"Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga," a traveling exhibition produced by the National Museum of Natural History, is about an extraordinary people who set out from their European homelands for unknown places beyond the horizon, including North America, 1000 years ago. This remarkable territorial expansion has recently become far better understood from historical, archaeological and environmental research. Presented through a spectacular array of artifacts and archeological finds, the exhibit explores a previously unknown chapter in the history of North America.

Over 300 objects from 29 lenders have been assembled to exemplify Viking weapons, religion, economy, daily life, seamanship, law, and art. Organized to retrace the Viking expansion, vivid murals, a high-definition introductory movie, a recreated long-house saga theater, scale models, and several dramatic reconstructions guide the visitor through this western voyage.

Tour exhibit highlights.

The exhibition opens at the National Museum of Natural History, and then travels to other major cities in North America.

Check the calendar.

EXHIBITION CATALOG

The companion volume to the exhibition features includes 31 articles written by leading scholars in an array of fields. Over 500 color illustrations and maps illuminate this comprehensive treatment of the Vikings and their western quest across the Atlantic.

Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga
William W. Fitzhugh and Elisabeth I. Ward, editors
Published by Smithsonian Institution Press
$60.00 cloth, $34.95 paper
Available in bookstores or by calling 1-800-782-4612
Visit the SI Press website to place your order now!

MORE INFORMATION

This exhibition is one of the events presented in partnership with the White House Millennium Council. Millennium Council Chairperson Hillary Rodham Clinton's remarks at the Press Announcement for Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga on April 8, 1999, are available online.