The two mounds at Jelling are an important source of information about the landscape of the Viking Age. Even in the 1940s their massive build-up of turfs was so well preserved that the turf layers could be removed and individual turfs taken out. In August-September 2009 6-8 boreholes will be made in the North and the South Mounds. From every borehole around 8 soil samples will be taken. The samples will then be analysed for texture, organic material, iron and aluminium. The boreholes and the subsequent analysis of the samples will be undertaken in close cooperation with the National Museum’s Natural Sciences Department.

The boreholes will help clarify whether a new excavation into one or both of the mounds will give new information about their composition and construction. Preserved pollen and plant remains in the soil and the turfs will shed light upon the local and regional development of the landscape in the time around the mounds’ construction. At the same time the boreholes will provide information about the turf’s nature and origin.

Project participants: Professor Henrik Breuning-Madsen, Department of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen; Museum Inspector Charlie Christensen, the National Museum and Assistant Professor Mads Kähler Holst, Section for Prehistoric Archaeology, Aarhus University.