ACTA ARCHAEOLOGICA LUNDENSIA SERIES IN 8°, No. 45 Fler fynd i centrum Materialstudier i och kring Uppåkra RED. BIRGITTA HÅRDH UPPÅKRASTUDIER 9 Publikationen finansieras inom projektet Samhällsstrukturen i Sydsverige under Järnåldern som stöds av Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. I den tryckta upplagan finns följande uppgifter: Omslaget visar en hästformad fibula från vendeltid. © Arkeologiska institutionen Layout: Ottosson Media Tryckt i Sverige av Bloms Tryckeri AB, Lund 2003. Distribution: Almqvist & Wiksell International, Box 7634, S-103 94 STOCKHOLM ISBN 91-22-02038-1 ISSN 0065-0994 INNEHÅLL FÖRORD 1 Lars Larsson Dybäck during the Iron Age. An area with centralising functions in southernmost Scania in local and regional perspectives 3 Gerda Cedergren Nålar från Uppåkra – En studie av form, funktion och spridning 29 Birgitta Hårdh Uppåkra i folkvandringstiden 41 Morten Axboe og Marie Stoklund En runebrakteat fra Uppåkra 81 Anders Ödman Tankar kring två ringhandtag från Uppåkra 89 Martin Rundkvist Snake brooches of south Scandinavia Ørsnes types L1, L2, J and H3 97 Sunhild Kleingärtner Eine pferdegestaltige Fibel aus Uppåkra Stilistische und kulturhistorische Betrachtungen 123 Ole Stilborg Late Iron Age Metal Craft Ceramics at Uppåkra 137 Torsten Capelle Fünf Miniaturen 165 Torsten Capelle Vier Mitteleuropäer 173 Anne-Sofie Gräslund Drakar i Uppåkra 179 Birgitta Hårdh Kungligt beslag? – ett huvud i Mammenstil – och ett huvud till 189 Jens Ulriksen Vikingetidige korsemaljefibler fra Uppåkra 202 Robert Koch Eine durchbrochene Scheibenfibel mit Kreuz aus Uppåkra bei Lund 215 Dybäck during the Iron Age An area with centralising functions in southernmost Scania in local and regional perspectives Lars Larsson Abstract The settlement structure of the Iron Age in southern Scandinavia has been a subject of lively debate. High-class finds can in certain cases corroborate the occurrence of a place or an area with a special position in the region. In southernmost Scania the area around Dybäck is recognised as a highly likely candidate. In the sandy and lightly undulating Dybäck area finds of graves indicate a couple of farms with families of a high social position during the Late Roman Iron Age. An excavation of a midden and a couple of houses at Långåker provides insight into the activities of a farm belonging to high-ranking persons from the same period. The wealth of the area during the Migration Period is indicated by some gold finds. However, few finds from the Merovingian Period occur. A couple of silver finds provide a fragile basis for the presence of a local centre. The relation of the society of the Dybäck area to nearby sites and other sites in south-western Scania is discussed. Lars Larsson, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Sandgatan 1, 223 50 LUND Introduction During recent years the settlement structure site for the family connected to chieftains or of the Iron Age in southern Scandinavia has magnates (Helgesson 2002). A few had a posi- been a subject of lively debate, as is particularly tion almost equivalent to that of Uppåkra, obvious from the separate articles published while most had a subordinate relationship to in the series Uppåkrastudier (Uppåkra Studies), this important site or other sites. The locali- most of which are based to a greater or lesser sation of these leaders’ sites may be distin- extent on the investigations performed at the guished by the numerous metal finds or by settlement site of Uppåkra, south-western the objects of high quality, usually made of Scania (Larsson & Hårdh 1998, 2003; Hårdh valuable metal, found within a site but occa- 1999, 2001; Helgesson 2002; Hårdh & Lars- sionally concentrated to a small part of the son 2002). landscape (Helgesson 2002). A site of high social Besides Uppåkra several other places in status is Vä in north-eastern Scania (Stjern- Scania had a special position in relation to quist 1951) as well as Ravlunda in the south- their social environment as settlements for east (Fabech 1998). The latter area is situated the leading group in society – some kind of close to a outlet of a small river that might DYBÄCK DURING THE IRON AGE 3 have functioned as a most suitable natural har- bour, and near some sites with finds of gold. In certain cases the importance of an area is marked by finds of an exceptional character in terms of material or quality. These finds may mark a close connection to a place with certain central functions. That the neighbour- hood of Uppåkra had a special position in Iron Age society was recognised early as a result of a number of finds (Stjernquist 1996; Helgesson 2002). However, it should be emphasised that the exceptional position of Uppåkra as regards size and contents has recently been recognised in connection with the new investigations that started in 1996 Fig. 1. The research area marked on a map of (Larsson 2003b). A similar