The Danevirke was one of the most impressive fortifications of the early Middle Ages, running 19 miles through modern Schleswig-Holstein. The Royal Frankish Annals record its improvement at the order of King Godefrid of Denmark in 808, but archaeological digs have shown it to be much older than that.

Now a team led by Astrid Tummuscheit has discovered a gateway in an eighth-century walled section of the Danevirke. The gateway is near the major Viking-Age port of Hedeby (Haithabu) and it was likely the major passing point for traders (and therefore also a major tolling station).

Viking-Age archaeology continues to be a productive area of research. Here is a video of Andres Dobat, whose work on nearby Füsing might have unearthed ‘Sliesthorp’.