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100 The Viking Age in Denmark

lating thc traffic, perhaps including the collcction of tolls of passage.

In terms of idcology, as an cxplanation of the socicty, thc royal power and control are expresscd matcrially in thc cxtremcly strict archi tectural planning and execution of the fortrcsscs. The four gates, lying along compass lines to the north, south, cast and west, do not take into considcration thc properties of thc surrounding landscape, thc master plan bcing morę important than any rationalisation. On the other hand, the four gates allow for easy counter-attacks, whilc the round shapc givcs the largest possible inner spacc compared with the length of the rampart. The thirty-metre-long halls are the most impressivc houses of their age, but thc overall plan is quite ‘democratic’, lacking a central focus or a large construction. The halls, on thc other hand, have had different functions, which brings us back to the irrationality of thc master plan; however, they may not have housed thc leaders of thc socicty, who in all likelihood wcrc living on their farms.

A detailed study of thc spread of artefacts and fireplaces on Fyrkat has servcd to clarify what activities took place in the buildings.⁸⁴ Traditionally, cach hall was thought to house the crew of one longship, but at Fyrkat only somc of the halls contained hcarths, for heating and cooking, and a few wali benchcs for bedsteads. Ap-parently only a cjuartcr of the halls were ordinary dwellings, or banquct rooms, w^rith a fine fireplacc but no bcnches. The rest wcrc Stores or stables (one-third), smithics (one-sixth) and workshops for thc making of artefacts of costly metals (one-sixth?). The latter activity took place also in one of thc minor houses.

Studying the lay-out, it is apparent that thc dwellings and the banqueting hall all lie on thc east-west Street - thc main Street - as shown by the guard-house at thc west gate. The w^rorkshops arc on the north-south Street, w^rhilc smithics and Stores lic close to the rampart, so that a smithy is not next to an ordinary dwelling hall.

Stores are characterised by the absence of hearths and other factors. One of these buildings contained in a smali end-room a large amount of high-quality ryc, imported from Poland or thc Ukrainę, probably sccd corn.⁸⁵ Smithics are defined by concentrations of slag, forge Stones, whetstones, and workshops by, among other things, crucibles and moulds for ingots of costly metals. Sherds of cooking-vessels madę of soap-stone arc notably plentiful in thc dwellings. In sum, thc crafts of Fyrkat comprise ironworking and work in gold and silver and probably in bronze too, as well as weaving. No agricultural tools werc found, and only a few wcapons. Like manpower for construction, for dcfence and for thc production of materials, food rnust have bcen supplied by outside labour.

Apart from the soap-stone vcsscls and whetstones from Norway, thc imports are a few pieces ofjewellcry from thc Baltic and perhaps a few Slavonian ceramics (as well as the ryc); and glass bcads originally camc from western Europę. A coin and a few weights point to sonie trade or other commercial transactions.

This picture replaccs thc ‘barracks’ of earlier rescarch. Rather, Fyrkat has been a royal stronghold with storage for commodities, which wcrc perhaps collected through taxation or toll, and had sufficient room for the production of iron articlcs and costly or-naments, which played a role in the social exchanges. In sum, Fyrkat is directed at regulating the provincc, economically and socially, at the same time as it is extracting products from it and relating to the supra-regional trade, even in subsistence goods, probably through status as a toll-station and perhaps even as a mint.

Trelleborg also, in spite of the poorer excavation, shows traccs of a functional division of the halls.⁸⁶ For instance, the buildings without fireplaces similar to the Stores of Fyrkat are known at T relleborg on the rampart side of the blocks. They make up a quarter of the halls in the central fortress, but in thc lower fortress, to the south-east, only two out of fifteen halls have hearths, raising the possible number of magazines to morę than half the constructions. In the centre the Stores arc in the two Southern blocks only, which indicates perhaps that the main gate is to the north (with a guard-house). The other two halls in the south-western błock and the Southern house in the north-western błock may have been smithics. In the northern half of the site we have halls displaying a higher quality of housing. For instance, the two northernmost houses have traces of wooden floors in the main rooms, and the eastern hall in the north-west błock has a limestone framing of the hearth, like the ⁴banqueting hall’ at Fyrkat. At least these buildings were dwellings. From the north-eastern błock come a few tools reflecting work in precious metals, and the Southern house here may have been a workshop.

Weapons are morę plentiful than on Fyrkat. For instance, a substantial number of arrow-heads are recorded from the gates, also showing traces of fire. Several burials in the cemetery point to violcnt deaths. In addition, agricultural implements are frequent, especially short scythes, for hay-making, absent at Fyrkat. The female presence is represented by tools for weaving and some bronze jcwellery. Exchange is witnessed by scales, weights and a single coin. Among the imports are quality ceramics of west European and Slavonian typc, soap-stone vesscls from Norway, Rhinish lava quern-stones and a few Baltic bronzes and some glass beads.

In generał, Trelleborg is seen as a close parallel to Fyrkat, and the same applies to Aggersborg, but the survival circumstances are so poor here that activity studies are impossible.

Finally, it should be mentioned that Trelleborg, in terms of meat-consumption, differs from the normal rural settlements, having morę cows and pigs compared with sheep and horses, but the percentagc of these animals, on the other hand, is not so high as in the towns, owing