[...]... throw the remains of a meal into the furthest corner of the hut and leave it there They were not nervous about ghosts, since they did not mind having a skeleton sticking out of the wall of one of their huts Pit 1 shows two distinct layers of occupation, and it is possible that when the hut became too stinking and verminous it was either abandoned for a time or a layer of soil spread over the old floor... organized from the remains of settlements and their fields? THE DEVELOPMENT OF SETTLEMENT ARCHAEOLOGY 4 The blueprint for the study of the medieval economy drawn up by historians such as Duby (1968, p xi) urged further investigation of the daily life and 3 Following Giddens’s definition, communities in which there is only short distance in time–space separation’ and where interaction was of necessity... and the Netherlands, on the other hand, identifying the origins of manorial organization is often a central aim of archaeological fieldwork EXCAVATION METHODS Excavation methods also play a role in determining the kinds of data available for different regions In the sandy districts of Denmark, northwest Germany, and the Netherlands, for example, a distinctive, cost-efficient method of excavating settlements. .. obviously, true of ordinary houses If, furthermore, we are to assess the economic conditions and daily life of the early Middle Ages, we need to understand the nature of the buildings in which people lived and worked Indeed, the study of early medieval settlements in northwest Europe has traditionally been dominated by the study of buildings, chiefly for two reasons: first, on a small number of waterlogged... within 1 One possible explanation for the prevalence of east–west orientation is that this would maximize the benefit derived from the warmth of the sun on the southern wall, while offering protection against a westerly wind (Hedeager 1992, 196–7) 16 The Archaeology of Buildings Fig 2.5 The distribution of the longhouse in northwest Europe After Ramqvist 1992 the walls was a truly single-span building,... longhouses of the Frisian terp of Ezinge, research into early medieval buildings across northern Europe has focused on these remarkable structures (van Giffen 1936; Waterbolk 1989, 303; 1991b) The Architecture of the Longhouse Arguably the most significant architectural development of the early Middle Ages was the transition from the longhouse, with its complex arrangement of interior roof-supporting posts... thrust of the roof: by means of internal supports or by placing the load-bearing posts within the walls The problem of how to build wider structures while freeing the interior space of roof supports was ultimately resolved by introducing transverse joists supported by corresponding pairs of posts The end-result of this shift from stability derived from rows of internal roof-supporting posts to stability... sunken-floored weaving shed depicted in the Utrecht Psalter 45 2.22 Plans of short houses without internal roof-supporting posts in Germany and the Netherlands 49 3.1 Vorbasse: phases of the shifting settlement 55 3.2 Vorbasse: plan of the settlement in the fifth century 56 3.3 Vorbasse: plan of the settlement in the sixth and seventh centuries 57 List of Illustrations xii 3.4 Vorbasse: the Viking age village... pits (Figs 2.3 and 2.4) The fact that these timber buildings have naturally fared less The Archaeology of Buildings 13 Fig 2.1 Excavation of preserved Iron Age timber buildings at Ezinge Photo: Courtesy of the Groningen Institute of Archaeology Fig 2.2 Plan and reconstruction of the ‘Great Hall’ at Lejre After Christensen 1991, fig 14 14 The Archaeology of Buildings Fig 2.3 The ‘Great Hall’ at Gudme... generally took the form of an east–west oriented building1 with living quarters containing a hearth and a variable number of compartments at the west end, a central entrance ‘hall’ with two opposing doorways, and a byre at the east end; two rows of massive, paired internal posts supported the weight of the roof and divided the interior space into three aisles (Fig 2.6) Ever since the excavation of the well-preserved . alt="" Medieval History and Archaeology General Editors JOHN BLAIR HELENA HAMEROW Early Medieval Settlements EARLY MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENTS The Archaeology of Rural Communities in Northwest Europe. and arguably marking the beginning of the widespread, systematic study of Migration period and early medieval settlements in the region. This work was followed in the 1960s and 1970s by a number of large-scale excavations. agricultural exploitation was organized from the remains of settlements and their fields? THE DEVELOPMENT OF SETTLEMENT ARCHAEOLOGY 4 The blueprint for the study of the medieval economy drawn up by historians such