cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/24131082

Archaeologists have unearthed what they believe to be a Viking-age building in a recent dig.

Teams of volunteers dug up High Tarns Farm in Silloth, Cumbria, in July after crop marks indicated a structure had previously been on the land.

Carbon dating of a timber building they discovered suggested it was a “large hall of the late-Viking age”, archaeologist Mark Graham of Grampus Heritage told volunteers.

Mr Graham added the significance of the discovery in shedding light on the early medieval period and social structure in rural Cumbria was “hard to overstate”.

…

“It seems most likely that the hall is the focus of an early medieval manor farm,” Mr Graham said.

He explained the site appeared similar to high status Viking age farms in Denmark, because it encompassed not only the hall but also the social structure and broader agricultural activity associated with them.

Mr Graham said it was a remarkable discovery.

“You really do not find much archaeology from that period [the Viking age] in our county,” he said.

“It’s a big gap in our knowledge.”