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SCANDINAVIAN CIVILIZATION
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SCANDINAVIAN See also:CIVILIZATION . The date of See also:man's first See also:appearance in Scandinavia. is still an open question. But for all See also:practical purposes Scandinavian See also:archaeology only begins with the See also:Neolithic or Later See also: In these we find remains of See also:primitive meals, consisting chiefly of See also:oyster, See also:mussel and other shells, and the bones of various See also:fish, birds and animals, including See also:deer, See also:wild See also:boar, See also:seals, wolves and See also:aurochs. It appears that the See also:race which left these See also:relics must have lived by See also:hunting and fishing, and that they were probably semi-nomadic. They were evidently unacquainted with See also:agriculture and had no domestic animals other than the See also:dog. These refuse heaps are almost always found by the See also:sea-See also:shore or See also:close to a lake. Some of them extend over an See also:area of as much as 700 yds. by 20 yds. width, but their See also:depth is usually not more than 3 to io ft. There are frequent traces of See also:fire and See also:hearth places, so that we may conclude that the See also:food was both prepared and eaten on the spot. The flint implements consist of flakes or knives, awls and axes of various kinds, all made by a See also:process of rough chipping. These are supplemented by articles of See also:bone, horn and See also:clay, including arrow or See also:spear points, axes of horn, and bone combs. Earthen-See also:ware vessels must have been much used, but only fragments have been found, made, of course, without the use of the See also:wheel. Rare attempts at decoration consist of a few cuts or impressions See also:round the See also:top. The only ornaments found are the pierced See also:teeth of animals and shells. In Norway and Sweden implements similar to those of the Danish shell-mounds have been found, but usually without, the organic remains, except at Viste, near See also:Stavanger, excavated in 1907. The first See also:Swedish shell-See also:mound was discovered in the See also:north of Bohuslan in 1905, but is of a later type than the Danish. The remains at Nostvet in the See also:Christiania See also:fjord show traces of a considerable See also:population. Ground See also:slate implements are found scattered along the coasts of Norway and Sweden, and are attributed to a nomadic See also:people, whose See also:arctic culture persisted much longer in these countries than in the much earlier flint civilization of the Kitchen-middens in Denmark. To this race are attributed a few See also:rock-carvings and other sculptured representations of animals in a highly naturalistic See also:style, almost equal to that of the palaeolithic See also:cave-carvings of See also:France, and showing close See also:affinity with the See also:artistic productions of the regions on the eastern See also:side of the Baltic. Later Stone Age.—The remains of the Later Stone Age show a very much more advanced civilization of a See also:pastoral and later of an agricultural type, with domestic animals, such as See also:cattle, horses, pigs, See also:sheep and goats. As the number of " transition " finds, showing a See also:gradual development from the older forms, is very small, and as, moreover, settlements of the kitchen-midden type are known to have existed right through the later Stone Age, or even longer, there is some ground for assuming that the earlier flint implements of Denmark were the product of an aboriginal race, gradually ousted and driven north by See also:Aryans, immigrating with a See also:superior culture. By far the greatest proportion of the remains of the Stone Age are found in Denmark. While there are not more than five to six See also:hundred Stone-Age See also:graves known in Sweden, and only two or three in Norway, there are between three and four thousand on the See also:island of Seeland alone. Besides Seeland, Lolland, Falster and the north-eastern See also:part of See also:Jutland appear to have been thickly inhabited during the Later Stone Age. In Sweden the See also:southern-most part, Slane and Bohuslan, were probably the first to be inhabited: and then Vestergotland and Dal. Skane has yielded more than three-fourths of all the Later Stone Age See also:objects foundin Sweden. Norway is not, as might be supposed from the See also:absence of graves, entirely deficient in the objects of this period, but they are comparatively few in number, though quite on a See also:par in technique with those of Sweden. As already indicated, the See also:great difference between the culture of the shell-mounds and that of the Later Stone Age is the method of disposing of the dead. The dead of the former period, it is assumed, were placed in. See also:simple graves in the See also:earth, while characteristic of the latter period are the megalithic graves found in profusion in Denmark and Sweden. The earliest See also:form, and that most See also:common in Denmark, is the four-sided dolmen, formed by four or six large