4000 BCE - 2300 BCE: Depictions of ships in stone (in burial settings) and metal found in Scandinavia.

350 BCE: Hjortspring boat - the earliest known plank-built Scandinavian vessel.

200 CE - 400 CE: Roman technology used by Vikings in shipbuilding.

350 CE - 400 CE: The Nydam Ship built, first able to easily travel long distance overseas.

750 CE - 800 CE: The presumed founding of the important Viking trading center of Birka in Sweden.

780 CE - 950 CE: The commercial Viking centre at Kaupang thrives.

790 CE - 880 CE: Style E (also 'Oseberg' or 'Broa' style) of the Scandinavian animal ornamentation styles flourished between the late 8th- and late 9th century CE.

790 CE - 1100 CE: The Viking Age.

793 CE: First Viking raid in Britain at Lindisfarne Abbey.

800 CE - 1050 CE: Approximate timespan of the Viking Age.

829 CE - 831 CE: The Frankish missionary St. Ansgar (801-865 CE) first introduces the Swedes to Christianity in the Viking trading town of Birka.

845 CE: Viking chief Ragnar Lothbrok raids Paris.

850 CE - 990 CE: The Borre Style of the Viking Age animal ornamentation styles flourished between c. 850 and the late 10th century CE.

854 CE - 858 CE: Viking raids on West Francia allegedly led by Bjorn Ironside and Hastein (although this attribution is more likely legendary rather than historical).

876 CE: Viking raids involving Rollo.

885 CE - 886 CE: Viking siege of Paris. Odo of West Francia successfully defends the city.

890 CE - 990 CE: The Jelling Style, a Viking Age animal ornamentation style, cropped up just before 900 CE and was in vogue until the end of the 10th century CE.

900 CE: Viking Hedeby is at its height. It encompasses an area of around 24 hectares and has a population of approximately 1,500 people.

950 CE - 1000 CE: The Mammen Style, a Scandinavian animal ornamentation style, flourished in this period.

950 CE: The Viking trading center of Birka in present-day Sweden goes into abrupt decline around the mid-10th century CE.

990 CE - 1050 CE: The Ringerike Style, a Scandinavian animal ornamentation style, flourished in this period.

1000 CE: Vikings first land in North America, in Newfoundland and other parts of eastern Canada.

1040 CE - 1100 CE: The Urnes style, the last of the Viking Age animal ornamentation styles, flourished in this period and even extended into the 12th century CE in certain locations.

1066 CE: Viking Hedeby is sacked by Polabian Slavs, after already having been sacked by Harald Hardrada of Norway a few years before. Residents relocate to Schleswig, and Hedeby's role as mercantile center ceases.

1066 CE: Harald Hardrada of the Vikings killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge; accepted date of the end of the Viking Age.

1066 CE: Battle of Stamford Bridge in which Harold Godwinson (Harold II) defeats an invading army led by Harald Hardrada, king of Norway.

1069 CE: A Viking force led by King Sweyn II of Denmark's brother Asbjorn sacks York.

1070 CE: King Sweyn II of Denmark joins forces with Anglo-Saxon rebels led by Hereward the Wake to threaten East Anglia in England.

1220 CE: The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson is written.

1270 CE: The Poetic Edda is written. It contains poetry that dates further back, though.

2018 CE: The Viking trading center of Hedeby is made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018: the "Archaeological Border complex of Hedeby and the Danevirke".