Photo Galleries
Danish Archaeology
August 2015
Both Haderslev, where we housesat for a friend, and Ribe, which we visited during our stay, have good archaeology museums. Ribe's focuses on the town's early years as a Viking trading post and a center of glass making. Haderslev's focuses on Iron Age items excavated in the area, including a horde of Germanic weaponry and decorative items ritually thrown into Ejsbol Lake after a battle around 300 AD.
A display in the Ribe Viking Museum of early metalworking on small fires
Viking coins made and used around Ribe
Viking objects of metal or bone excavated around Ribe
Ribe was a center of glass bead making
Glass beads from the Viking era found around Ribe
A model of the early settlement of Ribe, around 700 AD
A recreated Viking coastal boat of the kind that traded in Ribe
For our friends who reenact the Viking era
Men's clothing
Women's clothing
Detail of glass beads and clasps
Viking shoes
A drawing from the 1400s of a portable bread oven . . .
. . . and a recreation in the Ribe Viking Museum (next to a basket of doves ready to be turned into dinner)
The seal of the city of Ribe (and some bone combs in the background)
We liked this 15th century painting from Ribe, especially the rich fabric of the woman's dress
A depiction in the Haderslev archaeology museum of a Viking-era battle in the area, plus artifacts from the battle
After the battle near Haderslev, which occurred around 300 to 400 AD, the winners broke or bent the losers' weapons and threw them into Ejsbol Lake as part of a victory ritual
Weaponry excavated from Ejsbol Lake in the 1990s after it was drained
Among the items found in the lakebed were gold fragments from belts and a collection of gold rods
Pots and beads from around 200 AD excavated from grave sites near Haderslev
Shoe ornaments, buckles, and blades found around Haderslev (note the spurs on the backs of the shoes)
