Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T12:42:23.821Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Iron Age ritual building at Uppåkra, southern Sweden

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Lars Larsson
Lars Larsson*
Affiliation:
*Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University, Box 117, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden (Email: lars.larsson@ark.lu.se)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Six years ago we reported the discovery of a central place at Uppåkra in southern Sweden which promised to be unusually rich and informative (Hårdh 2000). At 40ha it already stood out as the largest concentration of residual phosphate in the whole province of Scania, with surface finds of Roman and late Iron Age metalwork (second-tenth century AD). Following this thorough evaluation, the project moved into its excavation phase which has brought to light several buildings of the first millennium AD, among them one that has proved truly exceptional. Its tall structure and numerous ornamented finds suggest an elaborate timber cult house. This is the first Scandinavian building for which the term ‘temple’ can be justly claimed and it is already sign-posting new directions for the early middle ages in northern Europe.

Keywords

ScandinaviaSwedenlate Iron AgeRomanMigration periodMerovingian periodViking periodritualreligiontemple
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 81 , Issue 311 , 1 March 2007 , pp. 11 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adam Of Bremen. History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen. Translated with an introduction and notes by Tschan, J. Francis. 1959. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Andersson, G., Jörpelan, L. Beronius, Dunér, J., Fritsch, S. & Skyllberg, E.. 2004. Att föra gudarnas talan (Riksantikvarieämbetet Arkeologiska Undersökningar Skrifter 55). Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet.Google Scholar
Andrén, A. 2002. Platsens betydelse. Norrön ritual och kultplatskontinuitet, in Jennbert, K., Andrén, A. & Raudvere, C. (ed.) Plats och praxis. Studier av nordisk förkristen ritual (Vägar till Midgård 2): 299–342. Lund: Nordic Academic Press.Google Scholar
Arrhenius, B & Eriksson, G. (ed.). 1997. SIV, Svealand i vendel- och vikingatid. Studier från delprojekten vid Stockholms universitet. Duplicate. Stockholm: Department of Archaeology.Google Scholar
Artursson, M. 2005. Böndernas hus, in Carlie, A. (ed.). Järnålder vid Öresund. Skånska spår – arkeologi längs Västkustbanan. Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet.Google Scholar
Beowulf. Translated by Alexander, M.. 1995. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Christensen, T. 1991. Lejre – syn og sagn. Roskilde: Roskilde Museums Forlag.Google Scholar
Fabech, L. 1994. Reading society from the cultural landscape. South Scandinavia between sacral and political power, in Nielsen, P. O., Randsborg, K. & Thrane, H. (ed.) The Archaeology of Gudme and Lundeborg. Papers presented at a conference at Sverdborg, October 1991: 169–83. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag.Google Scholar
Fabech, L. 1999. Centrality in sites and landscapes, in Fabech, C. & Ringtved, J. (ed.) Settlement and landscape. Proceedings of a conference in Århus, Denmark May 4-7 1998: 455–73. Aarhus: Jutland Archaeological Society.Google Scholar
Gräslund, A. 2001. Ideologi och mentalitet. Om religionsskiftet i Skandinavien från en arkeologisk horisont (Occational Papers in Archaeology 24). Uppsala: Department of Archeaology and Ancient History.Google Scholar
Hårdh, B. 2000. Uppåkra – a centre in south Sweden in the 1st millenium AD. Antiquity 74: 640–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hårdh, B. 2003. The contacts of the central place, in Larsson, L. & Hårdh, B. (ed.) Centrality – Regionality. The social structure of southern Sweden during the Iron Age (Uppåkrastudier 7/Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 40): 27–66. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Hårdh, B. 2004. The metal beaker with embossed foil bands, in Larsson, L. (ed.) Continuity for centuries. A ceremonial building and its context at Uppåkra, southern Sweden (Uppåkrastudier 10/Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 48): 49–91. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Hedeager, L. 1990. Danmarks jernalder. Mellem stamme og stat. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag.Google Scholar
