Copyright C 2000

Acta Archaeologica vol. 71, 2000, pp. 171182

Printed in Denmark All rights reserved

ACTA ARCHAEOLOGICA
ISSN 0065-001X

COLONIZATION: GREEK & VIKING

by
K R

I. EARLY GREEK COLONIZATION:

LIS
` POIKIA & PO
A
O foolish Perses, sailing in a ship
Because he longed for great prosperity.
Once, long ago, he crossed far overseas
...
Hesiods Works and Days, c700 BC
(Perses is the brother of Hesiod, a farmer)

In the history of the Old World, even that of the New,

the early Greek expansion, to Southern Italy and as
far west as Spain, to parts of the Northern Aegean,
and into the Black Sea has often been regarded the
very model of prestine colonization (Ridgway 1984;
Descudres 1990; cf. Boardman & Hammond 1982;
Kolonisation 1990; various recent discussions, e.g.
Snodgrass 1987; Murray & Price 1990; Tsetskhladze & Angelis 1994; archaeology, e.g. Jeffery 1976; Arcelin et al. 1995; foundation dates, e.g. Graham 1982).
Nevertheless, many Greek city-states, including
powerful ones like Athens, were hardly active in colonizing ventures. Colonization as such may have
been a rather common phenomenon in Europe during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages, certainly it is not
exclusively Greek. The early Greek colonies belong
in a particular cultural and historical context. There
are complications therefore in using and applying
such to the Vikings in the West, for instance. Nevertheless, a survey of the Greek and later colonization
may serve a useful heuristic purpose.
The Greek name for a colony is A`p-oika, Awayfrom- or Daughter-Settlement, implying a colony of
agricultural settlers. Part of the home Polis or state

moved for various reasons to another region.

Abroad, they founded a new state, often in the material or archaeological form of a formal city and its
hinterland, the chora.The early Greek colonial polis
was politically independent of the mother-city.
The mother-city usually decided upon the expedition, upon a founder, and provided religious
items. This sometimes led to animosity against the
mother-city, especially if the expedition was forced. In
addition, the Oracle of Delphi seems to have played a
mediating and coordinating role. Contact with Greece was constantly, and relatively easily, maintained by
Homers wine-red sea. The colonies themselves
founded colonies, thus Kasmenai from Syracuse, both
on Sicily, and mighty Chersonesos on Crimea from
Herakleia (Pontike) in Asia Minor. The early Greek
colonies were founded on coasts, the landscapes of
which resembled those of the motherland. One, notable exception to this is the northern Black Sea coast.
Generally a late settlement, it was, however, started
already in the Archaic period for reasons of trade
(Randsborg 1994).
Archaeologically, it is often difficult to pinpoint the
very first phase of a colonial foundation (Fig. 1). In
certain cases an early outpost may have existed before
the colonial city, or the city in its first phase be insignificant. Sometimes cemeteries denote the first Greeks
(cf. Ridgway 1984). A survey of Greek colonial poleis
displays an average of fifty years between the historical date and the date of the archaeological material
(data, Graham 1982). The historical dates are only
rarely proved, but belong in a reasonable system of
cross-referenced oral traditions (cf. I. Morris 1996).

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Fig. 1. Greek colonies, historical versus archaeological dates. Data

extracted from Graham 1982.

Fig. 2. Kephallenia, Greece. Poleis P and sanctuaries g. After

Randsborg 1995.

The term polis is, in its essence, a purely constitutional one, since the Greeks did not distinguish between a city and its countryside. Membership of a
particular state was defined exclusively on citizenrights and obligations, including military ones (Hanson 1991). In the highly important religious sphere
of the polis, however, both the citizens and the noncitizens, men and women, slaves, even children, could
participate. The political and military struggles between the colonial poleis remained much the same as
between the states of Greece itself, competition being
the key. Economically, the motherland was a net importer of food-stuffs and raw-materials from the colonies, in addition to other goods.
Kephallenia in Western Greece, on Corinths searoute to Corfu and to Southern Italy, although not a
colonial situation per se, beautifully stresses the geographical parametres of the city-states (cf. Polignac
1984) (Fig. 2). The four poleis (five with Ithaca) display sanctuaries, including sixth century BC temples
of the colonial period, both in and at the cities, on
prominent sites in the landscape, at the coast, on
mountain-tops, in caves, etc., and, not least, at the

