birgitta hårdh - the metal beaker with embossed foil bands

8/2/2019 Birgitta Hrdh - The Metal Beaker with Embossed Foil Bands

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49THE METAL BEAKER WITH EMBOSSED FOIL BANDS

Continuity for Centuries, pp. 49-91.

The Metal Beaker with Embossed Foil Bands

Birgitta Hrdh

Abstract

Te metal beaker that was found in the house is a unique object. Te shape arouses associations with lateantique glasses. Te beaker is covered with embossed gold bands with figure representations carried out in earlyStyle I. Te bands were probably produced around 500 AD. Te body of the beaker might be contemporaneousor possibly also older, with the bands as a later addition. Te beaker is connected to drinking vessels, usually

horns or glasses decorated with similar bands. Various elements in the decoration of the bands also correspondclosely to gold bracteates and relief brooches originating in South Scandinavia, first and foremost Zealand andScania. It is thus probable that the beaker was manufactured in South Scandinavia, perhaps in a workshopin Uppkra. Style I is thought by several scholars to have been developed in South Scandinavia. With thediscovery of the South Scandinavian central places during the last few decades, we now have the context wherethe style emerged.

Birgitta Hrdh, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University, Sandgatan 1, SE-223 50LUND.

Te metal beaker that was deposited in thehouse close to the fireplace together with aglass bowl is a unique object. Te well-docu-mented find circumstances, and the factthat it was discovered as part of a deposition

within a house at a settlement site, give it anexceptional position. Moreover, the beaker isa unique object without proper parallels but

with plentiful associations with objects andornamentation from the Migration Period.It will undoubtedly become important in fu-

ture discussions about art, style and technicaldevelopment in the Migration Period. It is,not least through its context, an importantfind for further discussions about ritualisticphenomena, ideologies of power and icono-graphy. Te direct connection to Uppkra isalso important as it elucidates the part that

central places played in artistic development,in this case of Style I.

Haseloff and others frequently emphasizeSouth Scandinavia as a region of innovationregarding metal craft and stylistic develop-ment. Especially Style I has been regarded bya number of scholars as originating in SouthScandinavia. On the other hand, it has oftenbeen emphasized that the grave rituals inDenmark and South Sweden, with generallyvery scanty grave goods, obstruct the analysis

of stylistic development in what has been seenas the core region of the style (Haseloff 1981).Since the monumental Die germanische ier-ornamentik der Vlkerwanderungszeit. Studienzu Salins Stil Iby Haseloff appeared in 1981,the situation in South Scandinavia has chan-ged fundamentally through the recently dis-


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BIRGITTA HRDH50

Fig. 1a. Te Uppkra beaker. Photo: Bengt Almgren, LUHM, Lund. Height 165 mm.


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Fig. 1b. Te Uppkra beaker seen from the opposite side. Photo: Bengt Almgren, LUHM,Lund. Height 165 mm.


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BIRGITTA HRDH52

covered central places with abundant testimo-nies of metal craft. At Uppkra finds whichcan be connected to metal handicraft, inclu-

ding those with a dating to the Migration Pe-riod, are numerous. Te record from Gudme,for example, also indicates art handicraft ofthe highest quality with a large concentrationof ornaments in gold cloisonn, which wereprobably locally produced in part. Tranemaintains that the question of locally pro-duced gold handicraft of high quality willbe increasingly interesting with the abundantnew finds appearing at South Scandinaviancentral places (Trane 1994:109 pp.). Teconnection between the development of StyleI and the art of cloisonn has also been em-phasized by Arrhenius (Arrhenius 1985:118).

An important group of finds in this respect isthe big Migration Period hack-silver hoardsfrom Zealand, Lolland and Jutland, whichtogether with continental late antique silvervessels, ingots etc. also contain fragments oflocally produced silver ornaments. Accordingto Voss this group shows that the hoards were

collected within the regions where they havebeen found. Te hoards also give an insightinto the local workmanship and also how thesilver was handled, fragmented and, accor-ding to Voss, the use as means of payment(Voss 1955).

Te finds from recent years research atUppkra bring renewed interest to the ques-tion of craft, art and innovation centres inSouth Scandinavia. Investigations of metal-lurgy in Uppkra have shown that Uppkra in

all probability had permanent workshops andthat metallurgical technique was at a high le-vel at least from the Migration Period onwards(Kresten et al. 2001:5). Finds of patrices forgold-foil figures (Watt 1999) and garnets alsoindicate high-quality handicraft on the siteduring the Migration Period and later.

Migration Period Uppkra appears througha great number of spectacular finds as a distin-guished centre in the highest possible category

(Hrdh 2002, 2003 pp.). Te beaker shouldthus be considered together with other presti-gious objects from the site.

The beaker from Uppkra

Te beaker dealt with in this article was disco-vered during excavation of the so-called culthouse in the summer of 2001. Te beaker(Fig. 1) is made of copper with additions ofsilver and gold. Te body made of copper isconical with straight sides, wide mouth andnarrowing towards the foot. It is made of tinplate which has been bent to a cone and sol-dered together with a vertical seam along the

whole side, clearly visible on the inside of thebeaker. Te foot, with a base of a round plateand an inward-curved stem with round tran-sition, is of silver (Fig. 2). Around the beakerrun six horizontal embossed gold bands withfigures and a seventh band, close to the foot,

with vertical grooves and a thin bead line ofembossed foil. Te picture foils show humanand animal figures (Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig.5).Eight narrow, profiled silver bands are placedalong the mouth of the beaker, between eachembossed foil band and at the transition to

Fig. 2. Te foot of the beaker. Photo: Bengt Alm-gren, LUHM, Lund.