upright stones on which rests a huge rock, the whole being partly covered by a mound. These graves usually contain a number of skeletons. The next is the passage See also:grave, a chamber approached by a passage, both built of great blocks of rough-hewn rock. The roof of the largest of these, near Falkoping in Sweden, is formed of nine blocks of See also:granite, and the whole attains a length of nearly 6o ft. Later again are stone cists, consisting of a comparatively small space walled in and roofed by thin blocks of stone, surrounded by a See also:low mound. These graves seldom contain more than one See also:skeleton, and See also:mark the end of the Stone Age. Inhumation was practised throughout the period, though the, bones found in the great graves are often marked by fire owing to the practice, apparently prevalent, of See also:lighting fires in the grave See also:chambers. The chambers are often full of remains up to within a See also:foot of the roof, and in some cases parts of as many as a hundred skeletons have been found. In the mounds surrounding the tombs See also:animal bones and shells are frequently found, indicating feasts and sacrifices. It seems as if many of the graves, especially in Sweden, had at some time been considered as places for See also:sacrifice, to See also:judge by the saucerlike hollows constantly found on the upper side of the covering stones. The finds of tools, weapons, ornaments and pottery contribute greatly to our knowledge of the period, but probably the best specimens were not placed in graves, as we find the finest See also:work elsewhere. The pottery is of See also:good material and form, though still made without the aid of the See also:potter's wheel. The indentations of the See also:pattern are frequently filled in with a See also: The tools include See also:chisels, borers, knives, saws and axes, but the finest workmanship seems to have been reserved for weapons. Arrow-heads and spear-points of flint have chipped See also:blades of marvellous fineness and symmetry. Daggers with handle and blade all made of one piece of flint are characteristic of the See also:Northern Stone Age, and show how much See also:weight was laid on ornamental appearance, since wooden handles would have been equally effective and far less troublesome to make. The See also:battle-axes are of many forms, perfectly symmetrical and beautifully ground and polished. Those of other stone than flint have holes bored through them for the See also:shaft. Wooden shafts were usually attached at right angles to the flint axes. Of these latter the thin-necked See also:axe is the most characteristic. The See also:distribution of flint implements reveals a considerable trading activity, as flint-bearing strata only occur in certain parts of Denmark and in Slane, whence it must have been distributed over the whole of Southern Sweden through the channels of See also:commerce. Considerable commercial activity must also have prevailed between the Scandinavians and their southern neighbours. Traces of dwelling-houses with hearth-places show that the usual form was a round or slightly See also:oval hut, constructed of wattles, plastered inside and out with clay. The See also:floor was usually partly or entirely paved. The See also:Bronze Age.—Towards the close of the Later Stone Age a few objects of See also:copper are found in the North. Copper is, however, soon superseded by bronze, which was probably imported ready alloyed into Scandinavia, though the See also:special Scandinavian forms, as well as the presence of a number of moulds, conclusively prove that the casting of the See also:metal was done in the North. It is supposed that the Bronze Age, which can be divided into two See also:main periods, began in Scandinavia about 2000-1750 B.C. The earliest implements are clearly copies of the Stone Age work, betraying the See also:ignorance of the makers as to the adaptability of the new material. Some bronze axes are exactly the shape of stone axes, but gradually we see the blade grow wider, the See also:neck narrower, the See also:outer sides of the haft turn back over the wooden shaft, which is still cloven, and finally before the end of the earlier period we have the " socketed See also:celt," in which the See also:tongue has disappeared and the wooden shaft is fixed in a See also:cylinder of bronze, with a metal See also:loop at the side through which the fastening passed. The unsocketed celt has also undergone modifications. By the end of the earlier period swords have been evolved from daggers, and brooches and clasps, besides beautiful vases and See also:hanging vessels, are made of the metal. See also:Gold is also known and used. See also:Fine linear decoration, usually in spirals or zig-zags, is applied. The forms are extremely artistic, and the technique higher than in almost any other See also:European country. Perhaps the most magnificent relic of this earlier period is the bronze " See also:sun-See also:chariot" and See also:horse from Trundholm in Seeland. The disk supposed to represent the sun is overlaid with gold and beautifully decorated with See also:spiral designs. The later period is clearly marked off from