Hedeager, L. 2000. Migration period Europe: the formation of a political mentality, in Theuws, F. & Nelson, J. L. (ed.) Rituals of power. From Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages: 15–57. Leiden: Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedeager, L. 2001. Asgard reconstructed? Gudme – a ‘central place’ in the North, in Jong, M. De & Theuws, F. (ed.) Topographies of Power in the Early Middle Ages: 467–507. Leiden: Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedeager, L. 2002. Scandinavian ‘central places’ in a cosmological setting, in Hårdh, B. & Larsson, L. (ed.) Central Places in the Migration and Merovingan Periods. Papers from the 52nd Sachsensymposium Lund, August 2001 (Uppåkrastudier 6/Acta Archaeologica Lundensia Series in 8°, 39): 3–18. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Helgesson, B. 2002. Järnålderns Skåne. Samhälle, centra och regioner (Uppåkrastudier 5/Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 38). Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Helgesson, B. 2004. Tributes to be spoken of. Sacrifice and warriors at Uppåkra, in Larsson, L. (ed.) Continuity for centuries. A ceremonial building and its context at Uppåkra, southern Sweden (Uppåkrastudier 10/Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 48): 223–39. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Herschend, F. (ed.). 1997. SIV, Svealand i vendel- och vikingatid. Studier från delprojekten vid Uppsala universitet. Duplicate. Uppsala: Department of Archaeology.Google Scholar
Herschend, F. 1997. Livet i hallen (Occasional Papers in Archaeology 14). Uppsala: Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens historia.Google Scholar
Herschend, F. 1998. The idea of the good in Late Iron Age society (Occasional Papers in Archaeology 15). Uppsala: Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens historia.Google Scholar
Hultkrantz, Å. 1991. Vem är vem i nordisk mytologi. Gestalter och äventyr i Eddans gudavärld. Stockholm: Prisma.Google Scholar
Ilkjær, J. 1990. Illerup Ådal 1. Die Lanzen und Speere. Textband (Jutland Archaeological Society Publications XXV:1). Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. Google Scholar
Jørgensen, L. 1998. En storgård fra vikingetid ved Tissø, Sjælland – en foreløbig præsentation, in Larsson, L. & Hårdh, B. (ed.) Centrala platser, centrala frågor. Samhällsstrukturen under Järnåldern (Uppåkrastudier 1/Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 28): 233–48. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Jørgensen, L. 2002. Kongsgård – kultsted – marked. Overvejelser omkring Tissøkompleksets struktur og funktion, in Jennbert, K.. Andrén, A. & Raudvere, C. (ed.) Plats och praxis. Studier av nordisk förkristen ritual (Vägar till Midgård 2): 215–47. Lund: Nordic Academic Press.Google Scholar
Larsson, L. 2001. A building for ritual use at Uppåkra, southernmost Sweden. Antiquity 75: 679–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsson, L. 2002. Uppåkra – research on a central place. Recent Excavations and Results, in Hårdh, B. & Larsson, L. (ed.) Central places in the Migration and Merovingian Periods. Papers from the 52nd Sachsensymposium Lund, August 2001 (Uppåkrastudier 6/Acta Archaeologica Lundensia Series in 8°, 39): 19–30. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Larsson, L. 2003. The Uppåkra Project. Preconditions, performance and prospects, in Larsson, L. & Hårdh, B. (ed.) Centrality – Regionality. The social structure of southern Sweden during the Iron Age (Uppåkrastudier 7/Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 40): 3–26. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Larsson, L. & Lenntorp, K.-M.. 2004. The enigmatic house, in Larsson, L. (ed.) Continuity for centuries. A ceremonial building and its context at Uppåkra, southern Sweden (Uppåkrastudier 10/Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 48): 3–48. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Lenntorp, K.-M. & Piltz-Williams, B.. 2002. Rapport. Arkeologisk förundersökning Stora Uppåkra 8:3, Fornlämning 5, Uppåkra socken, Staffanstorps kommun, Skåne län. Uppåkra 2002. Duplicate. Lund: Department of Archaeology.Google Scholar
Mortensen, P. & Rasmussen, B. M. (ed.). 1988. Fra Stamme til Stat i Danmark 1. Jernalderens stammesamfund (Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter XXII:1). Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. Google Scholar
Mortensen, P. & Rasmussen, B. M. (ed.). 1991. Fra Stamme til Stat i Danmark 2. Høvdingesamfund og Kongemagt (Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter XXII:2). Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. Google Scholar
Näsman, U. 1998. The Justinianic era of South Scandinavia: an archaeological view, in Hodges, R. & Bowden, W. (ed.) The Sixth Century. Production, Distribution and Demand: 255–78. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Näsman, U. 2000. Exchange and politics: the eighth-early ninth century in Denmark, in Hansen, I. Lyse & Wickham, C. (ed.) The long eighth century: 35–69. Leiden: Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Näsman, U. & Roesdahl, E.. 2003. Scandinavian and European perspectives – Borg I:1, in Munch, G. Stamsø, Johansen, O. S. & Roesdahl, E. (ed.) Borg in Lofoten. A chieftain's farm in north Norway: 283–99. Trondheim: Tapir Academic Press.Google Scholar
