Viking Trade Routes
The Norse sea and river networks that linked Scandinavia to Byzantium and the Islamic world from the 8th to 11th centuries.
Overview
Shallow-draft longships that could row up rivers and be portaged between them let Norse traders build a western network of emporia such as Hedeby, Birka, Kaupang, Dublin and York, and an eastern one down the Dnieper to Constantinople and the Volga to the Caspian. Furs, slaves, walrus ivory and amber moved south and east; silver dirhams, silk and glass moved back, and Arab coin hoards across Scandinavia map the trade. Raiding and settlement were the loud half of the story, commerce the steady half. Christianization and stronger kingdoms closed the era, but the river route to Byzantium seeded the Russian state's commercial geography.
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