Identification and delineation of settlement space functions in the south Scandinavian Iron Age: theoretical perspectives and practical approaches

Abstract

This article presents an overview of methods used in south Scandinavian archaeology for identification and delineation of settlement space functions. The overview includes commonly utilised archaeological approaches, such as artefact distribution studies and inferences based on assessment of house and settlement morphologies, as well as archaeobotanical, geochemical and geophysical approaches to functional analysis. The theoretical potential and limitations of each presented functional parameter are outlined and thereafter applied and compared using material from five case study sites in east-central Jutland, Halland and Bohuslän. The presentation of the site of Gedved Vest in east-central Jutland also incorporates a comparison of two common approaches to geochemical sampling: 1) sampling and analysis of soil retrieved from feature fills, and 2) horizontal sampling of soil from the interface between the topsoil (A/ Ap) and the subsoil (C) - horizons along a pre-determined grid.