Skagerrak and Kattegat in the Viking Age – borders and connecting links (original) (raw)
2014, Northern Worlds. Landscapes, interactions and dynamics. Publications from the National Museum. Studies in Archaeology and History vol. 22 (H.C. Gulløv ed.), pp. 307-317
Water, unlike dense forests or mountain regions, is often said to join rather than separate, and for Skagerrak and Kattegat this was no less true in prehistoric times than today. Nature in itself provides favourable conditions for interaction (social, economical, political or otherwise) between communities on either side of the two seas. In the Viking Age and in the early post-Viking Middle Ages the first written evidence of relations across the joint waters emerges. The sources are often brief, centering on the social and political elite. Additional information can instead be sought in archaeology, and the aim of this paper is to explore the material evidence of interaction across the Skagerrak and Kattegat following the basic assumption, that finds and the contexts in which they occur can be viewed both as concrete evidence of exchanges within the regional networks, and as a meaning-bearing and communicative element which could be applied actively in the efforts of individuals, groups or local communities to promote their interests. The paper sets focus on specific object types, such as selected metal artefacts originating in Denmark (or being transferred via Denmark) and valued raw materials from Norway and Sweden, and contemporary burial customs as potential evidence of local identities or common practices in the region.
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