Ancient Scandinavia: An Archaeological History from the First Humans to the Vikings by Price T. Douglas

Author:Price, T. Douglas
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2015-09-06T04:00:00+00:00

Figure 7.9. The villages of Vorbasse. The numbered areas 1–7b mark the movement of the village between 100 BC and AD 1100. 8 = the modern village of Vorbasse.

The settlement in the early Roman Iron Age was relatively modest, consisting of a few small farm complexes, each with a longhouse with stables and perhaps an outbuilding or two, surrounded by a fence. The earliest settlement at Vorbasse from the first century AD had two separate, but contiguous, farmsteads. Each longhouse was about 16 m (53′) long and typically divided into a dwelling room on the west end and a stable on the east. Each farm was surrounded by a fence of closely placed posts, with openings in the fence opposite the doorways of the houses. Several cemeteries of cremation graves from this phase were recorded a few hundred meters to the northwest. Four iron-smelting furnaces were found outside the fencing, probably placed there to reduce the danger of fire.

Every period of settlement at Vorbasse had one or two smithies and associated iron-smelting furnaces. The blacksmith’s outbuilding was always found in association with the larger longhouses, documenting the predominant role of the wealthy in the economy. There were also stonecutters for making rotary querns for grinding grain, an essential staple for these farmers.

A new settlement, 300 m to the east, appeared in the second century AD, covering an area of 150 × 150 m (500 ft2) and containing several farms in a cluster suggesting the beginning of village life at Vorbasse. The village from the third century moved back to the first place of settlement. The settlement grew in size and now covered an area of 250 × 300 m (800′ × 1,000′). There was one or perhaps two rows of ten farmhouses of different sizes surrounded by a fence, each with one or two outbuildings. The principle that good fences make good neighbors appears to be in operation at such sites. Farmyards were much larger, up to 2,000 m2 (0.5 acre). Two or three of these farms were much larger than the entire village of Hodde 400 years earlier. The farmhouses were longer than in the previous village, between 20 and 48 m (65′ × 160′), and appear to have been divided into several segments, with accommodations for animals. Almost all of the houses between the third and fifth century have stalls for 15 to 30 animals, as cattle must have been the basis of the economy. Sunken-floor pithouses appear for the first time as specialized outbuildings in this phase.

In the 4nd century AD, the settlement at Vorbasse moved to the west and covered an area of 400 × 250 m (1,300′ × 800′) (Figure 7.12). The layout of the village was now planned and shows a very regular arrangement. The 20 farms were built in three rows, with open areas between the rows. Each farm was fenced separately, although there were several cases where two farms shared the same fenced yard. One distinctly larger farm was located on the eastern side of the village and stood in the same place through the fifth century.

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