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The protected status of archaeological sites requires using minimally invasive methods of material investigation such as coring. In contrast to excavations, the coring method does not present a complete view of the inner structure, and the limited amount of material in cores represents a small portion of the study object. This complicates the interpretation of material genesis. This problem is particularly relevant for complex structures such as earthworks. Nonetheless, the proper interpretation of the construction materials in earthworks is crucial for geoarchaeological investigations of the anthropogenic transformation of landscapes. We proposed a method for classifying and identifying the earthwork materials, sampled by the coring technique. It was developed using an example of the semi-circular fortification rampart around the former Viking settlement Hedeby, which was an important early medieval international trading center and today is a UNESCO world heritage site. Materials from the coring transect across the semi-circular rampart were described. The physicochemical properties of 139 samples from three cores were determined: grain size distribution, weight percentages of gravel, artefacts, bones, and charcoal, loss on ignition, magnetic susceptibility, and element concentrations. The statistical methods (normalization, correlation, standardization, principal component analysis, cluster analysis) were applied to distinguish and group materials according to their physicochemical properties. The resulting clusters were used as a basis for material classification. Some clusters were mildly transformed according to the morphological properties of the material. Consequently, 20 groups were distinguished based on the physicochemical and morphological properties of the material. The rampart was constructed from soil horizons, cultural deposits, and Pleistocene material, which were used in different proportions along the investigated transect. In addition, the constituents of mixed layers were identified. Overall, the presented method for the statistical classification of the material considerably facilitates and objectifies the identification of material genesis. This is particularly valuable in tackling the challenges of coring-based investigations of earthworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2003, a hitherto unknown Viking age settlement was discovered at Füsing in Northern Germany. Finds and building features suggest that the site was an estate centre and assembly place. As such, the site flourished from around 700 to the end of the 10th century. With Hedeby/Schleswig and the Danevirke in direct eyesight from the site, Füsing is embedded in a special topographical context. What would in other circumstances have been yet another high-status estate centre to be discovered in South Scandinavia thus takes on a different significance. It is suggested that Füsing – among other functions – fulfilled the role of a seasonal garrison and naval base in the defensive system of the Danevirke. As such, the site may be identical with the mystical Sliesthorp, which is mentioned in early written sources as the power-centre of the first Danish kings in this disputed border-region of their realm.

Soils and sediments are able to preserve traces of human activity in the form of morphological, geochemical and geophysical properties of materials. Thanks to that the study of these materials may provide valuable information about the formation and functioning of archaeological sites. Materials transported for earthwork construction and their configuration preserve important information on the past landscape development, the anthropogenic transformation of the landscape as well as the process of the fortification formation.The UNESCO heritage site Hedeby was one of the most significant proto-towns in Northern Europe and an important trading center in the Viking Age. The town was surrounded by the semi-circular fortification rampart connected to the Danevirke, the Danish fortification system. Due to its dimensions (maximum height 10 m) and good preservation state, the semi-circular rampart is one of the most prominent features of the area.In this article the data on the physico-chemical analysis of the materials from the cores along a coring transect across the semi-circular rampart are presented. The following properties were determined: pH, weight percentage of gravel, charcoal, artefacts, and bones, loss on ignition, magnetic susceptibility, grain size distribution ≤2 mm, elemental concentrations.The data is valuable for geoarchaeological analysis of the landscape transformation and the earthwork construction at Hedeby including the reconstruction of the process and the techniques used in the Viking Age. Data on the buried soil found underneath the rampart deposits might provide insight into the surface soils characteristics prior to the rampart construction.

The Vikings’ rise in Northern Russia is a chapter in European history that is yet to be written. Political, linguistic and mental barriers have meant that this period of Northern Russia’s great expansion was sadly neglected by historians. But after 1990, with the opening of Russia’s archives for western researches, we can finally begin collecting the small pieces for a jigsaw puzzle of the Vikings’ journey in the area of the Kola Peninsula. Recent archaeological finds help us to support the theory that the Viking voyages in the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean have had greater significance and extent than previously thought. This article will shed new light on Bjarmaland, the Bjarmians and why the Vikings for many centuries pilgrimage to the area where Arkhangelsk is today. Were they in the area at all? And how there still are traces in our modern society of this era. Furthermore, the trade connections between Vikings, Bjarmians and Russians will be put into a larger perspective and the Vikings’ trade routes in both Eastern and Western Europe will be described.

Objective classification of settlement deposits is a prerequisite for understanding human‐environment interactions at habitation sites. This paper presents a novel approach combining a relatively fine‐scale sampling strategy, a multimethod geoarchaeological investigation of cores and multivariate statistics to aid in the classification and interpretation of complex and intricately stratified archaeological deposits. Heterogeneous settlement deposits, buried soils, colluvial, fluvial, and fluvioglacial sediments from cores retrieved in the Viking settlement Hedeby were investigated using six cost‐effectively measurable geoecological parameters: loss on ignition at 550°C, magnetic susceptibility, contents of stones, artifacts, bones, and charcoal with wood. Principal component analysis allowed identifying variables that would sufficiently describe data and cluster analysis enabled the classification of the materials. As a result, 13 classes were distinguished with a detailed and reliable differentiation of materials of natural and cultural genesis. Based on spatial distribution patterns of the classes, hypotheses regarding land use in the adjacent areas were made: Waste disposal in the valley of Hedeby‐brook and metallurgic activities north of it. This approach is valuable for coring‐based research at settlements, in particular at tightly managed heritage sites, and for surveys to identify potential excavation sites, whereas the set of variables must be adjusted according to local conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017 a throne-amulet made from bone, once retrieved from the diggings of harbour excavation 1979/80 in Hedeby, was committed to the Wikinger Museum Haithabu. It constitutes the second specimen known from the site and fits well into the larger group of throne-amulets known from south-eastern Scandinavia. The academic discussion of these amulets as devotional pagan objects either in connection with the worship of Óðinn or else as thrones of vǫlur is controversial. The piece from Hedeby harbour does not seem to depict the typical block-chair, though, but is about the first indication for the existence of Viking-age barrel-chairs used continuously until Early modernity.

