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Spectacular find: 1,000-year-old Viking textile workshop unearthed
Euronews • • world
Key Points:
- Archaeologists uncovered a large Viking craft settlement in Søften, Mid Jutland, dating from the 7th to 10th centuries, covering 100,000 square meters with 82 pit houses.
- The site functioned as a specialised craft zone with numerous identical workshops, suggesting division of labor and possible centralized control.
- Finds include loom weights, spindle whorls, and glass beads, indicating large-scale textile production beyond local needs and a complete production chain.
- Artefacts such as Arabic coins and mintings from France and Germany reveal the settlement's involvement in extensive trade networks reaching as far as Asia.
- Researchers argue the site demonstrates a highly developed Viking economy, challenging stereotypes of the Viking Age as uncivilized; public display of the artefacts is pending ongoing analysis.
