Gørding Hede/Vemb

Facts

Archaeological goldmine on the moor

By Per Ole Rindel, Lektor, Ph.D., Købehavn Universitet (12 stories)

The low banks on the heathland of Gørding Hede reveal the site of an Iron Age village. These banks are the remains of external walls and field boundaries. In 1949, archaeologists from the National Museum of Denmark excavated the burnt-out remains of three longhouses, all of which had contained both dwellings and stables. For the villagers, the fire was a disaster, but for archaeologists such burnt-out shells are a goldmine. The charred remains of building timber and furniture do not decay. The carbonised grain and seeds found in the abandoned earthenware vessels suggest that the inhabitants of the village bulked out precious grain by mixing it with weeds such as knotgrass when preparing their daily barley porridge.

Public place

Selected entry

Resurrected after 2,000 years of oblivion

Story written by Per Ole Rindel

Time / Periode -300 -100

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In 1943, archaeologist Harald Andersen described the find: That historic day on the site, when the first furrows were being ploughed, I happened to be crossing the moor. I exchanged a few words with the farmer and he said he had unearthed a couple of pots just an hour earlier. I looked at the site. Sure enough, there were shards from three or four black earthenware vessels. Extended rectangular elevations on the site were just visible. Before my astonished gaze, a village rose out of the heather. I saw its seven buildings in an arc around the open yard, the mud-built walls, heather-clad roofs and the smoke winding out of the roof slats. I heard the dogs baying and the children playing hide-and-seek around the corners of the buildings". "