SOFTEN, Denmark—A Viking textile production site dating back more than 1,000 years has been discovered in eastern Jutland, according to a associated Press Report. Moesgaard Museum archaeologist Liv Stidssing Rehr-Langenberg said the site contains an area where flax would have been processed and more than 80 pit houses where spindle whorls and loom weights have been exposed. “We have a clear focus on textile production, which makes this settlement distinct from other types of settlements of this period,” he said. Silver coins, glass beads and earthen pots have also been recovered. Pollen analysis and carbon dating will be used to date the site and identify the plants that were possibly processed. One residence housed a person who oversaw resources and production, Rehr-Langenberg said. Textiles produced at the site were probably sent to the international Viking trading center of Aros, now the city of Aarhus, located about six miles south. “When you have a production site of this scale, it can’t just be because of the local area,” explained Caspar Andersen, historian at the Moesgaard Museum. “It needs to be understood as part of a larger network, a much larger international perspective,” he said. To read about pieces of silk found at Viking Age sites, visit “Viking Finery“
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