Finding Sliesthorp?
The Viking Age settlement at Füsing in North Germany
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/dja.v11i.127759Keywords:
settlement archaeology, viking age, military organisation, urbanisation, danevirke, hedeby, schleswigAbstract
In 2003, a hitherto unknown Viking age settlement was discovered at Füsing in Northern Germany. Finds and building features suggest that the site was an estate centre and assembly place. As such, the site flourished from around 700 to the end of the 10th century. With Hedeby/Schleswig and the Danevirke in direct eyesight from the site, Füsing is embedded in a special topographical context. What would in other circumstances have been yet another high-status estate centre to be discovered in South Scandinavia thus takes on a different significance. It is suggested that Füsing – among other functions – fulfilled the role of a seasonal garrison and naval base in the defensive system of the Danevirke. As such, the site may be identical with the mystical Sliesthorp, which is mentioned in early written sources as the power-centre of the first Danish kings in this disputed border-region of their realm.
References
Andrén, A., 1983. Städer och kungamakt – en studie i Danmarks politiska geografi före 1230. Scandia 49, 31-76.
Auer, J. and Nakoinz, O., 2017. Archaeology in Murky Waters: recent investigations of an 8th century structure in the Schlei, Northern Germany. A submerged structure in the Schlei: preliminary report. In: J. Litwin, ed. Baltic and beyond. Change and continuity in shipbuilding. Gdańsk: The National Maritime Museum, 89-94.
Beck, M.R., 2016. Vikinger på Munkebo Bakke. Cartha 2015/2016, 39-58.
Brown, H., Goodchild, H. and Sindbæk, S.M., 2014. Making Place for a Viking Fortress. An archaeological and geophysical reassessment of Aggersborg, Denmark. Internet Archaeology 36. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.36.2
Christensen, T., 2016. Lejre bag myten. De arkæologiske udgravninger. Højbjerg/Aarhus: Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab/Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Christensen, L.E., Lemm, T. and Pedersen, A., (eds.) 2016. Husebyer – status quo, open questions and perspectives. Copenhagen. The National Museum.
Dobat, A.S., 2003. The maritime hinterland of Hedeby. Jahrbuch Bodendenkmalpflege Meckenburg-Vorpommern 51, 419-435.
Dobat, A.S., 2004. Der Neufund eines wikingerzeitlichen Krummsielbeschlagfragments aus dem Landesteil Schleswig. Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 34, 277-292.
Dobat, A.S., 2008. Danevirke revisited. An investigation into military and socio-political organisation in south Scandinavia (c. AD 700 to 1100). Medieval Archaeology 52, 27–67. https://doi.org/10.1179/174581708x335431
Dobat, A.S., 2010. Füsing: Eine jüngereisenzeitliche Siedlung im Umfeld von Hedeby/Schleswig (Vorläufiger Bericht über die Ergebnisse der Prospektionen 2003-05). In: Birte Anspach, Andres S. Dobat, eds. Forschungen zu Haithabu und Füsing (Die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu 16). Neumünster: Wachholtz Verlag.
Dobat, A.S., 2011. Mapping social order. Place-names containing rink or karl and the development of political administration in 10th century Southern Scandinavia. Norna-Rapporter 86, 41-73.
Dobat, A.S., 2017. From Torksey to Füsing and Hedeby: gambling warriors on the move? In: B.V. Eriksen et al., eds. Interaktion ohne Grenzen: Beispiele archäologischer Forschungen am Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts. Neumünster: Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen, 597-606.
Eriksen, P., Egeberg, T., Olesen, L. H. and Rostholm, H., 2009. Vikinger i vest. Vikingetiden i Vestjylland. Højbjerg: Jutland Archaeological Society.
Frankish Annals 1977. Die Reichsannalen (Quellen zur Karolingischen Reichsgeschichte), translated by R. Rau. In: R. Buchner, ed. Ausgewählte Quellen zur deutschen Geschichte des Mittelalters V. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1-162.
Hadley, D.M. and Richards, J.D., 2018. In search of the Viking great army: beyond the winter camps. Medieval Settlement Research 33, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.5284/1059013
Hedenstierna-Jonson, C., 2016. Spaces and Places of the Urban Settlement of Birka. In: L. Holmquist et al., eds. New Aspects on Viking-age Urbanism c. AD 750-1100. Stockholm: Stockholm University, 23-34.
Helgesson, B., 2004. Tributes to be spoken of. Sacrifice and Warriors at Uppåkra. In: L. Larsson, ed. Continuity for Centuries: a ceremonial building and its context at Uppåkra, southern Sweden. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 223–239.
