Cultural interaction between east and est. Archaeology, artefacts and human contacts in northern Europe. Eds. Fransson, U., Svedin, M., Bergerbrant, S. & Androshchuck, F. Stockholm Studies in Archaeology 44, Stockholm University, Stockholm 2007, 2007
Cultural interaction between east and west. Archaeology, artefacts and human contacts in northern... more Cultural interaction between east and west. Archaeology, artefacts and human contacts in northern Europe during the pre-and early history. Eds. Ulf Fransson et al, Stockholm 2007.
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Papers by Sten Tesch
Erik Floderus (1902–1955). Swedish archaeologist and employee at the National Board of Antiquities in Stockholm. Floderus had in addition a lifelong commitment to Sigtuna research and the Sigtuna Fornhem foundation (today Sigtuna museum). Floderus wrote the first compilation and synthesis of the archaeological investigations made in Sigtuna during previous decades. The book is still worth reading. The article is part of a book about Swedish archaeologists.
Som kontrast till det begränsade och många gånger subjektiva skriftliga källmaterialet finns ett omfattande arkeologiskt material, framförallt gravar, som är samtida med det aktuella skeendet och som kan användas för att ge en mer nyanserad och ”opartisk” beskrivning av kristnandeprocessen än vad kyrkans ovanifrånperspektiv kan ge. Med utgångspunkt från detta material kommer jag i den här artikeln att diskutera några för skiftet avgörande frågor. En sådan är om Mälarområdets kristnande varit mer utdraget jämfört med andra regioner i Skandinavien - eller om det bara varit annorlunda? Det som framförallt skiljer Mälarområdet från andra regioner är de många gravfälten med tidigkristna gravar som undersökts under senare år och bristen på arkeologiska belägg för tidiga träkyrkor. Hur ska detta tolkas? En annan central fråga är vilken betydelse Sigtuna som kunglig stödjepunkt och kristen centralort haft för Mälarområdets kristnande. Slutligen diskuteras om den bild av kristnandeprocessen som det arkeologiska materialet ger kan ses som uttryck för ett mer eller mindre medvetet motstånd, inte mot kristendomen som sådan, utan mot de samhällsförändringar som följde i kyrkans kölvatten. I en epilog skärskådas missionsbiskoparna Adalvards respektive Eginos karriärer och deras gemensamma projekt att förstöra hednatemplet i (Gamla) Uppsala.
Artikeln omfattar perioden från Sigtunas grundläggning under slutet av 900-talet till och med 1100-talets andra hälft då en mer stabil kyrkoorganisatorisk utveckling började ta fart.
Sigtuna is the oldest town still extant in Sweden. It was founded c. 980, almost two hundred years before urbanization, the real expansion of towns, took place in medieval Sweden. Sigtuna is situated on Lake Mälaren in East Central Sweden, c. 35 kilometres north of Birka and 35 kilometres south of Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala). The settlement area stretches along the southern tip of what once was a large island (7 x 4 kilometres), now the Sigtuna peninsula, located between the waterways leading to Uppsala (fig. 1a and b). When the town was founded sea level was c. 4-5 metres higher than today and Lake Mälaren formed part of the Baltic Sea. The only place suitable for settlement and building was a narrow flat strip of virgin land on the tip of the island, about 100-150 metres wide, between the shore and a steep rocky ridge. Topographically, a hilly area separated the town from the rural settlements on the island. It was also distinct from the rural settlements on the opposite side of the waterway, as these did not regularly face the water. Strategically, however, Sigtuna was centrally located at an intersection of important waterways, which facilitated access to large parts of the Mälar region by boat or by ice in the winter. In other words, this location seems to have been very deliberately chosen: in the midst of, but separate from, the surrounding society.
The first part of the article focus on the physical structures that existed in early Sigtuna - houses, plots, townyards, cemeteries and churches along with the town plan. I will also discuss why and by whom the town was founded, the staging of the town as a setting for political power; who the inhabitants were and how a Christian Mass could be celebrated in the absence of regular church buildings. This is followed by a discussion on whether or not Sigtuna had an interactive relationship with the aristocrats in the Lake Mälaren region. The article ends with a comparative perspective on Scandinavian and European urbanization during the late Viking Age and Early Middle Ages, with main focus on town plans.
The project´s starting-point is a boat grave in which a woman had been buried with dress adornments that (for untrained eyes) may seem generic for a 10th century burial. But a good scientist should never trust first impressions! Instead, the burial took place much later, in a time, when Christianity had been well established in the area. Nonetheless, the heirs chose to stage the burial in a pre-Christian style. The question is of course, why? Another question would be: is this kind of retrospective burial practice a typical phenomenon during the introduction phase of Christianity in Mälaren region?
As a theoretical framework, we are trying to implement the modern concept of hybridity. Thus, rather than identifying individuals as either Christian or Pagan, many of them should more properly be characterized as both! This new approach might contribute to our understanding of religious identity."
Other papers from the project in the same publication:
Gunilla Larsson. The Boat as a Symbol in a Changing Society.
Michael Neiß. A Lost World? A re-evaluation of the boat grave at Årby in Turinge parish, Södermanland, Sweden.