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Copyright of Stratum Plus Journal is the property of P.P. Stratum plus and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

• Soil and deposits in a small dry valley of the Viking settlement Hedeby were analyzed. • Regression explains 38 % of the spatial distribution of the parent material surface. • Traces of strong soil erosion in Hedeby before Viking Age were not found. • The A and B soil horizons were used for the rampart construction during Viking Age. • Erosion traces in the period after collapse of Hedeby were found. This study aimed to identify spatial distribution of soil remnants, colluvial and cultural deposits in a small dry valley of the early medieval Viking settlement Hedeby; reconstruct factors of soil destruction and main phases of deposits formation. Hedeby (54° 29′ 27.77″ N, 9° 33′ 54.42″ E) is located approximately 40 km northwest of Kiel, Northern Germany, at the western shore of the lake Haddebyer Noor. The protected status of the settlement as a UNESCO heritage site predetermined the choice of a minimum-destructive technique of coring. The stratigraphy demonstrated that the main factors of soil destruction were surface erosion, incorporation of the soil horizon A into a cultural layer and extraction of soil material for earthwork formation such as construction of the semi-circular fortification rampart. Buried soil horizons were additionally mixed by active local bioturbation. Three periods of deposit formation were identified. The occurrence of soil erosion due to intensive deforestation in the earliest period of settlement erection was indicated by the deepest colluvial layer M1. During the Viking settlement period formation of the exposed colluvial layer M2 and cultural deposits must have been simultaneous but at different locations. After the Viking Age settlement period, the erosion was activated by agricultural land use in late medieval time. This was clearly seen in the central part of the valley, where cultural deposits were covered by colluvium. This study closes a gap in the long-term archaeological and geoarchaeological study of Hedeby, i.e. it contributes to the discussion of the relationship between human activity and landscape development in this significant settlement. Moreover, it brings new knowledge on the large-scale vision of the landscape transformation performed by Viking Age settlers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers selected stone artefacts from graves at the Viking Age site of Hedeby. It aims to present the results of chemical microanalyses of metal traces preserved on their surface. Besides the metals that were regularly identified on touchstones, one artefact showed signs of a brass amalgam. For this reason the authors also examine the question of the occurrence of mercury at Hedeby. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Im Beitrag werden wikingerzeitliche, als Grabbeigaben überlieferte Steinartefakte - Probiersteine - aus Haithabu behandelt. Chemische Mikroanalysen der Steinoberflächen wurden durchgeführt und Spuren von Metall entdeckt. Dabei handelt es sich um auch andernorts auf Probiersteinen identifizierte Metalle, es fanden sich jedoch auch Hinweise, die auf Amalgamierung des Messings deuten, was als Fingerzeig für die Verwendung von Quecksilber gewertet wird. Résumé: Dans cet article nous considérons une sélection d'objets de pierre provenant de sépultures du site de Hedeby, datant de l'époque viking. Nous présentons les résultats d'analyses microchimiques effectuées sur les traces de métal retrouvées à la surface de ces objets. Mis à part les métaux qui ont régulièrement été identifiés sur les pierres de touche, un objet a également révélé des indices d'un amalgame de laiton. Ainsi nous nous penchons aussi sur la question de la présence du mercure à Hedeby. Abstract: This article considers selected stone artefacts from graves at the Viking Age site of Hedeby. It aims to present the results of chemical microanalyses of metal traces preserved on their surface. Besides the metals that were regularly identified on touchstones, one artefact showed signs of a brass amalgam. For this reason the authors also examine the question of the occurrence of mercury at Hedeby. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soils and sediments are able to preserve traces of human activity in the form of morphological, geochemical and geophysical properties of materials. Thanks to that the study of these materials may provide valuable information about the formation and functioning of archaeological sites. Materials transported for earthwork construction and their configuration preserve important information on the past landscape development, the anthropogenic transformation of the landscape as well as the process of the fortification formation. The UNESCO heritage site Hedeby was one of the most significant proto-towns in Northern Europe and an important trading center in the Viking Age. The town was surrounded by the semi-circular fortification rampart connected to the Danevirke, the Danish fortification system. Due to its dimensions (maximum height 10 m) and good preservation state, the semi-circular rampart is one of the most prominent features of the area. In this article the data on the physico-chemical analysis of the materials from the cores along a coring transect across the semi-circular rampart are presented. The following properties were determined: pH, weight percentage of gravel, charcoal, artefacts, and bones, loss on ignition, magnetic susceptibility, grain size distribution ≤2 mm, elemental concentrations. The data is valuable for geoarchaeological analysis of the landscape transformation and the earthwork construction at Hedeby including the reconstruction of the process and the techniques used in the Viking Age. Data on the buried soil found underneath the rampart deposits might provide insight into the surface soils characteristics prior to the rampart construction., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships which have, or could be perceived to have, influenced the work reported in this article., (© 2020 The Authors.)

Offshore 3 D-seismic acquisition has been a standard for high-precision structural imaging in the oil and gas industry for many years. Recently this technique has been adapted by only a few teams to the resolution required for archaeological marine investigation. In contrast to sonar techniques, the 3 D-seismic method produces images below the sea-floor. We investigate the harbour of the Viking age proto-town of Hedeby in Northern Germany with the SEAMAP-3 D system. SEAMAP-3 D allows for rapid acquisition and employs an automated data processing sequence. We observe a wealth of archaeologically relevant detail and compare our results with previous work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]