All you have to know as a VOLUNTEER at Foteviken Museum Museivägen 27, S-236 91 Höllviken. Sweden. Tel: +4640-330 800 [email protected] www.foteviken.se Follow The Vikings Volunteer information 1. Introduction . 4 2. The history of the Foteviken Viking Museum . 8 3. Rules and regulations . 10 4. Attire . .12 5. The village community . .18 6. Daily life at the estates . .20 7. Living at Foteviken . .24 8. Map of the Foteviken Viking Museum . .26 9. The estates and activity areas . 28 10. Crafts in the environs . 34 11. The museum building . 37 12. The war ship Erik Emune . .38 13. The runes of the Viking Age . 40 The reconstructed Viking town itself consists of roughly 20 buildings Dear volunteer. and estates surrounded by a wall in a style known from early Viking towns. Here house construction may be observed, as well as our interpretations of Welcome to the municipal open air museum Fotevikens Viking Museum. furnishings and living environments. The area around the Falsterbo isthmus in Vellinge municipality has an As a museum visitor you are likely used to descriptive signs at display exciting history during the Viking- and Middle Ages. The bay of Foteviken objects, buildings and environments. My philosophy however is to not was once the site of a well attended place of commerce, Halör market, likely break the illusion of a living Viking Age community, thus you will find no connected to a sacred sacrificial grove or a smaller temple where people signs here. Visitors will be provided with an information booklet providing gathered for thing and worship of the old Norse gods. basic information about the museum, but staff and volunteers will need to The Battle of Foteviken took place here on the 4th of June 1134. A battle be ready to answer questions from visitors as well. that resulted in the Danish king Niels losing power and Scania getting its own king, Erik Emune. Who will you meet at the Viking Museum? The museum consists of a reconstructed Viking Age village in full scale where time is frozen at a couple of years after the battle, and the exhibition Our staff consists of skilled craftsmen, educators and archaeologists. These “Viking Life” right next to the museum entrance shop. By the nearby will be the primary guides who can tell and show visitors exciting things. Höllviken community centre you will find another exhibition, “Skadans They are scheduled and placed at the various estates, but all estates may Ör”, which tells the history of the Falsterbo isthmus and surrounding region. not necessarily be staffed at all times. In addition the village is populated The Historical Workshop outside the town wall is a gathering place where by the SVEG village community. During the summer season we also have we perform experiments with old crafts like food, metalworking, woods, visiting volunteers from across the world. Interested and skilled people may ceramics, textiles and skin. Here you will find sites for group activities, be craftsmen, students working on their PhD or masters degree, or simply experimental archaeology and craft gatherings where various techniques are people with a strong interest in the Viking Age who are eager to learn more. tried out. Visiting school groups may also try their hand on old crafts here. We are also working with the youth employment project “Ung i sommar” The museum has two seasons. A pre-season when only the environs are where we receive adolescents during the summer who are often on the way available to visitors, and a summer season when visitors meet the people of to their first real job. They are also here to learn about their cultural history the Viking museum. and how to function in a work place. To create an authentic experience for visitors it is important that you contribute to the best of your ability to create this visitor experience. We have a motto that says: Those who know more teach those who know less. We also have a set of rules to make it easier for everyone to know how we work and how we want the Viking museum to be run. As one of the Vikings in our Viking Age environment it is important that you have a good base of knowledge. This booklet will provide you with basic knowledge about the Vikings, the time period, the political scene and tales also available via our web site. You may also deepen your knowledge within various different areas by using the information available to you at our office. We do not want you blindly doing things here. If you do not know something, say so. 4 5 and saws. For fishing there is a designated location where modern nets are permitted. When you work in the Viking town environment you are provided with a role. You will live and act in accordance with the social status that role carries. Each estate in the town has its own master called the master or mistress of the house. You will act in accordance with their rules when you take on the role as a craftsman, or a serf if you have less specific skills. You work and act at your assigned estate. You will also get your afternoon coffee here, provided by the town guards. Gatherings and meetings with other estates take place at the town square as part of the “life in the town” role playing game. This does not mean we all gather in one location and ignore the visitors. We are here to provide the visitors a correct and believable experience of life in a Viking Age community. If you are new and unsure about something a visitor asks, you may say that you are a serf that has just recently arrived in the town by boat, and direct them toward one of the museum staff to ask instead. It is important that we cooperate. On a final note, always keep safety and work place safety regulations in mind, in particular when handling knives and axes or doing archery, fishing etc. This booklet will provide you with the basic knowledge we believe you will require during your time with us. This will make it easier for you to work When you are here - choose - you are either a Viking or a with staff, other visiting Vikings and tourists. If you want more information modern person about something our staff can point you in the right direction to learn more. We hope that together with you to improve our experience as a participant This means that when you enter the Viking town as a Viking everything in the daily show “Life in a Viking Age society” and that you will have an modern goes away. No caps, phones, cameras, nail polish, lipstick, modern exciting and informative time here at the jewellery, visible piercings, unnaturally dyed hair, sneakers, white tube socks Foteviken Viking Museum. or colourful t-shirts under your Viking tunic. Smoking is only permitted at specific locations outside the Viking town, or inside the Pig house within the town. Beverages must be kept and consumed Björn M. Buttler Jakobsen from Viking style mugs and cups made of wood or ceramic, not from Museum Director bottles or cans. Your attire, equipment and choice of colours will be checked and approved by the responsible staff member if you bring your own Viking clothes and gear. Budfrun (section manager of the SVEG Village community) will do the same for members of the village community. Tools used while the museum is open to the public must be historically correct. This includes everything from wheelbarrows to shovels, hammers 6 7 The history of Fotevikens Museum The Foteviken Viking Museum was established as a municipal museum in 1995. The purpose was to place a focus on the maritime and Viking Age history of Vellinge municipality along its coasts and waters. Later the purpose was redefined to involve a broader area. Today the main areas of focus are: • The Viking Age and medieval history focusing on Scania. • To bring alive and educate about our cultural heritage to a broad audience. • To educate in a deep and informative way, involving modern informa- tion technology. The museum activity was developed from the marine archaeological activities that the association SVEG (Scandinavian Viking Explorer Group), chaired Fotevikens Viking Museum became a full member of the organisation by Björn M Jakobsen, built up during the 1980s and whose work evolved for Open Air Museums in Sweden in 2012, and thus officially classified as into a cultural pilot project spearheading marine archaeology in southern an Open Air Museum. Sweden. To conduct our own research and partake of the result of other research Already in 1989 there were plans for a maritime museum and under elsewhere forms the foundation for this kind of activity; to bring our cultural instruction from the municipality the search for a suitable location began. heritage to life. Despite small financial means the museum has been involved In 1993 the museum organisation was formed with the initiator Björn in significant work within this area, such as the project “Malmö 1692”, a M Jakobsen as museum director. In 1995 the site was located and Vellinge project initiated and carried out by the research department of the museum municipality provided a 70 000 square kilometre large area along the north- for a number of years up until 2007 under the leadership of Sven Rosborn. eastern shore of the Bay of Höllviken. In 1996 the planning and construction The project involved digitally recreating a model of the city of Malmö as began of the Viking museum, an archaeological open air museum, at the it was during the 17th century using all known historical source materials.