This article uses Early Christian graves and burial grounds as source material in order to analyse and discuss the social and political tensions that characterized the Late Viking Age/Early Medieval society in the Lake Mälar region, Sweden. A supplementary issue is the almost total absence of archaeological evidence of wooden churches from the early Christian period and in turn how Mass could be celebrated before there were any properly consecrated churches. The article concludes with a hypothesis about which strata in the society who built the first stone churches, in Sigtuna and in rural areas.
PDF 1 Summary in English PDF 2 Paper in Swedish with figures.
Ett tusenårigt svärdshjalt från Sigtuna och dess europeiska sammanhang
Parry or parade
A sword hilt from 11th century Sigtuna and its European context
The “Sigtuna hilt” is a richly ornamented cross-guard manufactured from elk antler. It is one of the most well-known artefacts from Sigtuna’s early layers. It was found in uncertain circumstances in 1939. Two Sigtuna researchers, Holger Arbman and Erik Floderus, published interesting articles in the mid-1940s concerning the find and its Mammen-style ornamentation. They discussed, among other things, whether the depicted motifs, identified as a demon mask and a bird/dragon, should be regarded as pagan or Christian. The four leading motifs of the Mammen style are birds, masks, plants/trees and four-legged beasts (Da. “Det store dyr”; the Great Beast). Mammen-style artefacts are not common, but those few that exist are considered to be among the most exclusive and advanced examples of Viking Age art. The items are usually thought to have been manufactured in Harald Bluetooth’s court workshop in Jelling on Jutland. This article discusses some of the leading artefacts in Mammen style – the Cammin and Bamberg caskets and St Stephen’s sword in Prague. The latter, which is interpreted as a ceremonial sword, offers the closest parallel to the Sigtuna sword hilt.
Several researchers have considered Mammen-style motifs to be of oriental inspiration. It has even been suggested (Rosborn 2012) that the Varangians, who guarded the Byzantine emperor’s shimmering mechanical throne of gold, may have brought the motifs to Denmark. A simple conclusion would then be that the Sigtuna hilt was manufactured in a Danish court workshop and possibly presented as a prestigious gift to a Swedish king. But given that the hilt is made of elk antler, it is here suggested that it might have been produced in one of the court workshops surrounding the royal demesne in central Sigtuna. In other central places in Scandinavia, deer antler was the main material for the production of combs and other antler products. This leads finally to a discussion on whether Sigtuna might originally have been
founded by a Danish king. We can only speculate as to who once paraded down the main street in Sigtuna bearing a sword with such an exclusive hilt, but it ought to have been a royal person, whose proud and noble expression can be gleaned from another well-known Sigtuna artefact (also made of elk antler) – the so-called “Sigtuna Viking”.
and one of serpentine have been found in Sigtuna.
They are likely to have been used in portable
altars. This high number is unique in Scandinavia
and can only be compared with six porphyry
tiles found in Hedeby/Schleswig.
Red, black and green porphyry was prized by
the emperors in Rome and Constantinople and
later by Early Medieval monarchs. Green porphyry
was quarried in Greece. These quarries
were not in use during the Early Middle Ages.
Instead, the material was scavenged from the remains
of Roman buildings and reused e.g. to
cover the reliquaries in portable altars.
The Sigtuna tiles probably came from the ruins of
Cologne.
The Sigtuna tiles are particularly interesting
since they were not found in Medieval churches,
but when excavating the town plots. They appear
in contexts dated to the 11th and 12th centuries.
The earliest finds date from a time when there is
no archaeological or written evidence of any
churches, even wooden ones, in Sigtuna. It is
therefore suggested here that Christian cult then
took place in private banqueting halls, which
seem to have stood at the far end of each of the
more than hundred town plots in Sigtuna.
The first wooden churches were probably
built c. 1060 when a bishopric was established in
Sigtuna. About 1100 the building of six or seven
Romanesque stone churches commenced. They
are among the oldest masonry structures in all of
Sweden. Except for the cathedral in the middle
of town, all churches were built along a new
street, parallel to and north of the main street and
the settlement area. Sigtuna’s church topography
reflects an intention to create a sacred townscape
for ceremonial processions where both King and
God were praised. It also reflects the idea of the
holy and heavenly city.
The starting point for this study is a gold armlet dated to the Late Viking Age found in Sigtuna 1936. In what context was it found? Why in Sigtuna? And how should the find be interpreted? According to the Sagas of the Norwegian kings were golden objects very rare and highly valued in the Scandinavian Viking Age society. In the LakeMälaren region, where Sigtuna is situated, there are very few finds of this kind. Sigtuna is furthermore the only site where gold objects dated to the 10th and 11th centuries have been found repeatedly. The decades prior to and around year AD 1000 were witness to great changes in Scandinavian society. What we can see is the beginning of the formation of Christian kingdoms. New towns were established, often close to the older urban centres, as one of the more important traits in this process Sigtuna, founded c. 980AD, was one of these towns. Not least excavations in the past two decades have led to a decisive change in the way Sigtuna's rise and function is looked upon. The archaeological material shows that the town was founded in one fell swoop. One reasonable interpretation is that king Erik Segersäll stood behind this. The original town plan was very simple. One hundred and forty oblong 20-30 metres long parcels of land were laid out alongside, on both sides of the main street, slightly away but parallell to the shore. In the centre of the town was a large site understood as being the royal estate. The early town has been interpreted as a royal stronghold, a power political centre, from where the king could make alliances to petty kings and chieftains in the Lake Mälar region. Rich gifts, such as gold armlets, given to these men were important signs of the friendship established between the king and these men. Even the town plots were gifts that bound the aristocrats to the town and the king.
