Hvordan endret byggeskikken seg på Borg? En analyse av fire utvalgte hus på Borg, Vestvågøy fra yngre jernalder til høymiddelalder

The purpose of the analysis was to highlight how the building tradition at Borg, Lofoten, Norway, changed from the Late Iron Age to the High Middle Ages. The construction elements such as roof-bearing posts, doorways, fireplaces, walls, and room divisions were compared between Borg I:1a, Borg I:1b, Borg II and Borg III. The results of the analyses emphasized that the building tradition at Borg changed in regard to house construction, size of the buildings and the division of rooms. The residents of Borg traditionally built longhouses with combined living room and byre from approx. 600 AD to the year 1300 AD. It is argued that limited access to local resources, such as timber, led to the residents retaining much of the same building tradition for approx. 700 years.

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medieval fisheries of Galicia (Northwestern Iberia): A preliminary archaeozoological overview

Archaeofauna ◽

10.15366/archaeofauna2021.30.008 ◽

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

Keyword(s):

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

Fish Assemblages ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

Late Middle Ages ◽

Critical Issues ◽

Fish Remains ◽

Coastal Deposits ◽

Fishing Fleets ◽

Two Kingdoms

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.

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Ornitofauna from the archaeological sites in Vojvodina (Serbia)

Zbornik Matice srpske za prirodne nauke ◽

10.2298/zmspn1325111r ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 111-118

Author(s):

Darko Radmanovic ◽

Desanka Kostic ◽

Jelena Lujic ◽

Svetlana Blazic

Keyword(s):

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

Roman Period ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

Migration Period ◽

Vertebrate Fauna ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

The Middle Ages

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.

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

Archaeological Dialogues ◽

10.1017/s1380203819000151 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 61-73

Author(s):

Trine Louise Borake

Keyword(s):

Social Organization ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

Social Engagement ◽

General Interest ◽

Network Organization ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

Human Intentionality ◽

And Migration ◽

The Middle Ages

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.

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Early human impact on soils and hydro-sedimentary systems: Multi-proxy geoarchaeological analyses from La Narse de la Sauvetat (France)

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683620950390 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (12) ◽

pp. 1780-1800

Author(s):

Alfredo Mayoral ◽

Salomé Granai ◽

Anne-Lise Develle ◽

Jean-Luc Peiry ◽

Yannick Miras ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

Late Antiquity ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Anthropogenic Impacts ◽

Late Neolithic ◽

Societal Factors ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

Middle Bronze Age

We analysed the late-Holocene pedo-sedimentary archives of La Narse de la Sauvetat, a hydromorphic depression in the southern Limagne plain (central France), where chronologically accurate studies are scarce. The multi-proxy geoarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of two cores from different areas of the basin was carried out through sedimentological, geochemical, micromorphological and malacological investigations. Integration of these datasets supported by a robust radiocarbon-based chronology allowed discussion of socio-environmental interactions and anthropogenic impacts from Late Neolithic to Early Middle Ages. Until the Middle Bronze Age, there was no clear evidence of anthropogenic impact on soils and hydro-sedimentary dynamics of the catchment, but two peaks of high alluvial activity probably related to the 4.2 and 3.5 kyr. BP climate events were first recorded in Limagne. Significant anthropogenic impacts started in the Late Bronze Age with increased erosion of the surrounding volcanic slopes. However, a major threshold was reached c. 2600 cal BP with a sharp increase in the catchment erosion interpreted as resulting from strong anthropogenic environmental changes related to agricultural activities and drainage. This implies an anthropogenic forcing on soils and hydro-sedimentary systems much earlier than was usually considered in Limagne. These impacts then gradually increased during Late Iron Age and Roman periods, but environmental effects were certainly contained by progress in agricultural management. Late Antiquity environmental changes are consistent with regional trend to drainage deterioration in lowlands, but marked asynchrony in this landscape change suggests that societal factors implying differential land management were certainly predominant here.

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Vegetation history reconstructed from anthracology and pollen analysis at the rescue excavation of the MO Motorway, Hungary

Open Geosciences ◽

10.2478/s13533-011-0036-0 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Katalin Náfrádi ◽

Elvira Bodor ◽

Tünde Törőcsik ◽

Pál Sümegi

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

Vegetation History ◽

Analytical Data ◽

Fruit Trees ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Copper Age ◽

Migration Period ◽

Late Iron Age

AbstractThe significance of geoarchaeological investigations is indisputable in reconstructing the former environment and in studying the relationship between humans and their surroundings. Several disciplines have developed during the last few decades to give insight into earlier time periods and their climatic conditions (e.g. palynology, malacology, archaeobotany, phytology and animal osteology). Charcoal and pollen analytical studies from the rescue excavation of the MO motorway provide information about the vegetation changes of the past. These methods are used to reconstruct the environment of the former settlements and to detect the human impact and natural climatic changes. The sites examined span the periods of the Late-Copper Age, Late-Bronze Age, Middle-Iron Age, Late-Iron Age, Sarmatian period, Late Sarmatian period, Migration period, Late-Migration period and Middle Ages. The vegetation before the Copper Age is based only on pollen analytical data. Anthracological results show the overall dominance of Quercus and a great number of Ulmus, Fraxinus, Acer, Fagus, Alnus and Populus/Salix tree fossils, as well as the residues of fruit trees present in the charred wood assemblage.

