by Tim Pestell
One new find makes an important contribution to place Tissø in an international context. In the southern workshop area a mid-ninth century Byzantine lead seal was found (Fig. 15.25), bearing the name of Theodosius and his titles of office. Theodosius was the head of the Byzantine armoury and military recruiting office (Laurent 1978) and from Continental sources we know that he visited Mainz in 840-L Identical seals have been found at Hedeby and Ribe and it seems hardly coincidental that a seal has now also been found at Tissø. It has been suggested that this Byzantine official may have been in northern Europe to recruit mercenaries, or to buy up iron for the Byzantine army, which had suffered great defeats in the Near East shortly before this. It would have been natural for Byzantine officials or representatives of Theodosius to have visited places like Hedeby and Ribe on this business as there were plenty of people there, and connections and high-level agreements could be established. The archaeological finds show that similar contacts could have been established at Tissø, which was undoubtedly the central site in West Zealand.
FIGURE 15.25. A lead seal of the high-ranking Byzantine official Theodosius, mid ninth century. Similar seals have also been found in the early towns of Hedeby and Ribe, and its presence at Tissø testifies to the importance of the site. Scale 2:1.
(Photograph: Danish
National Museum)
Royal palace? – cult site – market
I shall end by attempting an overall interpretation of the Tissø complex. From the first signs of activity at Tissø in the sixth century, by the turn of the seventh century a magnate residence had been established. At the same time, activity in the large market and workshop areas began, as well as the first weapon sacrifices in the lake. The peculiar building structure that can be seen at the second manor, particularly in Phases One and Two, might mean that Tissø was not a permanent aristocratic residence, because it quite simply lacks many of the buildings one would normally associate with such a complex. Those buildings that can be identified are, on the one hand, the sequence of single structure halls in the special enclosed area, and on the other those housing the forge at the northern end of the site. To these may be added a modest number of pit-houses that were probably only used periodically. Large quantities of bone refuse in the pit-house fills inside the manorial complex, and at the eastern end of the halls, show that during some periods there must have been many people present, a feature also reflected in the generally large volume of finds. Many artefacts show the occupants belonged to an elite and the discovery of weapon parts and horse equipment indicate that heavily-armed cavalry were also quartered in the place. Interestingly, preliminary bone analyses show that the horses from Tissø were generally larger than those known from ordinary Danish farm complexes, which might suggest trained warhorses. The aristocratic aspect is reiterated by the presence of large, slender dogs in the bone material –probably hunting hounds.
If the finds show an elite occupied the Tissø complex throughout its life, the distinctive arrangement of the buildings suggests that they did not use it as a permanent residence. We should perhaps move up a level in considering its ownership. It might have been a royal complex –not a primary residence, but an establishment belonging to the royal estate system of a peripatetic monarchy. In this connection it is interesting to draw a parallel between the structure and documented functions of the Tissø complex and those of a contemporary Caro-lingian imperial Pfalz. Around 800 Charlemagne’s palatine complex at Aachen consisted of two central stone buildings: the Aula Regia and the Pfalzkirche or Palatine Chapel, which were connected by a passage (Fig. 15.26). To enter the chapel, one first had to go through an atrium. In addition to the central building complex, there were dwellings and workshops, probably built not in stone, but in wood (Hugot 1965, 545). Listed below (Table 15.1) are some of the archaeological characteristics of the Tissø complex with their interpretation, and an attempt to recognize these elements in the structure and functions described by the sources in connection with a Carolingian Pfalz.
FIGURE 15.26. Plan of the central representative area of Charlemagnes Pfalz in Aix, Germany (after Hugot 1965, with additions by the author).
Table 15.1. Features appearing at both Tissø and a contemporary Carolingian Pfalz.
