DOI Artikel:
Ramskou, Thorkild: Lindholm Høje: a Danish viking period field
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49001#0104
A DANISH VIKING PERIOD FIELD
By
Thorkild Ramskou
Lindholm Hoje is a range of hills lying di-
rectly north of Aalborg across the Limfjord
(fig: i)-
Since 1889 it has been known that there
was a burial-place at Lindholm Hoje dating
from the Viking period and the centuries
immediately preceding (Viking period is
800-1050 A.D.). In 1952 the archaeological
excavations began, which showed that traces
of settlement dating from the loth-nth cen-
turies overlay the burial-place. The oldest
parts of the settlement lay to the NE of the
burial-place, and presumably it is people
from it who are buried in the stone-built
graves (fig. 2). The area has in different
periods been devastated by sandstorms. No
sooner was the hill taken into use as a burial
ground than a wide-spread drifting of sand
covered the area bit by bit until the cemetery
fell into disuse. Dunes of 1-4 m in height
have covered the slopes. Then came a long
spell free of sandstorms for the sand was
gradually covered by a growth layer that left
a thin deposit of mould, and this is the area
to which the older settlement spread. There
seems to have been a period when sand
movement had no catastrophic effects till
soon after the year 1000, when it gave rise to
a great devastation. This became clear when
the drifted sand was removed for there ap-
peared a cultivation system left after being
covered with sand to a depth of 25-30 cm.
The excavated field-system showed up like
long, narrow, parallel waves in the area
south of the burial-place, precisely as it was
on the day the sandstorm laid it waste. At
the bottom on fig. 2 is seen the field, whose
furrows run north-south. They had not yet
been completely cleared. What dominates in
the photograph is the burial-place itself with
the stone-built graves, ship-shaped, oval and
triangular, just as it looks today. When it
was used it was never seen like this because
of partially sandcover.
It has not been possible to preserve the
traces of settlement over the blown sand
apart from two spots where post-holes and
wall-trenches have been cast in cement to
mark them. To the right, i.e. east, are the
traces of a large four-winged building com-
plex and on the left is faintly seen a house
with oval walls of the Trelleborg type (Nor-
lund 71-81) known from the centuries before
and during the Viking period. Above the
field can be seen the traces of a roadway.
evidently contemporary with the settlement.
The tracks were worn to a depth of about 30
cm.
Fig. 3-5 show part of the field during exca-
By
Thorkild Ramskou
Lindholm Hoje is a range of hills lying di-
rectly north of Aalborg across the Limfjord
(fig: i)-
Since 1889 it has been known that there
was a burial-place at Lindholm Hoje dating
from the Viking period and the centuries
immediately preceding (Viking period is
800-1050 A.D.). In 1952 the archaeological
excavations began, which showed that traces
of settlement dating from the loth-nth cen-
turies overlay the burial-place. The oldest
parts of the settlement lay to the NE of the
burial-place, and presumably it is people
from it who are buried in the stone-built
graves (fig. 2). The area has in different
periods been devastated by sandstorms. No
sooner was the hill taken into use as a burial
ground than a wide-spread drifting of sand
covered the area bit by bit until the cemetery
fell into disuse. Dunes of 1-4 m in height
have covered the slopes. Then came a long
spell free of sandstorms for the sand was
gradually covered by a growth layer that left
a thin deposit of mould, and this is the area
to which the older settlement spread. There
seems to have been a period when sand
movement had no catastrophic effects till
soon after the year 1000, when it gave rise to
a great devastation. This became clear when
the drifted sand was removed for there ap-
peared a cultivation system left after being
covered with sand to a depth of 25-30 cm.
The excavated field-system showed up like
long, narrow, parallel waves in the area
south of the burial-place, precisely as it was
on the day the sandstorm laid it waste. At
the bottom on fig. 2 is seen the field, whose
furrows run north-south. They had not yet
been completely cleared. What dominates in
the photograph is the burial-place itself with
the stone-built graves, ship-shaped, oval and
triangular, just as it looks today. When it
was used it was never seen like this because
of partially sandcover.
It has not been possible to preserve the
traces of settlement over the blown sand
apart from two spots where post-holes and
wall-trenches have been cast in cement to
mark them. To the right, i.e. east, are the
traces of a large four-winged building com-
plex and on the left is faintly seen a house
with oval walls of the Trelleborg type (Nor-
lund 71-81) known from the centuries before
and during the Viking period. Above the
field can be seen the traces of a roadway.
evidently contemporary with the settlement.
The tracks were worn to a depth of about 30
cm.
Fig. 3-5 show part of the field during exca-