Sigtuna was also a.fully Christian town from the start. Even the oldest burial sites lack heathen graves. In time, the effect of the church on the town plan became so deep that we can speak in terms of a sacred townscape.Late Viking Age and Early Medieval Sigtuna obviously was a site that was leavened all through by cult, gold and royal power.
Erik Floderus (1902–1955). Swedish archaeologist and employee at the National Board of Antiquities in Stockholm. Floderus had in addition a lifelong commitment to Sigtuna research and the Sigtuna Fornhem foundation (today Sigtuna museum). Floderus wrote the first compilation and synthesis of the archaeological investigations made in Sigtuna during previous decades. The book is still worth reading. The article is part of a book about Swedish archaeologists.
Som kontrast till det begränsade och många gånger subjektiva skriftliga källmaterialet finns ett omfattande arkeologiskt material, framförallt gravar, som är samtida med det aktuella skeendet och som kan användas för att ge en mer nyanserad och ”opartisk” beskrivning av kristnandeprocessen än vad kyrkans ovanifrånperspektiv kan ge. Med utgångspunkt från detta material kommer jag i den här artikeln att diskutera några för skiftet avgörande frågor. En sådan är om Mälarområdets kristnande varit mer utdraget jämfört med andra regioner i Skandinavien - eller om det bara varit annorlunda? Det som framförallt skiljer Mälarområdet från andra regioner är de många gravfälten med tidigkristna gravar som undersökts under senare år och bristen på arkeologiska belägg för tidiga träkyrkor. Hur ska detta tolkas? En annan central fråga är vilken betydelse Sigtuna som kunglig stödjepunkt och kristen centralort haft för Mälarområdets kristnande. Slutligen diskuteras om den bild av kristnandeprocessen som det arkeologiska materialet ger kan ses som uttryck för ett mer eller mindre medvetet motstånd, inte mot kristendomen som sådan, utan mot de samhällsförändringar som följde i kyrkans kölvatten. I en epilog skärskådas missionsbiskoparna Adalvards respektive Eginos karriärer och deras gemensamma projekt att förstöra hednatemplet i (Gamla) Uppsala.
Artikeln omfattar perioden från Sigtunas grundläggning under slutet av 900-talet till och med 1100-talets andra hälft då en mer stabil kyrkoorganisatorisk utveckling började ta fart.
Sigtuna is the oldest town still extant in Sweden. It was founded c. 980, almost two hundred years before urbanization, the real expansion of towns, took place in medieval Sweden. Sigtuna is situated on Lake Mälaren in East Central Sweden, c. 35 kilometres north of Birka and 35 kilometres south of Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala). The settlement area stretches along the southern tip of what once was a large island (7 x 4 kilometres), now the Sigtuna peninsula, located between the waterways leading to Uppsala (fig. 1a and b). When the town was founded sea level was c. 4-5 metres higher than today and Lake Mälaren formed part of the Baltic Sea. The only place suitable for settlement and building was a narrow flat strip of virgin land on the tip of the island, about 100-150 metres wide, between the shore and a steep rocky ridge. Topographically, a hilly area separated the town from the rural settlements on the island. It was also distinct from the rural settlements on the opposite side of the waterway, as these did not regularly face the water. Strategically, however, Sigtuna was centrally located at an intersection of important waterways, which facilitated access to large parts of the Mälar region by boat or by ice in the winter. In other words, this location seems to have been very deliberately chosen: in the midst of, but separate from, the surrounding society.
The first part of the article focus on the physical structures that existed in early Sigtuna - houses, plots, townyards, cemeteries and churches along with the town plan. I will also discuss why and by whom the town was founded, the staging of the town as a setting for political power; who the inhabitants were and how a Christian Mass could be celebrated in the absence of regular church buildings. This is followed by a discussion on whether or not Sigtuna had an interactive relationship with the aristocrats in the Lake Mälaren region. The article ends with a comparative perspective on Scandinavian and European urbanization during the late Viking Age and Early Middle Ages, with main focus on town plans.
The project´s starting-point is a boat grave in which a woman had been buried with dress adornments that (for untrained eyes) may seem generic for a 10th century burial. But a good scientist should never trust first impressions! Instead, the burial took place much later, in a time, when Christianity had been well established in the area. Nonetheless, the heirs chose to stage the burial in a pre-Christian style. The question is of course, why? Another question would be: is this kind of retrospective burial practice a typical phenomenon during the introduction phase of Christianity in Mälaren region?
As a theoretical framework, we are trying to implement the modern concept of hybridity. Thus, rather than identifying individuals as either Christian or Pagan, many of them should more properly be characterized as both! This new approach might contribute to our understanding of religious identity."
Other papers from the project in the same publication:
Gunilla Larsson. The Boat as a Symbol in a Changing Society.
Michael Neiß. A Lost World? A re-evaluation of the boat grave at Årby in Turinge parish, Södermanland, Sweden.
This article uses Early Christian graves and burial grounds as source material in order to analyse and discuss the social and political tensions that characterized the Late Viking Age/Early Medieval society in the Lake Mälar region, Sweden. A supplementary issue is the almost total absence of archaeological evidence of wooden churches from the early Christian period and in turn how Mass could be celebrated before there were any properly consecrated churches. The article concludes with a hypothesis about which strata in the society who built the first stone churches, in Sigtuna and in rural areas.
