Slöinge
Project

Slöinge Home

Project
Excavation
Landscape
Methods
Halls
Guldgubbar
Finds
Mapping
1996-2000

References

Iron Age Home

A substantial number of agrarian settlements has been excavated in the province of Halland (Southwest Sweden). It wasn´t until 1992 that we got the possibility to learn more about the settlements of the Iron Age elité. This was made possible due to the discovery of the Slöinge site by an amateur archaeologist. Since then a few minor excavations and a number of field surveys have revealed a settlement and cemetery complex, covering more than 50 000 sq. meters.

The settlement remains can preliminary be dated to the Late Iron Age (c. AD 375-1000). The material culture show that we are dealing with an extraordinary wealthy settlement. Gold and silver objects occur together with imports (glass beakers). Other rare finds are those of specialized production: glass beads manufacturing, gold, silver and bronze crafts, as well as working of garnets and amber. All these elements are typical for central places, recently excvaated in South Scandinavia.

The Slöinge site clearly differs from what we know about Iron Age settlements in the region. Like many other south Scandinavian rich settlements there are above all the the aristocratic objects in association with large buildings that display what kind of people we are dealing with. But also the way this people localized their settlement was significant for the manifestation of power in the Late Iron Age landscape.

One of the objects in the Slöinge Project is to survey the adjacent area in order to build models for the settlement structure within the nearest neighborhood. The results so far shows that the Slöinge site is not isolated. There are indications of several Late Iron Age cemeteries and at least two settlements from the same period, within 1000 meters. The settlements are located at spots that can be described as "normal" for Late Bronze Age, Iron Age and historical settlements in the region, that is: at sandy soils surrounded by humid areas.

The SLÖINGE PROJECT aims to study an aristocratic settlement from the Late Iron Age. The Iron Age aristocracy was, until recently, only represented in stray finds and in rich burials in the western part of Sweden. The ongoing field work concentrates upon the site itself and its relation to surrounding settlements and cultural landscape. We hope to be able to find data that can be used for analyzing the development of the settlement and compared to neighboring, agrarian units.

Ill: Anders Andersson, RAÄ

Uppdaterad 2000-10-17 (96-02)
Lars Lundqvist