Anarchistic action. Social organization and dynamics in southern Scandinavia from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-73
Author(s):  
Trine Louise Borake

AbstractA general interest in centralized institutions, state formation and prestige objects has dominated research on social organization and dynamics in Scandinavia from the Late Iron Age to the Middle Ages. Accordingly, a focus on kingly power, aristocratic influence, hierarchies and warrior might has dominated archaeological research designs for the last forty years. Subsequently, other perspectives have been evaded and their significance has been diminished. In this article, I use anarchistic principles as an analytic perspective and present examples of anarchistic actions – network organization, justified leaders and decentralization – drawing on well-known but ambiguous phenomena such as thing sites, the southern Danish defence system Danevirke, and migration and mobility. I suggest a perspective that recognizes resistance, authority and decentralization as well as centralization and institutionalization, allowing a broad spectrum of social engagement and interrelations to influence social organization. I will argue that human intentionality has been overlooked in favour of structures and institutions, and that the power of network organization and decentralization is influential in shaping social organization and dynamics.

2013 ◽  
pp. 111-118
Author(s):  
Darko Radmanovic ◽  
Desanka Kostic ◽  
Jelena Lujic ◽  
Svetlana Blazic

After decades-long vertebrate fauna research, out of 42 archaeological sites in Vojvodina (Serbia) from different periods ranging from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages, remains of birds were registered at 17 sites (4 from the Neolithic, 1 from the Early Iron Age, 7 from the Late Iron Age, 5 from the Roman Period, 1 from the Migration Period, and 4 from the Middle Ages). A total of 14 species and 4 genera were registered for this vertebrate class. The richest ornithofauna is from the Neolithic, where 9 species and 3 genera were registered. The Migration and Medieval periods are next with 4 registered species and one genus each. There were 3 species registered from the Roman Period, and 2 species from the Late Iron Age. The poorest ornitofauna was registered from the Early Iron Age, only one species.


2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katalin Náfrádi ◽  
Pál Sümegi ◽  
Tünde Törőcsik

AbstractIn the area of archaeological excavations that were performed prior to the construction of Main Road No. 86 in Vas County (West Hungary) in the Alpine foreland new geoarchaeological analyses have been conducted. We used anthracology and pollen analyses to reconstruct the former vegetation cover at the study site. Charcoal data provide site-related information about the local woodland composition, management and human impact, while pollen data provide information on the arboreal and non-arboreal vegetation on a regional or local scale. Adequate samples for anthracological analyses derive from the Bronze Age, Iron Age, Imperial and Migration Periods and Middle-Ages archaeological objects. The core for pollen analyses originates from alluvial sediments of the Borzó Creek and covers the late Pleistocene and the Holocene until the Medieval Period. Charcoal analyses show the dominance of Quercus trees in the vicinity of the human settlements that might indicate a strong human selection, or the fragmentation of samples. Pollen analyses indicate thermophilous vegetation from the beginning of the Holocene, with increasing values of Fagus and Carpinus. Pollens of cereals indicate human activity, which is also demonstrated by the presence of pollen from Juglans and Vitis in the Iron Age sequence. Extensive forest clearance occurred in the Late Iron Age and the Imperial Period.


2014 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-389
Author(s):  
Thorsten Lemm