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Fig. 3. Embossed foil from the Uppkra beaker. Photo: Bengt Almgren, LUHM, Lund.Length 58 mm.

Fig. 4. Embossed foil from the Uppkra beaker. Photo: Bengt Almgren,LUHM, Lund. Length 49 mm.

the foot (Fig. 6). Te silver band close to themouth has a profile different from the otherseven. Te mouth rim is bent outward andthe upper surface was covered with a flat, nar-row silver band with two incised lengthwise

grooves (Fig. 7). Te height of the beaker isapprox. 165 mm. It is slightly deformed, flat-tened from the side, and the size of the mouthis in the present shape 109 x 71 mm. Tecircumference at the mouth is 265 mm, mea-sured at the silver band on the top of the rim.Te foot is 17 mm high and consists of several

parts: a tubular stem, curved inward at themiddle, which is soldered to an arched roundplate. Tis is strengthened with a flat roundbottom plate soldered to the arched plate withthe help of a ring of thin silver tin plate. Te

bottom plate has a diameter of 39.5 mm.Te embossed figure bands are decorated

in Style I. Tey have beaded lines along thelong sides and are divided into rectangularpicture panels where two representationsalternate, one with anthropomorphous andzoomorphous motifs and one with only

Fig. 5. Te gold foil with grooves. Photo: Bengt Almgren, LUHM, Lund.


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BIRGITTA HRDH54

Fig. 6. Profiled silver bands, detail. Photo: Bengt Almgren, LUHM, Lund.

Fig. 7. Te rim of the beaker. Photo: Bengt Almgren, LUHM, Lund.

zoomorphous motifs. Te first panel (Fig.3) shows two human faces in profile on eachside together with animal representations.Te other (Fig. 4) shows two en-faceanimalfaces with a striated animal body between.Te picture panels are separated by narrowtransverse borders. Te same motifs are regu-

larly repeated and the bands were apparentlyembossed over a long patrix with both picturepanels on it. Te rectangular panels with an-thropomorphous and zoomorphous motifsare 58 mm long and the panels with onlyzoomorphous motifs are 49 mm. Te bandsseem to have been embossed as long bands


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Fig. 8. Figure foil found close to the beaker. Photo:Bengt Almgren, LUHM, Lund. Length 16 mm.

which were then cut into appropriate lengths.Te embossed bands must have been gluedor soldered on to the beaker; apart from one

single rivet there are no traces of rivets on thebands. At certain places the embossed goldbands cover the edges of the profiled silverbands, so it is obvious that the embossedbands were added last.

Te picture panels are arranged on thesix bands in the following way, from themouth of the beaker down to the foot(A=anthropomorphous and zoomorphousmotifs, Z=only zoomorphous motifs):

Band 1: Z, A, Z, A, Z. Tus two panelswith only zoomorphous motif meet at oneplace.

Band 2: A, Z, A, Z, A. Te last picturepanel is cut at the middle, which means thatone and a half picture panels of the type withanthropomorphous and zoomorphous motifstogether meet.

Band 3: A, Z, A, Z, A. Te last picturepanel is cut so that only a head remains.

Band 4: A, Z, A, Z. Te foil is damaged

at the last picture panel so it is uncertainwhether it has been cut or not.Band 5: A, Z, A, Z. Te last picture panel

is probably cut so that only half of it remains.Band 6: Z, Z, A. Te embossed foil is da-

maged but there was probably also a part of athird Z motif panel here.

Te embossed figure bands are 15 mmwide and the profiled silver bands 4.5 mm. Inthe uppermost silver band there is a rivet hole,so it was obviously fastened with a rivet.

Te narrow profiled silver bands (Fig. 6)have parallels in the hoard from Hstentorp,Zealand (Voss 1955: Fig. 20). Te embossedfoil with grooves and beaded border (Fig. 5)also has parallels in Hstentorp (Voss 1955:Fig. 21). echnically as well as in picturerepresentation, the embossed figure bands

are closely connected to a whole group ofMigration Period embossed foils, which willbe treated in detail below.

In the soil, close to the beaker, a smallfragment of an embossed gold foil was found(Fig. 8). Notwithstanding its fragmentarycondition, a human face with an eye, noseand mouth is clearly visible. In front of theface is a beaded border. Tere are traces of sol-der on the back of the foil. However, this foil

was embossed on a different patrix from therest of the figure foils. Moreover, there doesnot seem to be space enough for this foil onthe beaker so it is unclear whether it belongshere. Tis will be discussed further below.


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Drinking vessels with embossedfigure foils

A group of silver beakers with embossed fi-

gure bands of gilded silver beneath the rimmight be seen as forerunners of our beaker.Te group consists of five beakers, dated tothe Late Roman Age, C1b, all from east Zea-land. Te beakers are manifestly similar in

workmanship and clearly show the contactsbetween the Zealandic localities of Himling-je, Vallby and Nordrup. Te figure foilbands on the beakers from Himlingje havethe richest decoration in the group (Fig. 9). Itconsists of a picture frieze with men with ring

swords and various types of birds and quadru-peds, some of which have been interpreted ashorses and ibexes. Werner refers to them ashunting friezes (Werner 1941:46 p.). Te be-akers from Vallby and Nordrup have embos-sed bands with a simpler decoration, a frieze

with backward-looking quadrupeds (Werner

1941: af. 2022; Lund Hansen 1995: Fig.4:6, af. 2). Te manufacture shows a highlydeveloped handicraft irrespective of whetherthe objects were made by local masters or by

foreign specialists. Tere are very few pictorialrepresentations from the Early Roman IronAge in Scandinavia. Te changes have beenseen as a result of the impact of Roman cul-ture when, during the 3rd century, a pictorial

world and a language of symbols throughRoman inspiration appears fully developed inSouth Scandinavia (Roth 1979:50 p.; LundHansen 1995:237, and works cited there).Links with the Roman border provinces werestrong and regular, with imports of decorated

objects which must have been used as modelsfor the Zealand beakers, for example. Aroundand after 300 this import ceases (Werner1941:69).

