
Stroby Toftegard
Halls, Hierarchies and Social Dynamics in Late Iron Age and Viking Age Denmark
Casemate Publishers
Published on 31. December 2024
Book
Hardback
424 pages
979-8-88857-149-1 (ISBN)
Description
Stroby Toftegard: Halls, Hierarchies and Social Dynamics in Late Iron Age and Viking Age Denmark presents and considers the archaeological material from the site of Stroby Toftegard in the eastern part of Zealand, Denmark, where comprehensive excavations took place between 1994 and 2013. The book seeks to qualify the interpretation of Farm 1 as the residence of a magnate from c. AD 650 to c. AD 1000 and of the whole settlement consisting of at least nine farm units as a magnate settlement. This is done by means of a detailed survey and analysis of buildings and features, structures, various groups of objects, and a discussion of the landscape, the social context and the creation of social hierarchies that the site fitted into while it was in use.
Detailed analyses of pits, wells, a latrine, bone material, macrofossils, pollen, the sherds of glass vessels, sherds of windowpanes, beads, jewelry, tools and pottery all substantiate that Farm 1 was something extraordinary. Its inhabitants appear to have had better access to resources, been in charge of certain activities, had access to knowledge that was not available to everyone and, finally, to have been part of larger social and political networks. It is likewise argued that the rest of the settlement was home to the magnate's retinue in the form of, inter alia, mounted warriors. Stroby Toftegard's placement within the hierarchy of power in relation to the other known magnate localities is also discussed. The argument here is that there were close connections between Stroby Toftegard and the royal seat in Lejre, although the material simultaneously indicates that Stroby Toftegard was not quite on the same political level as Lejre.
The interpretation of Stroby Toftegard is considered in relation to the surrounding landscape, place names and other archaeological evidence from excavations and metal-detector surveys. The last chapter is a concluding discussion of those elements within the archaeological material that justify interpreting the settlement at Stroby Toftegard as a magnate settlement, what such an interpretation entails and what questions it raises for future treatment of the archaeological material.
Detailed analyses of pits, wells, a latrine, bone material, macrofossils, pollen, the sherds of glass vessels, sherds of windowpanes, beads, jewelry, tools and pottery all substantiate that Farm 1 was something extraordinary. Its inhabitants appear to have had better access to resources, been in charge of certain activities, had access to knowledge that was not available to everyone and, finally, to have been part of larger social and political networks. It is likewise argued that the rest of the settlement was home to the magnate's retinue in the form of, inter alia, mounted warriors. Stroby Toftegard's placement within the hierarchy of power in relation to the other known magnate localities is also discussed. The argument here is that there were close connections between Stroby Toftegard and the royal seat in Lejre, although the material simultaneously indicates that Stroby Toftegard was not quite on the same political level as Lejre.
The interpretation of Stroby Toftegard is considered in relation to the surrounding landscape, place names and other archaeological evidence from excavations and metal-detector surveys. The last chapter is a concluding discussion of those elements within the archaeological material that justify interpreting the settlement at Stroby Toftegard as a magnate settlement, what such an interpretation entails and what questions it raises for future treatment of the archaeological material.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Illustrations
312 color plans, drawings, photos, 34 b/w
Dimensions
Height: 286 mm
Width: 224 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
1736 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-88857-149-1 (9798888571491)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Anna Severine Beck is a researcher and curator at Museum Southeast Denmark. She was head of the excavations at Str by Tofteg rd from 2011 to 2013 and her PhD had a point of departure considering elements of architecture and house biographies of the magnate settlement. Maja Kildetoft Schultz is an archaeologist and curator at Museum Southeast Denmark. Her research focuses on Viking Age and early medieval settlement archaeology, Viking Age ring fortresses and landscape archaeology. Jens Ulriksen is Head of the Centre for Viking Age Studies and Head of Research at Museum Southeast Denmark. He completed his PhD on 1st millennium AD landing sites in Denmark in 1997. His research covers a multitude of facets of the Germanic Iron Age, Viking Age, and early medieval Scandinavia.
