River Kings

This archeological mystery begins with the author’s coming into possession of a small carnelian bead from an excavation in Repton, England, and finding that it originated in India.

She traces how it might have made its way from such a distance over long trade routes to end up in the possession of a Norse woman (or man) in ninth-century England.

This is no dull trade or mercantile history but a thrilling read about the vibrant cultures that interacted with one another in the days before mass communication and transit, as well as new archeological methods of understanding the past.

Cat Jarman’s River Kings – a tale of forensic archaeology that reveals how the Vikings explored Europe and beyond.

It’s an epic tale of adventure, trading, and mayhem: an incredible read. Cat knows her stuff with impeccable research presented in reader-friendly style. I want to feel involved when I read a history book and in River Kings I was there, going ‘a-viking’ with the Scandinavian heroes who lived the legend. 

Cat Jarman is an archaeologist and specialist in bioarchaeology, including Ancient DNA and stable isotope research, which have the power to identify where people spent their childhoods and who their relatives were. As part of her PhD she re-examined the disarticulated bones of at least 264 individuals from a charnel deposit associated with the over-wintering of the Viking Great Army in Repton. In the site archive, she discovered a carnelian bead which had been excavated amongst the bones. In this highly readable account the bead becomes the jumping-off point for a journey which takes her along the major waterways of… show more.