Te local connection of the beakers is ob-vious, among other things from the fact thattheir shape is based on local pottery types.

Fig. 9. Metal beakers with embossed foil bands from Himlingje, Zealand. Photo: National Museum,Copenhagen. Height 11.0 and 11.5 cm.


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Werner believes that the five Zealand beakersderive from a workshop with clear connectionsto the embossed foil decorations from the

Torsberg find. According to him, the Scan-dinavian origin of the embossed figure friezeshas never been questioned (Werner 1941:47p.). Te inspiration from the Zealand figurefoils comes from terra sigillata vessels with pic-torial representations, painted glass vessels andnot least from Hemmoor buckets with figurefriezes beneath the rim (Werner 1941:56 pp.)Te Zealand silver beakers have been foundin graves, in two cases as pairs (Lund Hansen1995:377). Tey are clearly connected toaristocratic drinking customs.

From the early Migration Period and laterthere are several examples of horns, woodvessels and glass beakers with embossed fi-gure foil bands beneath the rim. Well knownamong drinking vessels with embossed bandsare the two aurochs horns from mound 1 inSutton Hoo, East Anglia, and the six maple

wood bottles with related mountings fromthe same grave. Te two big aurochs horns,

like the wooden bottles, were decorated withrectangular, gilded silver mountings and im-mediately beneath them elongated triangularmountings. Te rectangular as well as thetriangular mountings are decorated withembossed animal ornaments. One and thesame patrix was used for the rectangular foilsand another for all the triangular foils. In thesame way one patrix was used for all the rec-tangular foils and one for the triangular oneson the wooden bottles. Tus, the two horns

were decorated as a pair and the six bottles asa set (Bruce-Mitford 1972:33, Figs. 6, 11, 12,Pl. 19). In this connection it is interesting tonotice that also from mound 2 in Sutton Hoothere are silver mountings from two drinkinghorns, embossed on the same patrix as thosefrom mound 1. Tese horns too are regarded

as having been aurochs horns (Bruce-Mitford1975 Vol. I: 117 p.). Te Sutton Hoo graves

were built in the decades around 600 and the

drinking vessels with embossed figure foils areapparently younger than the Uppkra beaker.Bruce-Mitford maintains further that woo-den cups with gilded silver mountings are notunusual in Anglo-Saxon graves (Bruce-Mit-ford 1972:33).

Drinking horns with gilded silver moun-tings are also known from a grave in aplow,Buckinghamshire. Tis is the richest Anglo-Saxon grave after Sutton Hoo. Tere are fourhorns from aplow, two big ones and twosmall ones. Te two bigger horns with figuremountings in the Helmet Style, equivalent toScandinavian Style I, are especially interes-ting in this connection. Te two horns haveembossed bands along the rims and beneaththem triangular mountings pointing down.In each triangular panel there is a humanfigure with a face in profile, framed by a U-shaped element, interpreted as a helmet. woarms, each ending with a hand with fingers

and an expanded thumb, are clearly visible.One hand is raised in front of the face andaround each wrist are distinct triple arm rings(Fig. 10). Kendrick demonstrated that this isan emperor representation, going back to pic-tures on imperial medals but here showing afurther development within English 6th cen-tury art. Te two smaller horns are decoratedin the Ribbon Style, which is closely connec-ted to Scandinavian Vendel Style A or StyleII (berg 1926:10 p., Figs. 19; Kendrick

1938:76 p., Fig. 14:viii; Holmqvist 1951:56;Speak 1980:18). Kendrick also emphasizesthat the wealth of splendid objects in Kent toa large extent is due to local handicraft (Ken-drick 1938:18).

Beakers with embossed figure foils are alsoknown from continental Europe. In a richly


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BIRGITTA HRDH58

furnished grave from Soest, Westphalia, with,among other things, a gold disk brooch, goldfoil pendants and beads, remains of two woo-den beakers with silver foil mountings werealso found. Te foils are 18 mm wide embos-sed bands of gilded silver with animal deco-ration. Tere is one band along the rim andsimilar bands are also arranged vertically onthe beakers. Te bands were fixed by grooved

strips, fastened on the beaker with rivets. Inthe grave there was also a coin struck for Jus-tinian, 541553 AD (Werner 1935:93, af.20:9). Wood and glass beakers with embossedfoils have also been found east of the Balticand are then referred to as imports from the

west (Gaerte 1929: Abb. 240, 290).

A special group is made up of glassbeakers with mountings in precious metal,usually gold. Straume lists 15 glasses of thistype, 12 Norwegian items and three Swe-dish. She suggests that glasses with decoratedfoils generally are repaired. Te repairs weredone in two different ways. In the first casean irregularly shaped foil, corresponding inshape to the missing shard in the glass, was

attached to the rim of the glass with rivets. Inorder to strengthen the repair a rim moun-ting was then bent around the edge. In thesecond case, shards from the side of a glass

were joined by small riveted mountings. Terepairs were done so that the metal foils werefastened to the beaker with rivets after small

Fig. 10. Mountings from the drinking horns from aplow helmet style. Photo: British Museum.


