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This was posted by a Swedish poster on another site and I thought I'd share it.
Been searching to find an English link to this, but so far without any luck, so I'll try to translate the news that came out here about a week ago.
Spanish historians in Morocco have found some rather Norse looking items in Agadir, Morocco. This lead to a contact with Swedish historians from the Uppsala University, and a small scale research took place. What they found was, however, quite impressive. Under the sands south of Agadir (well, inside the city now, but 1000 years ago it was rural) signs of a Viking style settlement have been found. The theory is, that Vikings in the service of the Kaliph of Spain were awarded lands here, and settled in a "mini Scandinavia". They must have been in sufficient number to keep their identity for at least a generation, and tools, weapons, jewelry and other items were produced in a Norse fashion.
We are probably talking of Norsemen that had been in the service of Almansur in Spain, a time of great turmoil, and we also know from Historical sources that Norsemen were hired as bodyguards to the kaliph, and as shock troops in his wars against the Christians in the north of Spain.
A joint Swedish/Danish archaeological dig of the site is planned this summer.
Been searching to find an English link to this, but so far without any luck, so I'll try to translate the news that came out here about a week ago.
Spanish historians in Morocco have found some rather Norse looking items in Agadir, Morocco. This lead to a contact with Swedish historians from the Uppsala University, and a small scale research took place. What they found was, however, quite impressive. Under the sands south of Agadir (well, inside the city now, but 1000 years ago it was rural) signs of a Viking style settlement have been found. The theory is, that Vikings in the service of the Kaliph of Spain were awarded lands here, and settled in a "mini Scandinavia". They must have been in sufficient number to keep their identity for at least a generation, and tools, weapons, jewelry and other items were produced in a Norse fashion.
We are probably talking of Norsemen that had been in the service of Almansur in Spain, a time of great turmoil, and we also know from Historical sources that Norsemen were hired as bodyguards to the kaliph, and as shock troops in his wars against the Christians in the north of Spain.
A joint Swedish/Danish archaeological dig of the site is planned this summer.
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