Series Title: Badges in medieval Ribe (Denmark)
By Michael Neiß and Mette Højmark Søvsø
Authors and Project Partners
Mette Højmark Søvsø (Museum West, Ribe, Denmark). MA in Medieval Archaeology from Aarhus University. Research interests in medieval jewellery, amulets, detecting finds.
Michael Neiß (Lund University, Sweden, & Aarhus University/UrbNet, Denmark): PhD in Archaeology & M.A. in Comparative religion. Postdoc researcher with a keen interest in Ancient art and craft processes. https://portal.research.lu.se/en/persons/michael-neiss
Series Introduction
Ribe (population ca. 8,500) is the oldest town in Denmark. Sited on a low rise along a shallow river in a once marshy environment only about four miles from the sea, the townscape is dominated by a cathedral whose dissimilar towers soar above it. They remind the viewer of Ribe’s long history as a Catholic ecclesiastical center (founded, legend has it, in 948 and dissolved in 1536 when the cathedral became a Lutheran church). But Ribe is older still. Archaeological evidence securely pushes the origins of Ribe back to the early 700s, the beginning of the Viking Age, as a crafting centre and trade emporium that grew into a medieval town.
What are the origins of pilgrim badges in medieval Western Europe? Archaeologists analyzing the exciting new excavation results in the Danish city of Ribe are proposing a new line of argument that puts craftspeople at its center. In this series of three linked blog posts project partners Michael Neiß and Mette Højmark Søvsø share their newly funded project.
View of Ribe and Ribe cathedral, looking west north-west.
Map of Viking age emporia in Scandinavia.
Aerial photograph of Ribe Cathedral and its surroundings. The excavation area is marked with blue just south of the cathedral.