DOI Artikel:
Lerche, Grith: A Viking harrow down a well
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49001#0193
A VIKING HARROW DOWN A WELL
By
Grith Lerche
During the last hundred years a remarkable
number of ards and fragments of ploughing
implements has been excavated in Denmark,
far more than in any other country. But until
now only some fragments of one harrow has
been found, the harrow from Viborg, men-
tioned briefly in the 1980 issue of Tools and
Tillage along with its radio-carbon dating of
830 ±100 A.D. in calibrated years (Lerche
1980, 59). The find is here described in
detail, its construction compared with other
European harrow types which are preserved
or delineated in pictures, and fossil traces of
their function in the field are discussed.
The Site
In November 1976 during an excavation on
plot no. 292a of Viborg, i.e. the area along
the street of Store Set. Peter, staff of the
Viborg Stiftsmuseum observed traces in the
subsoil in the form of broad boat-shaped as
well as V-shaped marks of ploughing in the
respective profiles.1 In 1972-74 similar
marks had been found in the same area and
published in Tools and Tillage (Noe 1975,
59-64). They could be dated to after ca. 700
A.D. and before 1050 A.D.
Above the cultivation level was a thick
layer of debris from metal-working ac-
tivities, including the melting of bog iron
and production of peat charcoal, as well as
fire-crackled stones; and in a channel were
fragments of wood with metallic secretions.
In earlier excavations close by were found a
melting furnace, slag-pits, pairs of tongs etc.
To this stratification belongs the wooden
construction of a well.
Parts of the harrow under discussion were
inserted into it as re-used timber. Over this
layer were others of medieval origin.
The Well
It was difficult to excavate the well because
of mud and oozing water. Its construction
consisted of a) a narrow well-hole sur-
rounded by planks, b) a conical pit dug into
the subsoil, and c) a surrounding wattled
fence. Originally the well must have been
only 1.70 m deep, but to-day its bottom is
3.80 m beneath the surface of the courtyard.
When the wooden construction was taken
up, two square cut pieces of small dimension
were noticed because of the row of drilled
holes with remnants of pointed wooden pegs
still in situ. One of these wooden pieces was
set in the SE-side of the well-construction,
the other in the NE side (fig. 1). The SE
piece broke while being excavated. A smaller
piece split, and the rest had to be gathered
more casually as loose finds. The NE piece
was picked up nearly intact, only the last 10
cm had to be left in the mud.
The Harrow
In the Conservation Department of the Dan-
ish National Museum, I had the opportunity
to examine the pieces before conservation.
The find consists of 4 pieces of harrow boles
(mus. no. 990c). They are fully squared
wooden pieces with bevelled edges. There
By
Grith Lerche
During the last hundred years a remarkable
number of ards and fragments of ploughing
implements has been excavated in Denmark,
far more than in any other country. But until
now only some fragments of one harrow has
been found, the harrow from Viborg, men-
tioned briefly in the 1980 issue of Tools and
Tillage along with its radio-carbon dating of
830 ±100 A.D. in calibrated years (Lerche
1980, 59). The find is here described in
detail, its construction compared with other
European harrow types which are preserved
or delineated in pictures, and fossil traces of
their function in the field are discussed.
The Site
In November 1976 during an excavation on
plot no. 292a of Viborg, i.e. the area along
the street of Store Set. Peter, staff of the
Viborg Stiftsmuseum observed traces in the
subsoil in the form of broad boat-shaped as
well as V-shaped marks of ploughing in the
respective profiles.1 In 1972-74 similar
marks had been found in the same area and
published in Tools and Tillage (Noe 1975,
59-64). They could be dated to after ca. 700
A.D. and before 1050 A.D.
Above the cultivation level was a thick
layer of debris from metal-working ac-
tivities, including the melting of bog iron
and production of peat charcoal, as well as
fire-crackled stones; and in a channel were
fragments of wood with metallic secretions.
In earlier excavations close by were found a
melting furnace, slag-pits, pairs of tongs etc.
To this stratification belongs the wooden
construction of a well.
Parts of the harrow under discussion were
inserted into it as re-used timber. Over this
layer were others of medieval origin.
The Well
It was difficult to excavate the well because
of mud and oozing water. Its construction
consisted of a) a narrow well-hole sur-
rounded by planks, b) a conical pit dug into
the subsoil, and c) a surrounding wattled
fence. Originally the well must have been
only 1.70 m deep, but to-day its bottom is
3.80 m beneath the surface of the courtyard.
When the wooden construction was taken
up, two square cut pieces of small dimension
were noticed because of the row of drilled
holes with remnants of pointed wooden pegs
still in situ. One of these wooden pieces was
set in the SE-side of the well-construction,
the other in the NE side (fig. 1). The SE
piece broke while being excavated. A smaller
piece split, and the rest had to be gathered
more casually as loose finds. The NE piece
was picked up nearly intact, only the last 10
cm had to be left in the mud.
The Harrow
In the Conservation Department of the Dan-
ish National Museum, I had the opportunity
to examine the pieces before conservation.
The find consists of 4 pieces of harrow boles
(mus. no. 990c). They are fully squared
wooden pieces with bevelled edges. There