frontiers between the Kephallenian poleis. In fact,

Kephallenia (with Ithaca) saw much expansion in
both population and settlement during the consequetive Classical and, particularly, Early Hellenistic
periods. Thus, to judge from this and most other Aegean areas, population pressure cannot have been the
main factor in the grand colonial movement (cf., e.g.,
Randsborg 1989; 1991; Reger 1996). Incidentally,
Kephallenia founded no colonies except, perhaps, a
single settlement on the opposite mainland coast.
The general reasons suggested for the foundation
of the colonies have been (1) demographic, i.e., population pressure and demand for land, in particular for
the poor (a common traditional explanation), and (2)
political, perhaps particularly the latter (a common
modern explanation). Finally, (3) trading interests
(sometimes dressed in visits to foreign shrines), in particular the acquisition of luxuries, raw-materials, from
the sixth century BC on also stable goods, for instance
grain, later on slaves too (cf. Sherratt 1993). The early
Ionian cities, early Corinth and, in particular, Classical Athens were major exporters of products, e.g. fine
pottery, across the colonial world, and beyond. The

Colonization: Greek & Viking

Fig. 3. Colonial Greek cities on Sicily, Italy. After Hoepfner & Schwandner 1994. Cf. Fig. 4.

173

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Fig. 4. Colonial Greek cities on Sicily, Italy. House-plots and city-blocks. After Hoepfner & Schwandner 1994. Cf. Fig. 3.

rise of Greek coinage is both reflecting activities in

the polis and the early commerce.
It has been claimed that the rise of the idea of
democracy, at least in part, was a result of the colonial
movement (in the West) (Figs. 34). Although, aristocratic habits were resilient, the colonial Greek cities,
often walled and always with shrines of their own,
bear witness to the egalitarian ideas of the age in their
regular grit lay-out, house-plots of equal size, and
house-structures of equal form (Hoepfner &
Schwandner 1994). This pattern was repeated in the
divisions of the agricultural chora.
An important side-effect of the Greek colonies was
the strong impact they all left on native populations,

aristocrats and commoners alike. Interaction must

have taken place from the very start, including inbreeding, the Greek colonizers, mainly men, taking
native wifes. Thus, the biological picture of the colonies may soon have differed substantially from that of
the Aegean. New cultural information must also have
been gathered, in spite of the process of Hellenization
working in the other direction. On the northern Black
Sea, for instance, the magnates of the Greek cities
were consciously inbred with nomad, or Scythian, elites, thus fortifying the relationship between the city
(with its chora) and the wider region. While the main
culture of the Black Sea city was largely Greek, other
elements, like huge burial mounds and lavishly

Colonization: Greek & Viking

175

equipped princely tombs, in particular of the late

Classical period, clearly were not (Randsborg 1994).
Indeed, colonies produce both a new culture and
novel social groups.

II. VIKINGS AND CAROLINGIANS

The Viking moment, as earlier the Greek, must be
seen in its larger context. In the late seventh century
AD, over wide parts of northwestern Europe, a remarkable sudden emphasis on coastal settlement is
noted (cf. Ulriksen 1994, Fig. 3) (here Fig. 5). Some
of these sites are quite small and display only a few
traces of various activites, including crafts production,
others are quasi-urban emporia, like Dorestad on the
Lower Rhine, Hamwih (at Southampton), or Ribe in
Jutland, Denmark (cf. Clarke & Ambrosiani 1995).
All these were probably outlets of estates seeking, by
help of production, to enter international trade. This
is clearly the case of the Tiss complex on Sjlland/
Zealand (Jrgensen & Pedersen 1999; Randsborg
1998).
The emporium phenomena is part of the Carolingian expansion and development of settlement, its
productivity and commerce, its political, military, and
ecclasiastical organization, and, its building programmes and artistical achievements. Around 800
AD the Carolingians were part of a World system of
exchange stretching to the Near East, Eastern Africa,
and even China (e.g., Hodges & Whitehouse 1983).
At the close of the eighth century AD a link was also
established through the Baltic with northwestern Russia, and from there southward towards the Black Sea
and the Caspian, ultimately linking the North with
the rich Islamic world centered on Mesopotamia and
the Abbasid capital of Baghdad. Thousands and
thousands of Islamic silver dirhems reached Southern
Scandinavia during these few decades.
However, by the second third of the ninth century
AD, this international exchange system was in decline, and the regional systems concomitantly under
varying degrees of stress. The main reasons for the
decline probably rest with crises in the Caliphate, including a sharp decline of the Mesopotamian economy and settlement. The major Danish attacks on
England and France occur in this very phase, only to
come to a halt at the close of the century, when a

