This document is a compilation of citations to information on hearths used in the Viking Age. It is designed to be of use to Viking Age re-enactors, especially cooks in the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. It was originally compiled in July of 1994 but has been expanded since then.

This document is provided as is without any express or implied warranties. While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained, the author assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

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Archaeological Finds of Viking Hearths

Copyright © 1994, 1998 Carolyn Priest-Dorman

• Faroes Islands -- farmhouse at Kvivik on Streymoy island; "a long-fire down the middle with a sunken stone-lined ember pit." (Magnusson, 185)
• Shetland Islands -- Jarlshof, a farm complex; oven heated by stones and used to cook fish (Graham-Campbell, 124)
• Hedeby, Denmark -- town house; "one room had low earthen benches facing the hearth and a large clay oven" (Magnusson, 69); "a clay bread-oven, the size of which suggests that the occupants may even have been professional bakers" (Graham-Campbell and Kidd, 75-77.)
• Jorvík, Danelaw (York, England) -- houses at Coppergate 16-22, originally built in the tenth century; large (up to 2.4 x 1.3 meter) raised tile-, stone-, or timber-framed clay hearths, most of whose surfaces were not used for fire (Hall, 1694).
• Dublin, Ireland -- urban houses in High Street, eleventh century; "the stone-lined hearth, if there was one, was usually in the center of the street" (Magnusson, 162f sic; I think he means "center of the house")
• L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland -- hearths in House F; parallels drawn to Icelandic farm hearths containing three parts: a section for a cookfire, a stone-lined ember pit (see Faroes, above), and a smooth stone slab. Other finds also discussed (Ingstad, 197-201).

Sources

Graham-Campbell, James. The Viking World. New York: Ticknor &&; Fields, 1980.

Graham-Campbell, James, and Dafydd Kidd. The Vikings . New York: Tabard Press, 1980.

Hall, R.A. "The Excavations at 16-22 Coppergate," pp. 1689-1708 in Penelope Walton Rogers, Textile Production at 16-22 Coppergate. The Archaeology of York, Volume 17, Fascicule 11. York: The York Archaeological Trust, 1997.

Ingstad, Anne Stine. The Discovery of a Norse Settlement in America: Excavations at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland 1961-1968 . Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1977.

Magnusson, Magnus. Vikings! New York: E.P. Dutton, 1980.

This page was created on 28 April 1998 and last updated on 21 December 1998.