Authors:Tenna R. Kristensen Pages: 11 - 24 Abstract: The stone and earth banks belong to a category of archaeological evidence, which can contribute to our understanding of the cultural landscape. Often, however, they do not receive the attention they deserve. They are spread across the agricultural landscape like a fine mesh and may provide information about agricultural systems, administrative borders, and previous land ownership. Most of the stone and earth banks were erected during the reorganisation of the villages’ lands towards the end of the 18th century but may also be older. Museum Sønderjylland has worked with the stone and earth banks for many years to preserve this category of evidence – increasingly so, they are in danger of disappearing completely due to modern intensive agricultural cultivation methods. Studies in five areas of eastern Denmark have shown that 70 % of the banks shown on maps from 1884 had disappeared in 1981 (Bang 2009, 6). In this way, important pieces have been lost to the understanding of the cultural landscape. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to the fact that the still preserved banks in many cases are the last and only visible evidence of abandoned farms, villages and older field and cultivation systems. The purpose is also to investigate the extent to which the banks appearing on historical maps can be found in the archaeological excavations. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Philipp Grassel Pages: 25 - 38 Abstract: In 2015 and 2016, two unknown wrecks – the MALIK and the 2-Anker Wrack – were found in the Kiel Fjord. Both sites were investigated by short surveys during 2015, 2016, and 2018. The large amount of bricks covering the wrecks is characteristic of both sites. This article gives an overview of past and current research on the wrecks. Additionally, an initial interpretation of the context of the wrecks is suggested including a possible research project. From the author's point of view, both wrecks were once most likely small wooden sailing ships for commercial purposes; such vessels were very common on the coasts of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. Due to the lack of usable archaeological data, a detailed dating of the wrecks is not yet possible. Comparative analyses of the anchors and the visible, structural parts of the wrecks roughly date wrecks to the period between the 1830s and the first half of the 20th century. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Søren Brøgger, Anders Hartvig Pages: 39 - 50 Abstract: In the early part of 2018, three metal detectorists discovered several Viking Age silver coins on a field near the village of Bjerndrup in the southeastern part of Jutland, Denmark. Local archaeologists were contacted and in cooperation with the landowner they were able to excavate the area during two campaigns in 2018 and 2019 – excavations in which the original finders took part with their metal detectors. The excavations revealed 224 pieces of silver: 150 coins or fragments of coins, fourteen silver ingots and sixty pieces of hack silver. The coins were Kufic, Anglo- Saxon, Frankish, and Danish, from the emporia Ribe and Hedeby. The date of the younger coins suggests that the hoard was buried not long after 910 AD. The removal of the topsoil revealed a longhouse, three smaller buildings and nineteen sunken-feature-buildings (SFBs). The longhouse was 14C-dated to c. 945 – 993 AD, while some of the other buildings appear to be a bit older. The SFBs contained spindle whorls and loom weights indicating textile production. One SFB stood out as it contained e. g. glass beads, a miniature silver sword, and a Thor’s hammer amulet. The combination of coins and especially the presence of coins from both Hedeby and Ribe sheds new light on early Danish coinage and trading between Ribe and Hedeby. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Claus Feveile Pages: 51 - 66 Abstract: The article presents the main results of the analysis of the hoard from Damhus. The hoard consists of 262 coins exclusively. It was found during a metal detecting campaign just outside Ribe, southwestern Jutland, and subsequently excavated during the autumn of 2018. Only two types of coins were represented in the hoard; both types belong to Malmer’s so-called combination group 4 (KG 4). The vast majority of the coins, i. e. 258, belong to the type face/forward-looking deer, while the last four coins belong to the type ship/forward-looking deer. An analysis of the dies used on the hoard’s coins as well as the already known c. fourteen coins showed that thirty-six dies were used for the reverse design and fifty-seven for the obverse design. Presumably, hundreds of thousands of these coins were struck over a long period of time, allowing minor variations of the main type to evolve. It is particularly surprising that the type ship/forward-looking deer appears to have been a halvpenning (halfpence). The coins are seen as an immediate continuation of the frequently found type Wodan/ Monster sceattas, which were minted by the king until the beginning of the 9th century in Ribe and possibly also in the other large emporia of the 8th century, i. e. Åhus in Scania and Groß Strömkendorff in Mecklenburg. