This paper examines the possible intellectual relationship between Johann Gottfried Herder's historical philosophy and the development of culture-historical archaeology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rather than proposing a direct or linear line of influence, the study situates Herder within the broader Enlightenment and early Romantic context in which concepts of culture, historicism, and collective identity were reformulated. Attention is given to Herder's conception of historically continuous peoples, the connection between language, tradition, and communal identity, and his rejection of fixed racial categories. The paper explores how similar structural assumptions later appear in archaeological thought, especially in the works of Gustaf Kossinna and Oswald Menghin. Their treatment of archaeological cultures as expressions of historically bounded and territorially anchored peoples resonates with patterns of reasoning already articulated in Herder's philosophy, even as their frameworks diverged significantly in their view on race. By analysing these conceptual parallels, the study argues that Herder may be understood as part of the intellectual foundation of culture-historical archaeology. In doing so, it seeks to contribute to a more historically grounded understanding of the archaeological interpretation and the enduring role of concepts such as culture, peoplehood, and continuity within the discipline.
Inland areas of southern Norway produced an estimated 190 000 tonnes of bloomery iron between AD 800-1350. An efficient way for iron to reach markets in coastal Norway and overseas was through a system of Intermediaries. This paper examines the physical, social, and economic requirements that were necessary for these intermediaries to operate, utilising the concept of 'people as infrastructure' developed by the urban sociologist AbdouMaliq Simone. The article moves beyond traditional perspectives on surplus production of iron that often focus on technological aspects and production quantities, testing the idea that individuals played a crucial role as intermediaries. Using Simone's theoretical framework, we suggest that the success of an intermediary heavily depended on exploiting and developing infrastructure in the broadest sense, from physical environments to organisational structures and human interaction. One such potential intermediary was a blacksmith on the farm Heggtveit in Telemark. Around AD 1200, this person appears to have initiated a largescale operation of refining bloomery iron. Within a few decades, one or multiple blacksmiths at Heggtveit refined 5000-10 000 kg of iron, with an estimated value equivalent to 416-836 cows.
This study applies New Materialist theory to examine early medieval urban emergence at Ipswich (Gipeswic), challenging traditional models that privilege elite agency and linear development. Through detailed analysis of 7th-9th century thoroughfares, including Franciscan Way, Market Lane, St Stephen's Lane, and Fore Street, the research reveals urbanism as a complex process of 'distributed agency' involving diverse human actors - from craftspeople and neighbours to enslaved neighbours and officials - and nonhuman actants. The author develops 'material negotiation analysis' as a methodological framework, demonstrating how roads emerged through interactions between rivers, flood channels, trackways, gravel surfaces, and human activities rather than top-down planning. Key findings include the synchronous metalling of roads across late 9th-century Ipswich, differential maintenance patterns encoding social relations, and the active role of materials in creating urban identity. The study demonstrates why New Materialism's focus on material agency proves especially valuable for archaeological contexts where documentary evidence is limited. This approach reframes early medieval towns as dynamic assemblages continuously negotiated through material practices, offering archaeologists a robust alternative to foundational narratives of urban origins and advancing New Materialist applications in medieval urban archaeology.
Despite being a central element in traditional agricultural practices, shielings have rarely been subject to large-scale archaeological investigations in Norway. Combining results from development-led surveys and small-scale research projects, this study demonstrates how such an extensive archaeological material - despite inadequate contextual information and chronometric hygiene - may contribute to a refined chronology for transhumance and shielings in the county of M & oslash;re and Romsdal, and beyond. Radiocarbon dates from these investigations may relate to specific archaeological features or events or to more complex archaeological contexts. Albeit mixed and incorporated into palimpsest deposits, charcoal sampled for radiocarbon dating could still be treated as a remnant of significant past events. Varying means of statistical modelling may thus enhance our understanding of this chronometric material, revealing both continuity and change at various scales. Hence, I propose a development of transhumant practices across four phases, spanning from the Pre-Roman Iron Age to modern times. According to a definition that emphasises settlement, however, there is still no evidence of shielings until the Late Iron Age and Early Middle Ages.
Recent years have seen increased archaeological interest in the study of mutuality, cooperation, consensus and interdependence. In Scandinavian Iron Age archaeology, relevant works tend to treat voluntary cooperation as something different from and opposed to power. This paper suggests the alternative of the term 'power with', drawn from political theory, as a name for the power of joint action. The term is applied to an analysis of mound construction and communal feasting and assembly at Hundorp, present-day Norway. Hundorp is often presented as a centre of power and dynastic rule. I argue instead that there is much material from Hundorp that speaks of large-scale joint action and cooperation and less that speaks of hierarchisation and differentiation. This does not mean the place was not a centre of power, but indicates that power at Hundorp may have been jointly owned, representing communal 'power with' rather than exclusive 'power over'. I do not dispute the existence of 'power over' in Iron Age Scandinavia but here I propose that the mounds of Hundorp expressed a different kind of collective agency.
Maritime cultural heritage is often perceived as distant or inaccessible: hidden beneath the surface or lost beyond the horizon. Yet in everyday language and imagery, maritime metaphors are frequently used to articulate life experiences, abstract thoughts, and emotions. This article explores the well-being affordances of metaphorised maritime cultural heritage, focusing on the emotional and symbolic meanings of maritime metaphors, heritage as an affective practice, and the use of maritime heritage objects as prompts in self-reflective writing. The research was conducted through a bibliotherapeutic workshop for a group of volunteers. The workshop combined autobiographical writing with sensorial engagement with authentic maritime cultural heritage objects. Findings indicate that maritime-related metaphors and historically significant objects elicit a wide range of strong emotional responses and personal autobiographical reflections. This study offers new insights into the affective and therapeutic dimensions of maritime cultural heritage. It highlights how heritage-linked emotions are shaped through complex, individual processes, in which cultural heritage operates in dynamic interaction with the observer's lived experience.