Zusammenfassung: Seit langem nehmen in Norwegen und Schweden Ortschaften und Höfe mit dem Namen Huseby o. ä. zentrale Punkte in der Frühgeschichtsforschung ein. Sie werden dort als seit jeher bedeutende Orte interpretiert, die in der späten Wikingerzeit oder am Übergang zum Mittelalter zu königlichen Höfen aufstiegen und in diesem Zuge mit der standardisierten Bezeichnung *húsabýr versehen wurden. Die dadurch ersetzten ursprünglichen Ortsnamen sind nur selten überliefert. Die Huseby-Orte Alt-Dänemarks fanden in der Forschung hingegen nur wenig Beachtung. Die vorläufigen Ergebnisse der in den letzten Jahren durchgeführten Kontextanalysen und archäologischen Prospektionen erlauben es nun, das einst in dänischem Reichsgebiet gelegene Husby in Angeln in eine Reihe mit den bedeutenden Huseby-Orten Schwedens und Norwegens zu stellen. Archäologische Funde, allen voran die Entdeckung eines Siedlungslatzes mit zahlreichen Metallobjekten, die verkehrsgeografische Lage, Flurnamen in der Umgebung und eine romanische Kirche mit wahrscheinlich hölzernem Vorgängerbau zeichnen für Husby das Bild eines in der jüngeren Germanischen Eisenzeit, in der Wikingerzeit und im Mittelalter (über-)regional bedeutenden Ortes. Résumé: En Norvège et en Suède les localités ou habitats portant le nom d’H useby ont depuis longtemps occupé une place de choix en recherche protohistorique. Là, on les a toujours considérés comme des localités importantes, et ces endroits s’élevèrent au rang de cours royales au courant de l’époque viking tardive ou au début du Moyen Age ; de ce fait ils ont acquis la dénomination standard de*húsabýr. Les toponymes d’origine que ces nouvelles dénominations ont remplacés ne survivent que fort rarement. Cependant très peu d’enquêtes ont porté sur les toponymes Huseby que l’on rencontre dans l’ancien Danemark. Les résultats préliminaires d’études contextuelles et de prospections de terrain effectués au cours des dernières années nous permettent de ranger le site d’Husby en Anglie (Angeln), qui faisait anciennement partie du royaume danois, dans la série des sites importants portant le nom d’Huseby en Suède et en Norvège. Les données archéologiques, en particulier la découverte d’un habitat contenant de nombreux objets en métal, sa situation géographique, les noms des parcelles aux alentours et la présence d’une église romane avec probablement un précurseur en bois indiquent qu’Husby jouait un rôle (supra)régional significatif pendant l’âge du Fer germanique tardif, l’époque viking et le Moyen Age. Abstract: Settlements or farmsteads bearing the name Huseby or similar have occupied a central position in protohistoric research in Norway and Sweden for a long time. There they have always been interpreted as significant places, which rose to being royal courts in the Late Viking period or at the beginning of the Middle Ages and in the process were given the standard denomination of *húsabýr. The original place-names that these new denominations replaced rarely survive. Research has however paid little attention to the Huseby place-names of ancient Denmark. Preliminary results from contextual studies and archaeological surveys conducted over the last few years allow us to now align the site of Husby in Anglia, which once lay in the Danish realm, with the important Huseby sites of Sweden and Norway. Archaeological finds, especially the discovery of a settlement containing numerous metal objects, its geographical location, field names in its surroundings, and a Romanesque church with a probable timber precursor indicate that Husby was a significant (supra-) regional place in the later Germanic Iron Age, the Viking period and the Middle Ages.


The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110332
Author(s):  
Valentí Rull ◽  
Núria Cañellas-Boltà ◽  
Teresa Vegas-Vilarrúbia

Palynological analysis of the last ca. 4300 cal year BP using a sediment core taken from high mountain (ca. 1900 m elevation) Lake Sant Maurici sediments (southern-central Pyrenees) showed remarkable vegetation constancy during the Bronze Age and the Middle Ages. Records of the Iron Age and the Roman period were missing due to a major sedimentary gap. During the studied periods, the vegetation around the lake was largely dominated by pine ( Pinus) forests with birch ( Betula), oak ( Quercus) and hazel ( Corylus) trees, as is the case today. The composition of these forests and the abundance of their components remained quite stable, despite the occurrence of temperature and moisture shifts. The degree of human disturbance, notably that of pastoralism and cereal cultivation by scattered and temporary settlements, was very low and had little or no effect on the dominant forests. This situation contrasts with most high-elevation (subalpine and alpine) environments of the central Pyrenees that were massively anthropized during the Middle Ages. Further research should be aimed at finding sediments corresponding to the Iron Age and the Roman period to verify whether the vegetation constancy can be extended throughout the Late-Holocene. Past records of this type may allow the estimation of natural and anthropogenic thresholds for irreversible forest changes, which would be useful for conservation purposes.


Archaeofauna ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 155-165
Author(s):  
EUFRASIA ROSELLÓ-IZQUIERDO ◽  
EDUARDO GONZÁLEZ-GÓMEZ DE AGÜERO ◽  
CARLOS FERNÁNDEZ-RODRÍGUEZ ◽  
LAURA LLORENTE-RODRÍGUEZ ◽  
ARTURO MORALES-MUÑIZ

The origin and development of the Iberian Medieval fisheries is a poorly documented phenomenon both from the standpoint of historical (documentary) and material (archaeological) evidence. Such dearth of knowledge can be explained in terms of proximal (i.e., a deficient retrieval of fish remains) and ultimate causes. Among the latter, the Muslim invasion, that lasted ca. 800 years of the “medieval millennium” in the Iberian Peninsula, needs to be taken into account as it probably delayed the development of fishing fleets within the Christian kingdoms for a substantial period of time. Be it as it may, the lack of knowledge does not allow one to explore a range of critical issues of Spanish and Portuguese history, such as the role played by the ever-expanding fishing fleets of Portugal and Castilla in the process of maritime discovery and colonization that these two kingdoms fostered by the end of the Middle Ages. In this paper, the results from a comparative analysis of selected fish assemblages from primary (i.e. coastal) deposits of the northern Iberian shores are presented. The aim is to check whether changes can be documented both at the level of (1) the range of species occurring in sites from the late Iron Age (Castreña culture, IV-I BC) to the Late Middle Ages (XV AD), and (2) the skeletal spectra of certain species that could reveal a differential processing of taxa meant for local consumption and those that appear in inland sites.


