This and a work on Edinburnh Castle by Iain MacIvor are the first to be issued of a series of Batsford publications under the title Historic Scotland, which will be the Scottish equivalent of the successful series of books about English archaeology entitled English Heritage.

This is a handsomely produced volume, copiously illustrated to a high standard on almost every page with black and white and colour photographs, maps, site plans and line drawings. The cover photograph of part of the Jarlshof site is full of the brilliant light and sense of space of the Northern Isles (when the weather's decent), and evokes the marvellous scenery in which many of our Viking sites are to be found.

It is always a pleasure to have another book by Dr Ritchie in one's library, and Viking Scotland comes up to her expected standard of a popular and eminently readable text which is also scholarly and informative.

The book covers the main periods of Viking, Scandinavian or Norse history (the differing meanings of these terms, too often used interchangeably, are brought out in the first chapter), and the main archaeological sites and finds, both upstanding and excavated. Scotland has a splendid heritage of these (and potentially many more to be discovered): "Less than twenty Norse settlements have been identified and excavated, but this is a rich haul compared to other areas of the Norse colonies . ." (9). One ofthe most useful things about this book is that it summarises and interprets the knowledge gained from the excavated Norse settlement sites, burials, hoards and so on from all over the country. It is very worthwhile having this information gathered together in a single volume, not least because so many of even the most important sites are still unpublished (a problem all too familiar - and even more serious - in Pictish archaeology).

Due weight is given to the interaction between the Viking raiders or settlers and the "Natives" they encountered, the Picts and Scots. The second chapter "Scotland before the Vikings" is in fact a good summary of current knowledge, and perhaps no author before has brought out the probable influence ofthe Celtic population on the Norse settlers so strongly: it is fascinating to read, for instance, that analysis ofthe folklore of the Northern Isles shows that it has pre-Norse roots (28), or that Pictish house-types may have influenced those of the Norse settlers (49). Has anyone ever looked for Pictish words in the Norn dialect of Shetland?

The third chapter "Viking Age Scotland AD 780-1100" is a good general introduction to the archaeological evidence for daily life, burials and artefacts. Despite a certain amount of documentary evidence for Norse history, little of it contemporary except the Irish annals, the main source of knowledge about the Vikings is archaeology, supplemented by place-names. This chapter sets the scene for the following three, which look more closely at what has been found, or can still be seen in the field, site by site, in the Northern Isles and Caithness "the Viking heartland", Argyll and the Western Isles and southern and eastern Scotland.

Orkney has been and continues to be the richest area for Viking and later Norse remains. Important finds are made quite frequently, often revealed by coastal erosion, such as the richly furnished boat-grave found in 1991 at Scar on Sanday. A full page is rightly given over to a photograph of the superb C9th whalebone plaque found here, one of the finest Norse artefacts ever found in the British Isles (45), and it appears again in colour on the back cover. Norse Orkney also comes into focus by being the main background to Orkneyinga Saga which, though not a strictly historical work, casts light on what was happening at a large number of individual sites. One such is Westness on Rousay, Vestrnes in the Saga, the site of important Norse (and Pictish) discoveries, which may be the most complete Viking landscape known in Scotland (52).

Shetland is much less well known, not least because the author of Orknevinga Sang who, it is suggested, may have been an Icelander based at Thurso (15), was not very interested in it. Mainland Shetland does, however, contain the supremely important site of Jarlshof. It is suggested that the earliest intensive Norse settlement was in the more fertile lands of Orkney, and that Shetland was only settled when the better land further south had been taken, which may explain the continuing tradition of Picto-Scottish stone sculpture in Shetland, for which there is no evidence in Orkney (28).

In Argyll and the Western Isles the archaeological picture is dominated by Viking burials and their often rich grave-goods, which are described in detail here. A small lapdog was found with a female burial at Machrins on Colonsay, and the idea has been put forward that it could have been used not only as a pet but as a living hot-water bottle (85-6). Similar wee doggies seem to appear on some Pictish carvings. Only two settlements in the Hebrides have been excavated, at Drimore on South Uist and at the Udal on North Uist, the latter a site which, if it ever gets published, should have the same impact on all periods of the archaeology of the Western Isles as Jarlshof did on Shetland.

The "Viking fringe" of southern and eastern Scotland, described in the sixth chapter, was less intensely affected by the Norse, although raiding is recorded in the historical sources; the hoards that have occasionally been found in the south could relate to this. This part of Scotland may, however, have been rather more influenced by the Danes settled in northern England; any settlers probably spread north from there, bringing with them the fashion for hogback monuments.

The following chapter on late Norse Scotland deals with a time when the Norse settled in the north and west had ceased to be "Viking" barbarians, and were rather full participants in the civilisation of north-west Europe. The achievements of the Earldom of Orkney, with its far-flung cultural connections, which culminated in the construction of St Magnus' Cathedral in Kirkwall, stand out in this context. On a smaller scale from the churches and castles of the Earls, the Lewis chessmen, perhaps originally a trader's hoard, provide: "The most popular image of Scandinavian Scotland" (106). It is interesting to read that late Norse churches survive in the Western as well as the Northern Isles (110-1), and this is a reminder of just how strong and long-lasting Norse power was over the fringes of Scotland. Runes are also given an airing in this chapter. Isn't it about time someone did a corpus of these? Many of the (quite impressive) number of Scottish examples are very inadequately published.

The final chapter describes the continuing importance, and modern celebrations of, the Norse inheritance. This is followed by a list of monuments and museums to visit, a short reading list, glossary and index.

The book contains several line reconstruction drawings of ancient scenes, clothing etc. An aerial drawing of the first attack on lona (20) gives a good impression of the layout of the C8th monastery, as far as it is known, with a raven (one of Odin's messengers?) hovering ominously above. A reconstruction of Cubbie Roo's Castle on Wyre (123) shows a tall keep with the surviving chapel nearby, and a large drinking-hall at the Bu beyond - an example of how a convincing representation of the past can be built up from a number of sources.

It seems almost churlish to point out two tiny errors in a work of this quality, but that is part of the reviewer's job: the Gaelic spelling of the site of A Cheardach Mhor ("The Big Smithy") on South Uist (21-2) is not quite correct (it should be A' Cheardach Mhor), and on page 107 it would perhaps be best (with readers new to the subject in mind) to point out that "the earldom" in question is that of Orkney. Dr Ritchie has produced a splendid popular introduction to Viking Scotland, which it will be a pleasure to read for years to come, and which perfectly complements B E Crawford's more specialised Scandinavian Scotland (Leicester U P, 1987). I look forward to her second Batsford book on Prehistoric Orkney

Other books of interest due to be published in the Historic Scotland series will include: Picts and Scots by Sally Foster; Iron Age Scotland by Ian Armit; Stone Age Hunters of Scotland by Caroline Wickham-Jones; Temples and Tombs by Patrick Ashmore; Scottish Abbeys and Priories by Richard Fawcett; Roman Scotland by David Breeze and Medieval Scotland by Peter Yeoman.

Niall M Robertson