The excavations of an antiquarian. : A study of the early archaeology in Sweden.

The essay deals with the early archaeology in Sweden during the 17th and 18th centuries in generally and with Henric Jacob Sivers excavations at Skrickerum in particularly. In the medieval, Christian Sweden, the relics from the antiquity was considered merely as symbols of the heathen past but with the foundation of Sweden as a united kingdom they awoke interest as symbols for the nation and were used as tools in the nation building. The interpretation of the antiquity and the ancient relics where done with the Bible and the ancient writers of Greece and Rome as guides and sources. With the new scientific approach, inspired by the Enlightenment, the Swedish antiquity and its relics gained other meanings and understandings and during the early 19th century Swedish archaeology developed into a scientific subject. The aim of this essay is to retain a deeper understanding for how Swedish antiquity was looked upon during the period between the Renaissance and 1800 among scholars of the time. What similarities and differences can be spotted in a comparison with archaeology of today? Due to this, the essay concentrate on a few, selected scholars from each century and takes a look at questions like; what was considered antiquities, how where they interpreted and what part did the Christianity, and later on the Enlightenment, play in the view upon Sweden´s ancient past. In order to find answers on a broader and deeper level, the essay makes a detailed study of excavations performed by Henric Jacob Sivers at Skrickerum, Östergötland in 1757. Sivers, who was a priest and a scholar born and educated in Germany, was inspired by the new scientific view and very interested in the ancient past, he collected antiques and called himself “fornälskare”, antique lover. The excavations at Skrickerum took place during two days in June 1757 and Sivers documented the work rather thoroughly in his publication Berättelse om några nyligen i Tryserums Sokn, Tiust Härad och Calmare Län, öpnade hedniska Grafhögar och the theruti fundna Saker (Sivers 1758). How were these excavations conducted and how did they differ from excavations of today, in theoretical, methodical and conductional aspects? Sivers’ publication will give the answers and help us get a glimpse of Swedish archaeology in its early state