Medieval Fjand

Abstract

Medieval Fjand

A district plan concerning "Fjand Ferieland" (Fjand Holiday Centre) was the reason that, in 1993-95, Ringkjøbing Museum investigated a rural medieval settlement on a field in Fjand between Nissum Fjord and the sea (fig. 1). An aerial survey of the field had shown the outlines of a house site (fig. 2) which resembled some 11th century houses with turf walls excavated by Axel Steensberg at Nødskov Hede in the 1940s (fig. 3).

When the new road through Fjand was made in 1959, the local teacher, Mr. Jørgen Hanssen, investigated some settlement traces. Near the field mentioned he registered five medieval house sites consisting of earthen floors, fireplaces, postholes, and a clay-lined pit (figs. 4-6). Whetstones and sherds from globular vessels were found in the houses (figs. 7-8), which were probably from the 12th and 13th centuries. This series of houses is called the northern settlement.

The purpose of the investigations in 1993 was to create a general view of the type and dating of the settlement. Seventeen trial trenches were laid out with a total length of c 1300 metres. Traces of a Viking Age, a medieval, and a modern settlement were found. A trial trench running along the road cut through a medieval house site, house 6 (fig. 9). This house, which measured c 14X3.5 metres, showed up as an earthen floor with a fireplace and a row of posts along the middle axis. The posts must have supported the roof. A clay-lined pit similar to the one found by Mr Hanssen was excavated by the western gable of the house (fig. 10). The artefacts from house 6 suggest a 13th century date. The site is of the same type as house 1-3 (fig. 11). With the traces of another house site, house 7, these houses are attributed to the northern settlement (fig. 12).

In 1994-95 the museum excavated the house site discovered through the aerial survey (fig. 13). This house and other similar farm sites, which show faintly on the photos, constitute the southern settlement. The farm site, house 9, had been used between 1100 and 1350. The outer walls, which were marked by repairs and renewals, were made from turfs (heath turf, not grass turf). A strong partition wall, which divided the house in two, and a dike around the yard were also made from turfs.

The house had a length of c 26 metres and a width of up to 5 metres. The western part of the house was a stable; the eastern part contained the living quarters (fig. 14). Besides repairs and small changes in the furnishing, two successive phases in the building history were established. In the second phase, the middle axis of the eastern part of the house was moved a little towards the North, and perhaps the building was extended towards the East at the same time. The turf walls of the house were adjusted accordingly, and the width of the eastern part was increased. The western part was largely left unchanged.

When the house was deserted around 1350, the turf walls were left to decay, and they slowly collapsed until the house showed just as an outline of wide and dark turf bands (fig. 15). A thick layer of shifting sand covered the site (fig. 16). In the western gable of the house it was possible to decide how the 0.75-1-m wide turf walls had been built: turfs of different sizes had been placed directly on the ground in four rows next to each other. The corners were rounded (fig. 17). The section through the dike shows the turf and the shifting sand that settled against the turf wall. In the older phase of the house, the turfs were placed directly on the ground, as described above, whereas the turfs from the younger phase to the East were placed on sill stones, which functioned as a drain (fig. 19).

The roof was carried by a number of posts placed along the middle axis of the house. A long purlin would have rested on the posts, and the rafters would have been attached to this purlin. The lower ends of the rafters rested on the turf walls. The combination of turf walls and central posts was widespread in areas where timber was scarce. The two building phases are demonstrated by the presence of two successive rows of central posts.

A door in the northern wall gave access to the western room. Another door was probably placed in the western end of the northern wall of the room to the East. In addition to the partition wall of turf, the later house phase had a partition wall in the eastern part of the house. This wall was built at right angles to the southern wall and ran in the direction of the oven. During the later phase there was an unbroken earthen floor between the two partition walls.

The living quarters had four successive fireplaces. The oldest one, fireplace 1, was situated next to the long southern wall, whereas fireplace 2 and 3 were in the middle of the room (fig. 20). The youngest fireplace, no. 4, lay by the north wall. All the fireplaces were constructed from a layer of clay, on top of which flat stones were arranged. The stone layer was then covered with another layer of clay. An oven was built against the north wall (fig. 21).

