Hello and welcome back to the Viking Age podcast. My name is Lee and this is episode 5, a song of bronze and politics.

Now, before we get started, I just wanted to give a huge thank you to everyone who has left such great ratings and reviews on iTunes this past week.

Seriously, you guys have made my week,

and you're really helping other people out there find this podcast. And if you don't believe me,

we really almost doubled our downloads in this past seven days. So, thank you. It really means

the world to me. And if you enjoy this show and haven't had a chance yet,

I would really appreciate it if you took a moment to hop over to iTunes and leave us a rating or review there.

Thank you. All right. Now on to the history.

In this episode, we're going to explore the Nordic Bronze Age, and specifically look at the growing

social and economic stratification, which is defining of the time.

We will look at how such inequality and wealth and power can develop, and how that power can

be maintained once achieved, and the consequences of this growing inequality on society at large.

Sound like fun? I know I can't wait. Let's do it.

So last time, we took a look at life in southern Scandinavia as the agricultural revolution

took hold around 3,500 BCE. We got to take a look at how these early farmers lived, what they may have eaten,

and what daily activities they engaged in. We also discussed the monumental tombs and causeway

enclosures with which they laid claim to the land that they invested in. And, as you might

recall, to the best of our knowledge, these societies accomplish these feats

through collective organization and the communal pooling

of resources.

By contrast, at the peak of the Bronze Age,

around 1500 BCE, we see full-blown chiefdoms

...