At Nordjyllands Historiske Museum, the job of the archaeologists is primarily to observe the prescriptions of the Act on Museums.

This takes place in close cooperation with the four municipalities of Jammerbugt, Aalborg, Rebild and Mariagerfjord which form the responsibility area of the museum. A large part of our work includes servicing of fellow citizens, private companies and public authorities before the start of building work, construction work, afforestation, extraction of raw materials etc. By archive checks and pre-studies, the employees evaluate the probability of finding essential ancient items from the end of the latest ice age up till and including modern history, i.e.: the period from app. 13000 b. C. until app. 1800 a. C.

An ancient item can, e. g., be bones from human beings or animals, tools of flint or metal, potsherds, dark stains in the raw ground from, e. g., pole holes and tombs, red-burnt stains from hearths, constructions of stone and wood as well as concentrations of charcoal and stones influenced by fire. In historical centres of cities and towns, an ancient item can also very often consist of metre-thick cultural layers including litter and building remains etc. from human activities. Cultural layers can also be found elsewhere, e. g. by habitations and in moors.

In numerous cases, the preliminary studies are followed up by proper excavations of the ancient items which cannot avoid being influenced by, e. g., building activities or extraction of raw materials, and therefore, they are threatened by destruction. The excavations document the hidden trails of the past; house sites and burials etc. are described, drawn and measured; and material remains in the shape of a. o. ancient items are taken to the museum.

Nordjyllands Historiske Museum is one of the 10 culture-historical museums in Denmark which is by the Heritage Agency in Denmark approved to supervise the scheduled ancient monuments.  The archaeological unit further works with building-archaeological documentation of brick and timber-framed buildings.
The objective of the archaeological unit is to communicate the many spectacular North Jutland findings not only at a regional level, but also in a national and international context. The communication is partly made by publishing of articles and monographies, partly by lectures and exhibitions.

Any questions in connection with archaeology in Northern Jutland? Then contact the museum either by phone 99 31 74 00 or E-mail Denne email adresse bliver beskyttet mod spambots. Du skal have JavaScript aktiveret for at vise den. .

The Heritance Agency (Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen) is the superior authority in Denmark within archaeology, and you can find further information on archaeology on their homepage: http://slks.dk.

The Danish text on this page is made on the basis of the Heritance Agency's leaflet "Sikring af fortidsminder " (Preservation of ancient monuments) and of the valid Act on Museums, No. 473 dated June 7, 2001. Please also refer to the section "Museumsloven".