Scorched earth: a posthole approach to Iron Age warfare

Abstract

In this paper, the author presents a method to identify Iron Age (500 BC – AD 1050) warfare through farmsteads destroyed by fire. Specific fire patterns on individual houses, combined with abnormally high numbers of contemporary burnt buildings, are used as proxy for raised levels of aggression during certain periods. The Uppsala plain in East Central Sweden forms a case study. With this
approach, two periods stand out with relatively high numbers of burnt farms: AD 350-425 and AD 500-575. The results are discussed in relation to some source critical factors and to their possible contribution to questions regarding Gamla Uppsala developing into a central place by the 7th century, as well as to the AD 536 event discourse.