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Peter Skoglund

Linnaeus University, Faculty of Art and humanities, Faculty Member

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My main research interest is Scandinavian Bronze Age material culture. In my thesis from 2005 and in several subsequent articles I have discussed regional variations in material culture and the relationship between local material expressions and external influences. In this discussion monuments and rock-art are of certain interest, and I have conducted fieldwork on these topics in various parts of Sweden.

I also have a career in contract archaeology where I have been in charge of both small and large projects. From contract archaeology I have learned the importance of large-scale excavations in understanding prehistoric societies. I have a special interest in the relationships between large scale relocations of settlements and societal changes.

Recently I have completed a project focusing on how archaeologists can contribute to an understanding of the relationship between people and trees in prehistory. In this project images of trees on rock-art are crucial, but other material is also included in the analysis. This discussion has theoretical implications as it leads to new perspectives on the relationship between nature conservation and heritage management.

From 2011 and five years onwards I will be in charge of the project “Social Landscapes of Bronze Age Scandinavia”, which is linked to the Swedish Rock Art Research Archives. By using new dating evidence the project will discuss and revise the chronological and geographical framework of rock-art in South and Central Sweden. The project further aims to discuss the social and ritual significance of the images by relating rock-art research to a general understanding of Scandinavian Bronze Age society.

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Lund University

National Historical Museums

Bengt Söderberg

National Historical Museums

Niklas Ytterberg

Uppsala University

Ludvig Papmehl-Dufay

Kalmar County Museum

Kim von Hackwitz

Uppsala University

Elisabeth Rudebeck

Lund University

PhD Katarina Botwid

Andreas Emilsson

Kalmar County Museum

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Books by Peter Skoglund

Hällristningar i Kronobergs län – motiv, myter och dokumentation

Papers by Peter Skoglund

Fester och festande vid Hyllie. Nya tolkningar av mellanneolitiska platser och bebyggelsemönster i sydvästra Skåne.

by Kristian Brink, Peter Skoglund, and anders Högberg

Fornvännen. 2010/3., 2010

Vid uppdragsarkeologiska undersökningar vid Hyllie i södra Malmö kommun åren 2002 och 2005 påträf... more Vid uppdragsarkeologiska undersökningar vid Hyllie i södra Malmö kommun åren 2002 och 2005 påträffades omfattande lämningar från den sena trattbägarkulturen, period III av mellanneolitikum A (fig. 1). Denna fas var omkring två århundraden lång och dateras till omkring år 3000 cal BC. Man tog till vara rika och varierade fynd från tre stora nedgrävningar på fastigheten Hyllie 155:91 (se Andréasson et al. 2008; Skoglund 2008 för utförliga presentationer av platsen och utgrävningsresultaten). Syftet med denna artikel är att presentera de analyser som utförts vilka leder fram till en tolkning där vi menar att platsen kan ha fungerat som en festplats för familjegrupper från trakten. Ytterligare ett syfte är att diskutera de konsekvenser som tolkningen

Beyond chiefs and networks. Corporate strategies in Bronze Age Scandinavia

This article discusses ship symbolism in Scandinavia during the Bronze Age, 1700–500 BC. It is ar... more This article discusses ship symbolism in Scandinavia during the Bronze Age, 1700–500 BC. It is argued that the ship symbol in south Scandinavia can be primarily related to a mythology guarded by individuals, while the ship symbol in the areas to the north had a more public character, being part of rituals involving many people. The argument is strengthened by a discussion of differences in the rock-carving practice in southern and northern Bohuslän and of ship settings in three different regions. It is argued that the identified differences in the use of the ship symbol are the result of different social strategies, namely a network strategy dominating in the south and a corporate strategy dominating in the areas to the north. By focusing on actions and local contexts, a view of the Bronze Age emerges that differs from recent studies, which instead have underlined the similarities between Scandinavia and central and south Europe in the Bronze Age.

The environmental context of a prehistoric rock carving on the Bjäre Peninsula, Scania, southern Sweden

Palaeoecological analysis of peat deposits from a small bog at Lingården, southern Sweden, have b... more Palaeoecological analysis of peat deposits from a small bog at Lingården, southern Sweden, have been used to examine the nature and timing of vegetation changes and anthropogenic activity associated with a nearby rock carving located close to the edge of the wetland. This study is the first of its type to investigate the environmental context of rock carvings in southern Sweden. Debate has tended to focus on chronology and iconography, with little consideration of the environmental relationships of rock carvings and how vegetation may help construct a site within its surrounding landscape. The pollen evidence from Lingården demonstrates that the rock carving was located in an isolated semi-wooded setting during the late Bronze Age. This is in stark contrast to several other pollen studies from the Bjäre Peninsula that record widespread woodland clearance and agricultural activity from the late Neolithic – Bronze Age transition. The results of this study support hypotheses that suggest complex rock carvings, such as Lingården, were separated from settled areas. This sense of separation and isolation is reinforced by the vegetation surrounding the rock carving. This paper also discusses the relationship between charcoal in the pollen sequence and evidence that the decorated outcrop had been burnt.