Fig. 5. The rise of coastal production and trading settlements in

northwestern Europe around 700 AD. After Ulriksen 1994.

new and even larger wave of provincial Islamic silver

reached Eastern and Southern Scandinavia in particular (Randsborg 1981).
Other western European regions were relatively
marginal to the Carolingian development, and its
trade and commerce, the western Slavs, for instance,
and, to a degree, even Norway with its very long
coast-line. Nevertheless, Norway posessed a measure
of political and military organization, which, employing the novel sea-going vessel with a sail, enabled
her to explore the sea-lanes of the North Atlantic and
to travel the northern British coasts.

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ninth century AD on. In this phase Norway, under
King Harald Fairhair, was involved in creating centralized royal control, at least over important regions
comprising the Scottish Isles (e.g., Gurevich 1978). In
Ireland the Viking military camps were turned into
flourishing towns. In Normandy a Viking fief of the
King of France was created. Thus, by 900 AD, a
measure of stability was induced into Norse politics.

III. MACEDONIANS AND VIKINGS

... and since he had no money he sought for a
war by which he could maintain his army.
Plutarchos (c45120 AD), Lives; Pyrrhos XXVI;2

Fig. 6. Frequences of Viking assaults on Scotland and on Ireland

before 900 AD. Data extracted from Hill 1981.

Although relatively isolated from the grand commerce, Norway could exploit the riches of its British
neighbours to the southwest through military expeditions which brought back, e.g., substantial
amounts of Insular eighth and ninth century AD
metal-work, some of it likely from plundered monasteries, victims of piracy and, to the Christians, of
scorn (Wamers 1985). Booty, in fact, seems to be the
reason for the wave of Norse attacks on Scotland and
Ireland during the decades around and after 800 AD,
when the grand international trading systems were
still at their highest (Fig. 6). In the mid-third of the
ninth century AD, the Norwegian and Danish attacks
on Ireland merge with the main wave of Danish assaults on France and England in the post-trading
phase of the mentioned international system (cf. Hill
1981; Musset 1971; Randsborg 1981).
King Alfreds English fortified military bases or
burhs, several already towns, prevented a conquest
of all of England. An English re-conquest followed in
the early tenth century AD, when no fresh attacks
were launched from Denmark and eastern Scandinavia, at that time basking in the second wave of Islamic
silver, arriving in the North from the close of the

The period of viking assaults on the west have both

interesting and significant parallels in the Greek neocolonial Early Hellenistic period (the third century
BC) (e.g., Green 1990). After Alexanders conquest of
the Persian Empire, the Macedonians found themselves in firm possession of enormous stretches of land
and incredible treasures. A prolonged series of dynastic wars followed upon Alexanders death (in 323
BC). Eventually, two major blocks emerged, the Ptolemies, based on Egypt, and the Seleucids, based on
Mesopotamia and Syria.
Around 300 BC the antagonists were often related
and the changing alliances and many impulsive wars
and skirmishes often difficult to interpret; what is
clear, however, is that a new kind of total war was
being fought. In this politico-military milieu, when
the chests were still relatively full, the contenders
raised large armies and navies, and strived to obtain
national or regional command by help of control with
major cities and strongholds. This was, for instance,
the ambition of King Demetrios Poliorketes (Citybesieger, ruling 307285, 283 BC). Demetrios conquered Athens and held the very strong fortress of
Corinth. He founded fortified Demetrias (on the Bay
of Volos) as his capital. His western ambitions include
a political marriage with the daughter of the king of
Syracuse on Sicily and the likely founding of a huge
fortified city at Krane (New Krane) on Kephallenia
at one of the best natural harbours in the Mediterranean, a project left unfinished (Randsborg 1998; forthcoming). Heavily entrenched, Demetrioss power
rested with his military forces (in turn dependent on

