Vikings

Most people do not associate vikings with plasters, but nevertheless most viking houses were plastered inside. The mix was a dung-clay mix, and spread over a lattice work made of sticks. This provided not only draft proofing, but also temperature and humidity control as we know clay plasters do in today's houses.
Most vikings were farmers when they were not raiding, but what we usually hear about my ancestors are stories about their barbaric warfare. And with good reason, the vikings were truly great, not in height but in how far they were able to reach and conquer. These squat little human beings (seldom measuring more than 5 1/2 feet ) traveled far. The Swedish mainly went through the Russian rivers and as far as Greece, and the Danish and Norwegian vikings went more south and westerly to places such as Ireland, England, Spain, Italy, France and even as far as to the part of north America which today is U.S.A. Some of these destinations became permanent settlements such as the Normandy, which was clearly given its name by the men from the north (nor man).
I just visited the viking ship museum in Roskilde, where a mix of ancient and recently built ships are displayed. These ships are a major piece in finding out how the vikings were able to travel as far as they did,since the common long ship were quite commonly reaching top speeds of 14 to 15 knots.
Lars Hansen.