Outlanders?: Resource Colonisation, Raw Material Exploitation and Networks in Middle Iron Age Sweden

Description

The Middle Iron Age, around 300–650 CE, was characterised by extensive transformations across many aspects of society in the area of present-day Sweden. Within the central agricultural regions of the southern parts of the country, these changes are evident in a re-organisation of the settlements, renewed burial practices, the building of large-scale monuments, as well as increased militarisation, social stratification and an increase in imported objects. This thesis addresses an additional aspect of Middle Iron Age societal change, namely an increase in the utilisation of raw materials and resources from forested and coastal landscapes situated beyond the settled farm. These non-agrarian landscapes are commonly referred to as the outlands. In previous research, the increased utilisation of the outlands has in general been understood as part of a Viking Age expansion. The main contribution of the study is that it highlights how the main elements of outland exploitation, such as mass production and trade in valuable non-agrarian resources, can be dated earlier than has been previously thought. Moreover, the thesis argues that outland resource colonisation was an important driving force for the societal developments that took place during the Middle Iron Age, and is crucial for our understanding of later time periods. Abstract List of Papers Contents Förord Introduction Prerequisites of the thesis Thesis outline Middle Iron Age society — a general view of the current state of research Settlement patterns and changing land regulations An elite buried in large mounds Socio-political power struggles Far-reaching contacts and trade Socio–economic background Beyond the settled infields – historical analogies Into the great beyond — a research history The discovery of an archaeological outland Iron Furs Cultural dualism A growing interest for outland archaeology A neo-empirical turn and new ways to trace the pre-history of the outlands Furs and other outland resources in historical sources Questions, methods and theoretical considerations — alternatives to an agrarian based narrative When, What, Where, Who, Why, and How? Methodological standpoints Theoretical considerations Introducing the case studies Case study I: Towards a refined chronology of prehistoric pitfall hunting Case study II: Whalebone gaming pieces – aspects of marine mammal exploitation in pre-Viking Scandinavia Case study III: Viking Age tar production and outland exploitation Case study IV: Outland exploitation and the emergence of seasonal settlements Outland use in the Middle Iron Age — Resource colonisation, raw material exploitation and networks When? — The Middle Iron Age, a time of changes What? — A broad spectrum of outland resources Where? — A far-reaching outland Who? — The outlands as a middle ground Why? — Supporting the power politics of networks and trade Outlanders? References Internet references