SKREA: SETTLEMENTS AND CONTINUITY

LATE BRONZE AGE & EARLY IRON AGE SETTLEMENTS IN HALLAND

Our knowledge of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements has improved drastically throughout the last 15 years. The main reason is the application of relevant excavation methods for the generally complex settlement sites.

The Skrea Project is based on experiences from previously excavated settlement sites in the middle and southern part of the province Halland (Falkenberg, Halmstad and Laholm). Although this material is not more than superficially analyzed, it´s obvious that we have a quantitatively sufficient material to make some basic conclusions regarding the nature and character of the settlements, their structure and chronology. This work is part of a more extensive study and below are a few results presented.

Character of settlements

In the province of Halland, in Southwest Sweden, excavations has revealed a large number of settlements from the Late Bronze Age (LBA, c. 1200 - 500 BC) and Early Iron Age (EIA, 500 BC - AD 400). Due to the last 50 years of intensive farming activities the state of preservation varies amongst the settlements. But despite this, it is possible to interpret those sites as "normal", agrarian units. Only one magnate farm is so far known in the area and belongs to the Late Iron Age (c. AD 375 - 1000) (The Slöinge Project). Many of the LBA-EIA settlements were established already c.1200 BC and therefore displays a relatively long continuity.

Localization of settlements

Settlements from the LBA/EIA are generally located at dry ridges, often forms of glacifluvial deposits or other self draining soil types. Those dry areas, used for living and farming purposes, were surrounded by vast grounds consisting of heavier soil types, suitable for grazing and hay crops. This seems to be the most suitable composition of soil types for the farming system. It´s therefore fairly easy to foresee where one can expect to find settlements from the period in question. These zones in the landscape have attracted people for a very long period. Some of the partly excavated settlements have been used up to 1500-2000 years, some even longer (Neolithic pottery, flint tools and huts occur, but not as manifest as the remains from the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age).

There is a second type of settlements being smaller than those described above and also used more sporadically, especially during the Pre Roman Iron Age (500 - 0 BC). They are also located in different landscape zones, for example on small ridges in otherwise wet areas or in area with a relatively small scaled landscape. These settlements represent a different way of exploiting the landscape and we have not yet fully understood the relationship between those smaller settlements and the larger sites with long duration.

Continuity

We have already touched upon the notion of continuity. There's no doubt that we are dealing with settlements in southern Halland that display different duration. We can preliminary define three different types of settlement according to localization and duration:

Settlement type	Late Bronze Age	Pre- Roman Iron A	Roman Iron Age	Migra- tion Period	Vendel Period	Viking Age	Early Mediev.
I	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
II	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
III	.	.	.	.	.	.	.

Without doubt a radical change in settlement pattern took place during the late Migration Period or early Vendel period (AD 5-6 Th. C.). The change can be described as a lack of spatial continuity for many settlements. There is no doubt that this reflects the establishment of a new settlement structure. The agrarian landscape is also going through a major restructuration.

A wide range of explanations have been put forward to explain those changes: migrations, pestilence etc. Recently the attention has been drawn to internal factors like the introduction of new agricultural techniques and the emergence of more complex farming units (sw. bybildning) within the framework of the emergence of a more complex society. There seems to be an agreement amongst scholars that the changes are profound and that the development needs to be scrutinized from different perspectives, involving different disciplines.

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