Houses and Households: The Archaeology of Buildings
Helena Hamerow
As Rapoport suggests, a house is more than merely shelter against the elements. The built environment and way space organized within reflect reinforce social organization. While this obviously true of great hall in Beowulf, it equally, if less obviously, ordinary houses. If, furthermore, we are to assess economic conditions daily life early Middle Ages, need understand nature buildings which people lived worked. Indeed, study medieval settlements northwest Europe has traditionally been dominated by buildings, chiefly for two reasons: first, on small number waterlogged sites, (which were, with few exceptions, constructed entirely timber) extraordinarily well preserved, walls standing some cases up metre or height (Fig. 2.1); second, other categories artefacts, exception pottery, usually scarce. In majority settlements, floor layers contemporary use have destroyed later erosion ploughing, only debris collected was discarded pits ditches survives. Even where none timber superstructure survives, ground-plans these etched into subsoil as patterns postholes, reveal that they could be imposing structures. A fifth-century longhouse at Flögeln-Eekhöltjen (Lower Saxony) measured an extraordinary 63.5 m length (Zimmermann 1992a, 139). seventh- tenth-century Lejre (on island Zealand) comparable area (over 550m&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;) halls Carolingian palaces Paderborn Frankfurt, estimated stood 4 metres 2.2; Christensen 1991; Winkelmann 1971; Stamm 1955). Of similarly lofty dimensions Migration period recently excavated Gudme, Funen, whose main roof-supporting posts were set massive (Figs. 2.3 2.4). fact naturally fared archaeological record their durable stone counterparts former imperial territories often led gross underestimates size, complexity, quality.
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