PDF 1 Summary in English PDF 2 Paper in Swedish with figures.
Ett tusenårigt svärdshjalt från Sigtuna och dess europeiska sammanhang
Parry or parade
A sword hilt from 11th century Sigtuna and its European context
The “Sigtuna hilt” is a richly ornamented cross-guard manufactured from elk antler. It is one of the most well-known artefacts from Sigtuna’s early layers. It was found in uncertain circumstances in 1939. Two Sigtuna researchers, Holger Arbman and Erik Floderus, published interesting articles in the mid-1940s concerning the find and its Mammen-style ornamentation. They discussed, among other things, whether the depicted motifs, identified as a demon mask and a bird/dragon, should be regarded as pagan or Christian. The four leading motifs of the Mammen style are birds, masks, plants/trees and four-legged beasts (Da. “Det store dyr”; the Great Beast). Mammen-style artefacts are not common, but those few that exist are considered to be among the most exclusive and advanced examples of Viking Age art. The items are usually thought to have been manufactured in Harald Bluetooth’s court workshop in Jelling on Jutland. This article discusses some of the leading artefacts in Mammen style – the Cammin and Bamberg caskets and St Stephen’s sword in Prague. The latter, which is interpreted as a ceremonial sword, offers the closest parallel to the Sigtuna sword hilt.
Several researchers have considered Mammen-style motifs to be of oriental inspiration. It has even been suggested (Rosborn 2012) that the Varangians, who guarded the Byzantine emperor’s shimmering mechanical throne of gold, may have brought the motifs to Denmark. A simple conclusion would then be that the Sigtuna hilt was manufactured in a Danish court workshop and possibly presented as a prestigious gift to a Swedish king. But given that the hilt is made of elk antler, it is here suggested that it might have been produced in one of the court workshops surrounding the royal demesne in central Sigtuna. In other central places in Scandinavia, deer antler was the main material for the production of combs and other antler products. This leads finally to a discussion on whether Sigtuna might originally have been
founded by a Danish king. We can only speculate as to who once paraded down the main street in Sigtuna bearing a sword with such an exclusive hilt, but it ought to have been a royal person, whose proud and noble expression can be gleaned from another well-known Sigtuna artefact (also made of elk antler) – the so-called “Sigtuna Viking”.
and one of serpentine have been found in Sigtuna.
They are likely to have been used in portable
altars. This high number is unique in Scandinavia
and can only be compared with six porphyry
tiles found in Hedeby/Schleswig.
Red, black and green porphyry was prized by
the emperors in Rome and Constantinople and
later by Early Medieval monarchs. Green porphyry
was quarried in Greece. These quarries
were not in use during the Early Middle Ages.
Instead, the material was scavenged from the remains
of Roman buildings and reused e.g. to
cover the reliquaries in portable altars.
The Sigtuna tiles probably came from the ruins of
Cologne.
The Sigtuna tiles are particularly interesting
since they were not found in Medieval churches,
but when excavating the town plots. They appear
in contexts dated to the 11th and 12th centuries.
The earliest finds date from a time when there is
no archaeological or written evidence of any
churches, even wooden ones, in Sigtuna. It is
therefore suggested here that Christian cult then
took place in private banqueting halls, which
seem to have stood at the far end of each of the
more than hundred town plots in Sigtuna.
The first wooden churches were probably
built c. 1060 when a bishopric was established in
Sigtuna. About 1100 the building of six or seven
Romanesque stone churches commenced. They
are among the oldest masonry structures in all of
Sweden. Except for the cathedral in the middle
of town, all churches were built along a new
street, parallel to and north of the main street and
the settlement area. Sigtuna’s church topography
reflects an intention to create a sacred townscape
for ceremonial processions where both King and
God were praised. It also reflects the idea of the
holy and heavenly city.
The starting point for this study is a gold armlet dated to the Late Viking Age found in Sigtuna 1936. In what context was it found? Why in Sigtuna? And how should the find be interpreted? According to the Sagas of the Norwegian kings were golden objects very rare and highly valued in the Scandinavian Viking Age society. In the LakeMälaren region, where Sigtuna is situated, there are very few finds of this kind. Sigtuna is furthermore the only site where gold objects dated to the 10th and 11th centuries have been found repeatedly. The decades prior to and around year AD 1000 were witness to great changes in Scandinavian society. What we can see is the beginning of the formation of Christian kingdoms. New towns were established, often close to the older urban centres, as one of the more important traits in this process Sigtuna, founded c. 980AD, was one of these towns. Not least excavations in the past two decades have led to a decisive change in the way Sigtuna's rise and function is looked upon. The archaeological material shows that the town was founded in one fell swoop. One reasonable interpretation is that king Erik Segersäll stood behind this. The original town plan was very simple. One hundred and forty oblong 20-30 metres long parcels of land were laid out alongside, on both sides of the main street, slightly away but parallell to the shore. In the centre of the town was a large site understood as being the royal estate. The early town has been interpreted as a royal stronghold, a power political centre, from where the king could make alliances to petty kings and chieftains in the Lake Mälar region. Rich gifts, such as gold armlets, given to these men were important signs of the friendship established between the king and these men. Even the town plots were gifts that bound the aristocrats to the town and the king.
