Sebbersund

During the Viking Age, the place where the Nibe and Halkær channel openings meet at Sebbersund – just 30km southwest of Aalborg – was a buzzing hive of activity. Traders from near and far met at a market here in the period 700-1100. Craftsmen worked at processing iron from Norway and transforming bronze, silver and gold into jewellery. Among other things, furnace slag has been found here. This was waste from the blacksmith’s work when cleaning the iron before processing for tools and weapons. The craftsmen worked in pit houses, which are small buildings whose floors are below ground level. Two of these buildings have been reconstructed on site  At the foot of the 36m high Skt. Nikolaj Bjerg, archaeologists have found traces of two Viking Age wooden churches and over 1,000 people received a Christian burial here. A woman’s grave stands out from the rest: the coffin and lid are made of split granite. The woman’s head is pointing west and is placed in a carved limestone niche. The grave’s location under the eaves of the church is also unusual; hence the archaeologists’ theory that she was the church’s founder. The grave is exhibited at Lindholm Høje Museum.