How does it look like when they dig down to medieval times? What do they find when the strata open? Sumer 2021, archaeologists from Museum Southeast Denmark excavate on the castle ground, and the excavations are open for the public. If you are at the castle during excavations, you are welcome to visit us and to take a look.
The archaeologists make a cross section through the first rampart to find the oldest materials from the earliest phases of the castle. They do not search randomly – there have been excavations here before, both in the 1940s and the 2000s. They know they can get answers to some of their questions about the earliest phases of the castle.
There are several reasons why they reopen a previous excavation instead of making new ones. One of them is technology. Since the last time the soil has been opened here, technology has developed immensely. Archaeologists can gain new knowledge through new analyses of the same finds. By analysing the wooden constructions of the first castle they can tell precisely which year the trees used for timber was cut down. This is how the archaeologists with this excavation get the chronology right and unveil who the first castle builder in Vordingborg really was.
The archaeologists will excavate for three weeks, and during that time there will be guided tours and plenty of opportunity to ask for your questions. In a little pavilion not far from the excavation site, we have established an archaeological field station, where our guests are more than welcome to visit us. Here, the archaeologists will do their work for everyone to see. They will clean the finds and catalogue what turned up, before they send them to the relevant analyses. You can watch while they work, and you are welcome to ask about how the dating is conducted, about what they have found and all the other stuff you are eager to ask.