Early Middle Ages

The imperial palace at Tilleda was in service from the 9th until 13th century, housing several kings and emperors. At present, it is the most completely excavated example in Germany.

It was not until the end of WWII, when archaeologists and historians got more attention to the Slavonic past of this part of Europe. Mecklenburg was at that time part of East Germany and near the Sternberg, professor Schuldt unearthed wooden structures dating to the 9th and 10th century AD which included parts of a wooden fortress and temple area.

At short distance from Kiel, you will find the village of Lütjenburg, dating back partly to the Middle Ages. On the edge of the city centre along the Nienthal, a medieval like castle is being constructed with a ditch and a hill, as part of a European project. 50% is paid with local sponsorships.

With a preparation time between 1988 and 2001, the municipality of Villeneuve d’Asq aimed for an important and attractive open air museum. Here, based on general information instead of specific sites, prehistoric and medieval houses are presented as well as the people constructing them and living there.

In the "Nord" départment, you will find a Gaul / Merovingian / Carolingian “archéosite”. Following archaeological research in the area, this archaeological open air museum came into existence in 1982.

Following decades of archaeological excavation in the Talou region (reported about 1,000 archaeological sites), local archaeologists and enthusiasts founded Fatra (Fédération des Archeologues du Talou et des Régions Avoisinantes) in 1999.

According to the Saga of Erik the Red it was at a site called Brattahlid (Qassiarsuk, near Narsaq) that in the year 1000 AD, the first little Christian chapel was constructed in the New World of which Greenland is a part. It took until the 1960s before it was rediscovered by archaeologists from the National Museum of Greenland and the Narsaq Museum.

At Landa, In the 1980s and 90s, over 250 houses were excavated in one of the largest excavation campaigns of Norway. This area was in extensive use from Bronze Age well into the Viking Age. The project "Fortidslandsbyen Landa på Forsand" has three reconstructed houses.

The State Archaeological Service (RACM) was situated in Amersfoort for decades. One of the most impressive archaeological campaigns were the 1970s excavations of Dorestad at Wijk bij Duurstede. This led to the idea of reconstructing one of the longhouses but where? In their own back yard?

Although possibly Romans but surely Irish monks had gone before the Vikings, Iceland’s foundation is calculated as having started in 874. Iceland was an independent commonwealth when in 1104 the volcano Hekla in the southern region of Árnessýsla erupted, it had a devastating effect on the rivervalley of Þjórsá.