp Altrock, H. 1993. Med vikingaskepp till mot Miklagård. I. Uppströms genom Polen. Ukraina. En reseberättelse (unpublished Visby. manuscript). Nylén, E. 1987a. Vikingaskepp mot Miklagård. Altrock, H. 2005. Expedition Vittfarne. Seminar Krampmacken i Österled. Stockholm. paper. Dept. of Archaeology and Classical Nylén, E. 1987b. De vikingatida seglen. Skepp Studies. Stockholm University. och smide. Artiklar tillägnade P. Lundström. Bill, J. 1991. Vikingeskibe som eksperimentelt Stockholm. arbejdsområde. Experimentell arkeologi. Nylén, E. 1995. Navigare necesse est. Tor 27. Kontaktstencil XXXIII. Umeå. Oreheim, H. 1989. Vikingatida resor till Bysans. Edberg, R. (ed) 1998. En vikingafärd genom En forsknings- och färdstudie. Seminar pa- Ryssland och Ukraina. Sigtuna. per, Dept. of Archaeology. Göteborg Univer- Edberg, R. 2002. Färder i österled. Experiment, sity. källor, myter och analogier. Stockholm. Sindbæk, S. M. 2001. Varægiske vinterruter. Elmér, R. 1982. De nordiska vikingatågens bak- Slædetransport i Rusland og spørgsmålet om grund och färdvägar i österled. Seminar pa- den tidlige vikingetids orientalske import i per, Dept. of Archaeology. Stockholm Uni- Nordeuropa. Fornvännen. versity. Sorokin, P. E. 2006. Staraya Ladoga. A seaport Engøy, T. 1992. Havørn i Austerveg. Mimeo- in medieval Russia. Connected by the sea. graphed paper. (10th ISBSA, Roskilde). Oxford. Koivusalo, F. 1996. Rus-projektet. Ett försök att Sjöstrand, G. 1988. Österviking. Arboga. förstå den vikingatida skeppsbyggaren och --- sjöfararen. Vasa. Web sites: (Heimlösa Rus) www.qnet.fi/rus-project (Welet) http://welet.best.net/pl

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