Viking Houses

Question 1

What houses were built into the ground, and what purpose were they believed to have?

Answer 1

Pit houses, ritual purpose.

Question 2

What defining features do pit houses have?

Answer 2

Small, two post structures

Question 3

What phase of villages do pit houses tend to be?

Answer 3

Earliest structures on the site?

Question 4

What two uses have been attributed to pit houses and why?

Answer 4

Slave houses, or women’s areas due to quantities of weaving equipment found

Question 5

What may pit houses have that would have stopped floor erosion?

Answer 5

Wooden decked floors

Question 6

Where was the first Ring Fortress discovered?

Answer 6

Trellesborg, Denmark

Question 7

When did ring fortresses exist, and why at this time?

Answer 7

During the 10th century, as a result of the tumultuous period surround Harold Bluetooth

Question 8

Which artefacts often contain representatives of houses?

Answer 8

Coins, runes, the Bayeux Tapestry and hog-back tombs