Opinion How to be Indiana Jones — and a Viking

The dreams of childhood, for most people, have a limited shelf life. There is nary a millennial acquainted with Hollywood who did not watch Jurassic Park and think of a career in palaeontology, or a sci-fi fan who did not fantasise about exploring the cosmos. For the rare few who manage to get into such storied professions, reality isn’t quite like the movies — the lives of dinosaurs and creatures long gone must be pieced together, sans live action samples, and astronauts have to worry about muscle loss and encounters with aliens. An archaeologist, though, might be living the dream. Greer Jarrett spent three years from 2021 being both Indiana Jones and a Viking.

Vikings have long been seen in Western Europe as conquerors and traders who, broadly, sailed along coastlines in their travels. The iconic longboat and martial artefacts have become a symbol of this cultural exchange. Jarrett’s research, a form of “experimental archaeology”, sought to recreate the hardships faced by traders, fishermen — more “ordinary” folk — among the Vikings. To this end, he undertook over 26 voyages, with dedicated crews, in period-appropriate vessels — small, 30-foot boats. He discovered lost harbours and has shown how smaller vessels, too, sailed the open ocean, according to findings published in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory.

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At the heart of a great lacuna in our understanding of the past is a question: How did people live? The Vikings sailed treacherous seas to seek a better life and opportunities. By tracing their footsteps along the ocean — and facing the same dangers, from storms and unnavigable shores, to capsized boats and dwindling supplies — scholars are opening up a world. In this form of empathy-based research, there are many lessons. You can, if you’re lucky, live the dream of childhood adventure. More importantly, the best way to understand people is to sail a few hundred miles in their shoes.