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.
