Borgring: the discovery of a Viking Age ring fortress. (8th August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Goodchild, Helen; Holm, Nanna; Sindbæk, Søren M.
• Is Part Of: Antiquity. Volume 91:Number 358(2017)
• Page Start: 1027
• Page End: 1042
• Publication Date: 2017-08-08
• Subjects: Scandinavia, -- Borgring, -- Viking Age, -- military monuments, -- LiDAR, -- geophysical survey; Archaeology -- Periodicals; Antiquities -- Periodicals; 930.05
• DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2017.118
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0003-598X

Abstract

Abstract: Abstract : A massive tenth-century AD ring fortress was recently identified at Borgring, south of Copenhagen in Denmark. The combination of high-resolution LiDAR mapping, geophysical survey and targeted small-scale excavation has demonstrated that the site belongs to a rare class of monuments—the Trelleborg-type ring fortress. Borgring is the first such monument to be found in Denmark in over six decades, and provides an opportunity to investigate a type-site of Viking Age military organisation and conflict. The authors argue that Borgring complements a varied group of fortification structures in late Viking Age Denmark, part of a military network close to contemporaneous European ideas of military kingship and defence.