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Modern day Viking coin making at the Jorvik Viking Centre

The JORVIK Viking Centre is a museum and visitor attraction in York, England. It was created by the York Archaeological Trust in 1984.

Background

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Cravens, a firm of confectioners founded in 1803, relocated from their factory in Coppergate, a street in central York, in 1966. Between 1976 and 1981, after the factory was eventually demolished, and prior to the building of the Coppergate Shopping Centre (an open-air pedestrian shopping centre which now occupies the enlarged site), the York Archaeological Trust, a charity founded in 1972 by Peter Addyman, conducted extensive excavations in the area. Well-preserved remains of some of the timber buildings of the Viking city of Jorvík were discovered, along with workshops, fences, animal pens, privies, pits and wells, together with durable materials and artefacts of the time, such as pottery, metalwork and bones. Unusually, wood, leather, textiles, and plant and animal remains from the period, around 900 AD, were also discovered, preserved in oxygen-deprived wet clay. In all, over 40,000 objects were recovered.

The Trust took the decision to recreate the excavated part of Jorvik on the site, peopled with figures, sounds and smells, as well as pigsties, fish market and latrines, with a view to bringing the Viking city fully to life using innovative interpretative methods. The JORVIK Viking Centre which was designed by John Sunderland opened in April 1984. Since its formation, the Centre has had close to 20 million visitors.

 
Name stamping at the Jórvík Viking Centre

The Centre today

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In 2001, the Centre was refurbished and enlarged at a cost of £5 million, a further investment of £1 million followed in February 2010.[1] These investments were used to "intensify the message" at JORVIK, and included such changes as extending the ride time to 12 minutes, as well as adding more high-tech elements, which included a hike in "the technology and animation elements," and increasing "the sensory stimuli to include smells, more sounds, heat, cold and damp."[2] Visitors are currently taken back to 5:30pm October 25th, 975 AD in a time-capsule, and then embark on a tour of a reconstructed Viking settlement which includes Viking voices speaking in old Norse, as well as aromas both appetizing and not, and "life-like animated figures, made by laser technology from skeletons found on the site."[3] Beyond this is an extensive museum area, which combines an exhibition of some 800 finds from the site with interactive displays and the opportunity to learn about tenth-century life and to discuss it with "Viking" staff. Among the exhibits is a replica of the Coppergate Helmet, which was found near the site of the Centre and is now in the Yorkshire Museum. A new museum was opened on 13 February 2010, coinciding with the start of the annual Viking Festival in York. The centre contains new exhibitions and features.

JORVIK Viking Models

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Graham Ibbeson created the life-like mannequins used in the JORVIK experience. At first the faces of these mannequins were modelled off of modern day people. However through advances in facial reconstruction technology eight new mannequins have been modelled through this process, which uses a low-powered laser beam and a video camera. These recreations were based off of skulls found in a Viking age cemetery, although there is no guarantee that the skulls were Norse, and there is the possibility that they were Saxon. [4]

Viking Festival

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The centre also organizes a annual Viking Festival that takes place in the second week of February.[5] The festival is set up in tradition of an ancient Viking festival known as "Jolablot".[6] The festival includes Combat reenactment involving volunteers from all over the world.

Public Response

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The JORVIK Viking Centre is regarded as "one of Britain's most popular attractions."[7]

Criticisms

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The main criticism of the JORIVK Viking Centre is the almost “disney-like” presentation of the past.[8] Anthony Gaynor, one the creators of JORVIK has regarded this criticism as a compliment in that "we're making history accessible and enjoyable to the general public. You can't do that if you wrap it in a lot of academic foliage."[9] As well, Addyman has acknowledged this argument, and responded by stating that “...only if the product on offer was perceived as entertaining, enjoyable and worthwhile would many people be coming and be willing to pay a reasonable amount for it. That is the reason why 'Jorvik' is never called a 'museum' but is instead billed as an experience and 'viking encounter'.”[10] As well Addyman has defended his work in saying that “...the Jorvik Viking Centre is a purpose-designed educating machine, developed on principles of efficiency and cost-effectiveness; predicated on academic integrity, education values and the belief that learning can...be fun; and using advanced modern techniques of presentation, persuasion, delivery and marketing.”[11]

