THE HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGY

Perhaps you have once bent down to pick up an old potsherd. Turned it over in your hands, studying its faint patterns. The smooth exterior, the rough interior. It tells you nothing. You have no idea whether it dates from the Middle Ages or the 1970s. You put it back on the ground and move on, forgetting all about it. But have you ever wondered what an archaeologist can learn from such a small fragment?

At the Danish Castle Centre, we would like to give you a closer look. Take a deep breath and dive into the history of archaeology – all the way back to the earliest excavations at Vordingborg in the 1880s, when the castle slowly began to emerge after centuries buried beneath the ground. Over the following 130 years, the focus of archaeology shifted from a search for kings and power to a curiosity about the individual and the stories of everyday life. A “remarkable find” was no longer just a ring one might imagine lost from a royal hand – it could also be wood, rope or other organic materials that help us date the past.

Advances in technology have opened up remarkable possibilities for getting closer than ever to life in the Middle Ages. We open the archaeologist’s toolbox to reveal methods such as radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology and macrofossil analysis. These tools can determine the exact year a tree used in the earliest construction of the castle was felled – or when a trace of porridge was burned onto the inside of a bowl.

Visit our outdoor exhibition pavilions and explore images, stories and finds from 130 years of archaeology at the castle.