Imaginary vessels in the Late Bronze Age of Gotland and South Scandinavia: Ship settings, Rock Carvings and Decorared Metalwork

This paper compares the Bronze Age ship settings of Gotland with the vessels portrayed in rock ca... more This paper compares the Bronze Age ship settings of Gotland with the vessels portrayed in rock carvings on the Scandinavian mainland. It also makes comparisons with the drawings of vessels on decorated metalwork of the same period. It considers their interpretation in relation to two approaches taken to the depictions of ships in other media. One concerns the use of boats to transport the sun, while the other emphasises the close relationship between seagoing vessels and the dead. A third possibility concerns the distinctive organisation of prehistoric communities on Gotland. It seems possible that the largest of the ship settings were equivalent to the Bronze Age cult houses found on the mainland and that they may even have represented the island itself.

Stone ships – continuity and change in Scandinavian prehistory

The focus of this paper is the tradition of building stone-ship burials in Scandinavia during pre... more The focus of this paper is the tradition of building stone-ship burials in Scandinavia during prehistory. This tradition is found to different degrees at different times in various regions in Scandinavia during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age (1700 BC–AD 1000). Real ships made for warfare and long-distance voyages call for an unequal social organization with a captain and ordinary men. The relation between symbolic ships and real ships was used in various social strategies that changed in space and in time. In some areas this relation was underlined and the symbolic stone ships were reserved for few people, while in other areas this relation was not admitted and a broader spectrum of the population was buried in stone ships; finally there was the tradition of not using manifest stone ships in connection with death rituals.

Landscape, History and Monuments – A Material Culture Perspective

In this paper I discuss the biography of a south Swedish local landscape during the late Neolithi... more In this paper I discuss the biography of a south Swedish local landscape during the late Neolithic and the Bronze Age (2400–500 BC). It is argued that changes in material culture occur in an extensive geographical framework, but since both landscape and people’s historical experiences varies from region to region, new material expressions will occur when the novel ideas are incorporated in a local landscape. To be able to grasp these relationships we must study the biography of the material culture since monuments and artifacts were often made of, or constructed by, material with a biography connected to the everyday life in the surrounding landscape.

De enskilda hushållens betydelse för landskapsutvecklingen under bronsåldern.

The article discusses agriculture and landscape development in southern Sweden during the Bronze ... more The article discusses agriculture and landscape development in southern Sweden during the Bronze Age. The development of the open landscape is discussed in perspective of the household. In the middle of the Bronze Age there is a change in the settlement pattern. The houses become smaller and more separated from each other. This has been interpreted as a result of a new social system based on a nuclear family organization. The article argues that the nuclear family organization facilitate colonization of new land. The landscape development was however partly different in the two provinces discussed - Småland and Scania. This is explained as a result of differences in access to Bronze and differences in need for exchange goods.

Hällristningar i Kronobergs län – motiv, myter och dokumentation

Fester och festande vid Hyllie. Nya tolkningar av mellanneolitiska platser och bebyggelsemönster i sydvästra Skåne.

by Kristian Brink, Peter Skoglund, and anders Högberg

Fornvännen. 2010/3., 2010

Vid uppdragsarkeologiska undersökningar vid Hyllie i södra Malmö kommun åren 2002 och 2005 påträf... more Vid uppdragsarkeologiska undersökningar vid Hyllie i södra Malmö kommun åren 2002 och 2005 påträffades omfattande lämningar från den sena trattbägarkulturen, period III av mellanneolitikum A (fig. 1). Denna fas var omkring två århundraden lång och dateras till omkring år 3000 cal BC. Man tog till vara rika och varierade fynd från tre stora nedgrävningar på fastigheten Hyllie 155:91 (se Andréasson et al. 2008; Skoglund 2008 för utförliga presentationer av platsen och utgrävningsresultaten). Syftet med denna artikel är att presentera de analyser som utförts vilka leder fram till en tolkning där vi menar att platsen kan ha fungerat som en festplats för familjegrupper från trakten. Ytterligare ett syfte är att diskutera de konsekvenser som tolkningen

Beyond chiefs and networks. Corporate strategies in Bronze Age Scandinavia

This article discusses ship symbolism in Scandinavia during the Bronze Age, 1700–500 BC. It is ar... more This article discusses ship symbolism in Scandinavia during the Bronze Age, 1700–500 BC. It is argued that the ship symbol in south Scandinavia can be primarily related to a mythology guarded by individuals, while the ship symbol in the areas to the north had a more public character, being part of rituals involving many people. The argument is strengthened by a discussion of differences in the rock-carving practice in southern and northern Bohuslän and of ship settings in three different regions. It is argued that the identified differences in the use of the ship symbol are the result of different social strategies, namely a network strategy dominating in the south and a corporate strategy dominating in the areas to the north. By focusing on actions and local contexts, a view of the Bronze Age emerges that differs from recent studies, which instead have underlined the similarities between Scandinavia and central and south Europe in the Bronze Age.

