[gothic-l] Gothic connections

[Oskar Andersson]

Where could I buy this book?

Thanks,
Oskar



> I can recommend a new book "Gothic connections, Contacts between eastern
> Scandinavia and the southern Baltic coast 1000 BC - 500 AD" by Anders
> Kaliff   ISBN 91-506-1482-7 Department of Archaeology and Ancient History,
> Uppsala University  Uppsala 2001
> 
> "The subject of contacts between Scandinavia and the surrounding world
> during the Bronze Age has often been discussed in archaeological research
> of later years. Such contacts can be traced in different phenomena and
> objects: the urn-burial custom, imported bronzes and the bronze import in
> general, certain types of pottery, certain house types as well as more
> outstanding und unique objects. The evidence of contacts especially with
> the Lusatian (Lausitz) culture has been generally observed and is the
> matter for an ongoing discussion...................The contacts between
> Bronze Age Gotland and the Lusatian culture were noticed already by H.
> Hansson in Gotlands bronsålder (1927). There is also evidence of much more
> long distant contacts, for instance between Scandinavia and south-east
> Europe, and with the eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia. Other contacts
> could be shown with the Villanova culture of Italy and cultural groups in
> central Europe. This cultural exchange has been interpreted as the result
> of a well established network of contacts, probably held together by
> members of certain influential social groups in different cultures (e.g.
> Larsson 1997; Kristiansen 1998)"
> ..............
> "The ethnic affinities of the Lusatian people have long been of dispute and
> the ethnic interpretation of the Lusatian culture has varied much over
> time. Germanic, Thracian, Illyrian and Slavic people have been seen as
> carriers of the Lusatian material culture."
> ...........
> "The Lusatian culture in general is characterized especially by its burial
> custom, with cremation burials in urns, often with deposited vessels beside
> the urn, and pottery with special design. Even if it is not possible to
> find an overall definiton in general, it is nevertheless possible to find
> elements that distinguish it from other Urnfield groups. For the typical
> Lusatian pottery Jan Dabrowski has suggested the term "Pottery of Lusatian
> style" ("Stil der Lausitzer Keramik"), in the same manner as the term
> "Hallstatt-style" is used. Cultural groups, with pottery fitting into this
> defintion are found within the South Scandinavian Bronze Age culture, as
> well as within the so called Knoviz-Milavce and Wysocko cultures, in the
> eastern Lusatian periphery of Pomerania. (Dabrowski 1988, p.89) One
> possible interpretation of the Lusatian culture is an overall regional
> culture, characterized by local traditons at the border between the
> continental Urnfield culture and the South Scnadinavian Bronze Age culture
> (Bukowski 1988, p.15f, Gediga 1988, +.41f;Kristiansen 1998,p.73. The
> Wysocko culture was located just west of the lower part of the Vistula
> basin, in the same area where the Wielbark culture is formed centuries
> later."
> ............
> 
> "The Late Bronze Age cemeteries of south Scandinavia have many elements in
> common with the Lusatian area and are interpreted as places with a broader
> meaning than simply as burial grounds."
> ..............
> 
> "The trade and exchange network of the Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age"
> .............
> "Goldsmith's work illutrates contacts between Öland-Gotland and south-east
> Europe as early as the Pre-Roman Iron Age (e.g. Nylén 1972,p.188 ff)."
> ..........
> "Some finds of outstanding quality, such as the Danish Gundestrup cauldron
> and the manificient gold neck-rings from Havor on Gotland and from Danish
> Dronninglund, have been interpreted as objects imported from south-east
> Europe (Kaul 1995; Kaul &Martens 1995). The Scandinavians rings have
> parallells in the torque from Smejla south of Kiev and Olbia on the Black
> Sea coast. The rings of Havor and Dronninglund type have been interpreted
> as import from Black Sea area but also the opposite idea, that they could
> have been manufactured in Scandinavia, has been put forward (Nylén 1992)."
> ..............
> 
> "Erik Nylén points at close and frequent contacts between Scandinavia and
> south-east Europe, during the last centuries BC and the first centuries AD."
> .............
> "What Nylén points out, in opposition to the standpoint that real migration
> of people was rare in prehistory is that many archaeological finds point at
> close interaction and also  movements for groups of people."
> ...........
> "The Bronze Age contact routes, across the Baltic and further towards the
> south-east, fit well into the pattern visible also during the Pre-Roman and
> Roman Iron Age. Curltural groups settled in the Pomeranian coastal area
> could have served as communicators in a transition zone between Scandianvia
> and areas in southeastern Europe. This could have been going on for several
> hundred years, with a continuous cultural development in the differnet
> areas, but not necessarily with any major break in important contact routes
> or alliances. Hypothetically the Bronze Age alliances could, over time,
> have developed into close relations between élite groups in some
> geographical areas. If so, the close contact could in the long run have
> generated oveall cultural similarities between such groups, and possibly
> also an ethnical identification. The kinship and consanguinity between such
> élite groups in different areas could then have been stronger than with
> "ordinary" people in the local environment. Regardless of other points of
> comparison, this could be compared with the scenario of the European
> nobility during later priods, for instance the 18th century, when a
> nobleman of Sweden probably found it easier to hold a conversation with a
> German or Polish equal in the French language than to talk with a farmer
> from the neighbourhood of his own manor.
> The élite contacts between parts of Scnadinavia and the Lusatian culture
> during the Broze Age could have created such a pattern.  This élite, or
> possibly larger groups of people, in both Pomeranian area and in
> Scandinavia could have developed a similar language and used the same
> cultural codes and customs. On an individual basis, exchanges of persons
> are likely to be interpreted as intermarriage or as travelling artisans or
> traders. Dynastic marriages between high ranking or royal groups in
> different geographic areas are a phenomenon with parallells throughout
> history. Alliances involving marriage exchange among the élite have been
> interpreted as important elements also of the interaction systems in Bronze
> Age Europe (Kristiansen 1998,p.91)"
> ....................
> 
> "Conclusions
> The question concerning possible connections between Scandinavia and the
> early Goths of present-day Poland is a complex problem, which exists on
> different levels. The infected historical dimension of different ideas
> concerning the origin of the Goths makes this matter very sensitive indeed.
> The historical misuse of research concerning the Goths casts a shadow even
> on serious attempts. The opening line of Herwig Wolfram in his History of
> the Goths shows this problem. "Anyone in the field of Gothic history must
> expect to be misunderstood" (Wolfram 1990, p1). The unfortunate interaction
> between facts, fiction and wishful thinking makes this subject a difficult
> task indeed.
> Even though the Gothic tradition of a Scandinavian origin could have been
> invented by Cassiodorus or Jordanes or by someone else, I consider it far
> more probable that these stories had a long background as  oral tradition.
> Although this history could have been formed out of fragments of different
> oral traditions as well as from learned constructions, it can nevertheless
> hold a core of truth concerning real relations with people living in
> Scandianvia."
> 
> Tore
> 
> 
> 
> 
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