Editing Hedeby (section)

==Archaeology==

=== 20th-century archaeology ===
[[File:File Haithabu Wikinger Museum 3 28-03-2010.jpg|thumb|View of the Viking Museum]]
[[File:Hedebyhouses010.jpg|thumb|right|Reconstructed houses]]

After the settlement was abandoned, rising waters contributed to the complete disappearance of all visible structures on the site. It was even forgotten where the settlement had been. This proved to be fortunate for later archaeological work at the site.

The exact location of the site was rediscovered by [[Sophus Müller|Sophus Muller]] in 1897. Archaeological work began at the site in 1900 after the rediscovery of the settlement with small-scale excavations by [[Johanna Mestorf]]. Excavations were conducted for the next 15 years, and additionally in 1921. These early efforts would result in over 350 small trenches being dug, and the discovery of a burial site within the rampart dating from earlier in the site's history, they were led by Wilhelm Splieth and Friedrich Norr.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hedeby in Wulfstans Days PDF {{!}} PDF |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/374424441/Hedeby-in-Wulfstans-days-pdf |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Scribd |language=en}}</ref>

Further excavations were carried out between 1930 and 1939 by Nazi Germany’s [[Ahnenerbe|Ahenerbe]], the pseudoscientific organization within the SS under [[Herbert Jankuhn]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2015-10-13 |title=Graben für Germanien, Graben für Germanien. Archäologie unterm Hakenkreuz. Hrsg. v. Focke-Museum unt. Mitarb. v. <i>Sandra Geringer</i>, <i>Frauke von der Haar</i>, <i>Uta Halle</i> u. a. Stuttgart, Theiss 2013 |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/hzhz-2015-0450 |journal=Historische Zeitschrift |volume=301 |issue=2 |pages=566–567 |doi=10.1515/hzhz-2015-0450 |issn=2196-680X}}</ref> The results of Jankuhn’s discoveries were never published in detail. What has been published shows that this period saw the digging of several trial trenches, discovering a group of ten chamber burials, a cremation burial site, and two inhumation graves.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hedeby in Wulfstans Days PDF {{!}} PDF |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/374424441/Hedeby-in-Wulfstans-days-pdf |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Scribd |language=en}}</ref>

Excavation in 1956 found more inhumation and cremation burials south of the rampart, which prompted many large-scale excavations. Klaus Raddatz, [[Heiko Steuer]], and Konrad Weidemann investigated much of the cemetery site at that time, but their findings have not been published in detail.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hedeby in Wulfstans Days PDF {{!}} PDF |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/374424441/Hedeby-in-Wulfstans-days-pdf |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Scribd |language=en}}</ref>

In 1963, Torsten Capelle and Kurt Schietzel conducted further work on the site, they were the source of the youngest find at the site, with an excavated well dated to 1020 A.D. by dendrochronology.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hedeby in Wulfstans Days PDF {{!}} PDF |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/374424441/Hedeby-in-Wulfstans-days-pdf |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Scribd |language=en}}</ref>

Archaeological work on the site was productive for two main reasons: that the site had never been built on since its destruction some 840 years earlier, and that the permanently waterlogged ground had preserved wood and other perishable materials. The embankments surrounding the settlement were excavated, and the harbour was partially dredged, during which the wreck of multiple [[Viking ships]] were discovered, including the [[Hedeby 1]]. Despite all this work, only 5% of the settlement (and only 1% of the harbour) has as yet been investigated.

The most important finds resulting from the excavations are now on display in the adjoining [[Hedeby Viking Museum]].

===21st-century archaeology===
[[File:Simplified Interpretation of magnetic anomalies by Volker Hilberg.png|thumb|A contour map of Hedeby, overlaid on top of this is the magnetic map created by the archaeological teams at Vienna and Marburg. These images are interpreted by Volker Hilberg who color coded various features of interest.]]
Work has continued on the site since the earlier projects.

In 2002 a large scale geophysical project was started by teams from Marburg, Munich and Vienna. Over the course of three weeks, a total of ca 29 ha in and around the semi-circular rampart were analysed using [[Magnetometer|Fluxgate]], [[Magnetometer|Caesium magnetometer]] and ground-penetrating radar.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hedeby in Wulfstans Days PDF {{!}} PDF |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/374424441/Hedeby-in-Wulfstans-days-pdf |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Scribd |language=en}}</ref>

Further work continued in 2003 when the ''Archäolgisches Landesmuseum'' began a metal detector survey with the help of the ''Bornholmske Amatørarkaologer'' and a group from Schleswig-Holstein. Throughout their work, 11,500 metal finds were collected and catalogued with a D-GPS system.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hedeby in Wulfstans Days PDF {{!}} PDF |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/374424441/Hedeby-in-Wulfstans-days-pdf |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Scribd |language=en}}</ref>

In 2005 an ambitious archaeological reconstruction program was initiated on the original site. Based on the results of archaeological analyses, exact copies of some of the original Viking houses have been built.