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Viking trade route network

Type Object Region Scandinavia Time c. 800–1100

In the 9th century Vikings used longships and merchant ships to form a multi-directional trade network across the Baltic, North Sea, East European ri…

Timeline

  1. c. 800–850Hedeby · Danish borderlandsTrading towns such as Hedeby and Ribe became Baltic trade hubs; Viking merchant ships carried amber, furs, and slaves to Southern Europe and the Islamic world while importing silver coins and silk.
  2. c. 830–900Kyiv · Rus'Varangians sailed south along the Dnieper to the Black Sea, or reached the Caspian via the Volga to trade with Islamic merchants, forming a silver–furs trunk route linking Northern Europe with the Abbasid Caliphate.
  3. c. 860–950Constantinople · Byzantine EmpireRoutes via the Black Sea to Constantinople brought Northern European goods into Byzantine markets, while large quantities of Islamic silver coins flowed into Scandinavia; archaeological silver hoards attest to the scale of 9th-century trade.

Sources