17 June 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A large hall from the time of Viking Harald Bluetooth discovered

A large hall from the reign of King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark and Norway was unearthed during housing construction work near Hune, a village in the Jammerbugt Municipality of North Jutland, Denmark.

The hall was up to 40 meters long and 8-10 meters wide, with 10-12 oak posts supporting the roof. They are rectangular in cross-section and measure up to 90×50 cm. The hall probably served as a crucial location for political gatherings, for hosting visitors, and as the hub of social activity in the community’s social life.

Preliminary dating places the hall in the last half of the ninth century or the very first part of the eleventh century, but it was probably in use during the reign of Harald Bluetooth.

A rune stone near the excavation site has a date that fits this time frame. The stone, which dates from between 970 and 1020, is located in Hune Kirke and is inscribed with the words “Hove, Thorkild, and Thorbjrn set their father Runulv den Rdnilde’s stone.”

A rune stone near the excavation site. Photo: North Jutland Museums

The hall’s design is reminiscent of structures found at Harald Bluetooth’s ring castles, including Fyrkat at Hobro and Aggersborg at Aggersund.

The researchers have only excavated a portion of the hall, but they believe that additional buildings and features lie beneath the surface to the east of the hall, as buildings of this type rarely stand alone.

Thomas Rune Knudsen, from North Jutland Museums said: “This is the largest Viking Age find of this nature in more than ten years, and we have not seen anything like it before here in North Jutland.”

Excavations will resume in the New Year, with a Carbon-14 analysis on organic remains for more accurate dating, the results of which are expected to be published by the end of 2023.

King Harald Bluetooth, a Viking-born king who turned his back on old Norse religion and converting to Christianity. He is noted for bringing Christianity to Denmark and earned the nickname Blåtand (meaning blue tooth) because of a dead tooth that is said to have been dark blue.

North Jutland Museums

Cover Photo: North Jutland Museums

Related Articles

Remarkable discovery of Iron Age and Roman treasures found near a boggy area on Anglesey

29 February 2024

29 February 2024

Metal detectorist Ian Porter unearthed sixteen historical artifacts in a boggy field on Anglesey. Among the items found were Iron...

The 20-million-year-old fossil of a sea creature in the ancient city of Tyana may have been used as a means of payment

22 October 2021

22 October 2021

During the ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Tyana in the Kemerhisar district of Niğde, a 20-million-year-old fossil thought...

Mesopotamian bricks reveal the strength of Earth’s ancient magnetic field

19 December 2023

19 December 2023

Ancient Mesopotamian bricks reveal the details of a curious strengthening of the Earth’s magnetic field, according to a new study...

During roadwork in Oregon, a woolly mammoth tusk was discovered

21 June 2021

21 June 2021

A 12,000-year-old woolly mammoth tusk was discovered beneath the street by crews rerouting a gas line in Corvallis, Oregon. “Whenever...

A new study provides the earliest evidence of rice harvesting, dating to as early as 10,000 years ago

8 December 2022

8 December 2022

A new study of stone tools from southern China reveals the earliest evidence of rice harvesting, dating back 10,000 years....

Phrygian Royal Tomb Unearthed in Ancient City of Gordion, Türkiye: A Landmark Discovery

4 June 2025

4 June 2025

In a major archaeological breakthrough, Turkey’s Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, announced the discovery of a wooden...

Iron Age Children’s a Unique Funerary Building Discovered in Oman

3 March 2024

3 March 2024

Archaeologists have uncovered a unique Iron Age children’s funerary building at the Manaqi archaeological site in Rustaq, South Al Batinah...

A First! This Study on Pregnancy in the Viking Age Illuminates Warrior Women and the Fate of Babies

14 May 2025

14 May 2025

A groundbreaking interdisciplinary study by Viking experts from the Universities of Nottingham and Leicester has shed new light on the...

Remains of a Roman stylobate found in Montenegro

19 July 2023

19 July 2023

In ancient Rhizon (Risan) in Montenegro, remains of a Roman stylobate (a shared base for multiple columns) were uncovered. In...

A ‘very rare’ clay figurine of god Mercury and a previously unknown Roman settlement were discovered at the excavation site in Kent

23 February 2024

23 February 2024

At a previously unknown Roman settlement that was formerly next to a busy port but is now 10 miles from...

The ancestors of many animal species alive today may have lived in a delta in what is now China, new research suggests

20 April 2022

20 April 2022

The ancestors of many animal species alive today may have lived in a delta in what is now China, new...

The Discovery of a Historic Wooden Shipwreck in the North Sea

27 January 2025

27 January 2025

A section of a wooden shipwreck was uncovered near Rantum, a coastal village located on the island of Sylt in...

Excavations at Sheffield Castle Reveal the First Surviving Examples of 17th-Century Civil War Abatis

9 March 2025

9 March 2025

Excavations at Sheffield Castle, part of the Castlegate regeneration project by Sheffield City Council, have revealed the first known surviving...

In southern Turkey, the remains of a Roman villa whose floor was decorated with geometrically patterned mosaics were unearthed during construction

13 July 2022

13 July 2022

Workers working to lay the foundation of a new building in the Defne district of Hatay, southern Turkey, by accident...

A pendant made of mammoth bone with ‘mysterious dots’ could be the oldest known example of ornate jewelry in Eurasia

26 November 2021

26 November 2021

The fragments of an ancient pendant made of mammoth ivory were unearthed in Poland, and are regarded to be the...

OSZAR »