Landscape and settlement in southern and middle Sweden: Changes around 800 BC against a European backdrop

• The beginning of the Iron Age (Hallstatt C) at c. 800 BC marked an important event in European prehistory. One part of this change involved the introduction of new kinds of death rituals including the horse and wagon complex. New studies also demonstrate the presence of important changes in the locations of settlements in various regions across Europe. The strong impact of Oscar Montelius’ chronological scheme for the Scandinavian Bronze Age (which confined this period as one which ended c. 500 BC) has prohibited the formulation of a comparative European perspective on the Scandinavian material. However, large-scale rescue excavations have clarified the period surrounding 800 BC as an important time which functioned as a division between the organization of agriculture, settlements and landscapes in south and middle Sweden. This paper reviews these results against a wider European backdrop.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi -- Arkeologi (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology -- Archaeology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Hallstatt C chronology

settlement organization

Bronze Age agriculture

800 BC landscape change

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kap (subject category)