What do we know of the Vikings from what archaeologists have found?

For 300 hundred years the Vikings controlled and visited parts of Scandinavia and other countries and left behind thousands of artefacts such as chess pieces, coins, brooches, helmets, boats, ice skates and even houses. Archaeologists have even proved that Vikings visited parts of North america from pieces of wool found there made from the same material as Viking clothes. 

What Scientists believe an adult

Viking woman looked like

Often we imagine tall, dirty scarred men when we think of the Vikings, when in fact it has been discovered that the Vikings were actually 8-10 cm shorter than what we are today and were often only marked by the hard work they put into everyday life not necessarily from battles and fights.We are able to know what they look like, what they wore, the colour of their hair and what an individuals life was like all from the bones Archaeologists have found. for example, Archaeologists have also discovered that men had more feminine features and women had more masculine features such as more pronounced jawbone probably and bigger eyebrows, probably because men were believed to put in more effort into looking good, often to get the attention of a woman they liked. 

A real Viking helmet that does not
display horns on the side

A common myth about the Vikings was that they wore horned helmets in battle. Archaeologists have found no proof to say that their helmets had horns and this myth was likely just made up in a story. The reason their helmets didn't have horns was because they would have gotten in the way in battles and may have ended up injuring the wearer. real Viking helmets actually  had protective metal down and around the ears and some helmets found in burial mounts had a metal mask in front. Viking vessels also helped shape what we know about the Vikings and how we see them. If  Archaeologists never discovered these massive ships, many questions would remain unsolved and we wouldn't be able to trace to them to other countries. Viking vessels also served as resting places for dead lords and their animals.

     

Sources 

http://www.anmm.gov.au/webdata/resources/pdfs/schools/Viking_Teacher_Resources.pdf

http://sciencenordic.com/what-vikings-really-looked

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/dig_reports_01.shtml