Sigtuna was also a.fully Christian town from the start. Even the oldest burial sites lack heathen graves. In time, the effect of the church on the town plan became so deep that we can speak in terms of a sacred townscape.Late Viking Age and Early Medieval Sigtuna obviously was a site that was leavened all through by cult, gold and royal power.
In my lecture I will follow the green porphyry from the quarry in Greece, how it was used in Antiquity and how fragments of green porphyry, probably from Cologne, during the Middle Ages (11th and 12th centuries) came to Sigtuna in Sweden, Hvammur in Nordardalur in Iceland and other remote places in the Nordic region. Finally i will show how porphyry spolia also were reused for liturgic purposes in the Cosmati art in Rome and the Papal state c. 1100–1300.
Our project is a collaboration between archaeology and the history of religions. As a theoretical framework, we are trying to implement the modern concept of hybridity. Thus, rather than identifying individuals as either Christian or Pagan, many of them should more properly be characterized as both! This new approach might contribute to our understanding of religious identity and practice during the transition period, both in a local, in a regional and in a European perspective.
"
Holy stones and portable altars.
Early medieval altar stones made of green porphyry, their cultural and religious background and their importance for the introduction of Christianity in the Mälar region, Sweden.
Summary
Red, black and green porphyry was prized by the emperors in Rome and Constantinople and later by Early Medieval monarchs. Green porphyry, known as porfido verde antico or lapis lacedemonius krokeai, was quarried in the province of Laconia in southern Greece. Small, rather thin slabs of green porphyry were used as wall decorations or as floor tiles in Roman palaces and villas and later on in churches. In the Early Middle ages, small porphyry slabs, spolia, were among with other ”marbles” scavenged from the remains of Roman buildings to be reused as altar stones, to cover the relics in both permanent and portable altars.
Eight small stones of green porphyry and one of serpentine have been found in Early Medieval layers in Sigtuna. They are likely to have been used as altar stones in portable altars. In Scandinavia the number of stones found in Sigtuna can only be compared with the similar amount of green porphyry stones encountered in Hedeby/Schleswig (and for that matter also with the number of altar-stones of green porphyry known from Iceland).
The earliest finds of green porphyry in Sigtuna date from a time when there is no archaeological or written evidence of any churches, even wooden ones, in Sigtuna and in the Mälar region as well. It is therefore suggested that Christian cult in the 11th century took place in the small halls at the far end of each townyard in Sigtuna and in the chieftains halls in the countryside. The first wooden churches were probably built c. 1060 when a diocese was established in Sigtuna. In rural areas not before the 12th century.
In my lecture I will follow the green porphyry from the quarry in Greece, how it was used in Antiquity and how fragments of green porphyry, probably from Cologne, during the Middle Ages came to Sigtuna in Sweden, Hvammur in Nordardalur in Iceland and other places in the Nordic region.
To read:
Green porphyry and portable altars:
https://www.academia.edu/2898781/Tidigmedeltida_sepulkralstenar_i_Sigtuna_-_heliga_stenar_fran_Koln_for_saval_hallkult_som_massa_i_kyrka_2007_
https://www.academia.edu/2899553/Laddade_stenar_2008_
Sigtuna and the introduction of Christianity in The Lake Mälar region, Sweden:
https://www.academia.edu/5255945/A_Lost_World_-Religious_identity_and_practice_during_the_introduction_of_Christianity_in_the_Lake_Malaren_region_2013_
The project´s starting-point is a boat grave in which a woman had been buried with dress adornments that (for untrained eyes) may seem generic for a 10th century burial. But a good scientist should never trust first impressions! Instead, the burial took place much later, in a time, when Christianity had been well established in the area. Nonetheless, the heirs chose to stage the burial in a pre-Christian style. The question is of course, why? Another question would be: is this kind of retrospective burial practice a typical phenomenon during the introduction phase of Christianity in Mälaren region?
The project is a collaboration between archaeology and the history of religions. As a theoretical framework, we are trying to implement the modern concept of hybridity. Thus, rather than identifying individuals as either Christian or Pagan, many of them should more properly be characterized as both! This new approach might contribute to our understanding of religious identity."
Projektbeskrivning (2011):
Projektet ”Det långa skiftet” avser att etablera ett tvärvetenskapligt forskarsamtal rörande den tid som i Mälarområdet representerar kristendomens introduktion, integration och institutionalisering i lokalsamhället. Ett nytt arkeologiskt källmaterial och ny forskning ger en unik möjlighet att studera den ideologiska och mentalitetsmässiga förändringsprocess som kristnandet innebar, även ur ett underifrånperspektiv - ur ett gårds- och hushållsperspektiv. Det långa skiftets spänningsfält avser således att söka belysa en livstolkningsprocess, som inte enkelt låter sig beskrivas under ordparet ”från – till”. Genom det tvärvetenskapliga samtalet är projektets mål att komma närmare en förståelse för enskilda människors strategier både i förhållande till den omfattande förändring som religionsskiftet innebar och i förhållande till den ”stora” politiska processen i deras omvärld. Frågeställningarna kommer således att röra sig i spänningsfältet mellan aktörskap på olika samhällsnivåer, och uttryck för kontinuitet och diskontinuitet i fråga om den gamla seden och den nya kristna tolkningsmodellen. Med hänvisning till källäget har projektet Mälar-området som sin utgångspunkt, men med förväntad relevans för studiet av kristnings-processen i ett nordiskt perspektiv.