"Time Warp" Experience

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JORIVK Viking Centre is not billed as a museum but as an “experience,” this type of educational representation of the past, known as a “Time Warp” experience, has become increasingly more popular with the creation of JORVIK. What is regarded as a “Time Warp” experience inspired other such sites as “The Oxford Story" where you sit at desks and travel through the 800 years of the university (now closed), as well as the “Canterbury Pilgrims Way” where you join Geoffrey Chaucer's pilgrimage.[12] The BBC has called this experience “a new art form”[13], although some have criticized it as a “pop-up book view of history.”[14]

Authenticity

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As stated by Addyman, “scientific integrity and credibility are everything,”[15] as well, Gaynor's company, Heritage Projects Ltd.,"has gone to great lengths to ensure the historical accuracy of its work."[16] Therefore all the attractions created and run by the York Archaeological Trust are “...designed to be accurate to the highest academic standards.”[17] However, as “satisfying visitor expectations has been considered paramount at 'Jorvik,'”[18] authenticity is related to the public through the “...latest communication and marketing techniques.”[19] Yet Addyman insists that misleading stereotypes of archaeological methods, processes and practitioners will be avoided in his projects.[20]


References

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  • Evans, Antonia, ed. (2002). The York Book. York: Blue Bridge. ISBN 0-9542749-0-3.
  1. ^ "About Jorvik". Jorvik Viking Centre. York Archaeological Trust. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  2. ^ Koranteng, Juliana (25 June 2001). "Jorvik Viking Centre used as TiLE example". Amusement Business. 113 (25): 1. ProQuest 209428449. Retrieved 25 February 2012.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ^ Wilson, Peter (16 July 2005). "High-tech wizardry beams Jorvik visitors into Viking past". Edmonton Journal. ProQuest 253242602. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  4. ^ Adams, Phoebe-Lou (March 1995). "From York to Yorvik". The Atlantic Monthly. 275 (3): 46–50.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  5. ^ "Viking Festival". Jorvik Viking Centre. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  6. ^ "Jolablot comes to York!". Where I Live North Yorkshire. BBC. April 2004. Retrieved 1 March 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  7. ^ "Purists rage, but alas, poor Yorvik's doing well". The Vancouver Sun. 4 February 1989. ProQuest 243586302. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  8. ^ "Purists rage, but alas, poor Yorvik's doing well". The Vancouver Sun. 4 February 1989. ProQuest 243586302. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  9. ^ "Purists rage, but alas, poor Yorvik's doing well". The Vancouver Sun. 4 February 1989. ProQuest 243586302. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  10. ^ Holtorf, Cornelius (2007). Archaeology is a Brand!. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press Inc. p. 24. ISBN 9781598741797.
  11. ^ Holtorf, Cornelius (2007). Archaeology is a Brand!. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press Inc. p. 25. ISBN 9781598741797.
  12. ^ "These trips really take you back in time". The Ottawa Citizen. May 14, 1988. ProQuest 239151111. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  13. ^ "These trips really take you back in time". The Ottawa Citizen. 14 May, 1988. ProQuest 239151111. Retrieved 25 February 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "These trips really take you back in time". The Ottawa Citizen. 14 May, 1988. ProQuest 239151111. Retrieved 25 February 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Holtorf, Cornelius (2007). Archaeology is a Brand!. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press Inc. p. 24. ISBN 9781598741797.
  16. ^ "Purists rage, but alas, poor Yorvik's doing well". The Vancouver Sun. 4 February 1989. ProQuest 243586302. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  17. ^ Holtorf, Cornelius (2007). Archaeology is a Brand!. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press Inc. p. 24. ISBN 9781598741797.
  18. ^ Holtorf, Cornelius (2007). Archaeology is a Brand!. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press Inc. p. 24. ISBN 9781598741797.
  19. ^ Holtorf, Cornelius (2007). Archaeology is a Brand!. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press Inc. p. 24. ISBN 9781598741797.
  20. ^ Holtorf, Cornelius (2007). Archaeology is a Brand!. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press Inc. p. 24. ISBN 9781598741797.
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53°57′28″N 1°04′50″W / 53.95778°N 1.08056°W / 53.95778; -1.08056

Category:Anglo-Norse England Category:Archaeological sites in North Yorkshire Category:Archaeology museums in England Category:Museums in York Category:Viking Age museums Category:Living museums in the United Kingdom

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