<p>Under åren 1977–89 bedrev arkeologiska institutionen vid Umeå universitet en forskningsundersökning av en boplats från äldre järnålder på Genesmon i Själevad socken, norra Ångermanland. Under åren 1991–99 rekonstruerades delar av gården i Gene fornby, ett hundratal meter därifrån. Denna avhandling behandlar uppbyggnad och inredning av ett av gårdens långhus, hus II, samt den treskeppiga byggnadstypens konstruktion och funktion i en större kontext. Syftet med avhandlingen är att beskriva växelverkan mellan teori och praktik i rekonstruktion, att beskriva rekonstruktionsarbete som en föränderlig förklarings- och förståelseprocess samt att undersöka om rekonstruktion kan bidra till ökad förståelse av arkeologiska huslämningar. Efter nära 5000 års dominans i södra och mellersta Skandinavien upphör långhusen att vara det allmänna byggnadsskicket i slutet av yngre järnålder. Varför detta sker blev en viktig fråga för förståelsen av byggnadstypen.</p><p>En hermeneutisk modell används för att beskriva hur tolkningarna under rekonstruktionsarbetet kom att inverka på varandra i en serie av samverkande eller motverkande förklaringar till den arkeologiska lämningen. Utifrån arkeologiska och skriftliga källor beskrivs därefter indelning och inredning av långhuset i sju rumsfunktioner som kan benämnas bur, önd, skåle, fjös, stall, lada och eldhus. Eldens roll, hedersplatsens placering och byggnadstypens förändring i Island blev viktiga delar för att förstå byggnadens ideologiska betydelse. Genom flera experiment med uppvärmning har lösningar sökts på problem med en rökig bostadsmiljö. Erfarenheterna leder slutligen fram till ett förslag på lösning som också illustrerar hur påtagligt förebilden kom att styra tolkningsarbetet.</p><p>Rekonstruktionsarbetet ledde till resultat av olika karaktär: dels erfarenheter om konstruktion, funktion samt material - och tidsåtgång för uppförande av den specifika huslämningen hus II och dels nya generella frågor och ny kunskap som ökar förståelsen kring den treskeppiga byggnadstypen. Långsträckt form, takbärande stolpar, mitthärd och relation till kult och ideologi föreslås som karaktäristiska element för byggnadstypen över tid och rum och byggnadens relation till ideologi föreslås som en av förklaringarna till varför långhusen försvinner i samband med kristnandet. När övergången till ett nytt byggnadsskick med ramverkshus sker under vikingatidens slutskede diskuteras den politiska och kyrkliga makten som styrande till dessa genomgripande förändringar.</p> / <p>During the years of 1977-89 the Department of Archaeology at Umeå University conducted a scientific investigation of an Early Iron Age settlement at Genesmon in the parish of Själevad, northern Ångermanland. Subsequently, during the years 1991-99 parts of the farm were reconstructed at Gene Fornby, a couple of hundred meters away from the site. This thesis deals with the construction and furnishing of one of the farm’s longhouses (House II), and the wider context of the construction and function of the “three-aisled” building type. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the interaction between theory and practice in reconstruction, to describe the reconstruction process as a constantly changing process of explanation and understanding, and to investigate as to whether reconstructions can contribute to an increased understanding of archaeological house remains. At the end of the Late Iron Age, after nearly 5000 years of dominance in Southern and Central Scandinavia, the longhouse ceases to be the dominant form of construction. Understanding why this happened became an important problem in this work. </p><p>During the reconstruction work, different interpretations influenced one another in a series of positive and negative feedbacks into the explanations of the archaeological remains. A hermeneutic model is used to describe this phenomenon. From archaeological and written sources, division and furnishing of the long-houses can be described in terms of seven room functions. These can be classified as storage bur, porch önd, living room skåle, byre fjös, stable stall, barn lada and rough kitchen eldhus. In order to understand the ideological meaning of the buildings the role of the fire, the placement of the seat of honour and the change in the type of building in Iceland became important parts of this study. Numerous heating experiments have been undertaken in order to try to solve the problem of excessive smoke within the building. The experiments finally led to a possible solution that also serves to illustrate just how the model itself came to influence the process of interpretation.</p><p>The reconstruction work led to results of different character: partly data on construction, function and materials – and the time frame for the construction of House II from its archaeological remains; and partly knowledge and new theories which increase our understanding of the three-aisled building form. The elongated form, roof supporting poles, central hearth and a close association with ritual and ideology are suggested as characteristic elements for this type of construction, throughout its chronological and spatial extent. The relationship between the building and Norse ideologies is suggested as one of the explanations for the longhouse’s dissappearance with the introduction of Christianity. At the end of the Viking Age, there is a transition into a new framework based method of construction, and the political and ecclesiastical authorities are discussed as having governed these widespread changes.</p>

