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Prehistory
Although no permanent settlement existed where Aarhus is today the area has been inhabited since the Neolithic and relatively densely populated since the Bronze Age. Archaeological evidence suggests the area may have been inhabited as far back as c. 100.000 BC but the Weichselian glaciation made human habitation impossible between 70.000 BC and 13.000 BC. Humans returned as glaciers retreated and evidence points to a hunter gatherer culture in the area inhabiting temporary settlements; especially the fjords were relatively densely populated. During the Nordic Neolithic age agrarianism took hold and settlements became more permanent. Through the Bronze Age population steadily grew and by the Iron Age some 150 villages are known within Aarhus Municipality. In the later Iron Age there's evidence of fewer but larger settlements although many remained temporary up to the 1000s. Most visible archaeological evidence from prehistory is primarily burial sites in the form of tumuli, a common practice up to the Viking Age. Some 1000 barrows and dolmens are registered across Aarhus Municipality. Stone Age dolmens still exist at Årslev, Ormslev, Hørret Forest and Moesgård Skovmølle while examples of Bronze Age barrows can be seen in Skåde (Jelshøj), Borum (Eshøj) and at Hjortshøj (Loddenhøj and Hjortshøj).

The Viking Age


Founded in the 770s during the early Viking Age Aarhus is one of oldest extant settlements in Denmark. Archaeological evidence trace early history until it is first mentioned in written records in 948 and later on coins minted c. 1040 by Harthaknut and Magnus the Good. Situated on the seacoast in the Kattegat, by a ford on the northern bank of Aarhus River, it enjoyed good transport links and controlled important trade corridors but was also more vulnerable to attacks from the sea than the typical Danish settlement located further inland.

Geographically oriented towards the Kattegat and Baltic Sea trade played a smaller role compared to contemporary Ribe and Hedeby but the military had a significant presence and it may have been as much a military facility as a market town. The construction of Kanhavekanalen on the island Samsø in 726 suggests the area was important to the Danish kings as far back as the early 8th century. South of the city center in Kongsvang (Lit.: King's Fields) was a royal residence while to the west of it in Snekkeeng (Lit.: Longship Meadow) lay an inland harbor and shipyard. During the reign of Gorm the Old the town became fortified c. 934 and was later reinforced by Harald Bluetooth after 957.

Aarhus is frequently mentioned in connection with battles or as an assembly area for the leidang fleet and there's evidence of substantial military infrastructure on surrounding islands and peninsulas. Samsø, Tunø and Helgenæs enabled lookout positions in an early warning system while Stavns Fjord and coves at Helgenæs served as forward staging areas for the leidang fleet. According to Saxo Grammaticus Harald Bluetooth and Sweyn Forkbeard fought a naval battle by Helgenæs in 987 and Svend Estridsen and Magnus the Good fought a battle in the bay in 1043. It is known Magnus controlled Aarhus for a period although he must later have lost it as his ally Harald Hardrada returned and attacked it in 1050.

Germanic paganism was the dominant religion but Christianity gradually gained a foothold. The largest religious site in Kongsvang is known to have been dedicated to Týr, the Norse God of war, possibly a reflection of the close ties to the military but in the later period it was moved to Onsholt (Lit.: Odin's Forest) and dedicated to Odin. Some time in the 900s a wooden stave church was built to the west of the town but the central town square remained a pagan burial site throughout the period. It is known that Aarhus was the seat of a bishopric in 948 but it was dissolved in 988 until Svend Estridsen re-established it in 1060 and appointed Christian I bishop.

By the end of the Viking Age Aarhus had a permanent population of c. 300, had become heavily fortified and was trading throughout the Baltic Sea.