Tissø complex Interpretation Carolingian Pfalz
Monumental halls Representation Aula Regia
Special fenced area and building Cult area Atrium and Pfalz church
Lake sacrifices Cult activities Church ceremonies
Weapons and horses Retinue Gefolgschaft
Executed men Jurisdiction/trials Jurisdiction/trials
Pit-houses/workshops Markets Markets
The Tissø hall can be compared to the Carolingian Aula Regia, and the enclosed special area with the single building corresponds to the atrium and Palatine Chapel. The types of activity witnessed at a Carolingian Pfalz during an extended stay by a ruler and his retinue are very like those we can picture at Tissø. The level of activity in the area naturally increased, the population gathering around the palace and important ecclesiastical ceremonies taking place. The latter can be compared to the celebration of possible cultic rituals in the special area of the magnate complex and the weapon sacrifices in the lake. Around the Carolingian Pfalz complex, market and workshop areas mushroomed, corresponding to the large, but clearly only temporarily used market areas at Tissø. When the ruler left the palace the level of activity dropped. The somewhat later palace of Tilleda, which was built in Thuringia in the tenth century, also shares certain structural parallels with the Tissø complex (Grimm 1968). Tilleda consisted of a lightly fortified castle area with the central buildings matching the Aachen complex. Tilleda also had a large forecourt area where excavations have identified pit-houses and extensive workshop activity (Grimm 1968, Abb. 7, 89f). These workshop and market functions can be seen, at both Tissø and Tilleda, immediately outside the actual residential area.
The possible function of the Tissø complex as a royal palace, but not a main residence, might also be indicated by the fact that no graves have yet been found in connection with the site. Much effort has been devoted to the search for them, and in view of the very rich finds from the complex, one might expect very rich aristocratic graves nearby. None have yet been found, nor are there antiquarian accounts of possible rich grave finds. If this absence of graves proves to be real, it provides support for the idea that the complex was not the magnate’s primary residence, but only one of several; rich, dynastic graves should instead be anticipated in connection with the main residence. As to where such a main residence might have been, there now seems little doubt this was at Lejre, where the residential complex is at least as large as at Tissø, but has the character of a more permanent residence. Given the traditional view of the Danish monarchy and its development, it is extremely thought provoking that both Tissø and Lejre were established around 550–600 and only abandoned around 1000 – but that is quite another story.
Postscript
In the northernmost part of the settlement area, a small trial excavation in 1995 revealed a building/farm complex. From the size of the occupation area and certain details of the roof-bearing posts of the main building, the features were presumed to represent a late Viking Age farm. Extensive excavations of the complex in the autumn of 2002 revealed, however, that the oldest manor of the complex, dated from the 6th–7th century. From its foundation some time in the mid sixth century until its end in the early eleventh century, Tissø comprised just one manor with related market and craft areas.
Provisional results indicate that it comprised an enclosed area of 10–12,000 sq. m., which is three to five times the size of ordinary Danish farms from the 6th–7th century. At present (March 2003), with about two-thirds of the area investigated, it consists of a large hall building, two large houses and a few smaller buildings and pit-houses. The two largest houses flank an inner enclosure from the later manor 600 m. to the south. The large hall building has slightly curving long sides, six
pairs of roof-bearing posts, a length of 38 metres and a maximum width of 7 metres. A radiocarbon date places the hall around ad 600. The building was unusually well constructed from large timbers and had white-plastered internal walls. The hall, and probably the whole complex, burned down in the middle of the seventh century. On the basis of the metal finds the occupation period can be set provisionally at c. 550–650. The relatively few finds from the excavation include several brooches, a sword pommel, a spiral bead of gold and a pair of gold pendants with inlaid garnets in cloisonné.
Acknowledgements
This chapter is a result of work within the Danish National Museum’s ‘War, Defence and Aristocracy’ research project, supported by grants from the Danish National Research Council for the Humanities. I also wish to thank Tom Christensen of Roskilde Museum and Svend Age Tornbjerg of K0ge Museum for the latest updates on Lejre and Toftegård.
