Dankirke. Nyt lys over centralpladsernes locus classicus

Resumé

In six campaigns from 1965 to 1970, the
National Museum of Copenhagen excavated
3000 m2 on a field called Dankirke in Vester
Vedsted parish, 6 km south of Ribe. The
finds and features were spectacular and gave
hitherto unseen insights into the surprisingly
rich material culture on an elite site in Iron
Age Southern Scandinavia. Dankirke played
an important role in the archaeological debate
about Iron Age society until the 1980s but
was to be overshadowed by first the discovery
of Gudme on Funen and later Tissø on Zealand.
So far, only short papers about Dankirke
have been published and the vast collection of
finds are unknown to almost all researchers.
In 2015, Sydvestjyske Museer imported the
entire finds database from the National Museum
including photos into our own system
thereby gaining access to material evidence
comprising 1,5 tons of pottery, 52 brooches,
37 Roman denari, 1037 glass beads, 1257 glass
vessel sherds, 9 arrow heads, 10 spear heads,
47 knives, and 13 coins dating from the
7th– 8th centuries. In addition, the archaeological
features have been analysed including at
least three burnt-down hall buildings. This paper
presents the site and argues that Dankirke
was an elite residence with activities centered
on cultic activities and feasting spanning the