LARGE VIKING AGE TEXTILE PRODUCTION SITE FOUND

SØFTEN, JUNE 24 /SRNA/ - Archaeologists have found a large Viking Age textile production site in Denmark that is suspected to be more than 1,000 years old and which testifies to the sophistication of Viking society, experts from the Moesgaard Museum said.

They said the site covers an area of ​​100,000 square meters, with more than 80 buildings that were used as both homes and workshops.

The site is located in Søften, 10 kilometers north of Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city.

The site is estimated to date back to between 600 and 950 AD, the Associated Press reported.

Lead archaeologist Liv Stidsing Reher-Langberg, who led the 10-month excavation, said the site had a "clear focus on textile production," which made the settlement different from others that existed during the same period.

Experts found separate areas for production and crafts, as well as a single dwelling house, suggesting that the work was supervised by a powerful person with control over resources and production.

Reher-Langberg said that in the past 30 years, people with metal detectors have found silver coins at the site.

Historian Kasper Andersen of the Moesgaard Museum said the discovery in Søften is "another piece of the puzzle" in understanding the local economic, cultural and political structure of the time.

The Associated Press recalls that Aarhus /Aros/ was a center of international trade during the Viking Age, and Andersen argues that resources and goods most likely came from surrounding settlements, such as Søften.

Reher-Langberg expressed hope that future research will provide answers to some questions regarding the specific textile production in Søften.