Helgö, its archaeology, its evolution and the history of research at the site, occupy a central position in the discussion of the development of Scandinavia and the Baltic region in the 1st millennium AD. The site is synonymous with complex settlement structures and their use as arenas for political power and religious interaction, and with the far-reaching networks that shaped this epoch in varying intensity and orientation. Furthermore the archaeology of Helgö is exceptionally significant to the debate on the relocation of central sites, since it must have been the most important antecedent of Viking period Birka.
What has been lacking, however, is a summary of what has been achieved so far, a presentation of the essence of previously published material and the interpretation thereof. This is more or less typical of a great number of large-scale archaeological projects where various aspects have received treatment in highly informative publications, but no synthesis or comprehensive overview has been formulated. It was the express aim and pledge of the two authors of this volume to produce just such a monograph and to present it to an international specialist audience.
Author(s): Helen Clarke, Kristina Lamm
Publisher: Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen
Year: 2017
Language: English
Commentary: preprint
Pages: 148
City: Schleswig
Foreword vii
Acknowledgements ix
List of Figures and Tables x
1. Introduction 1
1.1 The Helgö Project 1
1.2 Discovery of the Archaeological Complex of Helgö 3
1.3 The Excavations 6
2. Summary Descriptions and Interpretations of the Excavated Remains 9
2.1 The Site in its Setting 9
2.2 Chronology 9
2.3 The Settlement 14
2.4 The Workshop Complexes 26
2.5 The Cemeteries 36
2.6 Correlating Cemeteries with Settlement 42
3. Publications, Research and Interpretation 45
3.1 The Official Publications: Excavations at Helgö I–XVIII 45
3.2 Before c. 1980: Holmqvist’s Views 46
3.3 The 1980s: Helgö in Materialistic Terms 50
3.4 1991–2015: Changing Attitudes and Helgö’s Position in Central-Place Theory 53
4. Helgö in the 21st Century: Current Thoughts on Craftsmanship, Cult, and Relationships with Gamla Uppsala and Birka 57
4.1 Workshop Production and Craftsmanship at Helgö 57
4.2 Helgö as a Pagan Cult Centre 60
4.3 Gamla Uppsala’s Position in Relation to Helgö 64
5. Conclusions 69
5.1 The Location of the Settlement 69
5.2 The Community of Helgö 70
5.3 Helgö’s Cemeteries 73
5.4 Helgö’s Contacts with the Outside World 74
5.5 Helgö Reconsidered 75
Abbreviations 79
References 81
Appendix A The Excavations from Field Notebooks and Annual Reports (Extracted and commented on by Kristina Lamm) 89
Appendix B Helgö, from Post-holes to Houses (English summary of Helgö, Stolphål blir Hus, by Frölund & Göthberg 2011, and Hus på Helgö, Göthberg 2015) / by Helen Clarke 103
Appendix C Additions to Consolidated Bibliography Printed in Excavations at Helgö XVIII / Collated by Helen Clarke and Jan Peder Lamm 125
Index 131
