Aristokratiskt rum och gränsöverskridande. Järrestad och sydöstra Skåne mellan region och rike 600-1100

This dissertation focuses on the second wave of central places in south Scandinavia, emerging during the prolonged 7th century. The point of departure is a case study of an aristocratic setting in Järrestad, situated in the southernmost part of Sweden. Two problem complexes are tackled: 1. The interpretation of the pre-Christian aristocratic settings. The aim is to investigate the staging of rulership ideologies in the hall-setting and the surrounding landscape, and in what ways they related to different social actors. Järrestad is compared with similar settings in south-east Scandinavia in order to discuss the formation of an aristocracy, their means of organizing in networks at interregional level, and how Järrestad may fit into this scheme. 2. The tension between the interregional and the regional. The aim is to examine expressions of interaction between the interregional aristocracy and the populations of south-east Scania. The region is defined by a distinct tradition of death rituals. Data concerning the natural and cultural landscape, communication, settlement districts and settlement pattern are discussed in order to broaden the analysis. The hall-setting is discussed in terms of border-crossing, cosmology and materialized ideology, and described as the central institution for the political economy within a settlement district, and the manor of a domain. By analyzing sequences of halls two concepts of rulership ideology are singled out. A traditional spatial layout corresponds with local or regional lordship, and a layout introduced in south-east Scandinavia during the 7th century is connected to royal power, exercised through overlordship. At regional level the ritual tradition were practiced by the populations of several settlement districts, characterized by small-scale power structures and a less pronounced level of centralization, thus stressing the importance of the collective tradition. Constructing and maintaining a communal identity through collective ritual practice may be viewed as a strategy in order to define the frameworks for interaction and dominance from outside, exemplified by the overlordship manifested in Järrestad