Arbetsseminarier:
Projektet har under åren 2011-2013 genomfört de fyra heldags arbetsseminarier på Sigtunastiftelsen med 15 - 20 deltagare per tillfälle. Syftet med arbetsseminarierna har varit att med projektbeskrivningen som utgångspunkt belysa forskningsproblem som kan vara aktuella att lyfta fram på ett planerat avslutande symposium. Under de fyra arbetsseminarierna hölls sammanlagt 14 föredrag. En stor del av dagarna ägnades också åt samtal och diskussioner i större och mindre grupper. Deltagarna i arbetsseminarierna representerade följande ämnen: arkeologi, etnologi, kulturgeografi, missionshistoria, nordiska språk, osteologi, religionsvetenskap, kyrkohistoria, religionshistoria, runologi och teologi.
Bok och symposium:
Inför ett planerat avslutande symposium pågår arbetet med en bok med problematiserande artiklar om Det långa skiftet, de flesta skrivna av deltagarna i arbetsseminarierna. Denna beräknas utkomma våren 2016.
I projektets ledningsgrupp ingår:
Ola Kyhlberg, professor emeritus, Inst. för arkeologi och antikens historia, Uppsala univ.
Sten Tesch projektledare – fil.dr. arkeolog/forskare, f.d. chef för Sigtuna Museum, Sigtuna
Gunnar Weman, teol.dr, ärkebiskop emeritus, Sigtuna
Följande artikel utgjorde det inledande föredraget på det första arbetsseminariet 2011.
The aim of the project: This report on the situation of urban archaeology in Ystad is written as part of the project The Medieval Town: Implications of Early Urbanization for Modem Planning, under the auspices of Riksantikvarieämbetet and Statens historiska museer. The aim of the project is to make a detailed survey and documentation of the situation of urban archaeology and its implications for physical planning and make a scholarly evaluation of the uncovered material. The project deals mainly with those places which obtained sense during the Middle Ages.
The arrangement of the report: Chapters 1 and 2 give an account of a number of data which in various ways are important for the early development of the town. The information is collected from available literature (mainly as regards documentary material) as well as from primary material in the archives (archaeological data, records from borings). In the firstmentioned case no attempt has been made to correct possible faults through independent research. As regards the archaeological material, the aim has been to include all archaeological observations, even if for different reasons this has not always been possible.
One important aim during work on the report has been to appraise and evaluate the archaeological material and to what extent it throws light on essential problems concerning urban history. The basic idea is that archaeological material can provide information about chronology, function, social structure and economic bases. The material has been arranged on the assumption that the form of settlement which took place and is reflected in the archaeological material is the result of a functional adaption to certain decisive prerequisites such as topography, communications, and economical-geographical conditions.
The data have been chosen and structured on this basis. The selection gives both a general view of the available material concerning the development of the medieval town and a basis for further work on this material. This in turn will provide a foundation for the antiquarian evaluation in relation to future work.
The English summary gives a broad outline of the contents, mainly based on the maps of the report. [...]
English summary pp. 156–159.
Abstract
Introduction: The town of Ystad has been dealt with previously in a report published by the project The Medieval Town. The report included a survey of the archaeological situation within the boundaries of the medieval town and an analysis of the topography, the street system and the development of the built-up area. It contained no detailed analysis of the factors behind the rise of the town. The intention was to save this part for an extended study of the hinterland.
Most of the Scanian towns which developed along the coast in the 13th century appear to have shared similar geographical and economical conditions and the existence of a borough in the surrounding countryside. It is possible that a study of the hinterland of one such town and the adjoining countryside can elucidate at least some general trends in the growth of several of these towns.
With regard to Scanian conditions generally, the Ystad region is comparatively well suited for a study of the hinterland as it comprises:
1. a geographically well delimited countryside (a central territory) within the larger region of south-Scania.
2. by Scanian standards a comparatively large number of recorded prehistoric monuments, including runic stones, which also indicate a delimited countryside in prehistoric times.
3. a rich material from archaeological excavations.
4. research in progress and a recently started (July 1st, 1982) interdepartemental research project at Lund University: "The Ystad Project - changes in the South Swedish cultural landscape during 6000 years".
The fact that the Ystad project will deal with the same geographical region as the present study of the hinterland, makes this a convenient opportunity to summarize the information which has been collected previously, on the one hand through the excavations carried out by the regional branch (UV-Syd) of the Central Board of National Antiquities (Riksantikvarieämbetet) and on the other through the surveys made in connection with the project The Medieval Town.
The aim of the present study of the hinterland is:
a) to present a detailed analysis of the factors behind the development of the town of Ystad.
b) to establish a base for the Ystad project and use this to present certain problems for continued research in the region.
The study of the hinterland is to a certain extent presented in a way which is similar to that of the reports on the towns, containing an introductory presentation of the background and a concluding analysis. The part inbetween, concerned with the collection of data, is left out here but several sources of information are presented in the analytical part, including a series of maps showing the known prehistoric remains from different periods (figs 21, 23, 24, 31, 35, 46).
As in the case of the town reports the presentation is concluded by giving a perspective on future research as well as other kinds of archaeological and historical activity in the Ystad region. [...]
The Swedish project The Medieval town - subtitled The consequences of the early urbanization process for modern city planning - started in 1976. Cultural layers in towns had at that time almost no legal support in the The law of Ancient monuments (Forminneslagen) as they now have in The Law of Cultural Heritage (Kulturminneslagen 1988). It was therefore, before the new law, a large antiquarian problem and irreplaceable cultural heritage was disappearing without any archaeological excavations had been made. The Medieval town project was headed by the Swedish National Heritage Board, with funding from eg. the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation. All archaeological excavations in 77 Swedish medieval towns (including the originally Danish towns in Scania, Halland and Blekinge) were surveyed and registered and for each town a report was published. The town of Ystad in Scania in southern Sweden was surveyed by the author for three months 1980-1981. Two reports, Ystad I and Ystad II – an archaeological study of the hinterland before the town, were published in 1983.
This publication - Ystad revisited - is an evaluation of the archaeological situation in Ystad - thirty years after the Medieval town project. The publication contains four perspectives: an antiquarian, an archaeological, a scientific and finally a contemporary perspective. The evaluation shows that, in comparison with many other medieval towns in Sweden, rather few archaeological excavations have been made in Ystad during the last thirty years. The most recent relatively large archaeological excavations were made as far back as 1984 and 1986. The background to this situation and the implications for the research on the medieval town Ystad are discussed. Some archaeological issues are highlighted. For instance the clay-lined pits which are connected with the extensive seasonal herring fishing in the 12th century, before the town was founded. Another interesting, and unexpected, finding is a very large and wide 14th century moat laid out in the western part of the medieval town. GISmaps showing all archaeological excavations in Ystad are included in the report. The contemporary perspective discusses whether the earlier romantic image of Ystad as a ”well preserved town with half-timbered houses and medieval charm” has changed during these thirty years. And finally - how has the success of the Wallander crime novels and all (c. 50) films shot in Ystad and vicinity affected this image?
Ystad Revisited
av Sten Tesch
”Projektet Medeltidsstaden” – med undertiteln ”Den tidiga urbaniseringens konsekvenser för modern stadsplanering” startade 1976. När projektet inleddes hade kul-turlager i städer inte något lagligt skydd i Fornminneslagen. Det kom först i och med Kulturminneslagen 1988 (sedan 1/1 2014 Kulturmiljölagen). Det var därför ett stort antikvariskt problem att medeltida kulturlager togs bort utan föregående arkeologisk undersökning. Projektet Medeltidsstaden bidrog i hög grad till att förändra den situationen. Projektet, som drevs av Riksantikvarieämbetet och Statens historiska museer, med finansiering från Riksbankens Jubileumsfond och Humanistiska Samhälls-vetenskapliga forskningsrådet (HSFR), pågick under åren 1976-1984.
I Sverige finns 77 städer med medeltida ursprung. Det arkeologiska materialet i dessa städer inventerades och utvärderades i en rapport - en för varje stad. I projektet ingick även de tidigare danska medeltida städerna i Skåne, Halland och Blekinge. Ystad inventerades av författaren till föreliggande skrift under tre månader 1980-81. Till skillnad från övriga städer gjordes två rapporter för Ystad, en om själva staden (Ystad I) och en omlandsstudie om Ystadbygden före Ystad (Ystad II). Båda rapporterna utkom 1983.
Skriften Ystad Revisited är en utvärdering av det arkeologiska materialet i Ystad – trettio år efter projektet Medeltidsstaden. Utvärderingen visar att det i Ystad under denna period gjorts förhållandevis få arkeologiska undersökningar, jämfört med många andra medeltida städer i Sverige. Anmärkningsvärt är att det inte genomförts någon mer omfattande utgrävning sedan 1986. I skriften diskuteras orsakerna till detta och vad det inneburit för forskningen om medeltidsstaden Ystad.
Alla arkeologiska undersökningar i Ystad redovisas på tre GIS-kartor och i en bilaga.
I rapporten uppmärksammas särskilt två företeelser, dels de s.k. lerbottnarna dels upptäckten av en tidigare helt okänd vallgrav nästan mitt i staden.
Lerbottnarna hänger samman med det säsongsmässiga fiske som föregick staden, när sillen gick till på 1100-talet och stod så tät att man kunde fånga den med bara händerna, som en senare 1200-talskälla uttrycker det. Lerbottnar är trågliknande lerklädda gropar i sanden. De kan vara från en till flera meter stora. Lerbottnarnas funktion har diskuterats livligt i mer än trettio år och någon konsensus i denna fråga har ännu inte uppnåtts. I skriften aktualiseras en nygammal tolkning.
Vid en arkeologisk undersökning i kv. Pernilla 1984 - endast ett hundratal meter väster om Mariakyrkan - gjordes en mycket oväntad upptäckt då en vallgrav som var 15 meter bred och 1,5 meter djup framkom. Vallgraven inramade en 20x50 meter stor rektangulär holme. Även om graven var betydligt bredare och djupare än de vallgravar som omger de flesta borgar i Skåne - inklusive borgen i kv. Vallgraven i Ystad – kan det diskuteras om det rör sig om ett planerat borgbygge. Därtill är holmen troligtvis för smal. Kanske har man i stället planerat för någon form av förindustriell verksamhet baserad på vattenkvarnar i denna del av staden. När graven grävdes i mitten av 1300-talet låg här ett blomstrande stadskvarter, som då måste ha avhysts. Trots denna omfattande stadsplaneförändring och det stora arbetsföretag som igångsatts dröjde det inte lång tid innan graven lades igen. Det krävdes åtskilliga lass med sand för att åstadkomma detta. Uppskattningsvis bör det ha rört sig om ca 5000 kubikmeter motsvarande ca 500 lastbilslass. Allt är mycket gåtfullt. Troligtvis har dessa beslut, både att gräva graven och att sedan lägga igen den, fattats på en nivå som låg över den ”kommunala”.
