This is an outdated version published on 2021-07-22. Read the most recent version.

The lost landscape of Borgring

Geoarchaeological investigations into the navigation to, and location of, the Danish Viking Age ring fortress

Authors

  • Catherine Jessen Environmental Archaeology and Materials Science, The National Museum of Denmark
  • Peter Steen Henriksen Environmental Archaeology and Materials Science, National Museum of Denmark
  • Mette Marie Hald Environmental Archaeology and Materials Science, The National Museum of Denmark
  • Jens Ulriksen Museum Sydøstdanmark

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7146/dja.v10i0.121917

Abstract

Geoarchaeological investigations at Borgring, a recently identified Danish Viking Age ring fortress, reconstructs the original landscape showing how the site was expanded and modified to accommodate a structure of pre-defined size and how this large-scale project demonstrates the willingness to invest significant resources in its precise positioning. The investigations also assess the possibility of navigating along the nearby stream from the coast and show that access by anything larger than a dinghy was impossible, hence navigability was not important for the location and function of the fortress. This has implications for the functional interpretation of all Danish Viking Age ring fortresses.

References

Behre, K.E,. 2007. A new Holocene sea-level curve for the southern North Sea. Boreas, 36, 82-102.

Bronk Ramsey, C., 2009. Bayesian Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates. Radiocarbon, 51, 337-360.

Bronk Ramsey, C., 2017. Methods for Summarizing Radiocarbon Datasets. Radiocarbon, 59, 1809-1833.

Christensen, K., 2014. Kongens Borge. Det kronologiske forhold mellem Pine Mølle og Trelleborg. Kuml, 2014, 309-325.

Christiansen, T.E., Foged, N., Jørgensen, S. and Petersen, K.S., 1989. Trelleborg og Pine Mølle. Aarboger for Nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie, 1989, 7-98.

Crumlin-Pedersen, O., 2002. The Skuldelev Ships I. Ships and Boats of the North 4.1. Roskilde: Viking Ship Museum.

Daly, A., 2017. Undersøgelse af tømmer fra Borgring, Køge KNV00047. Dendro.dk report, 71.

Dobat, A.S., 2009. The State and the Strangers: The Role of External Forces in a Process of State Formation in Viking-Age South Scandinavia (c. AD 900-1050). Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, 5, 65-104. https://doi.org/10.1484/J.VMS.1.100674

Dobat, A.S., 2013. Kongens Borge. Rapport over undersøgelserne 2007-2010. Højberg: Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab.

Dobat, A.S. and Mandrup, P.T., 2014. Response to Christensen, K. Kongens Borge. Det kronologiske forhold mellem Pine Mølle og Trelleborg. Kuml, 2014, 327-330.

Geodatastyrelsen 2019. AD 1808 O1 map. https://hkpn.gst.dk/: Geodatastyrelsen.

Goodchild, H., Holm, N. and Sindbæk, S.M., 2017. Borgring: the discovery of a Viking Age ring fortress. Antiquity, 91, 1027-1042. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2017.118

Hansen, J.M., Aagaard, T. and Binderup, M., 2012. Absolute sea levels and isostatic changes of the eastern North Sea to central Baltic region during the last 900 years. Boreas, 41, 180-208. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.2011.00229.x

Hansen, J.M., Aagaard, T., Stockmarr, J., Moller, I., Nielsen, L., Binderup, M., Larsen, J.H. and Larsen, B., 2016. Continuous record of Holocene sea-level changes and coastal development of the Kattegat island Laeso (4900 years BP to present). Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark, 64, 1-55.

Holmberg, B. and Madsen, J.S., 1998. Da kom en snekke ... Havnepladser fra 1000- og 1100- tallet? KUML Årbog for Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab, 1998, 197-225.

Kortforsyning, 2019. Højemålebordsblad 1842-1899. https://kortforsyningen.dk/: Kortforsyning.

Mandrup, P.T., 2013. ‘Diskussion om Pine Mølle’. In: A.S. Dobat, ed. Kongens Borge. Rapport over undersøgelserne 2007-2010. Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab, 65-68.