Under åren 1977–89 bedrev arkeologiska institutionen vid Umeå universitet en forskningsundersökning av en boplats från äldre järnålder på Genesmon i Själevad socken, norra Ångermanland. Under åren 1991–99 rekonstruerades delar av gården i Gene fornby, ett hundratal meter därifrån. Denna avhandling behandlar uppbyggnad och inredning av ett av gårdens långhus, hus II, samt den treskeppiga byggnadstypens konstruktion och funktion i en större kontext. Syftet med avhandlingen är att beskriva växelverkan mellan teori och praktik i rekonstruktion, att beskriva rekonstruktionsarbete som en föränderlig förklarings- och förståelseprocess samt att undersöka om rekonstruktion kan bidra till ökad förståelse av arkeologiska huslämningar. Efter nära 5000 års dominans i södra och mellersta Skandinavien upphör långhusen att vara det allmänna byggnadsskicket i slutet av yngre järnålder. Varför detta sker blev en viktig fråga för förståelsen av byggnadstypen. En hermeneutisk modell används för att beskriva hur tolkningarna under rekonstruktionsarbetet kom att inverka på varandra i en serie av samverkande eller motverkande förklaringar till den arkeologiska lämningen. Utifrån arkeologiska och skriftliga källor beskrivs därefter indelning och inredning av långhuset i sju rumsfunktioner som kan benämnas bur, önd, skåle, fjös, stall, lada och eldhus. Eldens roll, hedersplatsens placering och byggnadstypens förändring i Island blev viktiga delar för att förstå byggnadens ideologiska betydelse. Genom flera experiment med uppvärmning har lösningar sökts på problem med en rökig bostadsmiljö. Erfarenheterna leder slutligen fram till ett förslag på lösning som också illustrerar hur påtagligt förebilden kom att styra tolkningsarbetet. Rekonstruktionsarbetet ledde till resultat av olika karaktär: dels erfarenheter om konstruktion, funktion samt material - och tidsåtgång för uppförande av den specifika huslämningen hus II och dels nya generella frågor och ny kunskap som ökar förståelsen kring den treskeppiga byggnadstypen. Långsträckt form, takbärande stolpar, mitthärd och relation till kult och ideologi föreslås som karaktäristiska element för byggnadstypen över tid och rum och byggnadens relation till ideologi föreslås som en av förklaringarna till varför långhusen försvinner i samband med kristnandet. När övergången till ett nytt byggnadsskick med ramverkshus sker under vikingatidens slutskede diskuteras den politiska och kyrkliga makten som styrande till dessa genomgripande förändringar. / During the years of 1977-89 the Department of Archaeology at Umeå University conducted a scientific investigation of an Early Iron Age settlement at Genesmon in the parish of Själevad, northern Ångermanland. Subsequently, during the years 1991-99 parts of the farm were reconstructed at Gene Fornby, a couple of hundred meters away from the site. This thesis deals with the construction and furnishing of one of the farm’s longhouses (House II), and the wider context of the construction and function of the “three-aisled” building type. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the interaction between theory and practice in reconstruction, to describe the reconstruction process as a constantly changing process of explanation and understanding, and to investigate as to whether reconstructions can contribute to an increased understanding of archaeological house remains. At the end of the Late Iron Age, after nearly 5000 years of dominance in Southern and Central Scandinavia, the longhouse ceases to be the dominant form of construction. Understanding why this happened became an important problem in this work. During the reconstruction work, different interpretations influenced one another in a series of positive and negative feedbacks into the explanations of the archaeological remains. A hermeneutic model is used to describe this phenomenon. From archaeological and written sources, division and furnishing of the long-houses can be described in terms of seven room functions. These can be classified as storage bur, porch önd, living room skåle, byre fjös, stable stall, barn lada and rough kitchen eldhus. In order to understand the ideological meaning of the buildings the role of the fire, the placement of the seat of honour and the change in the type of building in Iceland became important parts of this study. Numerous heating experiments have been undertaken in order to try to solve the problem of excessive smoke within the building. The experiments finally led to a possible solution that also serves to illustrate just how the model itself came to influence the process of interpretation. The reconstruction work led to results of different character: partly data on construction, function and materials – and the time frame for the construction of House II from its archaeological remains; and partly knowledge and new theories which increase our understanding of the three-aisled building form. The elongated form, roof supporting poles, central hearth and a close association with ritual and ideology are suggested as characteristic elements for this type of construction, throughout its chronological and spatial extent. The relationship between the building and Norse ideologies is suggested as one of the explanations for the longhouse’s dissappearance with the introduction of Christianity. At the end of the Viking Age, there is a transition into a new framework based method of construction, and the political and ecclesiastical authorities are discussed as having governed these widespread changes.

