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Late use of chipped stone tools: A case study of Viking age and Medieval material from middle Sweden

Lindahl, Mikael LU (2022) ARKM21 20221
Archaeology
Abstract (Swedish)
Stone tools define earlier prehistory but the extent of their usage in later periods remains
uncertain, as the archaeological community tends to focus on trademark materials from
respective time periods. Accordingly, usage of chipped stone such as quartz and flint in later
periods, tends to be ignored or regarded as residual from earlier Stone age activities,
resulting in that valuable knowledge is lost. Therefore, this thesis aims to critically review the
Viking age and Medieval (750-1500 AD) usage of chipped stone tools, with a geographical
focus on middle Sweden. The thesis executes four case studies from two regions, three rural
settlements in Värmland, and one urban settlement in Mälardalen, dated from the Viking
age to... (More)
Stone tools define earlier prehistory but the extent of their usage in later periods remains
uncertain, as the archaeological community tends to focus on trademark materials from
respective time periods. Accordingly, usage of chipped stone such as quartz and flint in later
periods, tends to be ignored or regarded as residual from earlier Stone age activities,
resulting in that valuable knowledge is lost. Therefore, this thesis aims to critically review the
Viking age and Medieval (750-1500 AD) usage of chipped stone tools, with a geographical
focus on middle Sweden. The thesis executes four case studies from two regions, three rural
settlements in Värmland, and one urban settlement in Mälardalen, dated from the Viking
age to the Middle age. The chipped stone material from these case studies are investigated
via the theoretical perspective’s affordance and entanglement, and the two methodologies
lithics analysis and use-wear analysis. The result points towards that in Värmland there
existed a local stone using practice in one of the case study sites, where quartz scrapers
were used in fur production. In Mälardalen a substantial flint using practice existed that
might have been spread in the local area and have connections to southern Scandinavia. The
thesis suggests that the attributes of late usage of chipped stone in rural areas mainly is
based on the unique affordances that quartz of flint provides. However, the usage of
chipped stone in urban settlements seems to be based on a tradition and habit of using
chipped stone that might have parallels in other urban settlement and in southern
Scandinavia. Further, chipped stone tools can be seen as entangled in complex relationships
between flint and quartz, fur-products, stone-smithing knowhow, and other goods,
incorporating both rural and urban settlements. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Lindahl, Mikael LU
supervisor
organization
course
ARKM21 20221
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Viking age, Middle age, Lithics analysis, Use-wear analysis, Affordance, Entanglement, Värmland, Mälardalen, Skramle, Birka, Scrapers, Fur-production, trade
language
English
id
9113304
date added to LUP
2024-03-27 12:48:44
date last changed
2024-03-27 12:48:44
@misc{9113304,
  abstract     = {{Stone tools define earlier prehistory but the extent of their usage in later periods remains 
uncertain, as the archaeological community tends to focus on trademark materials from 
respective time periods. Accordingly, usage of chipped stone such as quartz and flint in later 
periods, tends to be ignored or regarded as residual from earlier Stone age activities, 
resulting in that valuable knowledge is lost. Therefore, this thesis aims to critically review the 
Viking age and Medieval (750-1500 AD) usage of chipped stone tools, with a geographical 
focus on middle Sweden. The thesis executes four case studies from two regions, three rural 
settlements in Värmland, and one urban settlement in Mälardalen, dated from the Viking
age to the Middle age. The chipped stone material from these case studies are investigated
via the theoretical perspective’s affordance and entanglement, and the two methodologies 
lithics analysis and use-wear analysis. The result points towards that in Värmland there 
existed a local stone using practice in one of the case study sites, where quartz scrapers 
were used in fur production. In Mälardalen a substantial flint using practice existed that 
might have been spread in the local area and have connections to southern Scandinavia. The 
thesis suggests that the attributes of late usage of chipped stone in rural areas mainly is 
based on the unique affordances that quartz of flint provides. However, the usage of 
chipped stone in urban settlements seems to be based on a tradition and habit of using 
chipped stone that might have parallels in other urban settlement and in southern 
Scandinavia. Further, chipped stone tools can be seen as entangled in complex relationships 
between flint and quartz, fur-products, stone-smithing knowhow, and other goods,
incorporating both rural and urban settlements.}},
  author       = {{Lindahl, Mikael}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Late use of chipped stone tools: A case study of Viking age and Medieval material from middle Sweden}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}