River Kings : The Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads' by Cat Jarman front cover

River Kings : The Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads

£10.99

Only 5 pieces in stock!

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER & THE TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF 2021 'Astonishing and compelling' Bernard Cornwell

'This superb book is like a classical symphony, perfectly composed and exquisitely performed' THE TIMES Books of the Year Follow bioarchaeologist

Cat Jarman - and the cutting-edge forensic techniques central to her research - as she uncovers epic stories of the Viking age and follows a small 'Carnelian' bead found in a Viking grave in Derbyshire to its origins thousands of miles to the east in Gujarat. 'This superb book is like a classical symphony, perfectly composed and exquisitely performed' THE TIMES Books of the Year Dr Cat Jarman is a bioarchaeologist, specialising in forensic techniques to research the paths of Vikings who came to rest in British soil. By examining teeth that are now over one thousand years old, she can determine childhood diet, and thereby where a person was likely born.

With radiocarbon dating, she can ascertain a death date down to the range of a few years. And her research offers new visions of the likely roles of women and children in Viking culture. In 2017, a carnelian bead came into her temporary possession.

River Kings sees her trace its path back to eighth-century Baghdad and India, discovering along the way that the Vikings' route was far more varied than we might think, that with them came people from the Middle East, not just Scandinavia, and that the reason for this unexpected integration between the Eastern and Western worlds may well have been a slave trade running through the Silk Road, and all the way to Britain. Told as a riveting story of the Vikings and the methods we use to understand them, this is a major reassessment of the fierce, often-mythologised voyagers of the north, and of the global medieval world as we know it.

  • Publisher: ‎ William Collins (2 Sept. 2021)
  • Language: ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏
  • 352 pages
  • ISBN-10: ‎ 0008353115
  • ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0008353117
  • Dimensions: ‎ 12.9 x 2.7 x 19.8 cm

About the Author

Dr Cat Jarman is a bioarchaeologist and field archaeologist specialising in the Viking Age, Viking women, and Rapa Nui. She uses forensic techniques like isotope analysis, carbon dating, and DNA analysis on human remains to untangle the experiences of past people from broader historical narratives.

Dr Jarman has contributed to numerous TV documentaries as both an on-screen expert and historical consultant, including programmes for the BBC, Channel 4, History, Discovery, and mor



More information View images

Shipping

We process orders daily, Monday to Friday.

Collect instore (Leeds Museum)
Collect within 7 days 		FREE
UK Standard - 3-5 Working Days £3.95
FREE on orders over £60
UK Express - 1-2 Working Days

 £5.95
UK Express - 1-2 Working Days - AGE CHECK For full-size replicas (Swords, Gimli's Axe, Gandalf Staff) £14.50
International

Shipping costs will be calculated at checkout based on destination and weight.

Please see the international section below for further detail and updates on US Tariffs and EU GPSR.

Please ensure that someone is available at the delivery address to receive your order. Any undelivered or uncollected parcels will be returned to sender. We will automatically issue a refund for all products once they have been received back at the museum, however, shipping is non-refundable.

Age Check - 18+

All sales of replicas and alcohol require age verification. You will be asked for proof of age at point of delivery.

Collect in store

  • Collections can be made from the shop at Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds during opening hours.
  • You will be notified via email once your order is ready for collection.
  • Once you receive this notification, we will hold your order for 30 days.
  • Please bring your order confirmation and ID that matches the name on the order.
  • Limited short stay, road-side parking is available on Clarence Road or Citipark operate the nearby Leeds Dock multi-storey car park. Please note that parking charges may apply.

International Shipping

EU and GPSR

25/03/2025 - We are currently unable to ship to countries within the EU or Northern Ireland until further notice. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenienced caused. Please check back for updates as we work to rectify this issue.

US Tariffs

05/04/2025 - Please note, there is now a 10% baseline tariff on imports from the UK

Please be advised that you are responsible for any import duty that may be charged on delivery of your order. If you are unsure, we advise you to check with your own customs and excise department before placing an order.

The estimated delivery time for Europe, USA and Canada is 7-10 working days and 10-14 working days for rest of the world, however this is not guaranteed. 

Please note that some products are not available to ship outside of the UK. A full list can be found on the Restricted Items page. Orders placed with a non-UK delivery address that include a restricted item may be subject to cancellation and a refund will be issued. If you are unsure, please contact us before ordering.

Pre-orders

All items in orders containing a pre-order product will be shipped together when the pre-order product is available for dispatch. Please check the pre-order product page for further updates. 

Contact us

You can find all the ways to contact us on our Contact Us page

You may also like

Recently viewed