Colonization: Greek & Viking

the finances) and strongholds. Demetrios lived in a
rich and densely populated Greece where the market
was thriving, and logistics, seemingly, a relatively minor concern.
Such observations raise the following perspectives
with regards to the Vikings in the West in the ninth
century AD, (1) The Viking military camps and settlements should not be understood in the light of local
topographical and cultural circumstances alone. (2)
Contrary, a much larger military and historical perspective must be introduced. (3) The existence of a
general market in foodstuffs and goods may be a
logistic prerequisite for the maintenance of large armies in foreign and potentially hostile lands. This implies that prolonged fighting and occupation of foreign territory can only take place in advanced societies. Plunder might well be an aberration, perhaps
mainly used to obtain food; taxation is the proper
means for obtaining cash.
Thus, King Alfreds fortified burhs, on the one
hand, were production and market towns reflecting
the economic and cultural potential of Southern England; on the other, the very fortification made it possible not only to control, but also to protect the activities. The walls prevented Viking intimidation, intervention, and even use of the market. At the same
time, a garrison could be housed in and served by the
burhs (Abels 1997). King Alfreds military measures
against the Viking armies may, indeed, not have been
as effective as his economic ones.
Finally, this example may also serve as a model for
analysing other similar cases. In Denmark, for instance, the Early Viking Age production sites and
markets were undefended (Ulriksen 1994). Major
towns were fortified in the Middle, and in the Late
Viking Age the Trelleborg fortresses were constructed. Defended centres should thus be seen in the
light of gaining or maintaining regional control by
command of the major markets, thereby securing
own logistics and denying these to an enemy.

IV. VIKINGS IN THE WEST

The Viking expansion in the West in part took place
in regions already known to the Norsemen, in part in
relatively unknown areas, or, in basically unknown
regions like the cold North Atlantic (Krogh 1967; in

177

general, Jones 1968). Colonization in Southern England (as well as in Normandy) is part of an old controversy (e.g., Hill 1981). The place-name evidence
points to a dense Norse settlement (only broadly dated), from the late ninth century AD on in the Danelaw and various other regions.
The Viking armies were probably quite modest in
size, the ships only holding 30 oarsmen cum warriors each. Thus, the armies cannot have provided
the necessary man-power for the Norse settlement,
only the lordship and its military following. Other
settlers may have arrived from Denmark in an anonymous second wave, but there is no firm evidence. Archaeology has only little to offer as to a Norse identity
and presence in England. Even at York and Lincoln
only a modest number of items are unequivocally
Norse. The final colonial phase in the early eleventh century AD, following the Danish conquest of
all of England, is even more difficult to detect by archaeological and related means. But so are other successful colonial endeavours by secondary cultures. Incidentally, as the term the Danelaw implies, the Norsemen were highly conscious of maintaining their
own laws in much the same way as the Greeks carried
theirs with them to the colonies (Worsaae 1851). Unlike the Greeks, no strict concept of citizenship was,
however, applied, the social relationships being negotiable, as cultural ones certainly were.
The reasons for the colonization in England (and
Normandy) seem to rest with the military expeditions,
in turn probably stemming from internal political
problems, the results of the decline in trade and international commerce in the mid-ninth century AD. The
expeditions turned into increasingly political affairs
and gave ample opportunity for acquisition of estates,
a phenomenon in the making in Denmark, too.
Private fortified sites, such as archaeological Goltho
at Lincoln (Hodges 1988, with references), point to
a significant transformation of settlement during the
Viking period in eastern and northern England, however few the Norse lords, warriors and landowners
probably were during the initial phase of settling. In
fact, the main impact of the Danes in England may
well stem from their creation of many new estates and
villages on, for instance, huge blocks of old royal and
church land (R. Hall, personal comm.). Such settlements would receive a series of novel, that is Norse,

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place-names. It should also be pointed out that the

