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OCR A Level History AY302/01 The Viking Age c.790–1066 MERGED QUESTION PAPER AND MARK SCHEME FOR MAY 2024 $10.89   Add to cart

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OCR A Level History AY302/01 The Viking Age c.790–1066 MERGED QUESTION PAPER AND MARK SCHEME FOR MAY 2024

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OCR A Level History AY302/01 The Viking Age c.790–1066 MERGED QUESTION PAPER AND MARK SCHEME FOR MAY 2024

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  • November 10, 2024
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Thursday 23 May 2024 – Morning
A Level History A
Y302/01 The Viking Age c.790–1066
Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes




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, 2

SECTION A

Read the two passages and answer Question 1.


1 Evaluate the interpretations in both of the two passages.

Explain which you think is more convincing as an explanation of the development of York under
the Vikings. [30]


Passage A

How far was the growth of trading and market sites, such as York, a result of Viking stimulus? Would
such towns have developed anyway, even if there had been no Scandinavian influence? Was there
anything particularly Scandinavian about the character of Viking Age York? Excavations over the last
two decades may mean that we are now getting closer to answering these questions.

The general picture which has emerged from the York excavations is of a fairly squalid urban
environment. The town has been described as a large compost heap composed of rotting wooden
buildings with earth floors covered by decaying vegetation and surrounded by streets and yards filled
with pits and rubbish dumps of organic waste. There is nothing particularly Scandinavian about the
deposits from York. Indeed, one must also question whether there is anything distinctively Viking
about York, apart from a new taste for Scandinavian-style ornaments. Certainly there is no evidence
to show that the inhabitants were Scandinavian in origin. Scandinavian traders were not responsible
for establishing York and other towns as major trading sites. On the contrary, York’s international
contacts were disrupted in the ninth century, and only recovered after an interval.

In York, the Vikings may have contributed to the urban community, but are unlikely to have created
it. The seizure of the countryside by Scandinavian settlers may have caused some of the rural
dispossessed to seek new opportunities in the town. It may not be a coincidence that the
fastest-growing ninth-century towns, such as York, were in those areas most affected by Scandinavian
land-taking.

Julian D. Richards, Viking Age England, published in 1991.


Passage B

Trading and small-scale manufacturing occupied much of Viking Age York. Although it is at this stage
too early to comment fully, recent archaeological finds imply a well-organised townscape, and a
vibrant commercial and industrial centre integral to well-used trade routes to other regions of Western
Europe and even the Islamic world.

Viking Age York was exceptionally large by the standard of English towns, with a population numbered
in many thousands and with great wealth. How should we explain the exceptional rise of Viking York
as a manufacturing and commercial settlement? Previously, York lay on the periphery of a trading
network centred on the Channel. The Viking Age created a different orbit, centred on Scandinavia but
encompassing Ireland, Scotland and the Atlantic as well as the great European river valleys and the
eastern Mediterranean. York served as a hub of Viking trade routes in the west. One consequence
of successive Viking occupations by armies rich with plunder was the revival of the Northumbrian
currency. The Vikings minted silver coins in considerable quantities. The new elite probably treated
the city as a quasi-capital. Kings, archbishops and their retinues, and an inflow of taxes and renders
from the Viking kingdom, capitalised the markets and attracted imports, encouraging trade and
manufacturing. York should be viewed both as a centre of manufacturing and commerce and also as
a focus of government and elite consumption at the core of a vibrant Viking kingdom.

Nicholas J. Higham and Martin J. Ryan, The Anglo-Saxon World, published in 2013.

, 3

SECTION B

Answer any two questions.


2* ‘Throughout the period from c.790 to 1066, accession to the throne and personal power in Viking
society was determined by personal wealth.’

How far do you agree? [25]


3* ‘The reward of treasure was the most important motive for Viking raids on England and Scotland.’

How far do you agree with this view of the period from c.790 to 1066? [25]


4* ‘Harald’s Jelling monuments were the greatest expression of Viking culture and religion in the
period from c.790 to 1066.’

How far do you agree? [25]



END OF QUESTION PAPER

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