Thesis--Universität Kiel, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 357-386).

The Íslendingasögur, written in Iceland in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, primarily describe the lives of Icelanders during the tenth and eleventh centuries. Many of these lives involve encounters with foreign peoples, both abroad and in Iceland, who are portrayed according to stereotypes which vary depending on the origins of those people. Notably, inhabitants of the places identified in the sagas as Írland, Skotland and Vínland are portrayed as being less civilized than the Icelanders themselves. This thesis explores the ways in which the Íslendingasögur emphasize this relative barbarity through descriptions of diet, material culture, style of warfare, and character. These characteristics are discussed in relation to parallel descriptions of Icelandic characters and lifestyle within the Íslendingasögur, and also in the context of a tradition in contemporary European literature which portrayed the Icelanders themselves as barbaric. Innovatively, comparisons are made with descriptions of barbarians in classical Roman texts, primarily Sallust, but also Caesar and Tacitus. Taking into account the availability and significance of classical learning in medieval Iceland, the comparison with Roman texts yields striking similarities between Roman and Icelandic ideas about barbarians. It is argued that the depiction of foreigners in the Íslendingasögur is almost identical to that of ancient Roman authors, and that the medieval Icelanders had both means and motive to use Roman ideas for inspiration in their own portrayal of the world. Ultimately it is argued that when the medieval Icelanders contemplated the peoples their Viking Age ancestors encountered around the world, they drew on classical ideas of the barbarian to complement the mix of oral tradition, literary inspiration and contemporary circumstance that otherwise form the Íslendingasögur.

No description available.

The background of the study is that humans’ relationship to the nature and animals is not universal and is based on critical archeology and reflexive thinking. Previous researchers have interpreted the animals in graves as food offerings or a communication meal, where the horse is highlighted as a prominent symbol of power, prosperity, alliances, and aristocracy. Researchers have also compared animal style ornaments with Icelandic Sagas, and they connect humans and animals to transformation, metamorphoses, and hybridity. The interpretations in this context are based on the animals´ contemporary function and modern views. By studying the materials more closely, it turned out that the bones of humans and animals have been mixed in the graves. In the animal style ornamentation, there are often mixtures between humans and animals, and so also in the Icelandic Sagas. This indicates that the ancient humans intended to recreate mixtures between humans and animals in the materials. The study also links to the anthropological terms totenism and animism, to show that humans’ relationship to animals differs, and that it is not always the same as the modern view.

This thesis argues that the corpus of Old Norse-Icelandic literature which pertains to Iceland contains an intertextual narrative of the formation of Icelandic identity. An analysis of this narrative provides an opportunity to examine the relationship between literature and identity, as well as the potency of the artistic use of the idea of the past. The thesis identifies three salient narratives of communal action which inform the development of a discrete Icelandic identity, and which are examined in turn in the first three chapters of the thesis. The first is the landnám, the process of settlement itself; the second, the origin and evolution of the law; and the third, the assimilation and adaptation of Christianity. Although the roots of these narratives are doubtless historical, the thesis argues that their primary roles in the literature are as social myths, narratives whose literal truth- value is immaterial, but whose cultural symbolism is of overriding importance. The fourth chapter examines the depiction of the Icelander abroad, and uses the idiom of the relationship between þáttr (‘tale’) and surrounding text in the compilation of sagas of Norwegian kings Morkinskinna to consider the wider implications of the relationship between Icelandic and Norwegian identities. Finally, the thesis concludes with an analysis of the role of Sturlunga saga within this intertextual narrative, and its function as a set of narratives mediating between an identity grounded in social autonomy and one grounded in literature. The Íslendingasögur or ‘family sagas’ constitute the core of the thesis’s primary sources, for their subject-matter is focussed on the literary depiction of the Icelandic society under scrutiny. In order to demonstrate a continuity of engagement with ideas of identity across genres, a sample of other Icelandic texts are examined which depict Iceland or Icelanders, especially when in interaction with non-Icelandic characters or polities.