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Fig. 11. Te glass with embossed foil from Snartemo, Vest-Agder, Norway.Photo: E. I. Johansen, UKM. Height 15.3 cm.

holes had been drilled in the glass. In somecases there are no rivet holes, so here appa-rently some kind of glue was used to attachthe foils to the glass. Six repaired glass beakershave metal mountings decorated in Style I.

Apart from a beaker from an inexpertly ex-cavated grave all repaired glass beakers have

been found in graves dated to the MigrationPeriod, D1 and D2 (Straume 1987:48 p., af.42, 58, 61, 86).

Te beaker from Snartemo is a goodexample of this (Fig. 11). It was broken intothree pieces and was mended at five places

with metal foils. It is a glass beaker with cut


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BIRGITTA HRDH60

and polished facets, wide mouth and narro-wing sharply towards the foot, which is small

and round. Apart from the foils on the sidesof the beaker it also has rim mountings in theshape of embossed figure foil bands in silver.Te band is divided into rectangular panels

with two representations which are repeatedalternating, a hunched human being and ananimal representation (Hougen 1935:28 pp.;Straume 1987:49; Fig. 17).

Glasses with metal mountings are alsoknown from England and continental Eu-rope. Bruce-Mitford mentions, for example,

horn-shaped glasses with mountings fromRainham, Essex, together with other similarglasses from the Frankish area and from Italy(exhibited at the British Museum, Bruce-Mitford 1972:90, note 25).

Close parallels to the Uppkra beaker intime as well as in manufacture show two drin-

king horns from Sderby Karl, Uppland (Fig.12). Rim mountings and end mountings are

preserved from the two horns, together withfragments of chains and some further metalelements. Each rim mounting consists of afoil tube widest in diameter at the rim andgradually narrowing, following the shapeof the horns. On the outer side the tube isstrengthened with three parallel strips of cop-per alloy running around the tube and trans-verse strips, which divide each rim mountinginto eight rectangular panels. Te strips arecovered with smooth silver foil. In each of the

eight panels gilded copper alloy foils with em-bossed decoration are fastened with a rivet inthe four corners of each foil. Beneath the lo-

west strip there is a row of closely attached ri-vets, which fastened the rim mounting to thehorn. Te rivets are surrounded by embossedbeaded borders and rosettes. Te figure foils

Fig. 12. Te mountings from Sderby Karl, after Holmqvist 1951, Fig. 5.Size 6x2.5, 5x2.5 cm.


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have a diagonal symmetric composition intwo varieties. Te upper foils, closest to therim, show band-shaped animals with faces

in profile and human hands. Te lower foilsshow stylized quadrupeds with human faces.In both cases the figure panel is surroundedby beaded borders (Holmqvist 1951:33 pp.).Holmqvist suggests that the anthropomor-phous elements in Style I derive from lateRoman influences, which were rapidly dyingout during the 5th century. He dates thehorns from Sderby Karl to the 5th century(Holmqvist 1951: 59 p.).

Te practice of furnishing drinking vesselswith bands or mountings with figure-deco-rated embossed foils thus connects a wholegroup of wood beakers, horns and glasses, to-gether with a group of metal beakers which,however, are considerably older than the restof the vessels. In this group the Uppkra bea-ker is unique, being a beaker entirely of metaland with a dating to the Migration Period.Te shape also differs manifestly from thegroup of older metal beakers from Zealand,

instead showing a connection to late antiqueglass beakers. Also special for the Uppkrabeaker is the large number of embossed foilbands. Other drinking vessels have one or atmost two parallel bands at the rim whereasthe Uppkra beaker is covered with bands.

Te drinking vessels described here derivefrom graves, in all cases where find circum-stances are known, and it is not uncommonthat they appear as pairs. It is generally statedthat the two vessels were made in close con-

nection to one another, and in several casesit has also been stated that the pair of vesselsshows connections to local handicraft.

The shape of the beaker

Tus, there are numerous drinking vessels of

various types with bands of embossed figurefoil along the rim. However, the Uppkrabeaker is unique, being a tall metal beaker

with wide mouth, straight sides and a smallfoot. Te best parallels to the shape of theUppkra beaker are to be found amongglass beakers. Migration Period glasses ofso-called Snartemo type are high and slen-der with a wide mouth and a small roundfoot. Te difference is that the glasses havea slightly curved profile whereas the sidesof the Uppkra beaker are straight. Te feetof the glasses have no stem but consist of around disc immediately under the bottom ofthe glass beaker (Hougen 1935: Pl. VIII:11;Nsman 1984:66 pp.). A good parallel to theUppkra beaker is also a glass with polishedfacets from Sojvide, Sjonhem parish, Gotland(Fig. 13). Tis is a beaker in milk white glass

with facets all over the surface and of almostthe same size as the Uppkra beaker. Shape

and proportions correspond closely and thisglass also has a small round foot but without astem (SHM 4687; Almgren & Nerman 1914:af. 18:277). Te shape of the Uppkra bea-ker may also be compared to glasses with cutand polished facets of Straumes types VIIIand IX (Straume 1987:38 pp.). Both thesetypes are conical beakers with straight sides,

wide mouth and a small round foot. Teabove-mentioned glass with embossed foilsfrom Snartemo grave V belongs to Straumes

type VIII (Hougen 1935:V:1; Straume 1987:98, af. 10, 61:23; Fig. 9). Interesting inthis connection is also a glass from u, Kleppin Rogaland, with wide mouth and a smallround foot, made of green glass and withblue overlay (Straumes type VIII). In techni-cal respects this glass shows similarities to the


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Fig. 13. Te glass from Sojvide, Sjonhem, Gotland. Photo: AA. Height 18 cm.


