Viking-age textile production site uncovered near Aarhus
Moesgaard Museum says the Søften site points to organized flax and textile work tied to wider Viking-era trade networks.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
Archaeologists in Denmark have uncovered a large Viking-age textile production site north of Aarhus, a find that Moesgaard Museum says adds evidence of organized manufacturing more than 1,000 years ago. The site matters because museum experts say its scale points beyond household craft toward production linked to wider economic and trade systems.
Moesgaard Museum said the site covers about 100,000 square meters, or more than 1 million square feet, at Søften on the Jutland peninsula. According to the museum, it lies about 10 kilometers, or 6 miles, north of Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city.
The museum dated the settlement to the late Iron Age and early Viking Age, between A.D. 600 and 950. The Associated Press reported that the Viking Age is commonly placed between A.D. 793 and 1066, a period associated with Norse raids, settlement, conquest and trade across Europe and as far as North America.
Liv Stidsing Reher-Langberg, the archaeologist who led the 10-month excavation for Moesgaard Museum, said the evidence at Søften is unusually centered on textile work. She told the AP that finds including spindle whorls and loom weights show activity inside pit houses, the semi-subterranean buildings used in the period as both workshops and living spaces.
Moesgaard Museum said archaeologists identified more than 80 pit houses at the site, along with an area used for flax processing. Reher-Langberg also said the excavation produced silver coins, glass beads and pottery.
According to the museum’s interpretation, the layout included distinct zones for production and craft activity and one residential house. Experts said that arrangement suggests work at the site may have been directed by a person with access to resources and control over production.
Reher-Langberg said metal-detector users had found several silver coins in the area over the past 30 years. She told the AP that archaeologists became more interested after a trial excavation about 18 months earlier, carried out before planned construction of a new road and industrial area.
Kasper Andersen, a historian at Moesgaard Museum, said the Søften discovery helps researchers understand the area’s economic, cultural and political organization during the period. He linked the find to Aarhus, then known as Aros, which he said served as a royal and international trading center in the Viking era.
Andersen also pointed to another Viking-age discovery at Lisbjerg, about 4 kilometers, or 2.5 miles, from Søften, which archaeologists said was likely connected to elite residents. He told the AP that settlements such as Søften probably supplied goods and resources from the countryside into larger trade networks.
Andersen said a production site of Søften’s size would not make sense if it served only nearby demand. In his view, the textiles should be understood as part of a market reaching beyond the local area.
Reher-Langberg said further scientific testing could clarify what kind of textile production took place at Søften. She said future carbon dating and pollen analysis may help answer remaining questions about the site and its role in the region.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.