A recent aerial archaeological effort i Denmark – An aerial view of the past – Aerial Archaeology in Denmark [translated] – has provided registrations of a number of new sites. These new sites has changed, and continue to change, the understanding of past landscapes.
In this paper, I will present an example from the Varde Stream area concerning the landscape and settlement relationship highlighted through aerial archaeology. This example is concerned with the late Iron Age and Viking Age period (200 – 1050 AD), where sparse data was available prior to the aerial reconnaissance sessions that occurred from 2008 to 2011. The sparsity of data was disturbing, taking into consideration that there exist a direct connection to the Wadden Sea through Ho Bay. The area seemed a natural extension and possible travel route inland. On numerous occasions, trade and North Sea contact have been studied, but there seem, in a Danish context, to be a specific focus on the early emporia Ribe and the connecting stream system. This area is situated just south of the Varde Stream system and has drawn the majority of the archaeological attention. Now, the aerial data can add to the understanding of the north Wadden Sea landscape in the late Iron Age and Viking Age periods.
One interesting feature of the 15 settlements along the Varde Stream system mainly links to an almost preplanned structure. The settlements are situated along the stream with approximately 1 km of distance between each other. This particular situation differs considerably from other areas in West Jutland where the settlements are situated more sparsely. The Varde stream settlements are located mainly on the north side of the meadows that runs along the stream and allows for a utilization of both the meadows and easy access to Ho Bay and the Wadden Sea. The settlements are registered mainly as pit-house cropmarks, and a few display longhouses in combination with pit-houses. The pit-house is the common element, a feature that often is connected with crafts. The spatial location along the stream does seem to add to such propositions, but the interesting questions relate to factors of control and power. Did someone force this structure on the settlements or does the settlement location indicate a normalized resource area? Do the pit-house sites indicate settlements or does the sites represent a specialized function? These questions are of great importance for this particular period in the Danish prehistory, where it is theorized that the early steps towards state formation occur. These processes are often linked to the central places and the power we surmise they must have had due to exceptional material culture. Now, due to the aerial archaeological data, it might be possible to contribute to, or deconstruct, these assumptions.