Peter Steen Henriksen
Biographic Data
| ID | 264477 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Peter Steen Henriksen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Peter Steen |
| FAMILY NAME | Henriksen |
| SIGNATURE | HENRIKSEN P S |
| AFFILIATIONS | National Museum of Denmark |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0728-4029 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 39 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Land Tenure and Resilience in Early Iron Age northern Denmark investigated using high-definition dating
The Early Iron Age in southern Scandinavia is often seen as a period of landscape degradation and unsustainable economic practices: Celtic fields expand and the open land with heath and grass pasture reaches a peak, sometimes with episodes of sand drift. However, past land tenure may have been more resilient than such conceptualisations imply. At Aalborg Barracks, northern Jutland, Denmark, an Early Iron Age landscape with Celtic fields, a fence,…
Evaluating microstructural malting identification markers in charred archaeological cereal grains
Identifying ancient malting and brewing practices provides key insights into diet, technology, and social practices. This study evaluates the diagnostic reliability of microstructural malting markers in 50 charred cereal grains from six Danish archaeological sites spanning 1–1650 CE. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), two proposed methodologies for detecting malting were assessed: amylolytic modification of starch granules and thinning of …
In the search for the origin of the barley at Norse farms in Greenland
Farming during turbulent times
Non-destructive 3D prospection at the Viking Age fortress Borgring, Denmark
Non-invasive methods are increasingly important for understanding archaeological sites and their contexts. Larger earth-built constructions are nevertheless still difficult to study without extensive excavations. At the recently discovered Viking-Age ring fortress Borgring in Denmark a suite of non-destructive methods was applied with the aim of understanding how this highly eroded earthen fortress was constructed, and investigating how the const…
Everyday Life at Bjerre Site 7, a Late Bronze Age House in Thy, Denmark
Bjerre 7 is a modest Late Bronze Age house in Thy, Denmark. Excellent preservation and full-recovery techniques provided comprehensive evidence of farm self-sufficiency, local exchange, and amber collection for trade. Spatial analyses of ceramics, lithics, plant macrofossils, and amber identified distinctive activity areas at both ends of the house and outside. Routines are discussed for refuse disposal, ceramic use in everyday activities, ad hoc…
Borgring. Uncovering the strategy for a Viking Age ring fortress in Denmark
In 2014, Borgring, near Køge, Denmark, was identified as the fifth geometrical Viking Age ring fortress in Denmark, complementing an exclusive group of monuments including Trelleborg. Excavations and surveys in 2016–18 allow a detailed reconstruction of the site and its history. Borgring is a fortification with the same geometry, construction, and location as other Trelleborg-type fortresses, though exhibiting notable differences. Finds, includin…
The lost landscape of Borgring
Geoarchaeological investigations at Borgring, a recently identified Danish Viking Age ring fortress, reconstructs the original landscape showing how the site was expanded and modified to accommodate a structure of pre-defined size and how this large-scale project demonstrates the willingness to invest significant resources in its precise positioning. The investigations also assess the possibility of navigating along the nearby stream from the coa…
The last meal of Tollund Man
The last meal of Tollund Man, a bog body from Early Iron Age Denmark, has been re-examined using new analyses of plant macrofossils, pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, steroid markers and proteins found in his gut. Some 12-24 hours before he was killed, he ate a porridge containing barley, pale persicaria and flax, and probably some fish. Proteins and eggs from intestinal worms indicate that he was infected with parasites. Although the meal may ref…
Fragments of meals in eastern Denmark from the Viking Age to the Renaissance
A series of latrines from Denmark, spanning the periods Viking Age to Renaissance (800s–1680s AD), have been analysed for their contents of macroscopic plant remains, pollen, and animal bones. Here we present the results and discuss the findings in relation to ancient meals. The latrines cover a period of roughly 900 years, enabling us to trace the introduction of certain types of food and the disappearance of others over time. Some plant foods h…
Identification of prehistoric malting and partial grain germination from starch granules in charred barley grains
Late Neolithic Stenildgård Grave
Occasionally, it becomes possible to re-excavate and reanalyse prehistoric monuments. Within the geographical area managed by Vesthimmerlands Museum, this happened in the case of the Late Neolithic Stenildgård grave on the western periphery of the town of Aars, Northern Danmark. The grave was excavated for the first time at the early 1930s and re-excavated in 2015 in connection with the construction of a ring road around the southern parts of Aar…
Dating Ancient Burial Mounds in Denmark – Revealing Problematic Ancient Charcoal
The National Museum of Denmark and the Department of Geography at the University of Copenhagen have collaborated on a project investigating burial mounds near early Medieval churches. The aim was to identify a possible continuity in cult sites across the shift to Christianity in the late Viking Age. Charcoal samples from 18 mounds were radiocarbon dated but the results showed they were far older than expected. Control dating undertaken on burial …
