The excavation of a Late Bronze Age settlement at Rambodal, just outside the city of Norrköping, ... more The excavation of a Late Bronze Age settlement at Rambodal, just outside the city of Norrköping, has provided interesting evidence for Bronze Age metalworking, including the third Bronze Age stone casting mould found to date in the county of Östergötland. The settlement consisted of a single farm with dates from Per. V of the Bronze Age to the earliest Iron Age. In addition to high-quality ceramics, the settlement yielded several traces of bronze casting, such as a copper melt and part of a soapstone mould for a small socketed axe, probably dating to Per. VI. Soapstone moulds are rarely found at settlement sites. The find provides interesting data for discussions of the molds’ use contexts. The evidence for small-scale household metal- working at a minor farmstead like Rambodal holds significant potential for future research on the spread and organisation of this craft. Per Nilsson, Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens kultur, Stockholms universitet, SE–106 91, Stockholm. [email protected] Anna Sörman, Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens kultur, Stockholms universitet, SE–106 91, Stockholm. [email protected]
Encountering Images (2012) (Back Danielsson & Fahlander) Stockholm University
South Scandinavian rock art is one of prehistory's most impressive and complex expressions of fig... more South Scandinavian rock art is one of prehistory's most impressive and complex expressions of figurative material culture. But a question that is seldom discussed is how the rock art sites and motifs were used and interpreted after the tradition of making figurative rock art had come to an end. This is especially interesting since excavations at rock art sites have revealed a high number of finds and features from later periods as well. In this article I will discuss some of these excavation results from three major rock art regions in southern Scandinavia: the Himmelstalund-region of south-eastern Sweden, the Tanum-area on the West Coast of Sweden and the Danish island of Bornholm. My proposal is that the finds and features found at rock art sites can be interpreted as the material remains of a dialogue with the past. My aim is to broaden the understanding of rock art, and I believe that we should not limit our research to the way the figures were used and interpreted in their Bronze Age context.
From grave-goods as ’personal possessions’ to debates about ’who owns the past?’, concepts of own... more From grave-goods as ’personal possessions’ to debates about ’who owns the past?’, concepts of ownership pervade archaeology. This anthology makes the case that, although the language of owning is so widespread that it passes unquestioned, it causes us to make fundamental assumptions about what humans and objects are and how they interact.
Papers explore the breadth of ownership in archaeological interpretations, from a tight sense of conferring certain rights and responsibilities, to a mechanism by which identity and values are transferred between persons and objects, to a broader sense of belonging to a group, period, or place. Topics range from Iron Age tattooing to Viking social valuables, from Roman taste to Anglo-Saxon grave robbery, and from Bronze Age rock art to modern folk rituals.
The excavation of a Late Bronze Age settlement at Rambodal, just outside the city of Norrköping, ... more The excavation of a Late Bronze Age settlement at Rambodal, just outside the city of Norrköping, has provided interesting evidence for Bronze Age metalworking, including the third Bronze Age stone casting mould found to date in the county of Östergötland. The settlement consisted of a single farm with dates from Per. V of the Bronze Age to the earliest Iron Age. In addition to high-quality ceramics, the settlement yielded several traces of bronze casting, such as a copper melt and part of a soapstone mould for a small socketed axe, probably dating to Per. VI. Soapstone moulds are rarely found at settlement sites. The find provides interesting data for discussions of the molds’ use contexts. The evidence for small-scale household metal- working at a minor farmstead like Rambodal holds significant potential for future research on the spread and organisation of this craft. Per Nilsson, Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens kultur, Stockholms universitet, SE–106 91, Stockholm. [email protected] Anna Sörman, Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens kultur, Stockholms universitet, SE–106 91, Stockholm. [email protected]
Encountering Images (2012) (Back Danielsson & Fahlander) Stockholm University
South Scandinavian rock art is one of prehistory's most impressive and complex expressions of fig... more South Scandinavian rock art is one of prehistory's most impressive and complex expressions of figurative material culture. But a question that is seldom discussed is how the rock art sites and motifs were used and interpreted after the tradition of making figurative rock art had come to an end. This is especially interesting since excavations at rock art sites have revealed a high number of finds and features from later periods as well. In this article I will discuss some of these excavation results from three major rock art regions in southern Scandinavia: the Himmelstalund-region of south-eastern Sweden, the Tanum-area on the West Coast of Sweden and the Danish island of Bornholm. My proposal is that the finds and features found at rock art sites can be interpreted as the material remains of a dialogue with the past. My aim is to broaden the understanding of rock art, and I believe that we should not limit our research to the way the figures were used and interpreted in their Bronze Age context.
From grave-goods as ’personal possessions’ to debates about ’who owns the past?’, concepts of own... more From grave-goods as ’personal possessions’ to debates about ’who owns the past?’, concepts of ownership pervade archaeology. This anthology makes the case that, although the language of owning is so widespread that it passes unquestioned, it causes us to make fundamental assumptions about what humans and objects are and how they interact.
Papers explore the breadth of ownership in archaeological interpretations, from a tight sense of conferring certain rights and responsibilities, to a mechanism by which identity and values are transferred between persons and objects, to a broader sense of belonging to a group, period, or place. Topics range from Iron Age tattooing to Viking social valuables, from Roman taste to Anglo-Saxon grave robbery, and from Bronze Age rock art to modern folk rituals.
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Papers by Per Nilsson
Per Nilsson, Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens kultur, Stockholms universitet, SE–106 91, Stockholm.
[email protected]
Anna Sörman, Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens kultur, Stockholms universitet, SE–106 91, Stockholm.
[email protected]
Books by Per Nilsson
Papers explore the breadth of ownership in archaeological interpretations, from a tight sense of conferring certain rights and responsibilities, to a mechanism by which identity and values are transferred between persons and objects, to a broader sense of belonging to a group, period, or place. Topics range from Iron Age tattooing to Viking social valuables, from Roman taste to Anglo-Saxon grave robbery, and from Bronze Age rock art to modern folk rituals.
Per Nilsson, Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens kultur, Stockholms universitet, SE–106 91, Stockholm.
[email protected]
Anna Sörman, Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens kultur, Stockholms universitet, SE–106 91, Stockholm.
[email protected]
Papers explore the breadth of ownership in archaeological interpretations, from a tight sense of conferring certain rights and responsibilities, to a mechanism by which identity and values are transferred between persons and objects, to a broader sense of belonging to a group, period, or place. Topics range from Iron Age tattooing to Viking social valuables, from Roman taste to Anglo-Saxon grave robbery, and from Bronze Age rock art to modern folk rituals.