Content
Preface
Anna Severine Beck, Maja Kildetoft Schultz & Jens Ulriksen
1. Introduction to Stroby Toftegard - History, methods and overview
Anna Severine Beck, Maja Kildetoft Schultz & Svend Age Tornbjerg
2. The settlement at Stroby Toftegard. Structure, dating and development
Anna Severine Beck and Maja Kildetoft Schultz
3. Living in, with and around the longhouses at Stroby Toftegard. A biographical approach to longhouses in the Late Iron and Viking Age
Anna Severine Beck
4. Pits, wells and the culture layer at Stroby Toftegard
Maja Kildetoft Schultz
5. Analysis of macrofossils and pollen from Stroby Toftegard
Peter Steen Henriksen & Morten Fischer Mortensen
6. The animal bones from Stroby Toftegard - feasting and everyday life.
Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen
7. Metal finds from Stroby Toftegard - networks, cult and everyday life
Maria Panum Baastrup
8. Minor finds and everyday items from Stroby Toftegard
Maja Kildetoft Schultz
9. The Arabic coins from Stroby Toftegard
Birgitta Hardh
10. Glass beads and semiprecious stones from Stroby Toftegard
Torben Sode
11. Glass vessels from Stroby Toftegard
Torben Sode
12. Window glass from Stroby Toftegard
Torben Sode
13. Analysis on glass sherds, glass beads and glass slag from Stroby Toftegard
Bernard Gratuze
14. Landscape and localities in Stevns during the Late Iron
Maja Kildetoft Schultz
15. Place names of settlements and fields around Stroby Toftegard
Sofie Laurine Albris
16. Ideology and organisation in the landscape of Stevns in the first millennium - in light of a comparative discussion of place names and archaeology
Sofie Laurine Albris
17. Managing time. Expressing social memory in settlements from the Iron Age and Viking Age
Anna Severine Beck
18. Stroby Toftegard - a magnate settlement. Discussion and conclusion
Anna Severine Beck, Maja Kildetoft Schultz & Jens Ulriksen
List of authors
Anna Severine Beck, Maja Kildetoft Schultz & Jens Ulriksen
1. Introduction to Stroby Toftegard - History, methods and overview
Anna Severine Beck, Maja Kildetoft Schultz & Svend Age Tornbjerg
2. The settlement at Stroby Toftegard. Structure, dating and development
Anna Severine Beck and Maja Kildetoft Schultz
3. Living in, with and around the longhouses at Stroby Toftegard. A biographical approach to longhouses in the Late Iron and Viking Age
Anna Severine Beck
4. Pits, wells and the culture layer at Stroby Toftegard
Maja Kildetoft Schultz
5. Analysis of macrofossils and pollen from Stroby Toftegard
Peter Steen Henriksen & Morten Fischer Mortensen
6. The animal bones from Stroby Toftegard - feasting and everyday life.
Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen
7. Metal finds from Stroby Toftegard - networks, cult and everyday life
Maria Panum Baastrup
8. Minor finds and everyday items from Stroby Toftegard
Maja Kildetoft Schultz
9. The Arabic coins from Stroby Toftegard
Birgitta Hardh
10. Glass beads and semiprecious stones from Stroby Toftegard
Torben Sode
11. Glass vessels from Stroby Toftegard
Torben Sode
12. Window glass from Stroby Toftegard
Torben Sode
13. Analysis on glass sherds, glass beads and glass slag from Stroby Toftegard
Bernard Gratuze
14. Landscape and localities in Stevns during the Late Iron
Maja Kildetoft Schultz
15. Place names of settlements and fields around Stroby Toftegard
Sofie Laurine Albris
16. Ideology and organisation in the landscape of Stevns in the first millennium - in light of a comparative discussion of place names and archaeology
Sofie Laurine Albris
17. Managing time. Expressing social memory in settlements from the Iron Age and Viking Age
Anna Severine Beck
18. Stroby Toftegard - a magnate settlement. Discussion and conclusion
Anna Severine Beck, Maja Kildetoft Schultz & Jens Ulriksen
List of authors