Iron and Viking Age grapes from Denmark – vine seeds found at the royal complexes by Lake Tissø
Since the mid 1990s the National Museum of Denmark and Museum Vestsjælland have conducted excavations on two royal residential complexes from late Germanic Iron Age and Viking Age. During the excavations a range of samples were collected for macrofossil analysis. In two of these samples two seeds of vine grapes dated to the late Germanic Iron Age and the Viking Age were discovered. So far they are the oldest grape seeds discovered in the present …
Dating Knossos and the arrival of the earliest Neolithic in the southern Aegean
The hydrology and preservation condition in the flat-topped burial mound – Klangshøj at Vennebjerg in Vendsyssel
Klangshøj is a flat-topped burial mound similar to the Royal Jelling mounds, although smaller. The myths tell that a well has existed on top of the mound as at Jelling and a spring had flown at the base of the mound. In order to verify the myths and a similar hydrology in Klangshøj as found in Jelling, several borings have been carried out in a north-south line across the mound. The investigation showed that Klangshøj is built of sods mainly harv…
First evidence of lime burning in southern Scandinavia
In connection with investigations of the aristocratic residence at Tissø from the Viking Age, the earliest evidence so far of lime burning in Denmark has been excavated. The excavations unearthed traces of up to five lime kilns which were subsequently dated to the end of the ninth century. This corresponds well with the dating of the erection of the hall in the third construction phase at Fugledegård. Finds of mud-and-wattle with whitewashing sho…
Vegetation development in south-east Denmark during the Weichselian Late Glacial
Eastern Denmark was an important region for the early immigration of humans into southern Scandinavia throughout the Late Glacial period. One possible explanation for this is that the landscape provided an especially favourable environment for Palaeolithic hunters. To examine this, the local and regional environment is reconstructed through the analysis of pollen and plant macrofossils from a small kettle hole and is discussed in relation to huma…
Living on the good soil
The immigration of woody plants, especially Betula (tree birch), is examined in relation to geomorphological regions in a compilation of Late-glacial plant macrofossil records from Denmark. The immigration of trees led to a large ecological transformation of the landscape and had a major effect on the flora and fauna available to Palaeolithic people. We show that soil type was a controlling factor in the development of vegetation during the Aller…
Dating the Trollesgave site and the Bromme culture – chronological fix-points for the Lateglacial settlement of Southern Scandinavia
The Bromme culture belongs to the Lateglacial, the period when people settled in the recently deglaciated Southern Scandinavia. Until now there have been only a few imprecise fix-points relating to the chronological position of this archaeological culture. This situation can now be improved with the aid of research results from a Bromme culture settlement at Trollesgave in SE Denmark. Using pollen and plant macrofossil data, Lateglacial lacustrin…
The hydrology in huge burial mounds built of loamy tills
For centuries a well was located on the top of one of the two Viking Age royal mounds in Jelling. This indicates that a perched water table had developed in the mounds. Perched water tables are well known in Bronze Age burial mounds due to the development of iron pans in the central part of the mounds, but it is unclear whether the genesis of the perched water table in the Jelling mounds is similar and due to iron pan formation or due to other so…
Rye cultivation in the Danish Iron Age ? some new evidence from iron-smelting furnaces
Early Iron Age agriculture
Dating the Trollesgave site and the Bromme culture – chronological fix-points for the Lateglacial settlement of Southern Scandinavia
The Bromme culture belongs to the Lateglacial, the period when people settled in the recently deglaciated Southern Scandinavia. Until now there have been only a few imprecise fix-points relating to the chronological position of this archaeological culture. This situation can now be improved with the aid of research results from a Bromme culture settlement at Trollesgave in SE Denmark. Using pollen and plant macrofossil data, Lateglacial lacustrin…
Early Iron Age agriculture
Living on the good soil
The immigration of woody plants, especially Betula (tree birch), is examined in relation to geomorphological regions in a compilation of Late-glacial plant macrofossil records from Denmark. The immigration of trees led to a large ecological transformation of the landscape and had a major effect on the flora and fauna available to Palaeolithic people. We show that soil type was a controlling factor in the development of vegetation during the Aller…
Everyday Life at Bjerre Site 7, a Late Bronze Age House in Thy, Denmark
Bjerre 7 is a modest Late Bronze Age house in Thy, Denmark. Excellent preservation and full-recovery techniques provided comprehensive evidence of farm self-sufficiency, local exchange, and amber collection for trade. Spatial analyses of ceramics, lithics, plant macrofossils, and amber identified distinctive activity areas at both ends of the house and outside. Routines are discussed for refuse disposal, ceramic use in everyday activities, ad hoc…
