Power in Närke. Elite settlement and animal art AD 150–1125 in a Swedish province

Abstract

Abstract This survey of archaeological and onomastic evidence, prominently including Style I–III animal art, aims at identifying the most promising locations where elite manorial settlements of the period AD 375–1125 can be expected in the Medieval Swedish province of Närke. One such site of c. AD 600–800 has been partly excavated at Husby in Glanshammar. This parish is one of six that stand out by their unusually rich, numerous and sustained elite indications. A recent campaign of large intensive metal detector investigations has proven both a boon and a bias in terms of new evidence. None of the six most promising parishes would however fall off the elite map even without the new metal detector finds. Of the place names, Tuna appears to be irrelevant to Närke’s elite, while two out of three Husby names correlate with Viking Period elite indicators.