Student and Early Careers Conference 2025: Jessica Nutt Poster Presentation
Tracing Viking Conflict and Military Movement in Early Medieval Wales: A Predictive Model
Biography
Hello! My name is Jessica, and I am a tutor and Conflict Archaeologist based at The University of Edinburgh in Scotland. I am currently dedicated to the study of, and attempting to gain a better understanding of, the presence of Vikings in the early medieval kingdoms of Wales. I have been researching the Viking Age since 2017, and have developed a keen interest in the study of conflict and battlefields. However, I noticed that Wales is often omitted from the discussions of the Viking Age, and I wanted to understand why this was the case. On the other hand, I wanted to see whether there was in fact evidence of a Viking presence in Wales, and what this evidence tells us about their connections and travels into this region. Since then, I have been investigating the typology and iconography of Viking conflict, such as their equipment, encampments, movement and military tactics. In doing so, I am attempting to understand and disseminate a different perspective of the Vikings and their raids, battles and conflicts. They certainly pillaged, robbed and killed, but more can be said of these travellers, particularly when considering their military and social skills, and their ability to integrate themselves into other medieval populations, by force or otherwise. Through my PhD research, I am demonstrating that the Vikings had a significant presence in Wales during the early medieval period, and this is something that has not been fully explored in past scholarship.
Poster Overview
This poster outlines the Predictive Model that was created for the identification and further study of sites of conflict in Wales, involving Viking military forces. The Predictive Model utilises evidence of conflict from various sources, including historical literature, archaeological material and geographical features, such as waterways and earthworks. Taking an inter-disciplinary approach to the study, I have successfully identified three battlefields in Wales that were the site of significant Viking conflicts; The Battle of Great Orme 856 CE, The Battle of Buttington 893 CE and The Battle of Ros Meilon 903 CE. With the identification of these battlefield sites, further work could then be conducted to understand the movement of forces to and from these locations, the intention of these forces, the outcome of the conflict, as well as the effect that these Viking forces had on the early medieval Welsh landscape. The results of this work demonstrated that the Vikings met fierce Welsh resistance in some areas, but were fully intertwined with the Welsh military in others; becoming mercenary forces and helping to remove Anglo Saxon, Norman and other Welsh threats from the early medieval kingdoms of Wales. This fascinating study therefore changes our understanding of the actions of Vikings in Wales, and places the country within the Viking Diaspora, as a frontier or Viking movement, raids, trade and conflict.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss my research in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Download the pdf of Jessica's poster below.
This poster was produced as part of the 2025 Student and Early Careers Conference coordinated by the CIfA Early Careers Special Interest Group and Council for British Archaeology.