the earlier by the method of disposing of the dead, since in the earlier period the dead were still buried unburned, often in stone cists or See also:oak coffins, while in the latter period See also:cremation was practised, and the remains placed in small stone or wooden boxes, or in See also:plain earthenware urns. Some of these urns are clearly imitations of the See also:house of the period, and show that it was still round in form. The graves are covered by a See also:cairn or mound. See also:Miniature weapons are often found in the urns, but the objects placed in or beside the See also:urn reveal little care in their selection: it is obvious that a few gifts were deposited with the dead, rather than the See also:complete outfit of necessaries which are found in earlier periods. During this period decoration becomes more complicated: the spirals are often fringed with tangential lines, and the ends of knives, rings, &c., are frequently rolled up into spiral volutes. Bands of wavy lines are a common form of See also:ornament. Amber and a dark-See also: The human figures on the carvings are unfortunately represented in such a primitive manner that little could be known of the details of their clothing but for some unique finds in Denmark, where the oak coffins of the earlier period have preserved See also:hair and clothing for over 3000 years. Thus we know that the garb of the Bronze Age man consisted of a thick glossy cap, replaced by a See also:helmet in time of See also:war, a woollen See also:tunic which left the shoulders bare, a cloak and See also:leather shoes fastened on by strips of See also:cloth crossed up the See also:ankle. A See also:buckle for the See also:belt, pins for the cloak, and one See also:bracelet were his only ornaments. From the small bronze See also:knife and the See also:tweezers found in men's graves it has been deduced that shaving was usual, and a small pointed See also:instrument also found in the graves is regarded as See also:evidence for See also:tattooing. The See also:women wore a fine hair See also:net and See also:comb, a curiously clumsily-cut bodice with sleeves to the See also:elbow, and a See also:long skirt gathered round the See also:waist by a belt with a large ornament in front. A heavy necklace, two bracelets and a See also:dagger appear to x xiv. I ohave been usual. The people were tall and had See also:light hair. With regard to the distribution of Bronze Age finds, it may be said that Gotaland, Skane and the See also:district round See also:Stockholm yield the richest See also:harvest in Sweden, while in Norway the See also:mass of finds are in the Christiania and the Stavanger districts. A notable feature of the period is the number of finds made in bogs. Many were clearly buried there for safe keeping, but others are usually explained as votive offerings. See also:Iron Age.—The approximate date for the first beginnings of this period in the North is still a matter of controversy; Montelius placing it at about Soo B.C., while Sophus Muller, of Denmark, would put it at least a See also:century and a See also:half later. It has been divided into four main subdivisions, of which the first, lasting till about the beginning of our era, is usually called the Pre-See also:Roman Period. The beginnings of this age are most clearly traced on the island of See also:Bornholm, where cemeteries are found containing from Io to r000 graves. These graves, called Brandpletter, are closely similar to the contemporary graves on the See also:Continent, and consist of burnt bones embedded in See also:charcoal and See also:black See also:mould. In this are found iron brooches (of the safety-See also:pin type), buckles and a few fragments of pottery. More typically Northern cemeteries show small mounds covering each grave, in which an urn contains the burnt bones. These graves also yield but few remains, and the See also:wealth of objects from this period come from See also:bog and See also: A certain number of Roman objects seem, however, to have reached Denmark from the See also:Rhine Provinces. The graves show a variety new to Scandinavia: in some parts cremation continues to be practised, in other localities, notably in Jutland and Seeland, inhumation reappears. Characteristic of both forms of See also:burial is the practice of placing a number of vessels containing food and drink in the grave. Weapons are seldom found in graves, but a complete knowledge of them is afforded by such finds as that at Thorsbjerg in See also:Schleswig and Vimose in Fiinen, the latter yielding no less than 3500 objects to the National Museum. These are the debris of great battlefields from about the 4th century, and it is usually supposed that the victors dedicated the spoil to some See also:god, as everything was left almost untouched. From this ample evidence we learn that the spear or See also:lance was the most common weapon, and after that the See also:sword, used now for striking as well as thrusting, and with a See also:short See also:cross-piece. The hilt is often superbly decorated, frequently with See also:silver, which is now much used. Coats of See also:ring-See also:mail are found. Helmets' and See also:shields