A huge Viking textile production site is unearthed in Denmark

(24 Jun 2026) ASSOCIATED PRESS Søften, Denmark - 22 June 2026 1. Aerial shot of archaeological site near town of Søften, 10 kilometers north of Aarhus +++MUTE+++ 2. Aerial shot of archaeologists at work, excavating pit house +++MUTE+++ 3. Aerial shot of archaeological site +++MUTE+++ 4. Pan of archaeological site 5. Various of archaeologists at work, excavating pit houses 6. Various setup shots of archaeologist Liv Stidsing Reher-Langberg speaking with colleague 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Liv Stidsing Reher-Langberg, archaeologist, Moesgaard Museum: "We have a settlement that covers a total area of around 100,000 square meters, and then we have a clear focus on textile production, which makes this settlement different from other kind of settlements of this period." 8. Various aerial shots of digger at work at archaeological site +++MUTE+++ 9. Various of archaeologist at work, excavating pit house 10. Aerial shot of archaeologist at work, excavating pit house +++MUTE+++ 11. SOUNDBITE (English) Liv Stidsing Reher-Langberg, archaeologist, Moesgaard Museum: "We could see in the trenches that it's just keeps on going, with these houses and pit houses and textile production features and everything. So, we started the excavation 10 months ago, and we are just finishing now, and it's been just amazing all over this huge part of the field. It's just features, and features, and features that tells us about, yes, textile production, and trade, and the living life here in Søften." 12. Aerial shot of archaeologists at work +++MUTE+++ 13. Archaeologists at work, excavating pit houses 14. SOUNDBITE (English) Liv Stidsing Reher-Langberg, archaeologist, Moesgaard Museum: "We find spindle whorls, we have weight looms that tells us about what has been going on in the pit houses. Then we have glass beads that tells about the person who have been working here or lived here. That's the kind of finds that really tells us about the production. Then we have pottery that tells us about the living life here as well." 15. Pan of Reher-Langberg entering workplace 16. Reher-Langberg taking find from a box 17. Pan of weight looms unearthed at site 18. Pan of spindle whorls unearthed at site 19. Pull focus of Reher-Langberg holding weight loom 20. Various of Reher-Langberg holding silver coin unearthed at site 21. Close of Reher-Langberg holding weight loom unearthed at site 22. SOUNDBITE (English) Liv Stidsing Reher-Langberg, archaeologist, Moesgaard Museum: "This one is a weight loom, a very big one, that we have found in one of the pit houses. And here we have some smaller ones that tells the difference in sizes. And they have been used as weights." 23. Close of Reher-Langberg holding glass bead unearthed at site 24. SOUNDBITE (English) Liv Stidsing Reher-Langberg, archaeologist, Moesgaard Museum: "This one is a glass bead. We have found several glass beads here at the settlement, the excavation, mostly from the pit houses or from the houses. And this one is very decorated." ASSOCIATED PRESS Højbjerg, Denmark - 22 June 2026 25. Various setup shots of historian Kasper Andersen looking at Moesgaard Museum Viking exhibit 26. SOUNDBITE (English) Kasper Andersen, historian, Moesgaard Museum: "Specialized textile production sites of this scale need some kind of power, some kind or organization behind it. And when you have a production site of this scale, it cannot be only because of the local area. It needs to be understood as part of a greater network, a much bigger international perspective." 27. Pan of weight looms on display 28. Close of rune stone 29. Close of sword Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...