Dating Knossos and the arrival of the earliest Neolithic in the southern Aegean
The hydrology in huge burial mounds built of loamy tills
For centuries a well was located on the top of one of the two Viking Age royal mounds in Jelling. This indicates that a perched water table had developed in the mounds. Perched water tables are well known in Bronze Age burial mounds due to the development of iron pans in the central part of the mounds, but it is unclear whether the genesis of the perched water table in the Jelling mounds is similar and due to iron pan formation or due to other so…
Identification of prehistoric malting and partial grain germination from starch granules in charred barley grains
Farming during turbulent times
Late Neolithic Stenildgård Grave
Occasionally, it becomes possible to re-excavate and reanalyse prehistoric monuments. Within the geographical area managed by Vesthimmerlands Museum, this happened in the case of the Late Neolithic Stenildgård grave on the western periphery of the town of Aars, Northern Danmark. The grave was excavated for the first time at the early 1930s and re-excavated in 2015 in connection with the construction of a ring road around the southern parts of Aar…
Dating Ancient Burial Mounds in Denmark – Revealing Problematic Ancient Charcoal
The National Museum of Denmark and the Department of Geography at the University of Copenhagen have collaborated on a project investigating burial mounds near early Medieval churches. The aim was to identify a possible continuity in cult sites across the shift to Christianity in the late Viking Age. Charcoal samples from 18 mounds were radiocarbon dated but the results showed they were far older than expected. Control dating undertaken on burial …
Early Iron Age agriculture
Rye cultivation in the Danish Iron Age ? some new evidence from iron-smelting furnaces
The hydrology in huge burial mounds built of loamy tills
For centuries a well was located on the top of one of the two Viking Age royal mounds in Jelling. This indicates that a perched water table had developed in the mounds. Perched water tables are well known in Bronze Age burial mounds due to the development of iron pans in the central part of the mounds, but it is unclear whether the genesis of the perched water table in the Jelling mounds is similar and due to iron pan formation or due to other so…
Dating the Trollesgave site and the Bromme culture – chronological fix-points for the Lateglacial settlement of Southern Scandinavia
The Bromme culture belongs to the Lateglacial, the period when people settled in the recently deglaciated Southern Scandinavia. Until now there have been only a few imprecise fix-points relating to the chronological position of this archaeological culture. This situation can now be improved with the aid of research results from a Bromme culture settlement at Trollesgave in SE Denmark. Using pollen and plant macrofossil data, Lateglacial lacustrin…
First evidence of lime burning in southern Scandinavia
In connection with investigations of the aristocratic residence at Tissø from the Viking Age, the earliest evidence so far of lime burning in Denmark has been excavated. The excavations unearthed traces of up to five lime kilns which were subsequently dated to the end of the ninth century. This corresponds well with the dating of the erection of the hall in the third construction phase at Fugledegård. Finds of mud-and-wattle with whitewashing sho…
Vegetation development in south-east Denmark during the Weichselian Late Glacial
Eastern Denmark was an important region for the early immigration of humans into southern Scandinavia throughout the Late Glacial period. One possible explanation for this is that the landscape provided an especially favourable environment for Palaeolithic hunters. To examine this, the local and regional environment is reconstructed through the analysis of pollen and plant macrofossils from a small kettle hole and is discussed in relation to huma…
Living on the good soil
The immigration of woody plants, especially Betula (tree birch), is examined in relation to geomorphological regions in a compilation of Late-glacial plant macrofossil records from Denmark. The immigration of trees led to a large ecological transformation of the landscape and had a major effect on the flora and fauna available to Palaeolithic people. We show that soil type was a controlling factor in the development of vegetation during the Aller…
The hydrology and preservation condition in the flat-topped burial mound – Klangshøj at Vennebjerg in Vendsyssel
Klangshøj is a flat-topped burial mound similar to the Royal Jelling mounds, although smaller. The myths tell that a well has existed on top of the mound as at Jelling and a spring had flown at the base of the mound. In order to verify the myths and a similar hydrology in Klangshøj as found in Jelling, several borings have been carried out in a north-south line across the mound. The investigation showed that Klangshøj is built of sods mainly harv…
Iron and Viking Age grapes from Denmark – vine seeds found at the royal complexes by Lake Tissø
Since the mid 1990s the National Museum of Denmark and Museum Vestsjælland have conducted excavations on two royal residential complexes from late Germanic Iron Age and Viking Age. During the excavations a range of samples were collected for macrofossil analysis. In two of these samples two seeds of vine grapes dated to the late Germanic Iron Age and the Viking Age were discovered. So far they are the oldest grape seeds discovered in the present …
Dating Knossos and the arrival of the earliest Neolithic in the southern Aegean
Dating Ancient Burial Mounds in Denmark – Revealing Problematic Ancient Charcoal