remarkable rise, e.g., of the city of York with its
extended industries and markets around 900 AD
corresponds exactly to the first and possibly even
major phase of Danish settlement. At York the Norsemen may even have created a so-called demand economy. In England as a whole the Danes thus generated
part of the substantial wealth of the country at the
close of the first millennium AD.
In Ireland, the first Vikings appeared as pirates at
the close of the eighth century AD. In the ninth century AD the Viking phenomenon is linked to the interesting establishment of a series of military camps,
the so-called longphorts (harbours), for instance at
Dublin and Annagassan, both documented from 841
AD on. Norse (and Hiberno-Norse) silver (and gold)
finds from the late ninth and, in particular, the tenth
century AD bear witness to wealth and trade (Sheehan 1995).
In the tenth century AD the military camps, no
doubt already with adjacent markets, turned into
walled cities, like Dublin, with Hiberno-Norse chorai
(Wallace 1992). It is in Ireland that the Vikings actually came the closest to a Greek mode of colonization
characterized by the foundation of new cities. However, the phase of prestine military camps differs from
the Greek model.
In accordance with the economic interests of the
ancient Greeks, the main Viking motivation for establishing towns and cities in Ireland could well have
been the exploitation of the rich hinterland and its
resources in men and agricultural and other products
(Bradley 1988b). The rise of the Irish towns may thus
be considered in the light of an emerging so-called
supply economy. An additional function of the Irish
towns and cities may have been the provision for the
Norse in Scotland and the North with urban and
other goods, for instance timber and ships (cf. Stummann Hansen & Larsen (1996)).
In the North Atlantic, the Norse played yet a different
role, with an emphasis on colonial ordinary settlements and small estate centres (e.g., Bigelow 1990;
Batey et al. 1993; Mller-Wille 1994). The Vikings
were present on (1) the Hebrides; on (2) the Orkneys
(and adjacent Mainland coasts) from the late eighth
century AD; on (3) the woodless Shetlands, poor in
grain, from the late ninth century AD, or even earlier,

since Shetland is an important station when travelling

westward from North and Central Norway; it can,
however, be ignored by the South Norwegians; on (4)
the Faroes from the late ninth century AD, the
earliest archaeologically documented occupation; in
(5) Iceland, also from the late ninth century AD (cf.
Smith 1995); on (6) Greenland at 1000 AD; and even
on (7) Newfoundland, in the early eleventh century
AD.
In the Atlantic, the historical and archaeological
problems comprise the motivations for the colonization, and the possible role of the earlier inhabitants.
The latter can be ruled out for Greenland, Iceland
and the Faroes (in spite of possible occasional visits
by Irish monks), but certainly not for the Scottish
Isles. Also, the motivations for the expeditions to the
northernmost regions cannot have been plunder, but
must rest with events, possibly political antagonisms,
in Norway. In connection with these, an interest arose
in creating new settlements.
On the Orkneys a substantial Pictish settlement,
comprising characteristic roundish structures with
kidney-shaped rooms, existed in the centuries prior to
the arrival of the Norse at the close of the eighth century AD. Although only Carbon-14 dates provide the
chronological resolution, there is nothing to suggest
evacuation prior to the first Norse landnam (cf. C.D.
Morris 1996). The military presence of the Vikings
may either have obliterated the earlier settlement or,
rather, made it a subservient one. Biologically, as well
as culturally, the Picts (or Scots) may have become an
integrated part of the Norse (cf. Pearson 1996). This
might even explain the striking wellknown similarity
in blood-types between the present-day Irish, Western
Scottish and Icelandic populations, differing significantly from the modern Norwegian ones (Frydenberg & Sprck 1963, 145f.).
According to the sagas, Harald Fairhair of Norway,
sole king and ruler at the close of the ninth century
AD, put earls in charge of his provinces, including
the Orkneys and the Shetlands (Sturlasson 1200).
Norse operations prior to this are, in fact, said to have
been caused by Norwegians fleeing the rule of King
Harald and fighting him from Scottish bases. This
strongly suggests a militarily dominated social organization, necessary to counter Pictish moves, indeed to
obliterate Pictish rule.

Colonization: Greek & Viking

179

Little is known archaeologically about the earliest

Norse on the Hebrides, the Orkneys (and the Shetlands), in fact, almost only scattered graves, from
about 800 AD onwards (cf. Graham-Campbell
1995b). Long-house farmsteads on the Norse model,
implying a re-organization of the settlement by the
Vikings, date to the tenth century AD (on). From this
period also comes a number of Nordic silver finds
indicating wealth and trade (Graham-Campbell
1995a). From the tenth century AD onwards we are
thus dealing with a momentous Norse cultural and
organizational imperialism.

