Bruken av Borreparken i regionale kulturarvsstrategier i Vestfold

The Viking Age burial field at Borre in Vestfold County is one of the most significant symbolic Norwegian memorials used in national commemorations. In this paper, I discuss how Borre as a memorial of national importance, is used in regional heritage strategies. The commemorative practice at Borre indicates that the place forms part of three regional heritage strategies: in the construction of 1) a cultural region; 2) a commercial region; and 3) a network-based region. It is argued that the three regional strategies have become a flexible, instrumental resource for various stakeholders in order to create regional prosperity. However, the complex strategy promotes an ambiguous rhetoric among professionals within regional governmental bodies, for example archaeologists within the county administration, who indicate that they are manoeuvring between many roles and interests depending on the reception and issues at stake.