Seaways to Complexity; A Study of Sociopolitical Organisation Along the Coast of Northwestern Scandinavia in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age; Austvoll

Knut Ivar Austvoll [+–]

University of Oslo

Knut Ivar Austvoll is a lecturer in the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History at the University of Oslo.

This book presents the first big synthesis of sociopolitical development in northwestern Scandinavia, and outlines a theoretical model for concurrent but contrasting sociopolitical strategies that can be applied cross-culturally. It focuses on the sociopolitical development and the organisational differences between societies in northwestern Scandinavia in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (2350–1100 BCE).

Grounded in a political economy approach, this book presents a theoretical model that emphasises a dialectic negotiation between societies exercising coercive or cooperative strategies through processes of categorisation. Within this theoretical model the archaeological material is studied using a two-tiered approach. First, an extensive archaeological corpus, consisting of settlement and burial patterns, lithics, metal, and rock art is investigated comparatively for patterns of diachronic, regional and societal differences. Second, patterns from the first-tier are scrutinised and three case studies are selected, each expressing different organisational patterns based on local ecological advantages and/or restrictions. These aspects are then discussed on an interregional level, suggesting that utilisation of the seaway was one of the primary movers of increased complexity along the coast.

The intended readership for this book is scholars and students within the field of prehistoric archaeology, and the European Bronze Age in particular. However, the book’s comparative basis and emphasis on theoretical development within anthropological archaeology also make it accessible to a broader scholarly field.

Series: New Directions in Anthropological Archaeology

Preliminaries

List of Figures viii-xi

List of Tables xii

Acknowledgements xiii-xiv

Chapter 1

Introduction: Towards a Theory of Sociopolitical Complexity [+–] 1-33

By the beginning of the Late Neolithic and continuing into the Early Bronze Age, the reliance and utilisation of the sea set the stage for a more advanced sociopolitical organisation along the coast of northwestern Scandinavia. How was this operationalized? In this introduction chapter the author outlines his primary focus, which centres on the reasons behind the development and variation of sociopolitical organisation along the coast of northwestern Scandinavia in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Moreover, a presentation of the theoretical and research historical stance is offered. First, some theoretical considerations are discussed and highlighted. This is presented through a general discussion on political economy approaches, the implementation of social evolution in archaeology, and their context within a northern European research history. This serve as a foundation for the framing of the theoretical model developed in this chapter. Secondly, cross-cultural comparison from independent regions is presented to illustrate the organisational structure from comparatively similar regions and assist in the modelling of a sociopolitical framework in northwestern Scandinavia. Lastly, previous and current trends that have figured in Scandinavian Bronze Age research are highlighted in order to position this book in a broader discourse.

Chapter 2

Modelling Changing Regional Complexity [+–] 34-46

Chapter 2 frames a method for identifying variation in regional complexity. The approach mirrors that of comparative archaeology; however, the application of statistical analysis is used to identify a diachronic view of regions with concentration and contraction along the coast. The approach is twofold; a first-tier approach that traces social evolutionary structures and diachronic relations that amount to generic groupings; and a second-tier approach where the selected groupings from the first-tier are applied to make the appropriate qualitative analysis between selected regions.

Chapter 3

Regional Variations 1: The Archaeology of Settlements [+–] 47-85

Since the introduction in the late 1980s of new mechanical excavation methods the frequencies of known longhouses in northwestern Scandinavia have exploded. This chapter brings together and analyse the compiled settlement data of the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age for the first time.

Chapter 4

Regional Variations 2: Burial Patterns [+–] 86-123

In this chapter, the burial mounds are systematically explored by region. The scale of communication and interaction is measured by the distribution of prestige goods, while construction features of the burials themselves are explored in order to address issues regarding group and kinship relations.

Chapter 5

Regional Variations 3: Lithics, Metal and Ship Motifs in Rock Art [+–] 124-136

Chapter 5 explores the distribution and different uses of lithic technologies, as well as the chronological spread of metal objects and the evidence of transport provided by ship motifs in rock art. The occurrence of lithics and metal can be used as a measurement of interaction – whether trade or exchange. Although different economic functions might be varied across artefact category, e.g. flint daggers can be viewed as part of a prestige (technology) economy while the simple shaft-hole axes are part of a practical (technology) economy, they all serve as proxies for temporal interaction and concentration along the coast.

Chapter 6

Regional and Chronological Variation: Overview and Case Studies [+–] 137-183

Based on the investigation and analysis of the archaeological data in Chapter 3 to 5, some preliminary estimates are presented in Chapter 6 of regional and chronological variation along the coast of northwestern Scandinavia. Based on the variations seen it is possible to distinguished between 16 sub-regions in northwestern Scandinavia – each exercising varied forms of sociopolitical strategies based on local comparative advantages. In order to delve deeper into the complex interactions presented it is necessary to identify each region’s comparative advantage and the linkage between such advantages with sociopolitical strategies. This is demonstrated through a selection of three case studies, each exemplifying various strategies of sociopolitical organisation through time. The cases are divided into four sections: (1) a general introduction of the regions, including topography and vegetation, (2) palaeobotanical data, (3) outfields, and (4) infields and organisation. In the end the chapter outlines three distinct strategies that are exercised based on a combination of local comparative advantages.

Chapter 7

Seaways to Complexity [+–] 184-208

The book’s research strategy has provided insight into how local sociopolitical societies developed alternative strategies through effective use of the local ecology. These results are in this chapter drawn upon to discuss the final research question; to what extent did interregional communication play part in local societies development? No man is an island and the developments presented so far cannot be understood without seeing them in causality with both neighbouring and interregional developments. The final chapter examines this more specifically by drawing on both the theoretical and empirical framework that emerged in the foregoing chapters.

End Matter

References 209-255

Index 256-265

Reviews

The book by Austvoll is refreshing because his analysis of the western façade of the Scandinavian Peninsula is done on its own terms and not just as a function of development in southern parts of Europe. Still, the idea of hierarchy and hierarchy-bound communication and exchange forces the text towards the discussion of centres and peripheries, where the grand centres were situated further to the south. As a reader one is likewise forced to think of why this is the case. Two millennia after the Bronze Age, the Vikings changed the entire geopolitical order in Eurasia through their seaways to power and influence. Is it not likely, one might ask, that the commencement of seagoing communication and traveling in the Bronze Age gave rise to an equal geopolitical transformation? This question too—intimately bound to the two other subjects mentioned above—comes forth when reading Austvoll’s analysis. This way, Austvoll’s text, as an engaging book ought to, does not just clarify and interpret the record left from prehistory, but also invites the reader and I guess also the author, to new quests for and questions about the nature and character of human pasts and the limits of our intellectual tools to explore it.
Journal of Maritime Archaeology

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Seaways to Complexity

A Study of Sociopolitical Organisation Along the Coast of Northwestern Scandinavia in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age

Knut Ivar Austvoll [+–]

University of Oslo

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