But if all you see is a wax museum, you miss a large point, for the Centre pumps the sounds and smells--and stinks--all around you while a narrator explains the setting of a working village. The technological explanation is that the odors of Viking life are produced by oils in evaporators. No doubt everyone should enjoy the "eau de cesspit" stink.

The sounds come from 100 speakers hidden in and around the areas, pumping out digitally recorded sounds, as well as Old English, Old Norse, and the 10th century hybrid dialect.

The staff has done a marvelous job in reconstructing the setting, from the huts and streets to the clothing and tools worn by the mannikans. There's a ship that just put in, fish that need gutting, taunting children, weaving linen, and more. My head was swiveling left and right as I attempted to take in the multitude of detail that flashed before my eyes.

You see, the time cars go relentlessly forward. It is not a fast ride, indeed, more like a saunter than a ride. But inexorably forward you travel, past a wonderful setting.

And this is a bit of a disappointment--I'm from the old school in that I want to take as much or as little time looking at exhibits. If I'm on this car, I can't get out and walk around, peer into the nooks and crannies that undoubtedly hold even more marvelous details that separate the good exhibits from the great.

Well, I probably could get out, but no doubt the security would be after me. And they dress like Vikings and carry big swords. OK, that's an exaggeration, because I'm sure security does not dress in period garb, but some fellows do patrol around the Centre in costume, and it is all on closed circuit TV.

Alas, you are stuck in the car, and so the scene whisks by all too fast. Now, for children with 15-second attention spans, this may be fine, but for me, with at least a 30-second attention span, it is all too quick.

The next area you pass through is a look at a reconstruction of the excavation site, complete with the remains of original Viking timber walls. Pretty interesting, but whooosh, you missed it.

Fortunately, they finally let you out of the time cars into a single-room museum showing the artifacts in proper displays. And there is ample text to explain the various bits and pieces recovered.

Coppergate Helm

Probably the greatest find was a complete helmet in reasonably pristine condition. They had to reconstruct some bits and pieces, and it's not really a Viking helm but an Anglo-Saxon one made between 775 and 800 AD. Close enough--speculation is that it was lost as a result of a Viking attack circa 866, carefully buried in a wood-lined pit. It is made of iron and brass with crossed ridges, cheek plates, and a nose piece.

However, the "Coppergate" helm is not in the Jorvik centre, but in the local York Castle Museum. Go figure. Instead, the Jorvik Viking Centre has a hologram of the helmet--real cool. This is one of the best parts of the museum, although there are so many best parts, it is hard to single out a single item.

At right, the real Coppergate helm in the museum. Additional photos (and larger sized ones) in the article about the museum.

Coppergate was the commercial section of the city. And so many of the streets are named "--gate" because "gate" is the Viking word for "street." So the guidebook says.

Another nifty "touch" is a wall of the various strata and what was found in them, and you are encouraged to run your hands over the various items embedded within. Good idea.

The "lab" was another cool idea, to give you an idea of what conservators do to process finds from the excavation. Although the helm was an extraordinary find, most objects are the ordinary bric-a-brac of everyday life, and often far from intact. Archeology is more Sherlock Holmes than Indiana Jones.

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