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Identity, Gender, Religion and Economy: New Isotope and Radiocarbon Evidence for Marine Resource Intensification in Early Historic Orkney, Scotland, UK

European Journal of Archaeology ◽

10.1177/1461957104056502 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 249-271 ◽

Cited By ~ 64

Author(s):

James H. Barrett ◽

Michael P. Richards

Keyword(s):

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

Viking Age ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Protein Consumption ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

Cultural Contingencies ◽

First Millennium ◽

Fish Trade ◽

Marine Protein

Stable isotope measurements and radiocarbon dates on 54 burials from northern Scotland document trends in marine protein consumption from the late Iron Age to the end of the Middle Ages. They illuminate how local environmental and cultural contingencies interrelated with a pan-European trend towards more intensive fishing around the end of the first millennium AD. Little use was made of marine foods in late Iron Age Orkney despite its maritime setting. Significant fish consumption appeared in the Viking Age (ninth to eleventh centuries AD), first in the case of some men buried with grave-goods of Scandinavian style but soon among both sexes in ‘Christian’ burials. There was then a peak in marine protein consumption from approximately the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries AD, particularly among men, after which the importance of fish-eating returned to Viking Age levels. The causes of these developments probably entailed a complex relationship between ethnicity, gender, Christian fasting practices, population growth, long-range fish trade and environmental change.

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Charcoal and pollen analyses and vegetation reconstruction of the Alpine foreland in West Hungary

Open Geosciences ◽

10.2478/s13533-012-0104-0 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Katalin Náfrádi ◽

Pál Sümegi ◽

Tünde Törőcsik

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

The Holocene ◽

Related Information ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

Imperial Period ◽

Alpine Foreland ◽

And Migration ◽

Pollen Analyses

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.

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The Iron Age ritual building at Uppåkra, southern Sweden

Antiquity ◽

10.1017/s0003598x00094813 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 81 (311) ◽

pp. 11-25 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Lars Larsson

Keyword(s):

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

Tenth Century ◽

Central Place ◽

Northern Europe ◽

Southern Sweden ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

New Directions ◽

First Millennium ◽

Tall Structure

Six years ago we reported the discovery of a central place at Uppåkra in southern Sweden which promised to be unusually rich and informative (Hårdh 2000). At 40ha it already stood out as the largest concentration of residual phosphate in the whole province of Scania, with surface finds of Roman and late Iron Age metalwork (second-tenth century AD). Following this thorough evaluation, the project moved into its excavation phase which has brought to light several buildings of the first millennium AD, among them one that has proved truly exceptional. Its tall structure and numerous ornamented finds suggest an elaborate timber cult house. This is the first Scandinavian building for which the term ‘temple’ can be justly claimed and it is already sign-posting new directions for the early middle ages in northern Europe.

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Isolated and backward Westerwolde (Groningen, the Netherlands)? A confrontation of archaeological and historical data from the Middle Ages in a wider geographical context

Palaeohistoria ◽

10.21827/602fcb755de5e ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 273-344

Author(s):

Henny A. Groenendijk ◽

Remi Van Schaïk

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Bronze Age ◽

19Th Century ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

Critical Study ◽

Ecological Data ◽

The North ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

The 19Th Century

The aim of this paper is to question the supposed isolated and backward position of the region of Westerwolde, in the north-eastern part of the Netherlands. Westerwolde’s geographically rather isolated position has traditionally been brought forward to explain its backward image. Progressive peat growth ever since the Bronze Age occupation had transformed Westerwolde into an island. It was abandoned in the Late Iron Age, only to be recolonized in the early Middle Ages. During the 19th century, romantics were still admiring Westerwolde’s arcadian scenery and cultural traditions. In contrast, from the mid-19th century until well into the 20th century, protagonists of modern agriculture criticized its backward farming methods and standard of living, as well as its poor infrastructure. The central issues we address here is whether critics were justified in describing it as backward in the 19th century and whether concrete indications for this assumed backwardness are to be found in previous centuries. To jump from early medieval times to the 19th century is too big a leap, but combining archaeological and ecological data with a renewed and more critical study of written sources against the background of huge landscape transformations has brought a nuanced understanding of how Westerwolde evolved. We present new insights for the period starting with the conquest of Frisia and Saxony by the Carolingians and the introduction of Christianity, when missionaries and newly founded monasteries acquired agricultural assets and rights in the conquered region, up to the late Middle Ages. We therefore analyze church foundations, livelihoods or economic conditions of existence in connection with occupation structures, infrastructure and exchange of consumer goods interdisciplinarily. Conservatism appears easily confused with backwardness, and an aversion to innovation, with indifference, as underlying external factors often forced the inhabitants to adopt a wait-and-see attitude. Westerwolde is viewed continuously in connection with the adjacent regions of Drenthe and Lower Saxon Emsland.

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