Soviet archaeology and the role of the ‘Vikings in the early history of the Slavs

Professor Daniil Avdusin visited Oslo and Bergen in 1968 and gave a lecture on the excavations at Gnezdovo near Smolensk. He was invited to publish an article on the subject, and the paper was printed in N AR volume 2, 1969. Comments on the paper by Charlotte Blindheim, Oslo, Ella Kivikoski, Helsinki, and Johan Callmer, Lund, have later been printed in NAR. In 1972 archaeologists from Leningrad University were invited to take part in the discussion. We are pleased to publish articles written by Leo S. Klejn, G.‐S. Lebedev, V. A. Nazarenko and V. A. Bulkin.