Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: local societies, regions and processes of cultural interaction in the Bronze Age
- PART I IDENTITY, GRAND NARRATIVES AND NETWORKS
- PART II REGIONS, GLOBALIZATION AND RESISTANCE
- 7 Northwestern Russia at the periphery of the north European and Volga-Uralic Bronze Age
- 8 Local centres in the periphery: the Late Neolithic, Bronze Age and Early Metal Age in Finland
- 9 The Nordic Bronze Age and the Lüneburg culture: two different responses to social change
- 10 Pottery, transmission and innovation in Mälardalen
- 11 Social landscapes of Bronze Age Scandinavia
- 12 The origin of a Bronze Age in Norway: structure, regional process and localized history
- 13 Social response or resistance to the introduction of metal? Western Norway at the edge of the “globalized” world
- Index
10 - Pottery, transmission and innovation in Mälardalen
from PART II - REGIONS, GLOBALIZATION AND RESISTANCE
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: local societies, regions and processes of cultural interaction in the Bronze Age
- PART I IDENTITY, GRAND NARRATIVES AND NETWORKS
- PART II REGIONS, GLOBALIZATION AND RESISTANCE
- 7 Northwestern Russia at the periphery of the north European and Volga-Uralic Bronze Age
- 8 Local centres in the periphery: the Late Neolithic, Bronze Age and Early Metal Age in Finland
- 9 The Nordic Bronze Age and the Lüneburg culture: two different responses to social change
- 10 Pottery, transmission and innovation in Mälardalen
- 11 Social landscapes of Bronze Age Scandinavia
- 12 The origin of a Bronze Age in Norway: structure, regional process and localized history
- 13 Social response or resistance to the introduction of metal? Western Norway at the edge of the “globalized” world
- Index
Summary
Introduction
The focus of this study is influences and traditions in Bronze Age pottery in eastern central Sweden. It has often been used as a marker or even as a reagent for different inter-regional connections. For instance, burnished bowls and rustication with furrows have been seen as clear signs of Lusatian influence, or even that they were imported vessels from Poland. Today almost all kinds of bowls are routinely called Lusatian (from Lausitz). The term leads to a conceptual narrative analogy with other well-known terms like Hallstatt and Mörigen swords (i.e. imported high-status artefacts).
Pottery with striated surfaces, on the other hand, has been seen as an indication of eastern influence. However, striation occurs far beyond the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Ceramological analyses show that both the so-called eastern and Lusatian wares were made locally in central Sweden. The morphology of the vessels is clearly inspired by and often made in a “Lusatian” way. Hence the focus must be set on a more dynamic and multifaceted view of the course of innovations and implementation of ideas, customs and its materialization in artefacts. A model is presented to make it easier to discern different types of influence. The model is also an attempt to take a more dynamic view of pottery at different stages of influence and to show the way from innovation to tradition.
Pottery and external influences
Pottery has often been seen as an indicator of or even as a reagent for tracing and revealing foreign influences.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Local Societies in Bronze Age Northern Europe , pp. 185 - 200Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2012