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This thesis analyses the relation between ship and society against a background of ideological and technological changes in Late Iron Age Sweden. It discusses the factors behind the development of 'a maritime society', why ships and seafaring came to play an important role that was also reflected in the use of the ship as a symbol and a metaphor in a military context, as well as in religion, administration, jurisdiction and social life. The author argues that this society is disappearing when it is first encountered in the Early Middle Ages, because of a fundamental ideological change. There is a myth about the appearance of the 'Viking ship' and the Iron Age seafarer. The ships are supposed to be big and wide. An analysis of the archaeological material presented here shows that this picture is not correct. Instead the ships of the Svear were quite small and built in a way that made them very light. This was a result of shipbuilding methods introduced in the Late Iron Age, and it had consequences for the trade communication network as well as for naval operations. Because of the light ships, it was possible to land on any shallow shore and navigate the shallow rivers in the East. The ship became a key symbol used by the authorities to structure the society for administrative and military purposes, using a terminology based on the Late Iron Age warship. In the Middle Ages, ideology, shipbuilding and seafaring changed. New key symbols were introduced, and they were used by an increasing royal power to consolidate what would become a united Sweden, inspired by feudal Europe.

This thesis examines the changes which occurred in the cultural landscapes of northwest Iberia, between the end of the Iron Age and the consolidation of the region by both the native elite and imperial authorities during the early Roman Empire. As a means to analyse the impact of Roman power on the native peoples of northwest Iberia five study areas in northern Portugal where chosen, which stretch from the mountainous region of Trás-os-Montes near the modern-day Spanish border, moving west to the Tâmega Valley and the Atlantic coastal area. The divergent physical environments, different social practices and political affinities which these diverse regions offer, coupled with differing levels of contact with the Roman world, form the basis for a comparative examination of the area. In seeking to analyse the transformations which took place between the Late pre-Roman Iron Age and the early Roman period historical, archaeological and anthropological approaches from within Iberian academia and beyond were analysed. From these debates, three key questions were formulated, focusing on the Late Iron Age settlement hierarchy, the impact of the administration of early Roman northwest Iberia on settlement patterns, and the relationship between the pre-Roman and Roman-period communication networks In addressing these issues through a series of landscape analyses, it was established that the so-called 'Castro Culture' of northwest Iberia was not homogonous, but structured according to diverse socio-political and environmental factors. In the early Roman period, a series of agricultural producers established themselves in fertile areas, resulting in settlement patterns which were located near communication routes and markets. Binding the landscape together were a series of central places, which were often adapted from pre-Roman settlements. Thus, the region's pre-Roman identity coupled with Roman practices, created a series of fusions of cultural identity, but from an economic perspective shared many of the agricultural practices common in other parts of the Roman empire.

The interpretation of Late Iron Age burial mounds often focuses exclusively on the discovered contents, the social identity or role of the interred and the economic and political implications that can be extracted. This article considers the mound itself as a basis for archaeological interpretation, and attempts to place substantial late Iron Age burial mounds within the landscape they are made of. Within these burial mounds internal references to time, place and the transformations and imbued associations within the earth-sourced materials are purposeful and significant. This is illustrated via comparable examples from southern Norway, and to add contrast, cases from the Viking Age Isle of Man will be explored. This article will outline why the selected mounds should be seen as closely related to each other in the references they contain, and how the materials used can be seen as a purposeful link to the land itself.

The settlement at Bornais consists of a complex of mounds which protrude from the relatively flat machair plain in the township of Bornais on the island of South Uist. This sandy plain has proved an attractive settlement from the Beaker period onwards; it appears to have been intensively occupied from the Late Bronze Age to the end of the Norse period. Mound 1 was the original location for settlement in this part of the machair plain; pre-Viking activity of some complexity is present and it is likely that the settlement activity started in the Middle Iron Age, if not earlier. The examination of the mound 1 deposits provides an important contribution to our understanding of the Iron Age sequence in the Atlantic province. The principal contribution comprises the large quantities of mammal, fish and bird bones, carbonised plant remains and pottery, which can be accurately dated to a fairly precise and narrow period in the 1st millennium AD. These are augmented by a substantial collection of small finds which included distinctive bone artefacts. The contextual significance of the site is based on the survival of floor deposits and a burnt-down roof; the floor deposits can be compared with abandonment and adjacent midden deposits providing contrasting contextual environments that help to clarify depositional processes. The burning down of the house and the excellent preservation of the deposits within it provide an unparalleled opportunity to examine the timber superstructure of the building and the layout of the material used by the inhabitants.

Metallurgical debris is by far the most informative source material for studying the metal craftsmanship of the past. In comparison to the finished objects, which has attracted far more attention in archaeological research, debris material are more or less confined to the original workshop sites and hence provide direct evidence as to production volume and quality, site organization, artisanal skill and operational sequences within the various crafts.On many sites throughout the "Metal Ages" evidence of both iron smithing and the use of non-ferrous metals can be found. Traditionally, a clear division between these types of crafts has been enforced in site interpretation, separating sites into ferrous versus non-ferrous workshop sites chronologically or spatially. However, the presence of, for instance, smithing slag cakes with droplets of Cu-alloy within their matrix as well as casting debris of both metals and ceramic materials in forges and smithing hearths challenges this strict division.The thesis project "From Crucible and onto Anvil" started in 2015 and focuses on sites housing remains of multimetal craftsmanship dating primarily from 500-1000 AD. Within the project a comprehensive survey of sites will be used to evaluate the presence of multimetal craftsmanship in the landscape based first and foremost on the metallurgical debris documented on or collected from them. Sites in selected target areas will be subject to intra-site analysis of their metallurgical remains focusing on workshop organisation, the array of metalworking techniques utilized and the chronological variances of multimetal craftsmanship.A primary aim in the project is to elucidate the conceptual aspects of complex metalworking. The term multimetality is used to analytically frame all the societal and cosmological aspects of metal craftsmanship. Through this inclusive perspective both the metal craftsmanship and the metalworkers behind it are positioned within the overall socioeconomic framework. The metalworkers, their skills and competences as well as the products of their labour are viewed as dynamic actors in the landscape and on the arenas of political economy of the Late Iron Age.This paper aims to present a few examples of the surveyed multimetal sites, discuss workshop reconstruction through metallurgical debris and present preliminary interpretations of the sites internal organisation and placement within the cultural landscape. Many of the sites surveyed so far are interpreted as open air workshops with a relatively long continuity ranging several generations of metalworkers. How is this to be interpreted? Where the multimetal craftsmanship undertaken of temporary character? And if so, why did the metalworkers continue to use the same workshop site for generations?The concept of multimetality and the possibilities to capture this elusive, yet crucial, element of multimetality and the possibilities to capture this elusive, yet crucial, element of metal craftsmanship through the study of metallurgical debris will also be discussed in the paper. The surveyed sites and the reconstruction of their internal workshop organisation will serves as examples of how multimetality was manifested on the sites and in the landscape.