are extraordinarily thin, almost flimsy, possibly in See also:imitation of the inferior Roman goods of the period, possibly in the See also:case of the shields, at any See also:rate, because they were only intended to protect from arrows or spears flung from a distance, or because dependence was mainly placed on the strength of the See also:boss. See also:Numbers of bits and other fragments of See also:harness prove the use of horses in war. A similar find at Nydam in Schleswig yielded two of the See also:oldest boats that have come down to us: one of oak, 75 ft. long, built for 28 rowers, and another of firwood. The timbers were fastened with iron nails, but some early boats from Norway and Sweden show a more primitive method of attaching the timbers with fastenings of baste. Besides the deserted battlegrounds, the more usual type of votive offering is found, such as the silver cauldron from Gundestrup, or the two magnificent gold horns, one more than 2 ft. in length, discovered at Gallehus in Schleswig. Further indications of religious II customs are afforded by a curious find in Jutland, where between 20 and 30 earthenware vessels each contained a slaughtered See also:lamb. With these were found remains of rude altars. Of domestic arts, weaving and See also:dyeing seem to have been carried to a high degree of perfection. The See also:art of pottery has also advanced, especially in Jutland, where we find a multiplicity of forms, with decoration in bands of slanting lines. It was during this period that the Scandinavians acquired the Runic See also:alphabet from the southern Germanic tribes. The specifically Northern variant of this alphabet does not appear till later. See also:Inscriptions from this period, cut into stone monuments, are found in Norway and Sweden. The next period (the first of the Later Stone Age), called in Denmark the See also:Post-Roman, and in Sweden and Norway the " Period of National Migrations," brings us from A.D. 400 to about 700. In Denmark these centuries are very obscure, owing to the fact that the graves there are usually difficult to find, being without mounds and unfurnished with goods. Bornholm, where inhumation is greatly on the increase, is again the chief centre for grave-finds. Some few graves contain the See also:personal equipment of the dead: sword, spear, axe, See also:shield, knife and See also:whetstone, and occasionally the skeletons of horse and dog. The vessels for food and drink are no longer found. At Old See also:Upsala, Vendel and Ultuna, all in Upland, great See also:interest attaches to the first See also:ship-graves. These become common in Norway, fairly frequent in Sweden, and even in See also:Finland, but only one grave containing remains of a See also:boat has so far been found in Den-mark. The details of the earlier Swedish ship-burials are some-what obscured for us because the ship and all its contents have been burnt, but we can see that in these the dead man sits at the stern, as if about to set forth on a See also:journey, while in later graves of the See also:Viking Period, both burnt and unburnt, the See also:corpse seems to have been laid on a See also:bed in a chamber built amidships for the purpose. All the larger ship-burials are remarkable for the large number of animal bones found, including those of horses, oxen, pigs, sheep and fowls. The gold ornaments of the period are its chief See also:glory: indeed the wealth of gold, especially in Sweden, has suggested the See also:title " Gold Age " for these centuries. The favourite ornaments of the period were the so-called bracteates, worn as pendants, and imitated from Roman coins, but often stamped on one side only and decorated in the Northern style. Magnificent brooches of engraved or See also:filigree work, some with a See also:plate at the See also:hinge end at right angles to the pin, others oval, often representing an animal seen from above, are among the finest productions of the time. The decoration of conventionalized animal forms is a marked feature, and, though characteristic of all the Germanic races at this time, is best executed in the north. When worked in filigree the animals' limbs become more and more attenuated and snake-like, or, on the other See also:hand, when engraved, show less and less connexion with each other, but the artist's aim, a good decorative effect, is attained, even though there is a certain barbaric absence of See also:restraint in See also:design. In the Viking Age, from about Boo to the introduction of See also:Christianity in the See also:roth and uth centuries, Norway, hitherto the poorest in antiquities, springs into prominence. A wealth of objects is found in the graves, and especially in some of the larger ship-graves, such as those of Gokstad, Tune, Myklebostad and Oseberg (also in the Norwegian ship-grave at Groix, See also:Brittany). Fortunately a number of these See also:ships are unburnt, and in view of the importance of seafaring in the Viking Age, it is See also:worth noting that a mast with square sail of woollen. material is common. One ten-oared See also:vessel from this period is of exactly the same build as those used to this See also:day in the district where it was excavated. A number of shield bosses are often found in the vessels, and it is clear that shields were hung round the bulwarks exactly as Icelandic See also:sources describe. The See also:prow and stern-post are often beautifully carved. Sometimes the remains of as many as 12 horses are found in one of these graves, besides those of a number of See also:dogs. The presence of anvils, pincers and other tools, as well as weapons and ornaments, is noteworthy, indicating that the art of metal-work was held in esteem even among chiefs, as indeed is known from See also:literary sources. During this period, moreover, iron ore was extracted, smelted and worked in Scandinavia. The weapons found are swords, knives, See also:sickles, battle-axes, spears and arrows. The sword is two-edged, with a wooden hilt often beautifully decorated with silver. The axe is very broad-bladed, and evidently of great importance, being often the only weapon found in graves. Helmets and coatsof mail are not found in Norway, but are comparatively common in Sweden. We owe much of our knowledge of this period to the unburnt burials which were fortunately usual. In Denmark grave-chambers of wood, such as those at Jellinge, stand nearest to the ship-graves. In Sweden the great number of graves surrounding the See also:ancient See also:town of Birka (mod. Bjorko), should be noticed. Most graves have a round, oblong or triangular See also:howe raised over them. A feature of the period are the tall, rudely-hewn bauta-stones, set up over graves containing burnt bones, or sometimes merely to the memory of the dead. Large upright stones are sometimes set round a grave in a circle, or in the shape of a ship, with pointed See also:bow and stern. It is noticeable that the graves are often in close proximity to the See also:modern cemeteries. In this period women are also occasionally buried in a boat or ship, as in the case of one of the finest ship-graves, that at Oseberg. Women's graves often contain splendid ornaments, though gold and silver are rare in grave-finds, and the large oval-headed pins and the oblong or See also:trefoil-shaped clasps found in them are usually of bronze, while in other finds silver ornaments are common. Silver is as characteristic of this period as gold of the preceding one, Denmark alone yielding no less than 25 important silver finds, some of them consisting of necklaces of very fine filigree work, or of dexterously See also:woven silver wires. The style of decoration is the same as the preceding period, but bolder, less refined and often heavy. Ornaments are often set with garnets. The influence of Irish art is discernible, as in the spirals which terminate the limbs of the animal forms, and in the frequent interlacing designs; and we are not surprised to find a number of objects of Irish manufacture in Norway. On the other hand, English See also:leaf decoration is imitated, and Carolingian See also:models appear to have served for certain See also:grotesque forms, such as dragons, winged lions, &c. Sweden shows the same influences at work, though the Swedes still had most dealings with the eastern Baltic countries, and with the Scandinavian See also:kingdom of See also:Novgorod. Cufic " coins, struck in See also:Persia and See also:Turkestan, are found together with those of See also:Germany and See also:England. It is clear See also:proof of Gorland's commercial importance that it is still the richest treasure-ground in this respect, even for English coins. Evidence for the eastern communications of Sweden is afforded by Runic inscriptions, some of which state that the chief whom the stone commemorates See also:fell in Finland or See also:Esthonia. Runic inscriptions with the later, entirely Northern alphabet are now common all over Scandinavia. The stones, especially the later Swedish ones, are often carved with spiral and animal designs, and some represent mythical scenes such as the adventures of See also:Sigurd Fafnisbane, depicted on a stone from Sodermannland. The houses of this period were usually built of wood, and consisted, as we know from literary evidence, of a large See also: Traces of See also:feather mattresses and wooden beds are found in some of these graves, and See also:dice and playing-pieces resembling draughtsmen frequently occur. The remains of humbler dwellings have been found, some of them resembling a type of cottage still to be seen in southern Sweden, built of wattles, plastered inside and out. Another feature of the Viking Age consists in the great earthworks, many of them See also:standing to this day. Such are the famous Danevirke, stretching right across Schleswig, the work of See also:Queen Thyra, who lies in one of the great howes at Jellinge, and the so-called bygdeborge in Norway, some of which are assigned to Viking times. See also:guide by J. Mestorf, Vorgeschichtliche Alterthumer aus Schleswig-See also:Holstein, should not be overlooked. The See also:Saga See also:Book of the Viking See also:Club (See also:London) contains excellent articles, chiefly by H. Schetelig and H. Kjaer. (B. S. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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