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glass bowl that was deposited together withthe metal beaker treated in this article (for theglass bowl see further Stjernquists article in

this volume). Te glass from u, Klepp, hasan inscription in Greek (Straume 1987:100p.). A glass with the same shape and the sameGreek inscription, although not in overlaytechnique, was found in a grave in Stilling

rhus (Straume 1987:38, no. 91).Straume puts the glasses of types VIII and

IX at the transition from the Late Roman IronAge to the Migration Period, phases C3D1(Straume 1987:40). Nsman calls the groupconical foot-beakers and refers them chrono-logically to period VI, Migration Period, but

with traditions from period V, Late RomanIron Age (Nsman 1984:61). Nsman alsodiscusses the repaired glasses. Tey have beenfound in graves dated to period VI and areseen by several scholars as antiquities alreadyat their deposition. However, Nsman main-tains, in connection with Arrhenius as wellas Straume, that the glasses were not neces-sarily especially old when deposited. Cut and

polished glasses were, according to Nsman,produced in Eastern Europe far into periodVI. He also emphasizes that, rarity and senti-mental value, among other things, mightexplain why these glasses were repaired. Teconcentration of repaired glasses is, accordingto Nsman, to be explained by burial customs(Nsman 1984:22 p. with references).

Te Sojvide beaker, according to LundHansen, belongs to Eggers type 185. Tistype is also represented by two items in one

of the graves from Juellinge, Lolland. TeJuellinge grave, as well as the Sojvide graveare dated by Lund Hansen to period B (LundHansen 1987:402, 448). If the shape of theUppkra beaker may be connected to glas-ses of type E 185, it thus shows traditionsfrom the Early Roman Iron Age. According

to Almgren and Nerman, the Sojvide glassshould be dated to period IV but was foundin a grave dated to period V (Almgren & Ner-

man 1914:42).Tus, the Uppkra beaker can be referred

to as a metal beaker made in a shape that con-nects it to glasses dated to Late Roman Iron

AgeMigration Period but with older tradi-tions regarding its shape.

The embossed foil bands

Te Uppkra beaker thus possesses six figure-decorated embossed foil bands which runparallel and cover almost the entire beaker.Tere are two figure panels which are re-peated alternately, the first with two humanbeings and two animal representations andthe second with two animal representations.Obviously, a long patrix with both repre-sentations were used to make the embossedfoils. It is also clear that the bands were madein lengths and cut into appropriate pieces,sometimes in the middle of a representa-

tion. Tis is a typical way of manufacturingembossed foils which is characteristic of theentire group of drinking vessels with bandsalong the rims.

Both figure panels have a diagonal sym-metrical composition. Te first rectangularpanel (Fig. 3, Fig. 14) shows two male headsin the opposite corners, face in profile andthe nose pressed against the border. Te faceshave oval eyes marked with double outline,a triangular nose and a small curved mouth.

Te nose and mouth are cut by the border ofthe foil band. Te hair is upright and marked

with lines. Each figure has an arm with fourfingers. Around the wrist is a rounded ele-ment, possibly an arm ring. Along each longside of the panels there are also two humanlegs, each with a foot.


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Behind each human head there is an ani-mal head in profile with a gaping mouth. Telower jaw, according to this interpretation, is

concealed behind the human head. Te animalhas an oval eye of the same type as the humanbeing and a round nostril. One animal headhas a pointed ear; on the other head the ear isreduced to a small triangle. Te central part ofthe panel shows two intertwined elements. Iinterpret this as the serpent-like bodies of the

two animals wound around each other (Fig.15, Fig. 16). Te tail of each animal is twistedaround the neck of the opposite human be-

ing so that a loop of the serpent-like animalsbody also passes into the next rectangularpanel, with entirely zoomorphous decoration.Te human hands seize the outermost part ofthe animal bodies. Tis interpretation withthe two serpent-like animals and the humanhands seizing a part of the serpent body has

Fig. 14. Embossed foil band from Uppkra. Drawing B. Nilsson.

Fig. 15. Embossed foil band from Uppkra, interpretation by the author.

Fig. 16. Embossed foil band from Uppkra, interpretation by the author.


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a clear parallel in the representation on theSderby Karl mountings.

Te decoration of the second panel

consists entirely of zoomorphous elements(Fig. 4, Fig. 14). Easiest to identify are twoanimals heads seen en-face with oval eyes,similar to the eyes on the first panel. Further,the animals have oval nostrils and two poin-ted ears. One animal head is oriented up-

wards and the other downwards if the bandis held horizontally. Between the heads thereis an element of a striated animal body withrounded parts, evidently hips, one above andone below the body. From one of the hipsa distinct leg protrudes, marked with a lineand ending in a small paw with long toes.

At the transition between leg and foot thereis a small element which looks like an armring. Te other hip element also has a paw

with toes, although the leg is not so distincthere, one outline line missing, but here toothere is an arm-ring-shaped element at thetransition between leg and paw. Te legs aresituated along the long sides of the panel,

close to the beaded border with the paw closeto a nostril at each animals head. Te animalbody is connected to both heads through twoparallel, in one case triple lines. Tis gives analmost identical picture if one turns the band180 degrees. Tus, we have two heads witha common body. On each short side of thepanel there are further animal elements, aleg with a paw. Around these legs is a loop,

which probably should be seen as part of thepresentation of the first figure panel, as a part

of the serpent body that is twisted around thehuman figure. Between the legs on the shortsides and the en-faceheads there are bands ofdouble or triple parallel lines. Te interpre-tation suggested here is that these are neckparts of the en-faceheads, which in this wayeach are part of two different animal repre-

sentations. Te animal body in the middle ofthe panel is thus common to the two en-faceheads which, for their part, each also belong

to another neck element (Fig. 15, Fig. 16).Te big en-face animal heads also have clearparallels in the mountings from Sderby Karl

where the faces also are placed in oppositedirections (cf. Fig.12).