CHAPTER 16
Groß Strömkendorf: a Market Site of the Eighth Century on the Baltic Sea Coast
Astrid Tummuscheit
Prior to his return, Godfred gave the order to destroy the coastal market place of the Danish name of Reric which gave his realm great benefit by the collection of taxes. He took the merchants with him and went with his entire army by sea to the port which is called Sliesthorp [Hedeby].(Buchner 1955, 89; author’s translation)
This entry, quoted from the Royal Frankish Annals, mentions the devastation of a trading place known by the Danish name of Reric in 808, an incident occurring at the end of a military campaign conducted by the Danish king Godfred against the Slavonic Obodrites. Although the passage does not contain detailed information about the geographical position of the place, it has long encouraged archaeologists to search for a site that could be connected with the historical Reric (Herrmann 1980 and 1988). In the course of these efforts, during the 1980s evidence grew stronger that there had been a large settlement of the Early Slavonic period (that is, of the eighth and early ninth centuries) near the village of Groß Strömkendorf (Fig. 16.1). Since the 1930s, collections of surface finds and trial excavations there had produced Early Slavonic pottery, pieces of amber and glass, fragments of quernstones made of basalt, pottery from the Rhine area and bronze objects. The location of the site, and the range of material connected with trade and production thus suggested that the settlement at Groß Strömkendorf could be identifiable with the historical emporium of Reric (Wietrzichowski 1993, 44—5; Jöns et al. 1997, 200; Jöns 1998a, 131; Jöns 2000).
FIGURE 16.1. Location of Groß Strömkendorf and other sites mentioned in the text in relation to local topography.
The supposed importance of Groß Strömkendorf led, for the first time, to more detailed investigations between 1989—91 (Wietrzichowski 1993) and again in 1992. Small-scale excavations confirmed and consolidated the view that there had been a major settlement of the Early Slavonic period with evidence of relations with Francia, the Saxon-Frisian region and Scandinavia. Apart from a large quantity of finds, the excavations revealed a number of physical remains and allowed the first insight into the settlement’s layout, for instance, pit-houses aligned in rows indicated a certain degree of planning. A sample of wood taken from one of the wells’ casings could be dated to 729. Finally, in 1993 an associated cemetery of the eighth century was discovered in the immediate vicinity of the settlement site.
Within the framework of an interdisciplinary project funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, systematic and intensive investigations of the burial ground and of the settlement site at Groß Strömkendorf were carried out between 1995 and 1999 (Fig. 16.2). Analysis of the finds and structures of the 1992 and 1995—9 excavations is currently underway and this paper must be understood to be a preliminary outline (for interim reports see Wietrzichowski 1993; Jöns et al. 1997; Jöns 1998a and b).
FIGURE 16.2. Overall plan of excavated areas with reconstruction of the landscape to the west of the site. (Archäologisches Landesmuseum Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schloß Wiligrad, 19069 Lübstorf )
As only a very few graves of the Early Slavonic period have been discovered in north-east Germany so far, investigations have focused mainly on the excavation of the cemetery site, which was completed in 1998. There is evidence for a great variety of burial customs, with different types of cremations, inhumations in unlined graves or graves with wooden coffins, and with bodies placed in supine or crouched positions. There are animal burials of dogs and horses and, finally, there are six burials with or within boats. All the boats were typical clinker-built Scandinavian vessels with iron rivets fastening the overlapping planks together (Jöns et al. 1997, 207—14; Jöns 1998a, 133—4). These different burial customs seem to represent various cultural traditions, which indicate the presence of people from Scandinavia in the North, from the Frankish kingdom and from the Saxon and Frisian regions in the West.
FIGURE 16.3. One part of the central area of the trading site showing the careful alignment of pit-houses (shaded).
Another important discovery on the site was made during the summer of 1999, when aerial photographs revealed some kind of underwater ‘cropmark’ about 100m offshore. The filling of a roughly rectangular depression, 750m long and 150m wide, had enhanced the growth of water plants which showed as a dark anomaly. Until further research is carried out, there cannot be any certainty about its interpretation, but at present the feature is generally considered to be the remains of the harbour basin of the Early Medieval settlement.
