Risby roads

Facts

Traffic across the river

By Pernille Foss, Cand.mag. i forhistorisk arkæologi (9 stories)

In the 1970s, by Risby Å, the river between the Zealand towns of Præstø and Næstved, some 36 roads and fords from several prehistoric eras were excavated. The oldest, from the late Stone Age between 4000 and 1800 BC, consisted of bundles of branches laid across the direction of travel. When the roadway wore down, a new layer of branches would be laid on top, or the crossing point would be moved along. Iron Age people advanced to more solid structures of several layers of stone on a base of branches. The most recent of the paved roads is from the Viking Age and is still visible today.

Public place

Selected entry

Overloaded sledge abandoned

Story written by Pernille Foss

Time / Periode -2500 900

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The Viking Age road by Risby River was a complex structure. At the wettest point of the marshy valley, the paving was laid on planks, which in turn rested on a bed of scrap wood and stone: branches, old cart wheels and axles were piled into the marsh. On top of this base, more large stones were laid. The largest weighed 700 kilos and was hauled to the site on a sledge. But with the stone in place, the sledge was stuck and had to be abandoned. A millennium later, the sledge was finally removed when the road was rediscovered and excavated.