Skriften avslutas med ett samtidsperspektiv där den tidigare romantiska bilden av Ystad - som ”Den välbevarade korsvirkesstaden med medeltida charm” - diskuteras. Har denna bild förändrats under de senaste trettio åren och har Wallanderturismen och de runt femtio filmer som spelats in i Ystad med omnejd påverkat denna bild är frågor som ställs.
Skriften Ystad Revisited – med undertiteln Nya arkeologiska perspektiv på ett gam-malt sjörövare- och lurendrejarenäste, trettio år efter Projektet Medeltidsstaden – är i A4-format och inlagan omfattar 98 sidor. Skriften är utgiven (2014) av Sten Tesch ARKISTORIA.
Sten Tesch har tidigare arbetat som arkeolog på Riksantikvarieämbetet (1967-85) och som chef för Sigtuna Museum (1985-2010). Disputerade 1993 på en avhandling i arkeologi om Stora Köpingebygden (öster om Ystad) och dess bebyggelsehistoria under förhistorisk tid. Var även delprojektledare i Ystadprojektet - kulturlandskapet under 6000 år vid Lunds universitet (1982-90).
Ekonomiskt stöd har erhållits från Anders Althins Stiftelse och Kungl. Patriotiska Sällskapet.
Ystad Revisted kan beställas från:
Sten Tesch
Skyttegatan 47
19332 SIGTUNA
sten.tesch@gmail.com
0733502229
Priset är 100 kronor exklusive porto och emballage.
A Regional Study of Prehistoric Settlements in the Köpinge
Area, in Scania, Southern Sweden
Akademisk avhandling, som för avläggande av filosofie doktorsexamen vid Universitetet i Uppsala kommer offentligt att försvaras i föreläsningssalen å Gustavianum, Uppsala,
fredagen den 5 november 1993 kl. 10.
ABSTRACT
Tesch, S. 1993. Houses, Farmsteads, and Long-term Change. A Regional Study of Prehistoric Settlements in the Köpinge Area, in Scania, Southern Sweden,. 232 pp., 22 Tables, 107 Figs., 13 Plates. ISBN 91-506-0996-3.
This thesis contains three separate studies of prehistoric settlements and houses excavated in the Köpinge area east of the town of Ystad between1975-1985. These studies were made in connection with the interdisciplinary project "The cultural land-
scape during 6000 years in southern Sweden" - the Ystad Project. The source material consists of 58 excavations of habitation sites, most of them from a limited area of a few square kilometres in the parish of Stora Köpinge. In the preceding years the major part of the parish had been phosphate-mapped; the method proved to be an excellent instrument for discovering prehistoric habitation sites in a fully tilled landscape.
The aim of my work has been to describe settlement development and patterns in a central area with continuous occupation - the Ystad plain. Of particular importance was the analysis of the relationship between changes in settlement and changes
in the cultural landscape in a long-term perspective.
The house material consists of over one hundred long-houses and around fifty sunken-floor huts. Since the house material is both chronologically representative and geographically limited, it has proved highly suitable for establishing a local house typology. This typology made it possible to stratify the remains of the habitation sites, which was important when settlement development was to be analysed.The present study of the typological development of the long-houses is one of the first attempts in Scandinavia to draw up a local house typology to cover the whole agrarian prehistory or 5000 years. An important question of source criticism concerns dating problems, for example, the representativeness of 14C samples and the reliability of the datings. Another important question concerns contemporaneity or continuity.
The aim of this dissertation is to use these three studies to emphasize the potential of archaeological house studies to illuminate and explain social and ideological conditions in prehistory.
Keywords: multiperiod, settlement archaeology, fieldwork & documentation, phosphate mapping, 14C samples, settlement patterns, prehistoric agriculture, expansion and regression, long-houses, house typology, village formation, toft.
The book can be bought from adlibris.com (227 Sw. crowns)]
Utgångspunkt för denna antologi om Mälarområdets kristnande är en seminarieserie med rubriken ”Det långa skiftet – ett forskarmöte om kristnandet och lokalsamhället under vikingatid och medeltid ur ett Mälardalsperspektiv” på Sigtunastiftelsen 2011–2013. Deltog gjorde forskare från olika discipliner – arkeologi, historia, runforskning, religionshistoria, ecklesiologi och teologi – intresserade av att diskutera detta specifika forskningsproblem. De flesta av bidragen är skrivna av de forskare som medverkade med föredrag eller deltog i denna seminarieserie. Snarare än svar på hur skiftet fick sin religiöst organisatoriska form, är bokens syfte att med sina tretton enskilda bidrag problematisera och öppna för ett fortsatt fördjupat samtal.
Se innehållsförteckning och förord/projektbeskrivning i bifogade pdf.
Projektledning: professor em. Ola Kyhlberg, ärkebiskop em. Teol.dr. Gunnar Weman och Fil.dr. Sten Tesch, museichef em. i Sigtuna.
Boken SKIFTET (310 sidor) utgavs på Artos förlag i april 2017.
Boken kan bl.a. köpas på adlibris.com för 227 kronor.