Gammel Lejre
| Gammel Lejre | |||||
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| Basic data | |||||
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| State : |
 Denmark
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| Region : | Sjælland | ||||
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Municipality (since 2007) : |
Lejre | ||||
| Coordinates : | 55 ° 37 ′ N , 11 ° 58 ′ E | ||||
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Population : (2010) |
<200 | ||||
| Postal code : | 4320 | ||||
 Surroundings of Gammel Lejre as seen from Ravnshøj: Konerup Å, ship launch, village, Mysselhøj |
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Gammel Lejre ( German "Alt-Lejre" ) is a village in the Lejre municipality about 4 km west of Roskilde on the island of Zealand in Denmark . Gammel Lejre is about 1.5 km north of Lejre . The village has an archaeologically significant area, as the continuous settlement from the Stone Age to the modern age is proven by various finds as well as prehistoric and historical buildings, some of which have been preserved.
The archaeological and historical monuments in the vicinity include:
- the Hyldetandshøj, a megalithic bed from the Stone Age
- the series of hills of Lejre and the settlements of ships dating from the Bronze and Iron Ages
- the Lejrehallen, which date from the Viking Age
- the Margarethenstein, a single monolith
- a medieval dam
- Kongsgård and Hestebjerggård, old farms from the 17th century
- to the west of Gammel Lejre is the Sagnlandet Lejre archeological research center .
Lejrehallen
During excavations in 1977 traces of settlement were found which were dated to the same time as the cemetery 300 m away. The post holes were marked from a 40 m long and 11 m wide hall building, the Kongehal (King's Hall), the largest of the “Lejrehallen”, which can be compared to the Kongehal by Gudme .
The ship settlements
The remaining ship settlements are on an elevation between the rivers Lejre Å and Konerup Å. The rows of stones, interrupted by larger and smaller gaps, belong to the remains of two ship settlements. The far more complete stone setting was formed by a ship 80 m long, the largest visible Danish structure. A much larger one is only preserved in remains under the hills of Jelling. It is said to have been 170 m long. The other stones from Gammel Lejre belong to what is probably a somewhat smaller ship. Both are the remains of six ship settlements that are known from reports by the historian Gebhardi from 1758. The Margarethenstein is interpreted as the remnant of one of these missing ship settlements.
The burial ground
Between 1944 and 1968 excavations were carried out in the area of the ship settlements, and a burial ground from the 10th century was found. A decapitated man was found next to the dead man in a grave. This is in agreement with reports of human sacrifices during the Viking Age. As a rule, a dog accompanied the dead Viking, as has been proven by several graves. A blacksmith had been given a hammer, file, and tongs to the grave. The grave, covered with a stone slab, lies exactly in the line of the ship's position. It was obviously already damaged when the burial ground was created.
The burial mounds
The fact that Gammel Lejre played a role as early as the 6th and 7th centuries is proven by the once at least four meters high “Grydehøj” (pot or cauldron) located northeast of the ship's setting, which covers a cremation grave from this time. It can be assumed that it is a chief's grave. Hyldehøj north of the Schiffssetzung and Mysselhøj west of Gammel Lejre have not yet been opened, but are assigned to the Bronze Age . At Ravnshøj the assignment to the Bronze or Iron Ages is not clear.
The dam
In the 13th century, a wooden turf dam was built to regulate the water in the mills in the Lejre Å valley. In the 1990s, the remains of a watermill were found during excavations.
Old farms
In addition to Kongsgård and Hestebjerggård, which are accessible as the Leire Museum, there are many other privately owned buildings from the last few centuries.
Say
Rolf Krake and other traditional kings should have had their seat here, as they came from the legendary Sköldungen (Danish: Skjöldungerne - German shield boys). At that time Lejre was the historical center of Denmark, or at least Zealand (comparable to Tara in Ireland).
Pytheas' Latris
The name "Lejre", "Leire" or "Lethra" (Old Norse: "Hleidrar") is also derived from the "Latris" called by Pytheas .
See also
literature
- Karsten Kjer Michaelsen: Politics bog om Danmarks oldtid . In: Politikens håndbøger . Politiken, Copenhagen 2002, ISBN 87-567-6458-8 . P. 191
- SW Andersen: Lejre - skibssætninger, vikingegrave, In: Grydehøj. Aarbøger for nordisk Oldkyndighed and history 1993
- Ingrid Falktoft Anderson: Vejviser til Danmarks oldtid . 1994, ISBN 87-89531-10-8 , pp. 294-298
Web links
- Lejre Museum (Danish)
- Hiking guide No. 91 about Gammel Lejre , published by the Danish Ministry of the Environment (Danish, 1.8 MB; PDF file)
- Dolmen replica Sagnlandet Lejre
- Map of the burial mounds a.
Geographic coordinates
Map with all coordinates of the section Geocoordinates : OSM
| Hyldetandshøj | 55 ° 37 ′ 9 ″ N, 11 ° 58 ′ 5 ″ E |
| Grydehøj | 55 ° 37 ′ 4 "N, 11 ° 58 ′ 27" E |
| Hyldehøj | 55 ° 37 ′ 13 ″ N, 11 ° 58 ′ 23 ″ E |
| Mysselhøj | 55 ° 36 '59 "N, 11 ° 57' 31" E |
| Ravnshøj | 55 ° 37 ′ 9 ″ N, 11 ° 58 ′ 38 ″ E |
| Ship settlement | 55 ° 37 ′ 2 "N, 11 ° 58 ′ 25" E |
| Margarethenstein | 55 ° 37 ′ 7 "N, 11 ° 58 ′ 26" E |
| Lejrehallen | 55 ° 36 ′ 57 "N, 11 ° 57 ′ 56" E |
| medieval dam | 55 ° 36 ′ 56 "N, 11 ° 58 ′ 22" E |
| Hestebjerggård | 55 ° 36 ′ 56 ″ N, 11 ° 58 ′ 9 ″ E |
| Kongsgård | 55 ° 37 ′ 2 "N, 11 ° 58 ′ 11" E |