Continuity for Centuries
A Ceremonial Building & Its Context
at Uppakra, Southern Sweden

Edited By Lars Larsson
December 2004
Almqvist & Wiksell International
ISBN: 9122021078
239 pages, Illustrated, 7" x 10"
$89.50 Hardcover

OUT OF PRINT

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In 2001 an intensive excavation began within the central part of the large site at Uppakra, sourthernmost Sweden. This was not the first excavation of the site but the first in which the topsoil was removed within large trenches in order to record the relations between different types of settlement remains. The area was chosen for several reasons. It incorporated the highest elevation within the settlement. Four burial mounds, two preserved and two destroyed were known in the neighborhood.

The abundance of detector finds, several made of precious metals and of high technical skill, indicated the existence of a residence for the leading group at the site. Occupation layers as thick as two meters gave hope of finding sequences of houses on the same spot extending through centuries. Several houses were found but most of the excavation time, continuing until the early summer of 2004, was concentrated on a small but extraordinary house and its immediate surroundings.

The features and finds are the basis for a new and detailed view of the society and its rituals during most of the Iron Age, as presented in this volume. It should be emphasized that just a few months have passed since the excavation of the house complex was completed. This publication includes the presentation and study of the house sequence and a number of selected find categories. A number of find groups such as bones, pottery and beads have to be attended to in the near future. Analyses such as the different floors as regards chemical composition and deposition of ecofacts as well as analyses of the remains of casting has been initiated or are in the planning process.

Archaeology
Acta Archaeologica Lundensia Series in 8°, No. 48

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