Feddersen Wierde

Terp settlements of the North Sea German littoral, occupied from c 1st century. There was leather- and bone-working in industrial areas and the buildings were of an aisled long house type. There seems to have been foreign trade in the early 5th century.

The most thoroughly excavated and best-preserved of the terp settlements on the North Sea German littoral. Lack of space necessitated that the internal layout of the village was carefully planned, and so it was divided into segments radiating like spokes of a wheel from a central open area, separating farm and dwelling units from the industrial areas where leather- and boneworking was carried out. All the buildings at Feddersen Wierde were constructed of timber, the usual type being an aisled long house infilled with wattle walls that incorporated a byre with stalls and a central drain at one end. The settlement was occupied between about the 1st century and the early 5th century and was involved in a certain amount of foreign trade.