Sammendrag
Avaldsnes, on the island of Karmøy in southwest Norway is the point of departure in this thesis. The richly furnished Flaghaug burial demonstrates the socio-political centrality of Avaldsnes in the Early Iron Age. In the late Viking and early Middle ages, centrality is testified in saga literature and documentary sources referring to Avaldsnes as a royal farm. The characteristics of Avaldsnes as an elite settlement was further investigated through excavations in 2011-12 by the Avaldsnes Royal Manor project led by Professor Dagfinn Skre.
The recent excavation data form the basis for a discussion of a detailed chronology of Avaldsnes through a collection of thematic articles targeting various aspects of the settlement. Combined, these articles investigate how power was articulated through material culture in the period AD 200 — 1000.Furthermore, the formation of sub-regional groups and networks were addressed through a study of burials with brooches in the surrounding landscapes. While previous research on socio-political structures and identity negotiated through material culture identified mainly regional or super-regional structures, this thesis introduces an intra-regional scale. The spatial and temporal structure of the analysis resulted in the establishment of a sub-regional diachrony. Interrelation between these changing sub-regions over time was addressed, and related to processes of sociopolitical centralisation/fragmentation and emerging kingship.
By bringing together the newly established chronology of Avaldsnes and the trajectories of the sub-regions in the surrounding landscapes, this thesis provides Avaldsnes with a new socio-political context and enables a discussion ofthe link between burial practices and socio-political structure. It is argued that burials in different sub-regions communicate different principles and ideals and that these differences or local particularities become a form of politicised identity.
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