Archaeological
Plan of the Two Great Halls at Lejre
from the seventh and ninth centuries
Remains
of the ninth-century Viking Age hall, in grey, sit over a less well-preserved
seventh-century Migration Period hall, in black. Clearly visible
are the outline of the walls and the rows of post holes from both
interior supporting posts and exterior raking posts. The two halls,
although separated by several centuries, appear to have been of
very similar construction. The Viking Age hall reused a row of external
raking post holes (marked by an arrow) from the older building.
Incorporating existing post holes greatly simplified the construction
of the new building and suggests that the later hall was built shortly
after the demolition of the earlier one. The archaeology presents
a picture of continuous habitation between at least two periods
of massive construction. The site shows much evidence of repair
over the centuries and some post holes were reused perhaps as many
as five times. Cow, sheep, and pig bones found in post holes from
the oldest hall carbon-14 date to around the year 660. Remnants
of bone from the Viking Age building date to ca. 890. (By permission,
Tom Christensen, Roskilde Museum).
Index
to illustrations
- Great Hall at Lejre (interior)
- Great Hall at Lejre (exterior)
- Great Hall at Lejre (end-view)
- Cross-section of the Viking Age hall
- Archeological plan of the two Great Halls