The environmental context of a prehistoric rock carving on the Bjäre Peninsula, Scania, southern Sweden

Palaeoecological analysis of peat deposits from a small bog at Lingården, southern Sweden, have b... more Palaeoecological analysis of peat deposits from a small bog at Lingården, southern Sweden, have been used to examine the nature and timing of vegetation changes and anthropogenic activity associated with a nearby rock carving located close to the edge of the wetland. This study is the first of its type to investigate the environmental context of rock carvings in southern Sweden. Debate has tended to focus on chronology and iconography, with little consideration of the environmental relationships of rock carvings and how vegetation may help construct a site within its surrounding landscape. The pollen evidence from Lingården demonstrates that the rock carving was located in an isolated semi-wooded setting during the late Bronze Age. This is in stark contrast to several other pollen studies from the Bjäre Peninsula that record widespread woodland clearance and agricultural activity from the late Neolithic – Bronze Age transition. The results of this study support hypotheses that suggest complex rock carvings, such as Lingården, were separated from settled areas. This sense of separation and isolation is reinforced by the vegetation surrounding the rock carving. This paper also discusses the relationship between charcoal in the pollen sequence and evidence that the decorated outcrop had been burnt.

Imaginary vessels in the Late Bronze Age of Gotland and South Scandinavia: Ship settings, Rock Carvings and Decorared Metalwork

This paper compares the Bronze Age ship settings of Gotland with the vessels portrayed in rock ca... more This paper compares the Bronze Age ship settings of Gotland with the vessels portrayed in rock carvings on the Scandinavian mainland. It also makes comparisons with the drawings of vessels on decorated metalwork of the same period. It considers their interpretation in relation to two approaches taken to the depictions of ships in other media. One concerns the use of boats to transport the sun, while the other emphasises the close relationship between seagoing vessels and the dead. A third possibility concerns the distinctive organisation of prehistoric communities on Gotland. It seems possible that the largest of the ship settings were equivalent to the Bronze Age cult houses found on the mainland and that they may even have represented the island itself.

Stone ships – continuity and change in Scandinavian prehistory

The focus of this paper is the tradition of building stone-ship burials in Scandinavia during pre... more The focus of this paper is the tradition of building stone-ship burials in Scandinavia during prehistory. This tradition is found to different degrees at different times in various regions in Scandinavia during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age (1700 BC–AD 1000). Real ships made for warfare and long-distance voyages call for an unequal social organization with a captain and ordinary men. The relation between symbolic ships and real ships was used in various social strategies that changed in space and in time. In some areas this relation was underlined and the symbolic stone ships were reserved for few people, while in other areas this relation was not admitted and a broader spectrum of the population was buried in stone ships; finally there was the tradition of not using manifest stone ships in connection with death rituals.

Landscape, History and Monuments – A Material Culture Perspective

In this paper I discuss the biography of a south Swedish local landscape during the late Neolithi... more In this paper I discuss the biography of a south Swedish local landscape during the late Neolithic and the Bronze Age (2400–500 BC). It is argued that changes in material culture occur in an extensive geographical framework, but since both landscape and people’s historical experiences varies from region to region, new material expressions will occur when the novel ideas are incorporated in a local landscape. To be able to grasp these relationships we must study the biography of the material culture since monuments and artifacts were often made of, or constructed by, material with a biography connected to the everyday life in the surrounding landscape.

De enskilda hushållens betydelse för landskapsutvecklingen under bronsåldern.

The article discusses agriculture and landscape development in southern Sweden during the Bronze ... more The article discusses agriculture and landscape development in southern Sweden during the Bronze Age. The development of the open landscape is discussed in perspective of the household. In the middle of the Bronze Age there is a change in the settlement pattern. The houses become smaller and more separated from each other. This has been interpreted as a result of a new social system based on a nuclear family organization. The article argues that the nuclear family organization facilitate colonization of new land. The landscape development was however partly different in the two provinces discussed - Småland and Scania. This is explained as a result of differences in access to Bronze and differences in need for exchange goods.