19 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Danish museum says Vikings had stained glass Windows

New research shows that  Viking Age windows were created using stained glass in the 9th century, contrary to popular belief that stained-glass windows only emerged during the construction of medieval churches and castles in Denmark.

Researchers in Copenhagen analyzed 61 fragments of glass panes and concluded that the pieces of glass can be dated from long before the churches and castles of the Middle Ages and that Vikings had windows with glass panes between 800 and 1100. The Viking Age is considered to be from 793 to 1066.

“Several fragments of glass windows found on important Viking Age sites in South Scandinavia, made us wonder if it was just a mere coincidence that they were there,” says Torben Sode, the study’s lead author who first noticed the special find material. “And it wasn’t, they can be dated to the Vikings Age and most likely must have been in use in that time-period as well.”

The museum said glass windows were for the upper echelons of society and religious use, as was the case in the rest of Europe. These Viking Age windows were not the large, transparent windows we are accustomed to today. Instead, they likely consisted of smaller panes in various shades of green and brown, not meant for viewing the outside world but for infusing the interior of their buildings with colorful light.

The fact that glass windowpanes were uncommon in Denmark until several centuries later, when medieval churches and castles were built, is what makes the discovery so astonishing. This new information highlights the fact that the Vikings were much more advanced than commonly believed.

Viking Age window glass fragments discovered in Haithabu in Germany. Photo: C.S. Andersen,  Moesgaard  Museum / Museum  für Archäologie Schloss Gottorf /  Torben Sode et al.
Viking Age window glass fragments discovered in Haithabu in Germany. Photo: C.S. Andersen, Moesgaard Museum / Museum für Archäologie Schloss Gottorf / Torben Sode et al.

What shapes our architecture today was not common for a long time: window glazing was first documented in Roman times. However, this equipment was previously reserved for exclusive housing, and later church buildings were outfitted with transparent components. Until now, it was assumed that the spread of glass windows in the early Middle Ages was limited to the Christian-Roman cultural area. If the pagan Vikings had windows at all, they were most likely covered with translucent animal skins. Only in the later Middle Ages were stained glass windows clearly documented in Scandinavia’s first churches and castles.

“This is yet another shift away from the image of unsophisticated barbaric Vikings swinging their swords around,” told National Museum’s senior researcher Mads Dengsø Jessen. “In fact, we are talking about a cultivated Viking elite with royal power that equalled that, for example, of Charlemagne, king of the Franks. This is something that is often omitted in the simplistic Hollywood portraits of Vikings,”.

The study is based on analyses of glass pane fragments that were discovered over a 25-year period in six different excavations, including Viking noblemen’s farms, pre-Christian temples, and early urban environments. Five of the excavations were conducted in southern Scandinavia, and one was conducted in Hedeby, northern Germany.

Although the existence of glass has been known for a long time, no one analyzed it until now. This is because we only associated early window glass with the Middle Ages, therefore assuming that the glass could not originate from the Viking Age, but must have been the result of ‘pollution’ from later periods.


Map of the Viking sites where the Viking Age window glass fragments were discovered.  Photo: National Museum of Denmark
Map of the Viking sites where the Viking Age window glass fragments were discovered. Photo: National Museum of Denmark

Now, however, chemical isotope analyses of the glass panes show that the glass was made of soda glass, a practice from Egypt and the Near East, or potash glass that was made in Germany, and can be dated to between the years 800 and 1150.

The Vikings probably couldn’t have produced the material themselves, say the scientists. These could therefore have been looted items from their infamous raids. The glass panes were probably acquired through trade: “We know that well-known Vikings like Harald Klak visited the south, where the Vikings had a political network and close trade connections. And of course they also knew about glass panes from the buildings of the upper classes of society,” says Mads Dengsø Jessen from the Danish National Museum.

The team concludes that it can now be assumed that the finds are shards of glass panes that were already in windows in the Viking Age. As in the rest of Europe, they probably only adorned the houses of the upper social class or ceremonial buildings among the Vikings.

DANISH JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY

doi: 10.7146/dja.v12i1.131493

Related Articles

1400-year-old artifacts discovered in the ancient city of Uzuncaburç (Diocaesarea)

26 January 2022

26 January 2022

During the excavations carried out in a tower in the ancient city of Uzuncaburç (Diocaesarea) in Mersin province in the...

The bronze age village Afragola buried by the Plinian eruption of mount Vesuvius 4,000 Years Ago

30 September 2022

30 September 2022

Mount Vesuvius’ Plinian eruption about 4,000 years ago—2,000 years before it buried the Roman city of Pompeii—left remarkable preservation of...

China exhibits 2,000-year-old artifacts discovered in Guangzhou

12 August 2021

12 August 2021

On August 10, the National Museum of China launched an exhibition featuring archaeological finds from ancient China’s Qin (221–207 BC)...

A Trove of ‘Exceptional’ stunningly preserved bronze statues found at an Ancient Thermal Spa in Tuscany, Italy

10 November 2022

10 November 2022

A group of Italian archaeologists made the discovery of 24 well-preserved bronze statues from an ancient thermal spring in Tuscany....

1,800 years old Sewer system found in ancient city of Mastaura

17 May 2022

17 May 2022

Archaeologists found an 1800-year-old sewer system during excavations in the ancient city of Mastaura, in the Nazilli district of Aydın...

The Lord’s Prayer Carved in Stone with Scandinavian Runes and a Picture of a Boat Discovered in Ontario, Canada

17 June 2025

17 June 2025

Hidden deep in the northern Ontario wilderness, an extraordinary archeological discovery has puzzled researchers and captured the imagination of history...

An ancient “fridge” have uncovered at the Roman legionary fortress of Novae, Bulgaria

30 September 2022

30 September 2022

Polish archaeologists, during excavations at the Roman legionnaires’ camp in Novae, discovered a container that could be described as an...

A Nymphaeum was discovered in the ancient Thracian city of Perperikon

18 August 2023

18 August 2023

New researchs uncovered a huge monumental sanctuary of water (Nymphaeum) above the reservoir in the southern quarter of Perperikon. Professor...

New research reveals the true function of Bronze Age daggers

30 April 2022

30 April 2022

A new study led by Newcastle University has revealed that the analysis of Bronze Age daggers has shown that they...

Folded Gold Diadem discovered in Ancient Burial Urn in Southern India

12 August 2022

12 August 2022

A gold diadem, bronze, iron objects, and pottery were reportedly found in a burial urn at the archaeological site of...

Researchers may have uncovered the ruins of one of the largest ancient cafeterias for a Buddhist temple

9 February 2025

9 February 2025

Researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery at the site of the Yamashiro Kokubunji temple, revealing what is believed to be...

Staging of religion on rock paintings that are thousands of years old in southern Egypt desert

10 May 2023

10 May 2023

Egyptologists at the University of Bonn and the University of Aswan want to systematically record hundreds of petroglyphs and inscriptions...

Vindolanda marks the 1900th anniversary of Hadrian’s Wall with an altar discovery

9 February 2022

9 February 2022

The excavation season hasn’t started yet, but the Vindolanda Roman fort has kicked off Hadrian’s Wall’s 1900th anniversary year with...

1400-Year-Old Folding Chair Found in a Woman’s Grave in Germany

30 August 2022

30 August 2022

In Steinsfeld, in the German state of Ansbach, archaeologists have unearthed a 1,400-year-old folding chair from an early medieval woman’s...

16th-Century Shipwreck Discovered at Record Depth Off French Mediterranean Coast

12 June 2025

12 June 2025

The deepest shipwreck ever documented in French territorial waters has been found over 2,500 meters below the surface. In a...