Kaupang was a Viking Age settlement in Norway and one of Scandinavia’s earliest urban trading centres.
Kaupang was located near the modern village of Kaupang in Larvik municipality, in the former county of Vestfold. Archaeological evidence shows that it developed as a trading and craft centre during the late eighth century. The settlement had workshops, imported goods and facilities connected with maritime trade across the Skagerrak and the wider North Sea world.
The name Kaupang is related to an Old Norse word for a market or trading place. Written sources do not describe the settlement in detail, so archaeology provides most of the evidence for its size, economy and connections. Finds from the site include weights, glass, ceramics, metalwork and coins, demonstrating contact with distant regions.
Kaupang is sometimes confused with Hedeby or Birka, two other major Viking Age trading centres. Hedeby was in present-day northern Germany, while Birka was on the Swedish island of Björkö. Kaupang is particularly important because it is among the earliest known urban or proto-urban sites in Norway.