Mertz, E.L., 1924. Oversigt over de sen- og postglaciale Niveauforandringer i Danmark. Danmarks Geologiske Undersøgelse II, 41.

Mikkelsen, V.M., 1949. Præstø Fjord. The development of the postglacial vegetation and a contribution to the history of the Baltic Sea. Dansk Botanisk Arkiv 13.

Nicolaysen, N., 1882. Langskibet fra Gokstad ved Sandefjord. The Viking ship discovered at Gokstad in Norway. Kristiania: Alb. Cammermeyer.

Nielsen, L.C., 1990., Trelleborg, Aarboger for Nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie, 1990, 105-178.

Nørlund, P., 1948. Trelleborg. (Nordiske Fortidsminder. Gyldendalske Boghandel.

Olsen, O. and Schmidt, H., 1977. Fyrkat. En jysk vikingeborge. I: Borgen og bebyggelsen. København: Nordiske Fortidsminder. Serie B.

Reimer, P.J., Baillie, M.G.L., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Bertrand, C.J.H., Blackwell, P.G., Buck, C.E., Burr, G.S., Cutler, K.B., Damon, P.E., Edwards, R.L., Fairbanks, R.G., Friedrich, M., Guilderson, T.P., Hogg, A.G., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, G., Manning, S., Ramsey, C.B., Reimer, R.W., Remmele, S., Southon, J.R., Stuiver, M., Talamo, S., Taylor, F.W., van der Plicht, J. and Weyhenmeyer, C.E., 2004. IntCal04 terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0-26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon, 46, 1029-1058. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033822200032999

Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Blackwell, P.G., Ramsey, C.B., Buck, C.E., Cheng, H., Edwards, R.L., Friedrich, M., Grootes, P.M., Guilderson, T.P., Haflidason, H., Hajdas, I., Hatte, C., Heaton, T.J., Hoffmann, D.L., Hogg, A.G., Hughen, K.A., Kaiser, K.F., Kromer, B., Manning, S.W., Niu, M., Reimer, R.W., Richards, D.A., Scott, E.M., Southon, J.R., Staff, R.A., Turney, C.S.M. and van der Plicht, J., 2013. Intcal13 and Marine13 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves 0-50,000 Years Cal Bp. Radiocarbon, 55, 1869-1887. https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_js_rc.55.16947

Roesdahl, E., 1977. Fyrkat. En jysk vikingeborg. II: Oldsagerne og gravpladsen. København: Nordiske Fortidsminder. Serie B.

Roesdahl, E. and Sindbæk, S.M., 2014. ‘The purpose of the fortress’. In: E. Roesdahl, S.M. Sindbæk, A. Pedersen and D.M. Wilson, eds. Aggersborg: The Viking-Age Settlement and Fortress. Højberg: Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab, 383-414.

Runge, M. and Henriksen, M.B., 2018. The origins of Odense – new aspects of early urbanisation in southern Scandinavia. Danish Journal of Archaeology, 7, 2-68. https://doi.org/10.1080/21662282.2018.1475891

Ulriksen, J., 2008. Gevinge – leddet til Lejre. Kuml, 2008, 145-185.

Ulriksen, J., 2011. ‘Inland navigation and trade in a land without rivers – fjords and streams as navigation and trade routes in Viking Age Denmark’. In: F. Bittmann, J. Hauke, P. Schmid, M.D. Schön and W. Zimmermann, eds. Marschenrat Colloquium 2011. Settlement and Coastal Research in the Southern North Sea Region, 34, 191-200.

Ulriksen, J., Shultz, M.K. and Mortensen, M.F., 2020. Dominating the landscape: the emblemetic setting of Borgring and the Viking age ring fortresses of Denmark. Danish Journal of Archaeology, 9, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.7146/dja.v9i0.116110

Downloads

Published

2021-07-22

Versions

How to Cite

Jessen, C., Henriksen, P. S., Hald, M. M., & Ulriksen, J. (2021). The lost landscape of Borgring: Geoarchaeological investigations into the navigation to, and location of, the Danish Viking Age ring fortress. Danish Journal of Archaeology, 10, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.7146/dja.v10i0.121917

Issue

Section

Research Article