Abstract
Change is always related to past experience. In this article it is argued that the spatial organization of the earliest towns in Scandinavia, in spite of their novelty, reflected old concepts and beliefs. The hypothesis is that the placing of buildings, the parcelling out of plots etc. in a Viking Age town such as Birka, referred to still vital concepts of fertility, creativity and wealth —and the power over these things. One aspect of the argument is that there existed a metaphorical relationship between the fertile field in the countryside and the productive town plot, where skilful smiths created valuable things.
Highlights
The urbanization of the Nordic countries has been considerably discussed, and the concept of "town" defined in a number of ways
How are we to understand what these places represented in their own time? As has been pointed out (Andrén 1994; Christophersen 1997) urban archaeology has for a long time followed in the wake of the historians
This has brought forth a research directed towards economic and juridical matters. These aspects of the early towns are important, but we cannot presuppose that they were as crucial in the past as we find them today
Summary
Change is always related to past experience. In this article it is argued that the spatial organization of the earliest towns in Scandinavia, in spite of their novelty, reflected old concepts and beliefs. The hypothesis is that the placing of buildings, the parcelling out of plots etc. In a Viking Age town such as Birka, referred to still vital concepts of fertil ity, creativity and wealth —and the power over these things. One aspect o f the argument is that there existed a metaphorical relationship between the fertile field in the countryside and the productive town plot, where skilful smiths created valuable things. Anna Hed Jakobsson, Department of Archaeology, Stockholm University, SE-106 9l Stockholm, Skeden
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