Te embossed foils on the horns fromSderby Karl thus show several similaritiesto the Uppkra foils in representation andcomposition. Common features are a diago-nal symmetrical composition and the mixtureof animal and human representations. On theSderby Karl horns four rectangular moun-tings have been attached by rivets along therim and four in a row below the first row.One patrix was used for the upper mountingsat the rim and another for the mountings ofthe second row. Te panels of the upper rowshow two band-shaped animals with theirbodies linked to one another. Te animalsconsist of a head with open mouth and aband-shaped lengthy striped body ending in a

human hand that grips around its own body.On each side of this central representationthere is a big en-faceanimal head with ovaleyes, big nostrils and pointed ears. Te panelfurther shows two animal legs each ending ina human hand and two extra arms each witha hand. Te panel is surrounded by a doublebeaded border. Te lower mountings showtwo stylized quadrupeds, diagonal symme-trically placed and with human faces. Tesepanels are likewise surrounded by double

beaded borders (Holmqvist 1951:37, Figs.35; Haseloff 1981).

In a goldsmiths grave in Vestlye, ime,Rogaland, there was, among the rich furni-shing, a late Roman glass beaker with an em-bossed figure in gold foil along the rim (Fig.17). Te representation shows two deeply


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BIRGITTA HRDH66

crouched male figures. Tey are very similarthough differing from one another in details.Both of them have big faces in profile, one

with a beard, the other without. Both figuresare depicted with two arms and hands withan extended thumb. Te bodies are bent toa U-shape and one leg with a foot is visibleon each figure (Bakka 1963; Hougen 1967:Fig. 76; Haseloff 1970:29 f., af. 810). Tefigures on the Vestlye band are intertwined

into an endless chain. If my interpretationof the Uppkra representation is correct, i.e.that the body of the serpent makes a loop intothe panel with zoomorphous figures and in-tertwines with them, then the Uppkra foilsalso show figures linked to one another in anendless chain.

From Rimestad, Nrbo, Rogaland, an-other glass beaker with an embossed figurein gold foil beneath the rim is known. Inthis case the representation shows four mixedfigures with animal bodies and human heads.One of these animal-human figures also pos-sesses a distinct human hand with extendedthumb (Hougen 1935: Pl. X:1, 3; Haseloff1970:31, af. 12; Haseloff 1981:123, Abb.73:2; Straume 1987: af. 58). Te band from

Rimestad differs from Vestlye as the repre-sentation is interrupted at certain intervals,probably due to the length of the patrix.

Te grave Snartemo V contained, as men-tioned above, a glass beaker with embossedfigure foil bands. Te embossed foil (Fig. 18,Fig. 19), which is only partially preserved,

Fig. 17. Te embossed foil band from Vestlye, ime, after Bakka 1962.


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shows two regularly alternating figure panels.One shows two animals, both with theirheads on the short sides of the panel. One fi-gure is placed along the diagonal of the panel

with its single leg in the opposite corner. Tesecond animal twines its front leg around thefirst figure while the back leg is bent upwardand kicks against the long side of the panel.In the empty space in one corner there isan isolated animal head. Te second panelshows a sitting human figure with long hairand a hand raised in front of the face. Tefigure is so deeply crouched that the thigh

runs parallel to the stomach (Hougen 1935:38, Pl. V:2; Straume 1987: af. 61). Tus,here are two representations, within demar-cated rectangular panels, which are repeated,a zoomorphous and an anthropomorphousrepresentation. Te embossed foil on a glassbeaker from Kvassheim, Eigersund, Vest-

Agder, shows rectangular figure panels whereone and the same zoomorphous representa-tion is repeated (Hougen 1935: Pl. IX:56;Straume 1987: af. 42:1).

Some connected, well-known, embossedfigure foils are those from the sword fromSnartemo grave V (Hougen 1935: Pl. 1.2;Vierk 1967: Abb. 6:4, 5). Four square foils,two on each side of the handle, show sym-metrically arranged figure representations.Te front side of the handle has two square

foils with animals and human beings in adiagonally symmetric composition. On the

back side of the handle one foil shows twomale figures, both with long hair intertwinedin one another, while the other foil shows ahuman being and an animal in what Vierkhas interpreted as a battle scene. Te interes-ting thing here is that the two male figureshave been placed upside-down. Tus they areintended to be seen from the perspective ofthe one who carries the sword.

Te embossed figure foils numbered hereshow in various ways connections to the foil

bands on the Uppkra beaker:

A diagonal symmetric composition (Sder-by Karl, the Snartemo sword, Rimestad)

Rectangular panels with alternating repre-sentation (the Snartemo glass)

Fig. 18. Te embossed foil band from Snartemo, Vest-Agder, Norway. Photo: UKM, Oslo. Width 1.3 cm.

Fig. 19. Te embossed foil band, detail, fromSnartemo, Vest-Agder, Norway. Photo: UKM,Oslo.


