In 1953, a plot of land located near the Borgund Church on the west coast of Norway was to be cleared, and a large amount of debris ended up being uncovered in the process. Fortunately, some people were able to identify the “rubble” for what it really was: items from the Norwegian Middle Ages.

This image shows the excavation in 1954. The Borgund Fjord can be seen in the background. The site was also excavated in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as smaller excavations more recently. In total, there have been 31 archaeological field seasons at Borgund.

An excavation was carried out the following summer. Archaeologists unearthed a large number of artifacts. Most of them were placed in a Ƅasement file. After that, not much else happened.

Now, some decades later, experts have undertaken the backbreaking job of analyzing the 45,000 objects that have been kept in storage in order to gain insight into an ancient Norwegian city with a surprising lack of historical knowledge. Medieʋal Borgund is mentioned in some written sources, where it is referred to as one of the “small towns” (sмaa kapstader) in Norway.

Professor Gitte Hansen, an archaeologist at the Bergen University Museum, recently conducted an interview with Science Norway in which she discussed what researchers have discovered about Borgund so far. Danish archaeologist Gitte Hansen detailed that the construction of Borgund probably took place at some point during the Viking Age.

Now, some decades later, experts have undertaken the backbreaking job of analyzing the 45,000 objects that have been kept in storage in order to gain insight into an ancient Norwegian city with a surprising lack of historical knowledge. Medieʋal Borgund is mentioned in some written sources, where it is referred to as one of the “small towns” (sмaa kapstader) in Norway.

Professor Gitte Hansen, an archaeologist at the Bergen University Museum, recently conducted an interview with Science Norway in which she discussed what researchers have discovered about Borgund so far. Danish archaeologist Gitte Hansen detailed that the construction of Borgund probably took place at some point during the Viking Age.

Professor Hansen is currently investigating the artifacts in collaboration with researchers from Germany, Finland, Iceland and the United States. The project has previously received financial support from the Norwegian Research Council and contributions from various other research institutions in Norway.

Researchers specialized in different areas, such as textiles and the Old Norse language, have come together to form a team. Scientists can learn about the clothing worn during the Viking Age and analyze the textiles that were discovered at Borgund.

The museum building has drawers upon drawers with remnants of textiles from perhaps a thousand years ago. They can give us more information about what kind of clothing people in Norway wore during the Viking Age and the Middle Ages.

Shoe soles, pieces of cloth, slag (the instant product of smelting spent minerals and metals) and pottery shards were among the priceless artifacts discovered by the archeology team led by AsƄjørn Herteig during excavations of the Viking village. long lost from Borgund.

According to Professor Hansen, these artifacts can tell a lot about how the Vikings lied on a day-to-day basis. A significant number of Viking artifacts are still well preserved and can be analyzed in great detail. The item can contain up to 250 separate garments and other textiles.

“A Viking Age Borgund garment can be made from up to eight different textiles,” Professor Hansen explained. from almost all of Europe. “We see a lot of English, German and French tableware,” says Hansen.

The people lying in Borgund may have gone to LüƄeck, Paris and London. They may have brought art, music, and perhaps inspiration for costumes from here. The city of Borgund was proƄally at its richest in the 13th century.

“Pots and tableware made of Borgund pottery and soapstone are such exciting finds that we have a researcher in the process of specializing just in this,” says Hansen. “We hope to learn something about eating hats and food etiquette here on the outskirts of Europe, and to see how people prepare and serve food and drink.” Study of the Borgund artifacts has already yielded results and Professor Hanse says “there are many indications that people here had direct or indirect contact with people in much of Europe.”

In addition, researchers have found evidence that the inhabitants of the Viking village of Borgund enjoyed eating fish. For the people of Borgund, fishing was essential.

Part of Borgund’s archaeological staff.

Our knowledge of Borgund from historians’ written sources is rather limited. Therefore, the role of archaeologists and other researchers in this specific project is crucial.

There is, however, one significant historical source. It is a royal decree from 1384 that obliges the farmers of Sunnøre to buy their wares in the market town of Borgund (kaupstaden Borgund).

“This is how we know that Borgund was considered a city at the time,” says Professor Hansen. “This order can also be interpreted as Borgund’s struggle to continue to function as a place of trade in the years after the Black Death in the mid-14th century.” And then the city was forgotten.