First Danish Viking fortress uncovered in 60 years teaches archaeologists about Norsemen
A team of archaeologists from Aarhus University and the Danish Castle Centre have uncovered the first Viking ring fort to be discovered in Denmark in 60 years. Part of the Aarhus contingent, professor of medieval archaeology Soren Sindbaek, believes theses fortresses may change our understanding of Vikings....
A team of archaeologists from Aarhus University and the Danish Castle Centre have uncovered the first Viking ring fort to be discovered in Denmark in 60 years. Part of the Aarhus contingent, professor of medieval archaeology Soren Sindbaek, believes theses fortresses may change our understanding of Vikings.
"We have this impression of the Vikings as these marauders and pirates. But when it comes to fortress building, they really baffle us."
The fortress was found on the island of Zealand, 50 kilometres south of Copenhagen. Sindbaek tells Carol the precision of planning and construction is remarkable. One thousand years ago the fortress would have been an impressive 145 metres in diameter, and enclosed in an earthen rampart covered in oaken timbers, measuring up to four metres, with gates.
"The architecture was so precise, we could use it to predict where to put our trenches."
The fortress is laid out in a circle so precise, that when the team discovered one gate, they measured 90 degrees along a circumference and dug. They discovered a second gate at that precise location.
Sinbaek says that the reputation that Vikings have as marauders and pirates belies a dynamic culture that, by the time this fortress was constructed, was becoming more organized and capable of executing architectural feats.
"It is in the Viking age when we really see great kings who are really able to organize something like these fortresses"
Søren Sindbæk and Nanna Holm at the excavation site