Henriksen, P.S., and Holst, S., 2014. First evidence of lime burning in southern Scandinavia: lime kilns found at the royal residence on the west bank of Lake Tissø. Danish Journal of Archaeology 3:2, 119-128. https://doi.org/10.1080/21662282.2014.990310
Hillberg, V. and von Carnap-Bornheim, C., 2007. Recent archaeological research in Haithabu. In: J. Henning, ed. Post Roman Towns – Trade and Settlement in Europe and Byzantium 1. The Heirs of the Roman West. Berlin/New York: De Gruyter, 199-218.
Hilberg, V., 2016. Hedeby’s Demise in the Late Viking Ageand the Shift to Schleswig. In: L. Holmquist et al., eds. New Aspects on Viking-age Urbanism c. AD 750-1100. Stockholm: Stockholm University, 63-80.
Hilberg, V., 2018. Detektoruntersuchungen in Haithabu 2003-2015. Aussagemöglichkeiten und Erkenntnisgewinn für die Entstehung eines wikingerzeitlichen Handelszentrums. In: V. Hilberg and T. Lemm, eds. Viele Funde – große Bedeutung? Potenzial und Aussagewert von Metalldetektorfunden für die siedlungsarchäologische Forschung der Wikingerzeit. Schleswig: Verlag Ludwig, 125-153.
Hodges, R., 1982. Dark Age Economics: The origins of towns and trade A.D. 600-1000. London: Duckworth.
Hårdh, B., 2010. Case study 2: Uppåkra – Lund. A central place and a town? Western Scania in the Viking Age. In: B. Ludowici et al., eds. Trade and communication networks of the first millennium AD in the northern part of Central Europe: central places, beach markets, landing places and trading centres. Stuttgart: Theiss, 101-111.
Jankuhn, H., 1986. Haithabu: ein Handelsplatz der Wikingerzeit. Neumünster: Karl Wachholz Verlag.
Jørgensen, L., 2009. Pre-Christian cult at aristocratic residences and settlement complexes in southern Scandinavia in the 3rd-10th centuries. In: U. von Freeden et al., eds. Glaube, Kult und Herrschaft. Phänomene des Religiösen im 1. Jahrtausend n. Chr. in Mittel- und Nordeuropa. Frankfurt: Römisch-Germanische Kommission des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 329-354.
Jørgensen, A.N, Jørgensen, L., and Thomsen, L.G., 2011. Assembly sites for cult, markets, jurisdiction and social relations. Historic-ethnological analogy between North Scandinavian church towns, Old Norse assembly sites and pit house sites of the Late Iron Age and Viking Period. Arkæologi i Slesvig/Archäologie in Schleswig 2010, 95-111.
Kalmring, S., 2010. Der Hafen von Haithabu. Die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu 14. Neumünster: Wachholtz.
Kalmring, S., and Holmquist, L., 2018. Hedeby Hochburg – Theories, State of Research and Dating. Offa 2014/15, 71/72, 241-291.
Kramer, W., 1994. Ein Seesperrwerk des 8. Jahrhunderts in der Schlei. Archäologie in Deutschland 1994(3), 20-21.
Laur, W., 1955. Sliesthorp, Schleswig, Hedeby und Hadeby. Die Namen von Schleswig-Haithabu und ihre Nachfahren. Namn och Bygd 42, 67-83.
Lemm, T., 2016. Husby and the Equestrian Graves in Angeln and Schwansen – Different Chronological Stages in the Development of a Royal Administration? In: L. Holmquist et al., eds. New Aspects on Viking-age Urbanism c. AD 750-1100. Stockholm: Stockholm University, 97-114.
Lemm, T., 2018. Husby Auf der Suche nach dem Hof des königlichen Statthalters – Ergebnisse systematischer Detektorbegehungen in Husby, Kreis Schleswig-Flensburg. Bericht des 33. Tværfaglige Vikingesymposiums 9, 49-66.
Life of Ansgar 1990. Rimberts Leben Ansgars (Vita Ansgarii). In: W. Trillmich, ed. Quellen des 9. und 11. Jahrhunderts zur Geschichte der hamburgischen Kirche und des Reiches. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 17-133.
Lüdtke, H., 1985. Die mittelalterliche Keramik von Schleswig. Ausgrabungen Schild 1971-1975. Ausgrabungen in Schleswig. Berichte und Studien 4. Neumünster: Wachholz Verlag.
Njal’s Saga 1861. G.W. Da Sent, ed. The Story of Burnt Njal. London 1861.
Radtke, C., 1999. Haiðaby. Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 13, 363-381.
Radtke, C., 2009. Haithabu. Perspektiven einer Stadtentwicklung in drei Stationen – 800, 900, 1000. Zeitschrift für Archäologie des Mittelalters 2009 (37), 135-162.
Randsborg, C., 1980. The Viking Age in Denmark. The formation of a state. London: Duckworth.
