Excavations in the Black Earth 1990-1995. Stratigraphy. Vol. 2. Part Three: The Later Part of the Birka Period. Part Four: The Finds

Description

The Birka excavation has played a major part in the development of excavation techniques, digital documentation, and stratigraphic analysis. The two volumes on stratigraphy, of which this is the last, demonstrate the need for careful excavation techniques and well-executed field documentation when fndings are subsequently revised and analysed to enlarge our knowledge of life in the past. The work has already generated several dissertations and articles by people who worked on the project. With the stratigraphy now completed, many chronological questions about the Viking Age finds will be given new fuel. Ever since the time of Stolpe and Montelius, the Birka finds have always played a major role in periodization. The lack of an absolute timescale, however, has been troubling. The new Birka stratigraphy will provide important evidence on this issue. A large part of this is due to the finds of moulds, which make it possible to determine which artefact variants were produced in the bronze caster’s workshop in the earlier parts of the layer sequence. Birka is not just a matter of the emergence of towns and urban life. The interaction between the town and its hinterland is at least as important. We can now obtain a better view of Birka in relation to its immediate surroundings in the Mälaren area, to the larger Bothnian resource area, and to international contacts with Western Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. List of illustrations 7 Foreword and Acknowledgements 9 Introduction Stratigraphy 1990–1995: Volume 2 11 Part III: The stratigraphy in the later part of the Birka period: the northern and southern plots Chapter 11. Additions to BS9: Chapter 8, Phase B5: Workshop with House in the Eastern Part 14 Chapter 12. Phase B6: Destruction layers with traces of buildings 28 Chapter 13. Phase B7: Buildings and fire layers in both plots 35 Chapter 14. Phase B8: Restructuring with temporary road bank and buildings 64 Chapter 15. Phase B9: Building remains, debris, and plough-damaged layers in both plots 93 Chapter 16. Plough layers, dump, and refilled soil 114 Chapter 17. Stratigraphy and interpretation: The occupation layers from the period AD 870–970 118 Part IV: The Finds in the Black Earth 1990–1995 Chapter 18. Background 133 Chapter 19. Category 1: Osteology 137 Chapter 20. Category 2: Metal 168 Chapter 21. Weight, weighing, and weights 193 Chapter 22. Category 3: Bone and antler 256 Chapter 23. Category 4: Glass and semi-precious stones 264 Chapter 24. Category 5: Clay, moulds, and textile tools 295 Chapter 25. Category 6: Stone; Category 7: Burnt clay (daub); Category 8: Slag; Category 9: Miscellaneous, organic matter 304 Chapter 26. Discussion and evaluation of the 1990–1995 excavations in the Viking Age town of Birka 314 References 330 Appendix 1–4 343 Birka Studies, Series Information 398