Viking Technology

Food, Cooking and Furniture

The Vikings were quite a resourceful bunch and great farmers. They'd till the land using an "ard" plough and then scatter the seeds they wanted to grow. They also kept various animals for food, which were cooked and preserved in different ways. Roasted meat was cooked on an oven in the ground that was packed with hot stones, and they also used clay ovens or cauldrons placed over a hearth to boil their food. When it came to preserving meat they would salt it and then place it in a smoking hut. By smoking meat, it lasted longer than fresh meat that might otherwise have gone to waste or spoiled.

The Vikings had kitchenware very similar to ours, except it was wooden. Bowls and plates were made from wood and wooden cups or hollowed out horns were used for drinking. They didn't have forks, but they certainly had knives and spoons for cutting up food and eating it. To help them make bread, the Viking women would use a Rotary Quern to help them grind flour. The bread would then be baked on a flat pan over the fire although after a while, clay ovens were used to bake the bread instead.

If you were lucky enough to be a well off Viking then you would have had yourself a flat bed to sleep upon. Made out of wood, the flat beds came complete with mattress and even an eiderdown duvet. La-de-da! You can have a look at a Viking bed here.

Medicines

Well if you got sick in Viking days, there were no antibiotics to help you out, that's for sure. Wounds were treated with ointment and wrapped with linen bandages. There were doctors though but you had to pay a fee for their services. Not sure you'd want their services however for they'd stop you bleeding with the help of a hot iron. Seems like they'd either kill you or cure you doesn't it? If you broke a limb forget the plaster cast and pain medicine, your limb would be set with wooden splints.

Overall the Vikings were rather a healthy bunch but their age at death was obviously a lot lower than our expected life span. If you made it to 35 years of age, you were seen to be in your older years. Ill health was also seen as a result of bad luck, so to keep the good luck flowing, the Vikings would chant and cast charms with the help of runes.

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