Nordic households – dwellings and daily life from Aggersborg to

Staraya Ladoga

Sarah Croix, PhDPost-doctoral researcher

Medieval and Renaissance Archaeology

Aarhus University

Aggersborg

Excavations 1945-1952

Publication expected Christmas 2012

Excavated areas, 1945-1952

Aggersborg – three main phases of occupation

Second half of the 8th century: house D with associated sunken-featured buildings to the West

A concentration of sunken-featured buildings to the East

Chieftain’s complex – manorial system?

Aggersborg – three main phases of occupation

End 9th century: house D with associated sunken-featured buildings to the West

Smaller farmsteads to the East – village structure?

Chieftain’s complex – manorial system?

Hus FAHus A Hus CHus XB

Aggersborg – three main phases of occupation

Before ca. 980: destruction of the former settlementCa. 980: construction of the ring-fortressShort-lived royal project

Preservation of archaeological remains

Relatively good for Viking-age Denmark

Layout: post-holes alignments

Preserved fire-places

Preserved chalk floors and stone-pavements

House C. Fire-place with underlayer of small stones and chalk.

House GS. Preserved chalk floor and fire place

House A. Alignments of post-holes show ingthe bowed long-walls and a transversal partition wall to the foreground.

Houses GS (26,7m) C (23,8m) A (20,8m)

Transversal division: three equal sections (cooking area / dwelling room / byre)

Shared measurement system and idea about the proper spatial organization of houses

Layout and proportions

Graphic S. Sindbæk.

The layout of the dwelling room and the position of the fire place

Houses GS, C and A.

Transversal division: two equal sections (chalk floor / fire place)

Longitudinal division: three aisles (chalk floor and fire place / platforms on both sides)

One system defining the layout of dwelling rooms

Graphic S. Sindbæk.

Seen from west

House D

Chieftain’s house:

> Position in the landscape> Continuity over 200 years> Size: 40,8m > Finds: gold armring and glass beaker fragments

Layout, proportions and dwelling room

House:> transversal division: four equal sections (byre / annexe / dwelling room / cooking area)

Dwelling room:> transversal division: two equal sections (chalk floor / fire place)> longitudinal division: three aisles (chalk floor and fire place / platforms on both sides)

Four sections instead of three: conservative building tradition.

Staraya Ladoga

Houses 4, 7 and 9

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?House:> transversal division: three equal sections (anteroom / doubled dwelling room)

Dwelling room:> transversal division: two equal sections (wooden floor / fire place; exception: house 4)> longitudinal division: three aisles (wooden floor and fire place / platforms on both sides)

Comparison: proportions

Comparison: layout of the dwelling room

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Fig. 4.16. Hus D. Rester af forkullet planke ved ildstedets nordøstre hjørne. Planken må høre til en ramme om ildstedet. At den er forkullet til under gulvhøjde viser, at huset er brændt. Foto Hans Stiesdal/Nationalmuseet 1950.

The circulation of ideas across the Baltic sea