Open AccessTowns, Plots, Crafts and Fertility - Traces of a Power Ideology
Author(s) -
Anna Hed Jacobsson
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
current swedish archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.256
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 2002-3901
pISSN - 1102-7355
DOI - 10.37718/csa.1999.04
Subject(s) - ideology , novelty , plot (graphics) , fertility , creativity , power (physics) , argument (complex analysis) , aesthetics , field (mathematics) , sociology , history , geography , political science , demography , art , politics , social psychology , law , psychology , population , biochemistry , statistics , physics , mathematics , chemistry , quantum mechanics , pure mathematics
Change is always related to past experience. In this article it is argued that the spatial organization of the earliest towns in Scandinavia, in spite of their novelty, reflected old concepts and beliefs. The hypothesis is that the placing of buildings, the parcelling out of plots etc. in a Viking Age town such as Birka, referred to still vital concepts of fertility, creativity and wealth —and the power over these things. One aspect of the argument is that there existed a metaphorical relationship between the fertile field in the countryside and the productive town plot, where skilful smiths created valuable things.