Across the easternmost part of the house a pit was found, which had stakes hammered into the bottom. The use of the pit is unknown (fig. 22). A carbon-14 dating showed the pit to be medieval.

A fine selection of medieval household items was found in the turf wall farm. The largest group of items are globular vessels -a total of 1675 sherds. This type of pottery is a rather coarsely gritted, greyish-brown ware burnt at fairly high temperatures. It comprises locally produced globular vessels of the West Jutland type (fig. 23).

The 116 rim sherds from globular vessels were divided into four shapes (fig. 24). Shape 1 represents rims with a pronounced rabbet for a lid (fig. 25), shape 2 have a less pronounced lid rabbet (fig. 26), shape 3 are rims with a bulge on the outside (fig. 27), and shape 4 are plain rims with neither rabbet nor bulge (fig. 28). Rim shape 1 is strongly represented in the later layers, whereas shape 2-4 are almost concurrent. Only rim shape 4 is also present in the oldest layers. One uncharacteristic rim was perhaps brought to Fjand from a market town (fig. 29). However, a comparison between the rims from globular vessels found in the houses 1 to 9 in Fjand shows that rim shape 4 dominanted in the northern settlement, whereas rim shape 1 and 3 have so far been found only in the turf wall farm (fig. 30). The ceramic finds also include glazed and unglazed pitchers from c 1250-1350 (fig. 31-32) and three small sherds of Rhine stoneware.

Several whetstones were found, and also metal objects (found by a metal detector) such as nails, spikes and "clinker nails". A large weight for a fishing line was probably used for deep-sea fishing (fig. 33). Finally, a hoard consisting of 15 coins from the late 13th century and early 14th century was found. The hoard was probably hidden between 1330 and 1350 (fig. 34).

The combined results from the investigation of the turf wall farm give the impression of a farm built in the 12th century, rebuilt in the 13th century and deserted around 1350. Apart from the turf wall farm, a section cutting through a medieval house site, house no. 8, with heavy culture layers and several artefacts was investigated in the southern settlement (fig. 35).

The custom of building houses of turf was quite widespread in the Nordic countries and in the North German waddensea area during the Viking Age and the Middle Ages. However, although there are similarities between the turf houses of different areas, there are also obvious differences. Each area had its own building custom. Turf houses were used on the moors of Jutland until c 1900, and fishermen along the West Coast of Jutland had work lodges built of turf for centuries (fig. 36). In West Jutland heather turf went into a cycle where they were first used as a wall or dike material, then as titter in the stables, and finally thrown on the dunghills and reused as manure on the fields.

The investigations at Fjand have added to our knowledge of rural West Jutland in the Middle Ages. The northern settlement, which is probably the older of the two, consisted of small, modest houses, whereas the farms of the southern settlement were larger and better built. It is possible that the two settlements were contemporary, and that they reflect different economic conditions. The people in medieval Fjand lived from farming and fishing. The hoard shows that they must also have traded. Perhaps the peasants of Fjand traded with the merchants that sailed along the West Coast and into the Baltic Sea. In the Middle Ages, the fjords of West Jutland were edged by a row of islands (fig. 37). Fairly large ships had access to the fjords, and small ships sailed on the water­courses further inland.

Fjand lies in the parish of Sønder Nissum, the Romanesque church of which is some 3 km from the investigated area (fig. 38). Written sources from the 15th century mention a manor in Fjand, the so-called Fjandhus, the owner of which was the Høg family, which also owned most of Fjand. In 1424 there was just one freeholder in Fjand -all other farms were occupied by copy­holders belonging to Fjandhus. The castle hill of Fjandhus was situated in the watery meadows along the fjord, and a 250-m long embankment with a road led to it (fig. 39). Fjandhus was abandoned in the late 15th century. In the 1680s, the farming areas in the parish were valued -as in other parishes of the kingdom. At that time, the settlement structure was different to the medieval one, although the living conditions were probably essentially the same.

The plans for "Fjand Ferieland" have now been put on hold. However, a protection of the area is needed, if the cultural and historic values, which are still hidden under the sandy soil of these fields, are to be preserved.

Helle Henningsen