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Stadsbor och bönder : materiell kultur och social status i Halland från medeltid till 1700-tal

Rosén, Christina LU (2004) In Skrifter. Riksantikvarieämbetet, Arkeologiska undersökningar 35.
Abstract
During the 1700's lifestyle and material culture varied a lot between towns and rural areas. The aim for this thesis is to study how this difference between town and countryside emerges and how an identity as a burgher or farmer will manifest itself in the material culture. An important question is if it is possible to find a particular urban lifestyle and if that is the case, what it looks like.



The geographical frame is the province of Halland and the study begins in the early Middle Ages, before the first towns appear in Halland. The end of the 18th century marks the end point of this work. However, the study focuses mainly on the late Middle Ages and Early Modern period.



I have chosen to deal with... (More)
During the 1700's lifestyle and material culture varied a lot between towns and rural areas. The aim for this thesis is to study how this difference between town and countryside emerges and how an identity as a burgher or farmer will manifest itself in the material culture. An important question is if it is possible to find a particular urban lifestyle and if that is the case, what it looks like.



The geographical frame is the province of Halland and the study begins in the early Middle Ages, before the first towns appear in Halland. The end of the 18th century marks the end point of this work. However, the study focuses mainly on the late Middle Ages and Early Modern period.



I have chosen to deal with the period from the early Middle Ages to the latter part of the 18th century as a whole from an economic and social viewpoint – as a feudal era. This does not preclude that very large changes have occurred in a wide range of spheres during the period. The period also carries the seeds of the modern era.



Both archaeological and written sources have been used in this work, the latter mostly in the form of probate inventories. Sources are seen as relatively independent of each other and I have assumed they can give different views of the period. In the contrast between the different type of sources we have a tool to discover conditions and relationships that would otherwise be next to invisible.



The archaeological sources are predominantly from a series of rescue excavations from several different localities.



During the whole period discussed here there is a clear distinction between urban and rural material culture. It is most apparent when we look at the pottery and other finds connected with eating. However, there are also several differences between urban and rural buildings and structuring of homes. The period from around 1750 to the early 19th century appears to be a time when the differences between urban and rural material culture were most accentuated.



Vernacular style is often seen as “backwards” or just as an emulation of bourgeois style. But I am inclined to see this powerful material culture as a clear expression of a resistance against the attempts to reform vernacular culture, as proposed by Peter Burke. Instead of yielding to change and adopting bourgeois culture, peasants develop their very own material culture. This development is most visible in the second half of the 18th century when it was facilitated by favourable economic conditions for farmers. In the late 18th and 19th centuries we see the beginning of mass production of inexpensive household items and the vernacular material culture changes dramatically. Bourgeois culture finds its way into the peasants’ homes. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

De halländska städerna har ibland setts som föga mer än förvuxna bondbyar eller ”agrara köpstäder”. Men hur förhöll det sig med den saken egentligen? Var tillvaron i städerna främst präglad av närheten till det agrara omlandet eller har kontakterna med de större köpstäderna spelat en större roll? Hur har städer och byar förhållit sig till varandra under olika tidsperioder? Och vilka faktorer ligger egentligen bakom framväxten av den rika halländska allmogekulturen under 1700-talet?



I den här boken diskuteras hur den materiella kulturen såg ut i städer och i byar och hur en urban respektive rural kultur växer fram i Halland från medeltidens början fram till 1700-talet, då... (More)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

De halländska städerna har ibland setts som föga mer än förvuxna bondbyar eller ”agrara köpstäder”. Men hur förhöll det sig med den saken egentligen? Var tillvaron i städerna främst präglad av närheten till det agrara omlandet eller har kontakterna med de större köpstäderna spelat en större roll? Hur har städer och byar förhållit sig till varandra under olika tidsperioder? Och vilka faktorer ligger egentligen bakom framväxten av den rika halländska allmogekulturen under 1700-talet?



I den här boken diskuteras hur den materiella kulturen såg ut i städer och i byar och hur en urban respektive rural kultur växer fram i Halland från medeltidens början fram till 1700-talet, då skillnaderna mellan stadsbor och bönder kanske är som mest tydliga. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Professor Welinder, Stig, Mitthögskolan
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Early Modern, Middle Ages, social identity, material culture, feudal, Urban, rural, Archaeology, Arkeologi
in
Skrifter. Riksantikvarieämbetet, Arkeologiska undersökningar
volume
35
pages
302 pages
defense location
Carolinasalen, Kungshuset, Lund
defense date
2004-05-17 10:15:00
ISSN
0283-6874
ISBN
91-7209-334-X
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
f932cbd7-a9e5-49f6-9c34-2b8d41fb03cb (old id 21681)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 08:28:38
date last changed
2019-05-23 16:22:54
@phdthesis{f932cbd7-a9e5-49f6-9c34-2b8d41fb03cb,
  abstract     = {{During the 1700's lifestyle and material culture varied a lot between towns and rural areas. The aim for this thesis is to study how this difference between town and countryside emerges and how an identity as a burgher or farmer will manifest itself in the material culture. An important question is if it is possible to find a particular urban lifestyle and if that is the case, what it looks like.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The geographical frame is the province of Halland and the study begins in the early Middle Ages, before the first towns appear in Halland. The end of the 18th century marks the end point of this work. However, the study focuses mainly on the late Middle Ages and Early Modern period.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
I have chosen to deal with the period from the early Middle Ages to the latter part of the 18th century as a whole from an economic and social viewpoint – as a feudal era. This does not preclude that very large changes have occurred in a wide range of spheres during the period. The period also carries the seeds of the modern era.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Both archaeological and written sources have been used in this work, the latter mostly in the form of probate inventories. Sources are seen as relatively independent of each other and I have assumed they can give different views of the period. In the contrast between the different type of sources we have a tool to discover conditions and relationships that would otherwise be next to invisible.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The archaeological sources are predominantly from a series of rescue excavations from several different localities.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
During the whole period discussed here there is a clear distinction between urban and rural material culture. It is most apparent when we look at the pottery and other finds connected with eating. However, there are also several differences between urban and rural buildings and structuring of homes. The period from around 1750 to the early 19th century appears to be a time when the differences between urban and rural material culture were most accentuated.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Vernacular style is often seen as “backwards” or just as an emulation of bourgeois style. But I am inclined to see this powerful material culture as a clear expression of a resistance against the attempts to reform vernacular culture, as proposed by Peter Burke. Instead of yielding to change and adopting bourgeois culture, peasants develop their very own material culture. This development is most visible in the second half of the 18th century when it was facilitated by favourable economic conditions for farmers. In the late 18th and 19th centuries we see the beginning of mass production of inexpensive household items and the vernacular material culture changes dramatically. Bourgeois culture finds its way into the peasants’ homes.}},
  author       = {{Rosén, Christina}},
  isbn         = {{91-7209-334-X}},
  issn         = {{0283-6874}},
  keywords     = {{Early Modern; Middle Ages; social identity; material culture; feudal; Urban; rural; Archaeology; Arkeologi}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Skrifter. Riksantikvarieämbetet, Arkeologiska undersökningar}},
  title        = {{Stadsbor och bönder : materiell kultur och social status i Halland från medeltid till 1700-tal}},
  volume       = {{35}},
  year         = {{2004}},
}