During which centuries did the Vikings raid and settle across the North Atlantic?

• A. 8th-11th centuries
• B. 6th-7th centuries
• C. 9th-12th centuries
• D. 10th-13th centuries

Answer: (A)

The key idea is when the Viking expansion across the North Atlantic happened. Norse seafarers began raiding and establishing settlements in western lands from the late 700s, with the famous raid on Lindisfarne in 793 marking the start of this activity. They continued outward and inland into the North Atlantic, founding enduring communities in Iceland in the 9th century, in Greenland in the 10th century, and even reaching parts of North America around the turn of the first millennium, such as Vinland with sites dated near 1000. This pattern of raiding and establishing settlements spans roughly the late 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries into the early 11th, which is exactly the window of the 8th–11th centuries. By the mid-11th century, Viking overseas activity had waned as Christianization and political changes shifted priorities and disrupted the long-distance raiding economy.

That broader timeline is why the eight- to eleventh-century range is the best answer. The 6th–7th centuries are too early for these large-scale Norse expeditions; the 9th–12th centuries push past the usual end of the Viking Age; and the 10th–13th centuries miss the early start and extend beyond the period of peak activity.