Nielsen, A.-L. 1997. Pagan cult and votive acts at Borg. An expression of the central significance of the farmstead in the Late Iron Age, in Andersson, H., Carelli, P. & Ersgård, L. (ed.) Visions of the past. Trends and traditions in Swedish medieval archaeology (Studies in Medieval Archaeology 19): 373–92. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Nordahl, L. 1996… . templum quod Ubsola dicitur … i arkeologisk belysning (AUN 22). Uppsala: Department of Archaeology and Ancient History.Google Scholar
Nordberg, A. 2003. Krigarna i Odins sal. Dödsföreställningar och krigarkult i fornnordisk religion. Stockholm: Religionshistoriska institutionen.Google Scholar
Olsen, O. 1966. Hørg, hov og kirke. Historiske og arkæologiske vikingetidsstudier. Aarbøger for nordisk oldkyndighed og historie 1965: 1–307.Google Scholar
The Poetic Edda. Translated by Larrington, C.. 1996. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Price, N. 2002. The Viking Way. Religion and War in Late Iron Age Scandinavia (AUN 31). Uppsala: Department of Archaeology and Ancient History.Google Scholar
Saxo Grammaticus. Danmarks Riges Krønike. Edited by Gruntvig, N.E.S.. 1924. Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Siemek, R. 1984. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer.Google Scholar
Snorri Sturluson. Edda. Translated by Faulkes, A.. 1997. London: Everyman.Google Scholar
Söderberg, B. 2005. Aristokratiskt rum och gränsöverskridande. Järrestad och sydöstra Skåne mellan region och rike 600-1100 (Riksantikvarieämbetet. Arkeologiska undersökningar Skrifter 62). Stockholm: Riksantikvarieämbetet.Google Scholar
Stjernquist, B. 1996. Uppåkra, a Central Place in Skåne during the Iron Age. Lund Archaeological Review 1995: 89–120.Google Scholar
Stjernquist, B. 1999. Glass from Uppåkra: A Preliminary Study of Finds and Problems, in Hårdh, B. (ed.), Fynden i centrum. Keramik, glas och metall från Uppåkra (Uppåkrastudier 2/Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 30): 67–94. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Stjernquist, B. 2004a. A Magnificent Glass Bowl from Uppåkra, in Larsson, L. (ed.) Continuity for centuries. A ceremonial building and its context at Uppåkra, southern Sweden (Uppåkrastudier 10/Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 48): 103–51. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Stjernquist, B. 2004b. A Glass Beaker with Cut Decoration, Found at Uppåkra, in Larsson, L. (ed.) Continuity for centuries. A ceremonial building and its context at Uppåkra, southern Sweden (Uppåkrastudier 10/Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 48): 152–66. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Sundqvist, O. 2002. Frey's Offsprings. Rulers and Religion in Ancient Svea Society (Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Historia Religonum 21). Uppsala.Google Scholar
Sundqvist, O. 2004. Uppsala och Asgård. Makt, offer och kosmos i forntida Skandinavien, in Andrén, A., Jennbert, K. & Raudvere, C. (ed.) Ordning mot kaos. Studier av nordisk förkristen kosmologi (Vägar till Midgård 4). Lund: Nordic Academic Press.Google Scholar
Vierck, H. 1981. Imitatio imperii und interpretatio Germania vor der Wikingerzeit, in Zeitler, R. (ed.) Les Pays du Nord et Byzance (Scandinavie et Byzance). Actes du colloque nordique et international de byzantinologie tenu à Uppsala 20-22 avril 1979: 64–113. Uppsala.Google Scholar
Vifot, B.-M. 1936. Järnåldersboplatsen vid Uppåkra. Meddelanden från Lunds universitets historiska museum 1936: 97–141.Google Scholar
Watt, M. 1991. Sorte Muld. Høvdingesæde og kultcentrum fra Bornholms yngre jernalder, in Mortensen, P. & Rasmussen, B. M. (ed.) Fra Stamme til Stat i Danmark 2. Høvdingesamfund og Kongemagt (Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter XXII:2): 89–106. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. Google Scholar
Watt, M. 2004. The gold-Figurefoils (“Guldgubbar”) from Uppåkra, in Larson, L. (ed.) Continuity for centuries. A ceremonial building and its context at Uppåkra, southern Sweden (Uppåkrastudier 10/Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 48): 167–221. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Zachrisson, T. 2004a. Det heliga på Helgö och dess kosmiska referenser, in Andrén, A., Jennbert, K. & Raudvere, C. (ed.) Ordning mot kaos. Studier av nordisk förkristen kosmologi (Vägar till Midgård 4): 243–87. Lund: Nordic Academic Press.Google Scholar
Zachrisson, T. 2004b. The holiness of Helgö, in Clarke, H. & Lamm, K. (ed.) Excavation at Helgö XVI. Exotic and Sacral Finds from Helgö: 143–75. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar