Vikingetiden

Den første rigtige landsby blev etableret her allerede ca. 100 år før vores tidsregning. Arkæologer udgravede i 1970erne og 1980erne et mægtigt område nord for kirken og fandt rester efter i alt syv landsbyer. De afløste hinanden med få generationers mellemrum og blev flyttet nogle hundrede meter. Måske fordi husenes træskelet rådnede, måske fordi de dyrkede arealer omkring gårdene blev udpint. Først da en stenkirke blev bygget i slutningen af 1100-tallet, lå landsbyen endelig fast. Vorbasse er kendt som Nordens ældste landsby på blivende sted.

Her har altid været megen færdsel, både på grund af ’Kongernes Jelling’ tæt på og fordi hærvejen og studevejen gik her. Der var godt at bo et sted med adgang til jagt og fiskeri. Jorden var let at opdyrke, men den var kun tilstrækkelig til at kunne brødføde syv større gårde. Det antal har holdt sig gennem det meste af Vorbasses historie. De første gårde bestod af et hovedhus, ca. 35 meter lang, med beboelse i den ene ende og dyrehold i den anden.

The Viking Period

The first proper village was established here about 2,300 years ago. In the 1970s and 1980s, archaeologists excavated an enormous area north of the church and found traces of seven distinct villages. They had replaced each other after a few generations and had been rebuilt close by. This may have been because the wooden frames of the houses rotted or maybe because the soil around the village was worn out. The village as we know it now was established with the building of the stone church at the end of the 12th century. Vorbasse is known as the oldest village in Scandinavia in its original site.

There has always been much traffic here, partly because of ‘Royal Jelling’ close by and partly because the old drovers’ road and military road went this way. It was a favorable spot with food readily available from hunting and fishing. The soil was easy to cultivate but could only sustain about seven largish farms. This has been fairly constant throughout local history. The first farms consisted of a main building, about 35 meters long, with living quarters in one end and animals in the other.