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BIRGITTA HRDH68

Endless chain of repeated representations(Vestlye)

Beaded border (Sderby Karl, Vestlye,

Kvassheim, Rimestad, and some gold-foilfigures, see further below)

Animal head en-face(Sderby Karl) Serpent with wide-open mouth (Sderby

Karl) Arm rings (Sderby Karl, Snartemo, ap-

low) Intertwined figures (Snartemo sword (hu-

man figures), Uppkra (serpents))

Holmqvist maintains that there are severalcorrespondences between the embossed foilsfrom Sderby Karl and those from Snar-temo. He emphasizes especially the diagonalsymmetrical composition, which he says isunusual during the style epoch treated here(Holmqvist 1951:46). Te anthropomor-phous elements are also a peculiarity whichputs them into a special category within StyleI. So, the Uppkra beaker must also belong tothis exclusive group.

The representations, humanbeings and animals

From the figures on the embossed foil bandsthe human heads together with an arm, ahand and an arm ring are easiest to identify.Te faces are pressed against the border of thefoil and it is appropriate to consider whetherit may be two half faces, or rather two sides

of the same face, that are depicted. In thatcase the representation would be somethingsimilar to the two face halves on a reliefbrooch from Zealand (Salin 1904: Abb. 472;Haseloff 1981: af. 25), which Alenstaminterprets as two parts of an en-face face(Alenstam 1949: Fig. 8:1213). Moreover,

the faces that Alenstam reproduces showsimilarities to the Uppkra faces regardingmouth, nose and eyes.

Te best parallels to the figures on theembossed foils from Uppkra are to be foundon relief brooches and on some gold bractea-tes. A gilded silver relief brooch from Kirch-heim, Nrtingen, Wrttemberg (Haseloff1981; 289 pp.; Haseloff 1981: af. 39) hastwo human figures on the rectangular headplate, which have several traits common withthe Uppkra figures (Fig. 20). Te faces areseen in profile and the hair is depicted as linesstraight out from the heads. Each figure hasa big hand with a rounded marking, perhapsan arm ring.

Te Kirchheim brooch was found in a richwomans grave in an Alemannic cemetery but

Fig. 20. Detail from the Kirchheim brooch, afterHaseloff 1981.

according to Haseloff there is no doubt thatit originates from South Scandinavia. Hecharacterizes it as one of the most beautifulSouth Scandinavian Style I brooches and de-

clares that it is of the utmost importance forassessing the first appearance of Style I on thecontinent. It also sheds new light on Style Ion the continent. Te human figures on theKirchheim brooch belong stylistically to thebest expressions for Style I and are directlyconnected to Scandinavian representations.


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Important elements here are the upright hair,the dot eyes together with the marked nose.Haseloff maintains that the closest parallels to

the Kirchheim faces are to be found on goldbracteates of ype B (Haseloff 1981:288 pp.).

Also, gold bracteates have some repre-sentations which can be compared to theUppkra foils. A group of bracteates from thesame stamp, the so-called Sderby bracteates,make a good parallel to the human head fromUppkra (Mackeprang 1952: Pl. 3:3). Here

we find the same upright standing hair, thetriangular nose and the oval eyes. Te legs ofthe figure on the Sderby bracteates, as wellas the legs of an animal figure on the samebracteate stamp, are executed in the same

way as the winding elements on the Uppkrafoils. Haseloff mentions a number of similarexamples on bracteates from Funen, Zealandand Scania. Te human heads of the bracteatefrom Scania also have upright-standing hair.Haseloff maintains that there cannot be anydoubt that the Kirchheim brooch belongsto the core area of the distribution of the

B-bracteates, i.e. Jutland, the Danish islandsand Scania (Haseloff 1981:318 p.).Te winding elements on the Uppkra

foils, here interpreted as animal bodies, haveevident parallels on some wood carvings fromsome Danish bog offerings. In the Nydambog find, Nydam III, as well as in Kragehul,some well-preserved lance shafts of woodhave been found. Te shafts are decorated

with winding serpents whose bodies aremarked with double outlines (Engelhardt

1867: Pl. II:9; Vang Pedersen 1988: Figs.2931). A sword scabbard of wood found inNydam bog in 1997 also has a decoration ofintertwined serpents with bodies with doubleoutlines. Teir big heads with wide-openmouths have one or two pointed ears, thuscorresponding closely to the serpents on the

Uppkra foils (Nyhedsbrev 1997:46). Similarintertwined serpents are to be seen on a goldbracteate from Lyngby, Randers (Mackeprang

1952: Pl. 3:10 a), and on the first gold hornfound at Gallehus, the long one (Brndsted1966:322 ff.). In 1996 a silver pendant witha decoration of two gilded and stamp-decora-ted serpents was found in Uppkra (Fig. 21).

Again, we encounter serpents in a couple,partly intertwined. In this case the heads areseen from above and show manifest simila-rities to an animal head of wood from theVimose bog find (Engelhardt 1869: Fig. 10;Hrdh 1999, Fig. 2).

Fig. 21. Pendant with serpent representationfrom Uppkra, U1266. Photo: Bengt Almgren,LUHM, Lund. Width 4.5 cm.

Heads in profile in combination with a

raised hand with a spread thumb are a com-mon motif in anthropomorphous representa-tions of the Migration Period and are referredto by Holmqvist as the Emperor gesture(Holmqvist 1951:50). Tis interpretation isnot appropriate here; the arm is not raisedand the hand lacks a spread thumb. As for


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BIRGITTA HRDH70

the arm rings, Holmqvist points out that theyappear in a number of representations in theanthropomorphous style. Tey constitute a

special feature, often following anthropomor-phous representations; for instance, there areseveral bracteates with distinctly marked armrings around the wrists (Holmqvist 1951:52 p.). Elements resembling arm rings arealso to be seen in connection with apparentanimal paws, for example on the paws onthe Uppkra foils. Usually, human hands inMigration Period art are represented witha spread thumb. Tis element is repeatedlyfound on gold bracteates and relief broochesas well as on other objects like the moun-tings from Sderby Karl. Te Uppkra foilsshow human hands with four fingers but nothumbs. Human hands with four fingers butno thumbs have a parallel for example onthe equal-armed relief brooch from Ekeby,Malsta (Magnus 2001a:286). Te distinctlypronounced thumb is seen by Capelle as indi-cating humanness (Capelle 2004).