The site
The settlement site of Groß Strömkendorf is situated on the shores of the Baltic Sea, on the eastern side of the Wismar Bay, south-east of the Isle of Poel. The morainic ground rises slightly north-eastwards from a low coastal cliff towards the burial ground at a height of three to five metres above sea level (Figs. 16.1 and 16.2).
A systematic survey of the site employing methods such as aerial photography, fieldwalking and geophysical prospection has shown that the area of occupation had covered a total of about twenty hectares. Considering the rise of sea-level and the effects of coastal erosion, it seems likely that a considerable tract of land has been destroyed by flooding since the Early Medieval period. Accordingly, the excavation concentrated on a twenty-five metre wide strip of land that stretches c. 550m along the coast, interrupted only by a small stream flowing into the sea. In addition, a number of trial trenches were dug to gain information about the area between the coastal settlement and the cemetery site. Finally, several traces of settlement activity have been recorded in the course of the cemetery excavations.
The finds assemblages
Groß Strömkendorf has produced a finds assemblage which can easily be paralleled with other trading sites of Early Medieval date in the Baltic Sea region. Apart from the enormous quantity of animal bone, a substantial pottery assemblage has been found. Most of it is of the Sukow-type, which was the characteristic eighth-century Slavonic fabric in the region, but there are also sherds of imported vessels such as Badorf, Tating and shell-tempered wares (muschelgrusware).
A significant proportion of the finds are imported, most of which can be assigned to two main areas of origin. First, there are finds from the Carolingian and the Saxon-Frisian areas. Apart from the pottery, lava quern-stones from the Eiffel region, sherds of glass funnel-beakers, metal dress-fittings and weapons have also been found. Second, a large amount of objects are of Scandinavian origin, for example whetstones of Norwegian schist and metal dress-fittings. A few coins, including sceattas, dirhams and deniers, have been recorded during the excavation and by metal-detecting.
Apart from the imported goods, there is massive evidence of on-site manufacturing which sheds light on a wide range of crafts. Among these are antler-and bone-working, with the debris hinting especially at comb-making. Glass-working waste provides evidence for the production of common blue annular beads, and working debris and unfinished objects, mainly of beads and pendants, show that amber was also being worked at Groß Strömkendorf. The site has produced a sizeable number of
loomweights and spindle-whorls suggesting the manufacturing of textiles. Finally, iron and bronze slags, as well as fragments of moulds, indicate that working of iron and non-ferrous metals took place, although there is no evidence for iron production itself.
Settlement layout
In general, the excavated structural features comprise pit-houses, wells, pits, hearths and ditches. To date, about one hundred pit-houses and about eighty-five wells, thirty of which contained waterlogged wood, have been recorded. Single or double rows of houses, running parallel to the coastline and at right angles to it, are characteristic of the southern and central parts of the site (Fig. 16.3). Houses, pits and wells form groups separated by open space and lack substantial traces of physical boundaries. In some cases there are regularly aligned rows of pits which could indicate that they were used as boundaries or that they ran along pathways or fences which have not left any traces in the archaeological record. The settlement plan shows a remarkably dense occupation and although it is obvious that not all of the settlement had been planned in the same regular manner, similar rows of houses or wells occur identically aligned all over the site (Fig. 16.4).
When we turn northwards and look at the remains of dwellings excavated in the immediate surroundings of, and within, the area of the burial ground, a different picture emerges (Fig. 16.5). In this area of the site, the same types of structure such as pit-houses, pits and wells had been sited less closely together with irregular spacings of between twenty to thirty metres, a scattered distribution without any signs of an underlying system. In all cases in which there were intersections of burials with features belonging to the settlement site, the burials proved to be later on stratigraphical grounds.