Lidl built its store right on top of an 11th century Viking house

Dublin's new supermarket on Aungier Street has incorporated a Viking house dating from 1070, which was found during a recent archaeological survey. Customers can view the house through a glass floor and enjoy an authentic view of a vernacular building from almost a thousand years ago. In addition, the shophouse also includes an 18th century cultural layer: the Aungier Theatre Staircase and the original Longford Street arches.

The shop sits directly on the site of the former Gallo-Irish suburb of today'sDublin, as identified by archaeological rescue excavations prior to the construction of the new settlement. Speaking to RTÉ News, Paul Duffy, director of the archaeological project, said: 'This is a unique structure for Dublin. We don't have anything like it in the city. There are original structures here, so it's conceivable that there could have been a suburb of the Scandinavian Gaels who were the real ancestors of the Vikingers."

The Viking era in European history lasted about 400 years (from 700 to 1 100). During that time, many Vikingers left their dwellings in Scandinavia to conquer new territories. The Danes went to England, the Swedes to the Baltic, and Norwegian warriors conquered Scotland, Ireland, Iceland and Greenland. The first Viking raid recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle took place in 787. It was the beginning of a fierce struggle between the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings...

As early as the 10th century. In the 10th century there was a fairly large Viking settlement called An Dubh Linn (the dark pool) and a nearby Celtic settlement called Áth Cliath (the wicker ford). Before the middle of the 11th century, Christ Church Cathedral, which still stands today, was founded in the Viking part of Dublin. The house under the floor of the chain store is only a few decades younger - it was built around 1070. It provides a unique insight into a time when the original inhabitants were changing the world literally before their eyes. Thanks to this house, archaeologists have discovered the technology that people of the time used to rule, how they worked and how they built.

Construction began by simply digging a hole in the ground and then lining it with blocks of local limestone. A plank floor was then laid and a wicker roof with thatched roofing was built. Due to its small size, the building may have been used for storage or craft activities rather than as a permanent dwelling. The house was used for about a hundred years, modified in many ways, and once it even burned down. Then the people rebuilt it one last time, raising the floor level with dirt, leveling the entryway, building a new door, and installing a water tank lined with stone and fed from the outside.

The house will be on permanent display at Lidl. This 'museum display' also includes information boards to help help visitors to better understand the context of the times and the origins of the rise of today's city of millions.

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Sources: dailymail.co.uk, RTÉ News, unilad.co.uk