Author(s):  
KIRYUSHIN K. ◽  
◽  
KIRYUSHIN Yu. ◽  

The article is devoted to the publication of finds of fragments of ceramic dishes discovered at the settlement of Pestryakovo Lake (Zavyalovsky district of Altai Territory). A group of ceramics which belongs to the early Iron Age and the Middle Ages, is pointed out. Single fragments find analogies in the materials of the sites of the Early and Late Bronze Age. The ceramic collection of the Pestryakovo Lake settlement includes groups of ceramics that belong to the Neolithic or Eneolithic. These are fragments of vessels ornamented with prints of a “string”, pricks, imprints of a short comb stamp, a dingle-dingle stamping. Linear-pricked and receding-pricked ceramics are quite informative. On the outer and inner surfaces, as well as in the fractures, traces of burnt-out organic matter (animal hair) are recorded. Such ceramics are widely represented in the south of Western Siberia and are associated with various settlement and burial complexes from the Ob to the Irtysh and various cultural formations of the Neolithic and Eneolithic. Keywords: settlement, ceramics, ornamentation technique, comparative typological analysis, neolithic, eneolithic


1997 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-137
Author(s):  
Lutz Kaelber

How did a person become a heretic in the Middle Ages? Then, once the person was affiliated with a heretical group, how was the affiliation sustained? What social processes and mechanisms were involved that forged bonds among heretics strong enough, in some cases, for them to choose death rather than return to the bosom of the Church? Two competing accounts of what attracted people to medieval heresies have marked the extremes in historical explanations (Russell 1963): one is a materialist account elucidated by Marxist historians; the other one focuses on ideal factors, as proposed by the eminent historian Herbert Grundmann.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 353-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaroslav V Kuzmin ◽  
Alexander A Vasilevski ◽  
Sergei V Gorbunov ◽  
G S Burr ◽  
A J Timothy Jull ◽  
...  

A chronological framework for the prehistoric cultural complexes of Sakhalin Island is presented based on 160 radiocarbon dates from 74 sites. The earliest 14C-dated site, Ogonki 5, corresponds to the Upper Paleolithic, about 19,500–17,800 BP. According to the 14C data, since about 8800 BP, there is a continuous sequence of Neolithic, Early Iron Age, and Medieval complexes. The Neolithic existed during approximately 8800–2800 BP. Transitional Neolithic-Early Iron Age complexes are dated to about 2800–2300 BP. The Early Iron Age may be dated to about 2500–1300 BP. The Middle Ages period is dated to approximately 1300–300 BP (VII–XVII centuries AD).


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 171624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Henkner ◽  
Jan Ahlrichs ◽  
Sean Downey ◽  
Markus Fuchs ◽  
Bruce James ◽  
...  

Colluvial deposits, as the correlate sediments of human-induced soil erosion, depict an excellent archive of land use and landscape history as indicators of human–environment interactions. This study establishes a chronostratigraphy of colluvial deposits and reconstructs past land use dynamics in the Swabian Jura, the Baar and the Black Forest in SW Germany. In the agriculturally favourable Baar area multiple main phases of colluvial deposition, and thus intensified land use, can be identified from the Neolithic to the Modern times. In the unfavourable Swabian Jura increased colluvial deposition began later compared to the more favourable areas in the Baar. The same holds true for the unfavourable areas of the Black Forest, but intensified land use can only be reconstructed for the Middle Ages and Early Modern times instead of for the Bronze and Iron Age as in the Swabian Jura. Land use intensity and settlement dynamics represented by thick, multilayered colluvial deposits increase in the Baar and the Black Forest during the Middle Ages. In between those phases of geomorphodynamic activity and colluviation, stable phases occur, interpreted as phases with sustainable land use or without human presence.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tor-Ketil Krokmyrdal

In this paper, I discuss a potential market place for theexchange of goods at Sandtorg in Harstad municipality,Troms and Finnmark county during the Iron Age and theMiddle Ages. Recently, a total of 125 objects were uncoveredon a farm, previously only mentioned in written sources inthe mid-16th century. Finds of jewelry, silver, coins, weightand metal waste from the Viking Age suggest that exchangeof goods started at the site somewhere between AD 800 and 900. Further finds indicate that there were exchangegoods here throughout the Middle Ages and onwards to thehistorically documented trade. At the location, excavationshave uncovered a far larger amount of metalworking wastethan one would expect on an ordinary farm. This included lead, copper alloys, iron and silver. The finds indicate asmithy close to the Viking Age beach level and may suggestconstruction and repair of sea vessels at the site. AroundSandtorg there are no known Viking Age graves, indicatingthat Sandtorg did not have a large permanent population,and consequently was not a large marketplace. However,it is possible that the market function was combined withservices such as repairs or construction of seagoing vesselsand guesthouses for travelers. If so, the activity at Sandtorg may have been significant. 


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