The National Museum of Denmark and the Department of Geography at the University of Copenhagen have collaborated on a project investigating burial mounds near early Medieval churches. The aim was to identify a possible continuity in cult sites across the shift to Christianity in the late Viking Age. Charcoal samples from 18 mounds were radiocarbon dated but the results showed they were far older than expected. Control dating undertaken on burial …
Fragments of meals in eastern Denmark from the Viking Age to the Renaissance
A series of latrines from Denmark, spanning the periods Viking Age to Renaissance (800s–1680s AD), have been analysed for their contents of macroscopic plant remains, pollen, and animal bones. Here we present the results and discuss the findings in relation to ancient meals. The latrines cover a period of roughly 900 years, enabling us to trace the introduction of certain types of food and the disappearance of others over time. Some plant foods h…
Identification of prehistoric malting and partial grain germination from starch granules in charred barley grains
Late Neolithic Stenildgård Grave
Occasionally, it becomes possible to re-excavate and reanalyse prehistoric monuments. Within the geographical area managed by Vesthimmerlands Museum, this happened in the case of the Late Neolithic Stenildgård grave on the western periphery of the town of Aars, Northern Danmark. The grave was excavated for the first time at the early 1930s and re-excavated in 2015 in connection with the construction of a ring road around the southern parts of Aar…
Borgring. Uncovering the strategy for a Viking Age ring fortress in Denmark
In 2014, Borgring, near Køge, Denmark, was identified as the fifth geometrical Viking Age ring fortress in Denmark, complementing an exclusive group of monuments including Trelleborg. Excavations and surveys in 2016–18 allow a detailed reconstruction of the site and its history. Borgring is a fortification with the same geometry, construction, and location as other Trelleborg-type fortresses, though exhibiting notable differences. Finds, includin…
The lost landscape of Borgring
Geoarchaeological investigations at Borgring, a recently identified Danish Viking Age ring fortress, reconstructs the original landscape showing how the site was expanded and modified to accommodate a structure of pre-defined size and how this large-scale project demonstrates the willingness to invest significant resources in its precise positioning. The investigations also assess the possibility of navigating along the nearby stream from the coa…
The last meal of Tollund Man
The last meal of Tollund Man, a bog body from Early Iron Age Denmark, has been re-examined using new analyses of plant macrofossils, pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, steroid markers and proteins found in his gut. Some 12-24 hours before he was killed, he ate a porridge containing barley, pale persicaria and flax, and probably some fish. Proteins and eggs from intestinal worms indicate that he was infected with parasites. Although the meal may ref…
Non-destructive 3D prospection at the Viking Age fortress Borgring, Denmark
Non-invasive methods are increasingly important for understanding archaeological sites and their contexts. Larger earth-built constructions are nevertheless still difficult to study without extensive excavations. At the recently discovered Viking-Age ring fortress Borgring in Denmark a suite of non-destructive methods was applied with the aim of understanding how this highly eroded earthen fortress was constructed, and investigating how the const…
Everyday Life at Bjerre Site 7, a Late Bronze Age House in Thy, Denmark
Bjerre 7 is a modest Late Bronze Age house in Thy, Denmark. Excellent preservation and full-recovery techniques provided comprehensive evidence of farm self-sufficiency, local exchange, and amber collection for trade. Spatial analyses of ceramics, lithics, plant macrofossils, and amber identified distinctive activity areas at both ends of the house and outside. Routines are discussed for refuse disposal, ceramic use in everyday activities, ad hoc…
In the search for the origin of the barley at Norse farms in Greenland
Farming during turbulent times
Land Tenure and Resilience in Early Iron Age northern Denmark investigated using high-definition dating
The Early Iron Age in southern Scandinavia is often seen as a period of landscape degradation and unsustainable economic practices: Celtic fields expand and the open land with heath and grass pasture reaches a peak, sometimes with episodes of sand drift. However, past land tenure may have been more resilient than such conceptualisations imply. At Aalborg Barracks, northern Jutland, Denmark, an Early Iron Age landscape with Celtic fields, a fence,…
Evaluating microstructural malting identification markers in charred archaeological cereal grains
Identifying ancient malting and brewing practices provides key insights into diet, technology, and social practices. This study evaluates the diagnostic reliability of microstructural malting markers in 50 charred cereal grains from six Danish archaeological sites spanning 1–1650 CE. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), two proposed methodologies for detecting malting were assessed: amylolytic modification of starch granules and thinning of …
Archaeology (19 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (18 works) · Geography (18 works) · Geology (11 works) · Historical and Archaeological Studies (9 works) · History (8 works) · Biology (7 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (7 works) · Ancient history (6 works) · Paleontology (6 works)