(ORDO NEWS) — Archaeologists have discovered a hall built by the Vikings during the reign of Harald I Blue-toothed.
Preliminary dating refers the hall to approximately the second half of the 9th century or the first half of the 11th century, but most likely it functioned during the reign of Harald the Blue-toothed.
Harald I Bluetooth ruled Denmark and Norway from 930-986. He is remembered as a successful conqueror, as well as a king who persuaded the people of Denmark to accept Christianity.
The discovery was made during housing construction work near Hyun, a village in Jammerbugt municipality in North Jutland.
The hall reaches 40 meters in length and 8-10 meters in width, most likely it was used for political meetings, receiving guests and as a center of social life.
Its appearance is reminiscent of structures found at other Harald castles, including Firkat in Hobro and Aggersborg in Aggersund.
The rune stone next to the excavation site can also be attributed to the era of the reign of this king. The stone stands in Hune-Kirk, the text is written on it: “Howe, Thorkild, Thorbjorn set up a stone in honor of their father Runulva den Rodnilde.” The text dates from 970-1020.
“This is the largest Viking Age find of its kind in over a decade, and we have not seen anything like it before here in North Jutland,” said Thomas Rune Knudsen, one of the archaeologists.
The researchers managed to excavate only part of the hall, but they believe that many finds are located to the east of the hall, including additional buildings – in that era, such halls were rarely erected separately.
Excavations will resume in 2023, at the same time radiocarbon dating of organic materials will be carried out.
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