1984: JORVIK Opens
In the year 1984, time stands still and history is frozen welcome to JORVIK.
The Importance of Viking History
After completing the Coppergate Dig in 1981, the York Archaeological Trust recognized their responsibility to share their findings with the public. They had a duty to not only display the precious and unique archaeological artifacts, but also educate visitors on the significance of the Vikings in York and the British Isles.
From the many ideas proposed, one clear goal emerged – to create a unique and exciting heritage experience. This would showcase the artifacts they had discovered while also vividly bringing the Viking era to life. The result was a historic attraction that felt more like a film set than a traditional museum. Rather than simply walking past exhibits, visitors would sit in specially designed “Time-Cars” that would transport them through a recreated Viking village, allowing them to witness Viking life up-close from all angles.
Construction and Completion
JORVIK Viking Centre, a recreation of Viking-era York, opened to the public on April 14, 1984 after just 3 years of design and construction.
Building Viking Streets
The ‘JORVIK Project’ assembled a diverse team of skilled experts to recreate the past and create the JORVIK experience. This team included thatchers, potters, sailmakers, sculptors, taxidermists, silversmiths, wood carvers, coopers, and leather workers, working alongside the design and construction team from The Yorkshire Communications Group.
The First Ride
The original JORVIK Viking Centre allowed 20th-century visitors to journey back in time to the 10th century via silent, gliding Time-Cars. As they traveled back through the years, they passed by the remains of 30 generations who had walked the pavements of Coppergate. The journey culminated on a late October day in AD 948, when time seemed to stand still.
Guided by Magnus Magnusson
The visitors explored the stalls and workshops of Thorfast the bone carver, Lothin the wood turner, Snarri the jeweler, and Svein the leather worker. They observed that the people of Coppergate resembled the 20th-century inhabitants, though far fewer reached the age of 60. Soon, the visitors would depart JORVIK and travel forward in time to 1980, where archaeologists from the York Archaeological Trust unveiled the remains of the toilets, wells, warehouses, workshops, and homes the visitors had just explored.
Facing the Past
Computer technology in 1990 finally allowed the affordable reconstruction of faces from the past. Using a skeleton from 10th-century burials at Fishergate, the York Archaeological Trust brought visitors face-to-face with the Viking Age. The result was an unnervingly real presence – “Eymund the fisherman” – gazing steadily and observantly out from the past at the present-day procession of visitors.
While modern faces had previously been used to design the original inhabitants of Coppergate, ongoing research continued to refine our understanding of what Vikings actually looked like.