Pedersen, A., Ravn, M. and Lindblom, C., 2019. Erritsø – new investigations of an aristocratic, early Viking Age manor in Western Denmark c. 700-850 AD. In: R. Annaert, ed. Early medieval waterscapes: Risks and opportunities for (im)material cultural exchange. Braunschweig: Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, 37-46.
Reimer et al., 2020. The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0-55 cal kBP), Radiocarbon 62(4), 725-757. https://doi: 10.1017/RDC.2020.41
Roesdahl, E., 1997. Landscape sculpture in Viking Age Denmark. Aarhus Geoscience 7, 147-155.
Roesdahl, E., Sindbæk, S.M. and Pedersen, A., 2014. Aggersborg i vikingetiden – Bebyggelsen og borgen. Højbjerg: Jutland Archaeological Society.
Sarauw, T., and Enevold, R., 2019. Bejsebakken: en nordjysk bebyggelse fra yngre jernalder og vikingetid. Copenhagen: Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries.
Schade, T., 2018. Die wikingerzeitliche Siedlung von Kosel-Ost (LA 198). Ein ländlicher Fundplatz im Kontext der altdänischen Siedlungslandschaft des 10. Jahrhunderts. Bonn: Verlag Dr. Rudolf Habelt.
Schietzel, K., 2014. Spurensuche Haithabu. Dokumentation und Chronik 1963-2013. Neumünster: Wachholtz.
Schlesinger, W., 1972. Unkonventionelle Gedanken zur Geschichte von Schleswig/Haithabu. In: H. Fuhrmann, H.E. Mayer, K. Wriedt, eds. Aus Reichsgeschichte und Nordischer Geschichte (Festschrift K. Jordan). Stuttgart: Ernst Klett, 70-91.
Schultze, J., 2008. Haithabu – die Siedlungsgrabungen Bd. 1. Methoden und Möglichkeiten der Auswertung. Die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu 13. Neumünster: Wachholtz.
Sindbæk, S.M., 2005. Ruter og rutinisering: Vikingetidens fjernhandel i Nordeuropa. København: Multivers.
Sindbæk, S.M. 2012. Møntskatten fra Hedebys havn til revision. Nordisk Numismatisk Unions medlemsblad 2012(1), 4-8.
Steuer, H., 1974. Die Südsiedlung von Haithabu: Studien zur frühmittelalterlichen Keramik im Nordseeküstenbereich und in Schleswig-Holstein. Die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu 6. Neumünster: Karl Wachholtz.
Skre, D., 2007 (ed.). Kaupang in Skiringssal. Kaupang Excavation Project Publication Series 1. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.
Skov, H., 1995. Hustyper i vikingetid og middelalder. Hikuin 21, 139-162.
Thomsen, L.G., 2009. Pit Houses on Zealand in the Late Iron Age and the Viking period – a survey based on the material from the excavation at Tissø. In: U. von Freeden et al., eds. Glaube, Kult und Herrschaft. Phänomene des Religiösen im 1. Jahrtausend n. Chr. in Mittel- und Nordeuropa. Frankfurt: Römisch-Germanische Kommission des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, 501-510.
Tummuscheit, A., 2011. Die Baubefunde des frühmittelalterlichen Seehandelsplatzes von Groß Strömkendorf. Forschungen Zu Gross Stromkendorf IV. Schwerin: Dr. Ludwig Reichert.
Tummuscheit, A., and Witte, F., 2019. The Danevirke: Preliminary Results of New Excavations (2010-2014) at the Defensive System in the German-Danish Borderland. Offa’s Dyke Journal 1, 114-136. http://dx.doi.org/10.23914/odj.v1i0.253
Ulriksen, J., 2018. Vester Egesborg: en anløbs- og togtsamlingsplads fra yngre germansk jernalder og vikingetid på Sydsjælland. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Unverhau, H., 1990. Untersuchungen zur historischen Entwicklung des Landes zwischen Schlei und Eider im Mittelalter. Neumünster: Wachholtz Verlag.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Andres Siegfried Dobat
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Counting from volume 11 (2022), articles published in DJA are licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). The editorial board may accept other Creative Commons licenses for individual articles, if required by funding bodies e.g. the European Research Council. With the publication of volume 11, authors retain copyright to their articles and give DJA the right to the first publication. The authors retain copyright to earlier versions of the articles, such as the submitted and the accepted manuscript.
Articles in volume 1-8 are not licensed under Creative Commons. In these volumes, all rights are reserved to DJA. This implies that readers can download, read, and link to the articles, but they cannot republish the articles. Authors can upload their articles in an institutional repository as a part of a green open access policy.
Articles in volume 9-10 are not licensed under Creative Commons. In these volumes, all rights are reserved to the authors of the articles respectively. This implies that readers can download, read, and link to the articles, but they cannot republish the articles. Authors can upload their articles in an institutional repository.
