The Viking World (Routledge Worlds)

(Ben Green) #1

maps 28 – 9 ; Westphalen 1989 : 28 – 36 figs 5 – 7 ). The magnetic structures in this area of
the settlement could be interpreted as workshops (Figure 8. 2. 5 ) ( Jankuhn 1986 : 92 );
any precise dating is at the moment impossible, but these structures seem to belong to
Hedeby’s younger phase of the tenth and eleventh centuries. In the north-eastern area
inside Hedeby’s rampart we also detected a lot of rectangular structures with a high
magneticism, sometimes aligned. These could also be interpreted as sunken-featured
buildings or workshops. From former excavations we know of workshops for metal
casting and glass production, which were lying immediately next to each other and
which would be dated to the ninth and tenth centuries. It was this area which Jankuhn
designated as the ‘quarter of craft activities’ in the 1940 s and later ( Jankuhn 1944 ,
1977 ; Hilberg forthcoming fig. 8 ).
A linear structure runs parallel to the shore and possesses small magnetic structures
lying in pairs opposite each other (Figure 8. 2. 5 ). It seems to be a street extending along
the whole shore with a length of c. 530 m, accompanied by houses on both sides. This
supposed street crosses the main excavation area of Jankuhn and Schietzel. It is visible
there in all layers and was often designated as a main street of the settlement ( Jankuhn
1943 : 38 – 40 , 49 f. fig. 4 ; 1986 : 98 f. figs 39 – 40 ; Schietzel 1969 : 19 – 21 ; Randsborg
1980 : fig. 23 ). This street also crosses a small stream with a narrow bridge, which is
dendrochronologically dated to ad 819 (Eckstein 1976 ; Schietzel 1969 : 21 – 6 figs
10 – 14 ). As a consequence this street must have existed as early as the early ninth
century, but without more precise data – for example, provided by new excavations – its
extension at that time is still unknown. Streets stretching along the shore seem to be


Figure 8. 2. 3 Metal-detected animal-brooches in the Urnes style from the middle or second half of the
eleventh century. ( 1 ) Gilded silver, 3. 6 × 3. 65 cm, ( 2 ) bronze, 2. 9 × 2. 85 cm. (Photo: C. Franz, Stiftung
Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen Schleswig.)


–– chapter 8 ( 2 ): Hedeby: an outline of its research history––
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