This paper reviews the achievements and challenges of archaeological research on Viking Age northern Europe and explores potential avenues for future research. We identify the reemergence of comparative and cross-cultural perspectives along with a turn toward studying mobility and maritime expansion, fueled by the introduction of biomolecular and isotopic data. The study of identity has seen a shift from a focus on collective beliefs and ritual to issues of personal identity and presentation, with a corresponding shift in attention to individual burials and the “animated objects.” Network ontologies have brought new perspectives on the emergence of sea trade and urban nodes and to the significance of outfield production and resources. Field archaeology has seen an emphasis on elite manors, feasting halls, and monuments, as well as military sites and thing assembly places, using new data from remote sensing, geophysical surveys, geoarchaeology, and metal detectors. Concerns over current climate change have placed the study of environment as a key priority, in particular in the ecologically vulnerable North Atlantic settlements. Discussing future directions, we call for alignment between societal/economic and individual/cultural perspectives, and for more ethically grounded research. We point to diaspora theory and intersectionality as frameworks with the potential to integrate genomics, identity, and society, and to ecology as a framework for integrating landscape, mobility, and political power.

本文回顾了北欧维京时代考古研究的成就和挑战，并探讨了未来研究的潜在途径。我们发现了比较和跨文化观点的重新出现，以及在生物分子和同位素数据的引入的推动下转向研究流动性和海洋扩张。对身份的研究已经从关注集体信仰和仪式转向个人身份和表现问题，相应地也关注个人墓葬和“动画物体”。网络本体为海上贸易和城市节点的出现以及外场生产和资源的重要性带来了新的视角。田野考古学利用来自遥感、地球物理调查、地质考古和金属探测器的新数据，重点关注精英庄园、宴会厅和纪念碑，以及军事遗址和物品组装场所。对当前气候变化的担忧已将环境研究作为重中之重，特别是在生态脆弱的北大西洋定居点。在讨论未来的方向时，我们呼吁社会/经济和个人/文化观点之间保持一致，并进行更有道德基础的研究。我们将侨民理论和交叉性视为具有整合基因组学、身份和社会潜力的框架，并将生态学视为整合景观、流动性和政治权力的框架。