ABSTRACT
This chapter presents wider contextual data from archaeological and documentary sources and its potential past dynamic relationships. A wide range of archaeological material indicates not only elements of self-sufficiency within the Viking kingdom but also much trading interaction with the Irish as well as longer-distance trade around the Irish Sea and well beyond. Dublin was by far the largest and most successful, but the Viking political control was not always effective, and only a limited hinterland was ever ruled from the town. The extensive excavations at Fishamble Street and Wood Quay in Dublin revealed a series of urban plots on which a range of buildings stood. Indeed, some of Dublin's inhabitants may well have been Irish or a creolised population in whom a distinctive Hiberno-Norse culture was developing. The multicultural nature of the Hiberno-Norse toy boat exemplifies both past and present complex identities, relationships, and memories.
