DOI Artikel:
Ramskou, Thorkild: Lindholm Høje: a Danish viking period field
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49001#0109
LINDHOLM H0JE
103
tempting to think that these fields were sac-
rifices to a spring storm that interrupted
work already begun. Perhaps the area re-
vealed by the storm was about to be
ploughed, the work having been done in the
neighbouring field.
In word-of-mouth discussion it is some-
times alleged that the appearance of the
Lindholm field cannot be due to the plough,
Fig. 8. Sandfilled traces of harrowing in the east-
ern area of the field with remnants of the deep
furrows of the previous strips. Photo AHM. o
Sandgefullte Spuren des Eggens auf den Resten
fruherer Ackerbeete. Ostlicher Teil des Gebietes.
but must be a result of the use of mattock or
spade. The counter-argument has been that
the plough was not known in Denmark as
early as the middle of the nth century,
because no remains of ploughs with mould-
boards or of coulters have been found, and
that the earliest illustrations of ploughs in
this country are known from medieval fres-
coes (Danish Middle Ages 1050-1536). The
arguments are scarcely tenable, for a plough
in function is illustrated on the well-known
Bayeux tapestry (from 1077), as also a har-
row, at a date not far different from that of
our field. The Bayeux tapestry may have
been sewn in England, but neither England
nor Normandy are far from Denmark. Also,
an argument ex silentio rarely has value. In
October 1980 a control-excavation was
undertaken, jointly with Grith Lerche, on a
part of the fields not previously excavated,
Fig. 10. The wind has cut through the thin layer
of top soil in the Viking Age and exposed the
subsoil sand. Photo AHM. o
Der Wind hat die diinne Oberflachenschicht von
Erde in der Wikingerzeit durchbrochen und den
darunterliegenden Sandboden blossgelegt.
Fig. 9. The harrowing traces from the eastern area
of the field seen as white lines in the darker soil.
Photo Ahm. 0
Die Eggspuren im ostlichen Teil des Feldes, als
weisse Linien in der dunkleren Erde sichtbar.
103
tempting to think that these fields were sac-
rifices to a spring storm that interrupted
work already begun. Perhaps the area re-
vealed by the storm was about to be
ploughed, the work having been done in the
neighbouring field.
In word-of-mouth discussion it is some-
times alleged that the appearance of the
Lindholm field cannot be due to the plough,
Fig. 8. Sandfilled traces of harrowing in the east-
ern area of the field with remnants of the deep
furrows of the previous strips. Photo AHM. o
Sandgefullte Spuren des Eggens auf den Resten
fruherer Ackerbeete. Ostlicher Teil des Gebietes.
but must be a result of the use of mattock or
spade. The counter-argument has been that
the plough was not known in Denmark as
early as the middle of the nth century,
because no remains of ploughs with mould-
boards or of coulters have been found, and
that the earliest illustrations of ploughs in
this country are known from medieval fres-
coes (Danish Middle Ages 1050-1536). The
arguments are scarcely tenable, for a plough
in function is illustrated on the well-known
Bayeux tapestry (from 1077), as also a har-
row, at a date not far different from that of
our field. The Bayeux tapestry may have
been sewn in England, but neither England
nor Normandy are far from Denmark. Also,
an argument ex silentio rarely has value. In
October 1980 a control-excavation was
undertaken, jointly with Grith Lerche, on a
part of the fields not previously excavated,
Fig. 10. The wind has cut through the thin layer
of top soil in the Viking Age and exposed the
subsoil sand. Photo AHM. o
Der Wind hat die diinne Oberflachenschicht von
Erde in der Wikingerzeit durchbrochen und den
darunterliegenden Sandboden blossgelegt.
Fig. 9. The harrowing traces from the eastern area
of the field seen as white lines in the darker soil.
Photo Ahm. 0
Die Eggspuren im ostlichen Teil des Feldes, als
weisse Linien in der dunkleren Erde sichtbar.