GIRL 1: Vikings would actually grow different types of fruits and vegetables.
They had things like leeks and onions. They also had carrots but back then they were actually white or purple.
They also had different types of fruit as well, such as blueberries and strawberries and apples.
They also ate different types of animals and they would not only eat the animals, they'd use the milk from goats and cattle to make cheese and butter.
JAMES MACKENZIE: Did they eat anything else?
GIRL 1: Living by the sea, they would eat a lot of fish.
JAMES MACKENZIE: How do you know all this?
GIRL 1: Archaeologists would go through the ruins of Viking huts and they'd go through the rubbish.
JAMES MACKENZIE: What did the Vikings use to cook on?
GIRL 1: They would use different types of soapstone. They'd also use different types of wooden bowls, as you see a variety here. They'd also use different types of cauldrons.
JAMES MACKENZIE: What's this?
GIRL 1: This here is called the quern. What they would do is take different types of oats and grain and place it in this hole here. They would then grind this around.
As you can see, on top, there's a lattice pattern. This lattice pattern is also in between these two stones. The oats would then fall in through here to make flour, which they would then use to make bread.
JAMES MACKENZIE: And what's this? Because it looks like a fruit pizza!
GIRL 1: Pretty close. It's an oatcake with jam and different types of fruit.
JAMES MACKENZIE: And is it for me?
GIRL 1: Sure.
JAMES MACKENZIE: Um, it's good. Yeah. That's really good.
So it wasn't too bad, after all. As they lived by the sea, there was plenty of fish. They could make their own bread. They kept cattle for meat and dairy products like milk and cheese. Chickens gave them eggs.
And they could pick berries and other fruits, and also vegetables that were grown locally. So, no excuses, they could still have five portions of fruit and veg a day.
Presenter James MacKenzie is shown the types of food that the Vikings ate, how it was prepared and cooked.
Discover the Vikings' diet and cooking implements from archaeological discoveries in Viking huts and refuse.
Vikings ate fruit and vegetables and kept animals for meat, milk, cheese and eggs.
They had plenty of fish as they lived near the sea. Bread was made using quern stones, stone tools for hand grinding grain.
This clip is from the 鶹Լ series, 'See You See Me'.
Teacher Notes
- Pupils could compare Viking foods with modern day foods, considering how foods could only be grown locally or kept fresh for short periods of time.
- They can research and compare a Saxon and Viking farm and consider how cooking techniques used by the Saxons and Vikings are still used today.
Curriculum Notes
This short film is relevant for teaching History at KS2 in England and Wales, KS2 in Northern Ireland and second level in Scotland.
More video clips on The life of the Vikings:
Viking beliefs. video
Discover which gods the Vikings worshipped and why. Find out about their powers, what the Vikings believed and why these beliefs were so important to how they lived, and died, in Viking society.
A Viking grave. video
An archaeologist explains to children visiting a museum why the discovery of a Viking grave is important.
The importance of Lindisfarne for the Vikings. video
Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, was one of the first landing sites of the Vikings. However, the Vikings committed terrible violence against the Monks at Lindisfarne.
Viking clothing. video
A description of the sort of clothes the Vikings wore, which were handmade out of materials available at the time.
