In this first installment, we start at the top with a look at the lives of pre-Viking chieftains
Terje Birkedal
Laguna Woods, Calif.
Chieftains were the political movers and shakers of Bronze Age Scandinavia. Though the Nordic Bronze Age officially lasted from 1700 BCE to 500 BCE, this article focuses on what was going on between 1500 BCE and 1100 BCE; this period represents the very height of the Bronze Age in Scandinavia. This time span corresponds to the emergence of the New Kingdom in Egypt, the advent of the powerful Hittite Empire in Turkey, and the rise of Minoan and Mycenaean Greece (the period made famous by Homer’s Iliad).
Contrary to what you might expect, Scandinavia at this time boasted one of the most wealthy and vibrant s
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Terje Birkedal
Terje G. Birkedal was born in Stavanger, Norway, in 1946. He immigrated to the U.S. as child and grew up in Colorado. After earning a Ph.D. in Anthropology he served as an archeologist with the National Park Service for 36 years. He has conducted fieldwork in Alaska, the American South and Southwest, Canada, the Great Plains, Guam, and Norway. He served five years as President of Sons of Norway Bernt Balchen Lodge in Anchorage, Alaska, and he has always been passionate about Norwegian prehistory, history, and culture.
