‘The coldest case of all’

Abstract

During excavations of the Viking-age ring fortress Borgring, Denmark, traces of a devastating fire was uncovered. The National Forensic Services of the Danish Police were invited to participate in a novel collaboration, applying contemporary forensic fire investigation to an archaeological site. This paper presents the results and sets a benchmark for future applications. The investigation leads to a revised reconstruction of the fortress and the development of the fire. The application of fire investigation methods, following the Daubert standard criteria, enhance the documentation and analysis of archaeological sites, while archaeological methods show significant potential at modern fire scenes.

Borgring. Uncovering the strategy for a Viking Age ring fortress in Denmark

“…At this point in the excavation of the gateway, the archaeologists were joined by the National Forensic Services of the Danish National Police in order to test methods of fire investigation on an old, archaeological fire site. A detailed description of the investigation and its results is presented in Ljungkvist et al 2021.…”