Archaeological Prospection Case Study Vestfold

The large-scale archaeological prospection Case Study "Vestfold" conducted by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (LBI ArchPro) in collaboration with its partners Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) and Vestfold fylkeskommune (Vfk) focuses on several Iron Age and Viking Age monuments in the region south of Oslo. The important Viking Age settlement site of Kaupang and its hinterland (Tjøllingvollen) are mapped in great detail, generating a comprehensive new picture of this important archaeological landscape.

Substantial new archaeological discoveries have been made at Borre, where for the first time large-scale GPR measurements on snow were tested in early 2013. These measurements resulted in the discovery of a Viking Age hall building and farmstead. Outstanding archaeological prospection results have as well been obtained in the landscape surrounding the famous Gokstad burial mound in connection with the "Gokstad Revitalised Project" of the University of Oslo, were traces of additional graves and a settlement were revealed in detail. Complementing surveys have been conducted at Oseberg and Rom burial mounds.

The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology is a research institute of the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft and was founded in 2010. The institute carries out its research activities together with several international partner organizations and aims to create a network of archaeological scientists supporting interdisciplinary research programmes for the development of large-scale, efficient, non-invasive technologies for the discovery, documentation, visualization and interpretation of Europe's archaeological heritage.

The lead partners of the institute based in Vienna, are the University of Vienna, the Vienna University of Technology, the Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics, the Province of Lower Austria, Airborne Technologies, the Roman-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz, the Swedish Central National Heritage Board, the IBM Visual & Spatial Technology Centre Vista at the University of Birmingham and Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research.