Diss. Linköping : Linköpings universitet, 2006.

The essay deals with the early archaeology in Sweden during the 17th and 18th centuries in generally and with Henric Jacob Sivers excavations at Skrickerum in particularly. In the medieval, Christian Sweden, the relics from the antiquity was considered merely as symbols of the heathen past  but with the foundation of Sweden as a united kingdom they awoke interest as symbols for the nation and were used as tools in the nation building. The interpretation of the antiquity and the ancient relics where done with the Bible and the ancient writers of Greece and Rome as guides and sources. With the new scientific approach, inspired by the Enlightenment, the Swedish antiquity and its relics gained other meanings and understandings and during the early 19th century Swedish archaeology developed into a scientific subject. The aim of this essay is to retain a deeper understanding for how Swedish antiquity was looked upon during the period between the Renaissance and 1800 among scholars of the time. What similarities and differences can be spotted in a comparison with archaeology of today? Due to this, the essay concentrate on a few, selected scholars from each century and takes a look at questions like; what was considered antiquities, how where they interpreted and what part did the Christianity, and later on the Enlightenment, play in the view upon Sweden´s ancient past. In order to find answers on a broader and deeper level, the essay makes a detailed study of excavations performed by Henric Jacob Sivers at Skrickerum, Östergötland in 1757. Sivers, who was a priest and a scholar born and educated in Germany, was inspired by the new scientific view and very interested in the ancient past, he collected antiques and called himself “fornälskare”, antique lover. The excavations at Skrickerum took place during two days in June 1757 and Sivers documented the work rather thoroughly in his publication Berättelse om några nyligen i Tryserums Sokn, Tiust Härad och Calmare Län, öpnade hedniska Grafhögar och the theruti fundna Saker (Sivers 1758). How were these excavations conducted and how did they differ from excavations of today, in theoretical, methodical and conductional aspects? Sivers’ publication will give the answers and help us get a glimpse of Swedish archaeology in its early state.

Avhandlingen rymmer en ”stor” och en ”liten” berättelse. Den lilla berättelsen börjar omkring 1870 och handlar om Nordiska museet och dess grundläggare Artur Hazelius. Den stora berättelsen tar sin början i 1800-talets första decennier och förankrar det kulturhistoriska museiväsendets framväxt och formering i en mera vidsträckt och kronologiskt utsträckt historie- och museipolitisk kontext. 1800-talet har karaktäriserats som en period av stark statlig mobilisering på det musei- och historiepolitiska fältet. Avhandlingen visar att det var osäkert vilken roll staten skulle spela. Det var osäkert vilket slags offentlighet som museerna tillhörde, vilka syften museer fyllde och hur de skulle utformas. Det var omtvistat vem som ägde fornminnena. Två rörelser kan urskiljas. Den ena rörelsen ville åstadkomma ett långtgående statligt ansvar för historiebevarandet. Den andra rörelsen var framväxten av ett civilsamhälleligt associationsväsende på historiebevarandets område. Historie- och museipolitikens grunddrag kännetecknades av spänningarna mellan dessa rörelser. Den stora berättelsen överlappar den lilla berättelsen om Nordiska museet och Artur Hazelius. Avhandlingen belyser det spelrum som de övergripande osäkerheterna om historiebevarandets mål och organisering lämnade åt Artur Hazelius och hur Nordiska museets utveckling efter hand kom att ge återverkningar på hela det historie- och museipolitiska området. Den belyser också hur Nordiska museets stegvisa etablering som kulturhistoriskt centralmuseum påverkades av det kulturhistoriska museiväsendets professionalisering. I avhandlingen är det historiografiska perspektivet centralt. Ett utmärkande drag för den dubbla historia som avhandlingen berättar är den betydelse som historieskrivningen har haft, både för formeringen av det kulturhistoriska museiväsendet och för efterhandsförståelsen av detsamma. / This thesis traces and analyses important changes in cultural heritage and museum politics during the 19th century. It tells two overlapping narratives. One is about the museum founder Artur Hazelius and the creation and expansion of The Nordic Museum (Nordiska museet). The other concerns the indecisive construction of meaning and organisational forms for state responsibility for the cultural heritage. The latter story begins in 1810 and the former in 1872. The 19th century is commonly described as the breakthrough for a new era, a time when the cultural heritage became a matter of the state and a part of state promoted nationalism. This thesis instead sheds light on the uncertainties, hesitations and conflicts involved in the construction of national cultural heritage politics and practices. It emphasises the alternatives to state administration that were launched and the crucial role played by associations and voluntary organisation in the preservation of the cultural heritage. It observes the significance of histories and of counter-histories in the controversies over the ownership of and responsibility for the cultural heritage. The way different political positions grow out of conflicting stories of institutional origin is considered. The thesis also focuses on the gradual emergence of a museum profession and its implications for the development of the Nordic Museum and for museum politics in general.