Abstract
This article deals with how people during the Iron Age constructed their social identity, how they matured and became men and women —a process connected with the ownership and cultivation of landed property. Three different types of ancient monuments - stone walls, hillforts and runestones - are discussed in this context. The theoretical point of departure is that monuments have visual messages of their own, not necessarily identical with how they have been used, and that the metaphor is a useful analytical tool.
Highlights
It is true that I use domains with the same names as the "subsystems", but the important difference is that these domains exist in and through each other and not side by side
The Tracr.~formaccve Dragon believe that the runic stone is best understood as a transmitter of meanings concerning inheritance of land, and kinship, and this during a period when the traditional models of ownership and social organisation were changing
Summary
I use this imaginary reptile to illuminate the visual and conceptual connection between stone walls, hill-forts and runestones. It is otherwise more common with stories about treasures guarded by dragons in hill-forts.
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