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Valerie Elena Palmowski Pages: 67 - 87 Abstract: between the landscapes of Angeln and Schwansen. In the Viking Age it was part of the border region between the Saxonian and the Slavic cultures in the South and the Scandinavian culture in the North. In the context of a project supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, ›Frühgeschichtliche und mittelalterliche Besiedlung von Angeln und Schwansen‹, two Viking Age settlements (9th/10th century) and a burial site (c. 930 – 975 AD) have been excavated between 1983 and 1993. In 2019, the author carried out the first analysis of the highly fragmented human skeletal remains from the burial site of Kosel- Ost for her dissertation project within the SFB 1070 RessourcenKulturen, project B 06. The following article summarises the first results: in Kosel-Ost both men and women, as well as children and adults were buried. Based on the archaeological record few child burials had been identified but could now be complemented with additional cases. An evaluation and contextual classification of individual burials, based solely on the archaeological data, is complex for Kosel-Ost. The consideration of singular aspects, such as the presence or absence of burial mounds, is not sufficient, to approach the complex burial reality. A bioarchaeological approach that combines archaeological and osteological data offers new perspectives. An assessment of dental pathologies revealed that varying dietary habits regarding carbohydrate enriched foods possibly existed. This was demonstrated by the occurrence of dental caries which is limited to and significantly correlates with individuals buried under burial mounds. Furthermore, differences in burial customs were re-evaluated on the basis of the osteological results. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Bente Sven Majchczack, Tina Wunderlich, Dennis Wilken Pages: 89 - 104 Abstract: During the recent years, the North Sea Harbour Project investigated Early Medieval settlement sites (7th – 11th century) on the North Frisian Island of Föhr (Germany). The extensive fieldwork combined geophysical and geoarchaeological surveys as well as archaeological excavations to uncover the harbour locations as well as the settlement sites. The paper presents results from the harbour and trading sites of Goting and Witsum. The sites are located in small inlets along the edge of the high pleistocene cores of the islands with access to the low marshlands, beaches or tidal creeks. The geoarchaeological surveys show a clear maritime impact and navigability of the waterways, providing natural harbours for the settlements. The nearby ring fortress Borgsumburg housed a military elite and provided security and control for the trading sites. The prospections and excavations revealed a distinctive settlement pattern dominated by pit houses with traces of craft activities such as glass and amber working and a large-scale textile production. Remains from smithing workshops prove the construction or repair of boats. Numerous finds of imported goods from the core Frisian area, the Frankish empire, and Scandinavia indicate a strong connection to the cross-regional trade routes along the North Sea coasts. Especially the analysis of glass objects shows that the North Frisian Islands were strongly embedded in the North Sea trade networks of the 8th and 9th centuries with connections towards the Rhineland as well as the important emporium of Ribe (South Denmark). PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Casper Marienlund Pages: 105 - 118 Abstract: This paper examines the location of the excavated farms and settlements in the landscape surrounding the tunnel valley of Eltang Vig from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages. The main bulk of the archaeological evidence comes from several campaigns at the archaeological sites of Banggård II, Eltang, and Marielyst from 2014 to 2019, and their connection to older excavated sites. The landscape in this area was affected significantly during the ice age. The terrain changes rapidly, and the landscape is characterised by high hills and tunnel valleys, closely connected to The Little Belt. The large, investigated area of approximately 123 ha offers a great opportunity to study the archaeological area and to focus on the location of the buildings in the landscape on a greater scale. Although large parts of the landscape have not been archaeologically examined, the survey indicates that some areas were more densely populated than others during different periods of time, which could indicate that the role of the landscape and the use of it changed over time, due to aspects such as local agriculture, trade, and security. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Lars Grundvad Pages: 119 - 138 Abstract: In the winter of 2017/2018, a team of amateur archaeologists discovered a previously unknown site which contained several weapon deposits roughly dating to the period AD 150 – 550. Based on the data they had collected it was possible to narrow down four concentrations, of which three consisted mainly of various types of weapons. Museum Sønderskov has since excavated these three sites with financial support from the Danish Department of Castles and Culture The results are exciting. Not only has it been possible to excavate and rescue the weapon deposits from ploughing activities, it has also been possible to establish that a multi-phased well-founded longhouse was used for multiple depositions which actually consisted of more than just weapons. Equally interesting were three larger dark culture layers where especially one revealed the remains of an intense destruction of copper alloy artifacts such as belt fittings, brooches, parts of drinking horns etc. This paper is a preliminary presentation of the results of the surveys which have been conducted at this newly found site. Furthermore, it is a presentation of the theory that these deposits are part of the pre-Christian rituals carried out in a region that today is named after the god Frey. A series of depositions where the gold hoard »The Fæsted Hoard« from the 10th century is the so far youngest. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Tobias Schade Pages: 139 - 157 Abstract: value, however, is not inherent but culturally constructed and is closely related to practices of valorisation. These objects, and also the past itself, may become socio-cultural ›resources‹ (according to the definition of the Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1070 ResourceCultures). As such they have meanings for museums, societies, and social groups. These meanings can also become evident in the way the objects are presented in museums, in the changing presentations through time, and in the way they are received. The focus of this article is the process of musealisation and on exhibition studies using the example of the ›Nydamboot‹ exhibited in Schleswig (Germany). Based on various sources from archives and newspapers as well as interviews with experts, this contribution discusses how the archaeological find in the bog became the present exhibit ›Nydamboot‹, and how meanings related to the boat changed through time and became apparent in its exhibitions in Flensburg, Kiel, and Schleswig: the ›Nydamboot‹ is not only an archaeological object or an exhibit, it is also a historical witness, a creator of identity, and a symbol. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Per Ethelberg Pages: 159 - 177 Abstract: After 150 km of trial trenches and two years of excavations, we can now begin to see the contours of the settlement pattern in the Roman Iron Age at Kassø. Three main phases may be recognised in the habitation each dominated by different types of houses as well as different burial customs. Taken together, they present a significantly more nuanced picture than we might otherwise recognise when our studies are based on small-scale excavations only covering a minor part of the whole. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Katrine Moberg Riis, Annette Frölich Pages: 179 - 198 Abstract: During 2017 – 2019, the Museum Sønderjylland – Arkæologi excavated a site (31.710 m2) located at Kassø (Rødekro) in advance of building activities. A female grave, which promised to be quite interesting due to her grave goods, was found here. The deceased was buried with grave goods consisting of pottery, glass and amber beads, copper alloy brooches, a silver brooch, a knife in a special scabbard, and an artefact which is interpreted as a surgical instrument. Analyses and comparisons of grave goods indicate the social status of the female, probably also of her origin, as well as the date of the grave to C1 b (225 – 250 AD). The surgical instrument is analysed, interpreted, and discussed in detail. It is argued that the Ønlev- grave is the only known Iron Age grave, found outside the Roman Empire, which we may assume to be the grave of a physician dating to the period 225 – 250 AD. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Mads Leen Jensen Pages: 199 - 220 Abstract: In 2018, the Museum Sønderjylland carried out an excavation of the cemetery site of Tombølgård on the island of Als, southern Jutland, which has been partly destroyed by modern ploughing. The cemetery site dates to the Early Roman Iron Age, B 1 and B 2. The site is known from a small excavation of a single urn in 1932, and from metal detector finds found between 2016 and 2018. During the excavation in 2018, the last four cremation graves, of which two were intact, were excavated. This article presents the grave goods from one of these two cremation graves. It included a gold berlock pendant, a Roman saucepan, a bridle, and horse headgear. The bridle and headgear belong to the earliest Germanic types, and parallels may be drawn to the Rhine area and the auxiliary cavalry units posted there during the Roman expansion of the area up to the Elbe. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Line Lerke, Christine Søvsø Hjorth-Jørgensen Pages: 221 - 238 Abstract: Until now, spindle whorls and loom weights from the Pre-Roman and Early Roman Iron Age in Denmark have never been studied systematically, leaving an unexploited potential of insights into Early Iron Age textile craft. These spinning and weaving tools were finally documented and investigated during our bachelor project and master’s thesis at the University of Copenhagen in 2015 and 2017. The geographical focus was set on Jutland with its many settlements and burial sites from the periods in question. The projects resulted in various conclusions, among others that the use of the warp-weighted loom is reserved for the few, as indicated by a small number of loom-weights, which also coincides with the weaving technological testimonies of the many well-preserved textiles. Based on the work of e. g. Centre for Textile Research, this article lines out how to make analytical use of a loomweight. The spindle whorls appear in much higher numbers, representing a wide range of spinning potentials. The primary type of spindle-whorl is disc-shaped and manufactured from re-used potsherds, which have been rounded and pierced from both sides. We have tested these widely debated clay objects in a spinning test, which proved to determine that uneven sherds with skew piercings may very well be used as spindle whorls and do not have a negative effect on the outcome of the thread. The focus on these humble artefacts has integrated the textile tools in a conceptual framework stretching across manufacture and function, which is widening the understanding of textile craft in the Early Iron Age. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Almut Fichte Pages: 239 - 258 Abstract: The excavations in Kassø in 2017 – 2018 covered 51.4 ha land. Among the excavations were the remains of two barely visible Bronze Age burial mounds as well as an early Roman Iron Age cremation burial site with an adjoining, contemporary settlement. Several of the individuals buried at the cremation cemetery site seem to be young to middle aged men; there are no clearly identified women and only few children, including one infant. The individuals carried a few pathological markers, some of them showing signs of arthritis, some possible genetic dental pathology, one individual showed signs of malnutrition in childhood, and another showed possible signs of a rich carbohydrate diet. Many of the graves also contained animal bones, almost exclusively of sheep/goat and mostly just a single lower leg. Furthermore, most of the represented grave goods are knives and parts of the belt, whereas four to five graves contained parts of weapons and shields. The six graves from the Bronze Age mounds have not yielded as much information as the Early Roman Iron Age cremation burial site. Most individuals were merely identified as adults, and none could be sexed. Nor did they show signs of pathology. However, two of the graves contained more than one person. Grave goods were only found in graves dating to the Early Bronze Age and comprised mostly adornments such as arm and neck rings and tutuli. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Louise Felding, Lilian Matthes, Vianna Tastesen Pages: 259 - 272 Abstract: So far, the archaeological research gives a good overview of the woolen textiles of the Early Bronze Age, especially the finds from the oak coffin burials. There are, however, still questions to ask about the production and manufacturing of wool, and how this can be seen in the material culture. Objects connected to textile production from settlement contexts in Denmark are still very sparse, loom weights and spindle whorls are not many to list. Of course, the conservation conditions and the missing knowledge of the material may explain the absence of such finds. However, a re-assessment of the objects from different Early Bronze Age settlements from Museum Sønderjylland actually shows that the textile production seems to have been more common than suggested until now – at least locally. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Martin Egelund Poulsen Pages: 273 - 288 Abstract: During the Nordic Bronze Age Period II and early Period III, 1500–1200 BC, South Scandinavia experienced an increase in the construction of barrows and longhouses. Their number, dimensions and the resources involved in their construction had a dramatic effect on the landscape. On the sandy plains of western, central and southern Jutland, longhouses were particularly large, robust structures. Their walls were constructed using the bole-wall technique that involved sturdy vertical posts and horisontal planks in between – a building tradition that demanded a large quantity of oak timber. On the young moraine landscapes of eastern Jutland and the Danish Isles, houses were built using a more ephemeral wall construction tradition, that often leaves little or no archaeological traces. But what did this regional variation reflect' Why are the large timber- consuming longhouses common in the old glacial landscapes of western Denmark, while they are missing in the central and eastern parts of South Scandinavia' This can hardly be explained simply as a result of resource availability. Pollen analyses from barrows, bogs and lakes in the western parts of Jutland have clearly shown evidence for a more open grass and heath landscape, whereas the heavy moraine soils of eastern Jutland and the eastern Danish Islands seemed to have been much more forested. One could ask if house construction in the western parts of Denmark was actually dependent on timber resources from central and eastern South Scandinavia. The bole-walled longhouses are particularly characteristic to the southern part of Jutland during the Early Bronze Age and their distribution corresponds to that of the largest Early Bronze Age barrows with their iron pans and rich burials. There seems to be an intentional act of conspicuous consumption in the construction of both monumental longhouses and barrows in the south-western part of Denmark during the Early Bronze Age. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Rüdiger Kelm Pages: 289 - 301 Abstract: Megalithic monuments are one of the most important archaeological site categories in Europe. They offer a high potential for regional identification. The monuments in Schleswig-Holstein which form part of the »European Route of Megalithic Culture « (www.megalithicroutes.eu) are unique for the state itself, but can be seen – on a European level – as a connecting factor as well. In 2013 »Megalithic Routes« was officially recognised as a cultural route by the Council of Europe. With the »Steinzeitpark Dithmarschen« there is in 2019 only one member of the international association »Megalithic Routes e. V.« in Schleswig-Holstein which deals with the protection, the educational use, and communication of megaliths. In this context and in the frame of the »European Year of Culture 2018« under the SHARING HERITAGE mission, the State Archaeology Department of Schleswig- Holstein (Archäologisches Landesamt Schleswig-Holstein, Schleswig) and the Steinzeitpark Dithmarschen, Albersdorf, took the opportunity to initiate a joint project for the valuation of European Routes of Megalithic Culture and its archaeological legacy in Schleswig-Holstein. An exchange of ideas, networks and participation in the regional and international contexts of citizens and experts are the pillars of this project. The results of this project, which ended with an international conference in december 2019 and a publication about reception history of the megaliths, are presented in short form in this paper. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Jesper Borre Pedersen Pages: 303 - 317 Abstract: As the Weichselian glaciation came to an end, the Fennoscandian ice sheet retreated and left behind young moraine landscapes, today referred to as southern Scandinavia. During this so-called Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition humans began to colonise the recently de-glaciated area with the earliest colonisation attempt taking place during the Bølling/ Meiendorf chronozone (G I-1e). These pioneer settlers of the region brought with them a lithic repertoire of the Hamburgian Havelte tradition and are in Denmark known from sites separated into two somewhat delineated occupation areas, one of which is in southern Jutland at the Jels Lakes. The sites within this settlement pocket are similar in several aspects, and interpretations of these sites making out one concurrent occupation have previously been proposed, yet rarely followed up upon. In this paper the question of contemporaneity between the two sites is revisited. With relevance to the rhythms of settlement or, indeed, of contemporaneity, within the Hamburgian micro-region at Jels, first attempts at refitting lithic material from these sites have been conducted. Impressions are here presented and future perspectives assessed. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
Authors:Esben Schlosser Mauritsen Pages: 319 - 331 Abstract: In 2018, the aerial archaeological project Fortiden set fra Himlen ended. It marks the culmination of thirteen years of active aerial reconnaissance in the region of Slesvig. A brief history of the aerial archaeological actors and activities in Slesvig is presented. Many important sites have been detected, especially by St. Joseph and Stig Jensen. Their work has resulted in important excavations in e. g. Dankirke, Vilslev, and Råhede. In 2005, there was a renewed interest in the aerial archaeology in Slesvig and the author initiated two projects: one focused on investigating the Iron Age defensive earthworks of Olgerdiget and Æ Vold, and the other project focused on finding settlement sites dating to the Viking Age. In 2009, these projects were followed by Fortiden set fra Himlen, which carried out surveying in Slesvig and the North Frisian islands in particular. Altogether, 130 sites were detected in Slesvig between 2005 and 2018. Roughly half of them can be dated to a specific period ranging from early Iron Age to historic times. The highest intensity of finds was made on the island of Föhr with no less than 156 hectares of cropmarks. It is hard to predict when aerial reconnaissance will be resumed in Slesvig. Nonetheless, new tools such as LiDAR scans, orthophotos, and drones ensure that aerial archaeology will keep playing a role in the future. PubDate: 2021-09-16 Issue No:Vol. 2020, No. 18 (2021)
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