V. VIKING ESTATES
A striking feature of the main and central farm structures in Norway, on the Orkneys, the Shetlands, the
Faroes, etc. of the tenth century AD is their similarity
in size and lay-out (S. Stummann Hansen, personal
comm.; cf. Mller-Wille 1994). This recalls the colonial and other Greek standardization in lay-out of
house-plots, cities and fields, being in character both
elitist and egalitarian. Also here the standardization
seems to have been a cultural phenomenon, with military organization perhaps the motor. The manning
of but one warship would call for close cooperation
between a minimum of 30 farms, each providing
one fully equipped fighter. On the Shetlands, as well
as in the other far northern regions all devoid of
wood the problem of acquiring timber for ships, or
even new ships, must in itself have called for high
organization and integration with other areas.
Highly important, a quasi-manorial system (with
dependent farmers) is suggested for early colonial Iceland on the grounds of the Sagas (cf. Herschend 1994)
(Fig. 7). In this system, sometimes termed chiefly (with
allusions to a relatively simple society and economy),
but in fact compatible with the manorial world known
from the written sources of the High Middle Ages in
Denmark, the estate is worked directly by dependent
larger and smaller farms (cf. Ulsig 1996). The manor
per se is no doubt older, as indicated by the abovementioned Tiss centre, incidentally property of the
powerful Hvide family, the greatest land-owners in
Denmark in the 12th Century (Jrgensen 1999;
Jrgensen & Srensen 1995; Randsborg 1998; cf.
Callmer 1992). Runic and other written evidence for

Fig. 7. Icelandic colonial estates of Hwammr (owner Aud, a woman) and Borg (owner Skalagrim), respectively. Black manypointed starestate centre/farmstead. Big white many-pointed
starsecondary farmstead under Borg. White star in black dot
farmstead of dependent free-born fellow. White star with five
pointsFarmstead of dependent free or freed man. White star with
four pointsproduction unit. After Herschend 1994.

Viking Age estates have also been suggested

(Randsborg 1980; Andren 1983).
Even the Late Roman and Migration period
centre of Gudme, Eastern Fyn/Funen might be
such an estate (Nielsen et al. 1994). Gudme has up to
one hundred farmsteads within little more than one

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square kilometre, a magnificent hall, extensive production of golden artefacts, surrounding shrines (to
judge from place-names), and a huge coastal emporium (and production site) at nearby Lundeborg.
Gudme was obviously established to control the seaborne traffic in the Greater Belt area and no doubt
had military connotations. But the economic realities,
including the interest in craft production and commerce, makes it look much like a very early example
of the above type of estate founded on a grand scale
around 700 AD. In fact, estate-like control of settlements and subsistence production may also be reflected in other regulated villages of the Late Roman
and Migration periods, for instance the locus classicus
of Vorbasse, Central Jutland.

VI. CONCLUSIONS
A final world of caution should ring at the end of this
brief survey. Greece is not Scandinavia, and Hellenic
culture was different indeed from that of the Norse.
A Greek polis (or city-state) type of organization of
society did not exist in the Viking Age. The Greek
colonies were independent of the motherland, the
Norse ones only to a certain extent. Also, the Greeks
rarely faced strong opposition abroad. Furthermore,
the central role of religious practices in the great
Greek colonization is missing with the Vikings (although the whole issue of religion deserves to be
scrutinized anew).
Nevertheless, both archaeologically and historically
we may also note certain similarities in the scholarly
research on Greece and on the Vikings in the follow-

ing areas, (a) the problem of identifying the first phase

of colonial settlements, (b) the various stages of colonization, (c) the different reasons for the expansion
(trade, quest for land, political problems, etc.), (d) the
differing effects that colonies had on a region, and (e)
the varying relationships with the native populations.
Furthermore, Vikings and Greeks were both highly
dependent on the rural economy and were very active
in craft-production, exchange and commerce, in particular from urbanized market-places and towns.
They shared a measure of ideological egalitarianism
(with an elitish varnish) and were both highly militarized and self-conscious societies, in fact, militarization
remains a prerequisite for successful opposed expansion (cf. Lund 1996; Randsborg 1995). The main lines
of communication and transportation for both Greeks
and Vikings were by the sea, across which the kings
and magnates of the Norse sought to extend their
power. This is also what Athens did in the Classical
period, by tributary and military means, perhaps a
remote parallel to the Vikings in Ireland.
Finally, the relative freedom of the Viking armies
in the rich West, has a pregnant parallel in the period
of the struggles of the Macedonian successors to Alexander the Great. Here the purse of the king is the
main factor in the game, regional control the prize of
the manoeuvres with professional armies and navies
attempting to control central fortified cities and other
strongholds. Indeed, in all the colonial cases considered here Greek or Viking new opportunities
were created. Truly historical moments often ensued,
with long-lasting effects. Thus, colonization is action.
Both at home, at a distance, and certainly abroad.

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Authors address:
Institut for Arkologi og Etnologi
Kbenhavns Universitet
Vandkunsten 5
DK-1467 Kbenhavn
Denmark
randsb/gw.hum.ku.dk

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