situation was valid Scania, southernmost Sweden. for south-eastern Funen (Thrane 1994). In this area rich finds were known already in the The research area late nineteenth century. However, the special position of Gudme was not recognised until The area in question is sandy and lightly undu- the 1980s (Nielsen 1993). lating. Towards the west it is naturally delimited The high-class finds can in certain cases by the small river Vemmenhögsån with adjacent corroborate the occurrence of a place with a wetland within its valley (Fig. 2–3). Towards special position, where expressions of power the north-west the terrain rises with marked are of a centrifugal character, so that reflections hills, up to 50 m a.s.l. with a high content of of higher status do not affect just a specific clay. In the north, the area is slightly hummocky place but also its surroundings (Harrison 1997). and most of the land is made up of wetlands. In a southern Scandinavian perspective, the The delimitation towards the east is not so ob- stable structure of Uppåkra over a considerable vious, but the river Skivarpsån with its adjacent period of time is unique. Other places with wetlands is here viewed as an element separa- central functions had a much shorter life. ting the terrain. Because of the flat terrain There may have been more dynamic relation- within the area of research certain parts were ships, with the central functions in certain wet, especially during the winter, as marked periods distributed in two or more places, while on the reconnaissance map from the 1810s in other phases they were concentrated in one (Skånska rekognosceringskartan 1986) (Fig. 2). specific place. The same is probably true of The research area (henceforth referred to central functions in a more local perspective. as the Dybäck area) is today dominated by a Further sites with a greater dependence on small number of large farms among which the larger central sites have existed but are the Dybäck estate is the largest, comprising much more difficult to find. In southernmost about 600 hectares. Most of the others farms Scania the area around Dybäck is recognised were sold off by the Dybäck estate during the as a highly likely candidate (Fig. 1). nineteenth century. 4 LARS LARSSON Fig. 2. Extract from the Rekognosceringskartan (reconnaissance map) from the 1810s, showing the sites mentioned in the article. The horizontal hatching marks the wetlands, the more intensive the hatching, the wetter the areas. Development today is on a limited scale. and north might have been of importance as The building of roads and a railway mainly pastureland or hay meadows, along with the took place before the existence of an anti- marginal areas in the north-west and north quarian organisation with routine supervision with their clayey till soils. of development projects. In most cases sites Another factor giving the research area a have been excavated because of finds been special position is that contacts with the made during ploughing and reported by the surrounding world were facilitated by the farm owners. Most of the excavations were existence of a suitable anchorage at Hörte carried out by the archaeologist Bror-Magnus (Fig. 2). The outlet of the small river Dy- Vifot during the 1920s and 1930s. He was bäcksån must have been well suited. Despite living in the neighbourhood and was well the present concrete pier, it is reasonably easy known to the farmers. to imagine the shape of the prehistoric har- What parameters allow us to recognise the bour. The small mouth of the river has a Dybäck area as having a central function in plank lining along the sides that could have the region in the Iron Age? One important been fully sufficient as a structure for a landing element is the local conditions, with the sandy place. That the site was of special importance, soil reasonably rich in nutrients and easy to as an anchoring place is obvious from the fact work with low-technology farming equip- that the foundations of a brick building have ment. Considerable wetlands towards the west been found a short distance to the east of the DYBÄCK DURING THE IRON AGE 5 ÖLÖV SKIVARP ÖSTRA VEMMENHÖG ? DYBÄCK ? VEMMENHÖGSÄN DYBÄCKSÄN HÖRTE HÖRTE UDDE 0 1 2 km o-5 5-10 10-15 15-20 20-25 25-30 30-35 35-40 40-45 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Fig. 3. The typography of the Dybäck area, marking finds and sites mentioned in the article. Legend: 1: Roman Iron Age grave, 2: Pre-Roman and Early Iron Age settlement, 3: Late Roman Age settlement, 4: Late Roman Iron Age grave, 5: Migration Period gold find, 6: Viking Age silver find, 7: Runic stone. river mouth. The foundations were discovered Bronze Age mounds is considerably larger on during the construction of a coastal road in the high ridge in the north-west as well as in the 1930s and a small excavation was per- the coastal region in the south-east, close to formed (Vifot 1934b).