Te serpent-like animals seen in profile

with wide-open mouths on the Sderby Karlmountings also have human hands. Te ani-mal head in profile with gaping mouth alsoappears on relief brooches. Te two headsthat protrude from the upper part of the footon the big relief brooch from Gummersmark,Zealand, are a very close parallel to the animalheads on the Uppkra foils (Fig. 22). Com-mon here are the narrow nose, the roundnostril, the oval eye with double outline andthe pointed ear (cf. Haseloff 1981: af. 23).

Similar heads are also to be seen on the re-lief brooch from Vedstrup, Zealand (Haseloff1981: af. 26; Fig. 23).

Te representation in the second figurepanel on the Uppkra beaker is absolutelyzoomorphous. It consists, as mentioned, oftwo en-facefaces, in opposite directions. Te

elongated faces have oval eyes, big nostrilsand small oval ears. Te oval eyes have doubleoutlines like the animals on the first figure pa-

nel. Te embossed foils on the Sderby Karlhorns also have elongated en-face faces withbig nostrils which resemble the faces on theUppkra beaker. wo silver mountings fromvsthus, Fjellberg, Hordaland, are othergood parallels to these animal faces (Straume1987: af. 112:12). Tere are also clearparallels to these animal faces on some reliefbrooches, among them the above-mentionedone from Gummersmark, which also hasheads in profile (Haseloff 1981: af. 23, 25,26), the brooch from Lunde, Lista, Norway(Haseloff 1981. af. 6, 7) and on the broochfrom grave 41 in Bifrons, Kent, England (Ha-seloff 1981: af. 20, Abb. 25, 57:3). All theseexamples have animal heads with elongatedfaces, distinct nostrils and pointed ears. All,except the faces on the Bifrons brooch, haveoval eyes. Especially the head on the Lundbybrooch has great similarities to the en-facefaces on the Uppkra foils. Te face on the

Lunde brooch, with oval eyes, triangularforehead and a strip that runs along the eyesand continues along the middle axis of theface, has evident similarities to the heads ofthe above-mentioned silver pendant fromUppkra. Similar characteristics are shown bythe plastic heads at the foot and head plate ofthe chip-carve decorated relief brooch fromGrnby (Fig. 27). An elongated animal headseen from above or en-facewith marked eyesand big nostrils is a recurrent element on re-

lief brooches, especially at the foot, and oncruciform brooches, in this case in a more sty-lized execution. Te head plate of the Lundebrooch is further filled by two serpent figures

with wide-open mouths, oval eyes and poin-ted ears. Teir open mouths enclose a humanface or a mask.


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Fig. 23. Te relief brooch from Vedstrup, Zealand. Photo: National Mu-seum, Copenhagen. Length 13.9 cm.

Between the two en-face faces in thesecond figure panel from Uppkra there is,as mentioned, a transversely striped animalbody with rounded hips and legs ending ina small paw with long toes and, as a matterof fact an arm ring at the transition from legto paw.

Broad, striped animal bodies are currentin Style I. Te position of the body, withone leg along the stomach and one alongthe back, shows clear correspondence to therepresentation of the animals on the above-mentioned relief brooch from Vedstrup, Zea-land (Haseloff 1981: Abb. 97 C, 98, 107; Fig.


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BIRGITTA HRDH72

Fig. 22. Te relief brooch from Gummersmark, Zealand. Photo: S.-A. ornbjerg,Kge Museum. Length 15.9 cm.


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23, Fig. 24). Similar animal representationsare also to be seen on some gold bracteates oftype C (Hauck 1992: Abb. 14). Te transver-sely striated body also shows some similaritiesto animal representations for example on theBifrons 41 brooch.

Tus, details in the representations onthe Uppkra foils can in several respects

be connected to similar representations ongold bracteates and relief brooches. It is alsoobvious that there is a South Scandinavianconnection. In many instances parallels havebeen drawn to Zealandic relief brooches.

Te embossed figure foils on the Uppkrabeaker and the embossed foils from SderbyKarl are executed in the same technique asgold-foil figures. Te beaded border that sur-rounds the figure representations on the foilsfrom Uppkra as well as Sderby Karl is also

typical of several gold-foil figures. However,the embossed bands and mountings showanother world of representations than thegold-foil figures do. Te gold-foil figures areusually depicted as realistically human repre-sentations whereas the embossed foils on bea-kers have hard-to-interpret representations

with fantasy animals and metamorphosis,which is also typical of relief brooches.

The pictures interpretation

Much has been written about interpreta-tion of the iconography in Migration Periodart, and the opinions of the possibilities of

interpretation are very diverse. Haseloff isutterly unwilling to make any interpreta-tions of decoration at all: rotzdem muman ernsthaft die Frage stellen, ob demKnstler berhaupt eine bestimmte Absichtim Sinne einer bildhaften Darstellung eineshistorischen oder sagenhaftes Ereignisses beider Komposition dieses Motiv vorgeschwebthat. On the other hand, it is appropriateto ask, according to Haseloff, why a figure,in this case the man on one of the Grnby

brooches (Fig. 27), is twisted in the way heis. Te extreme bending and intertwining ofbodies and limbs, which to us looks unnatu-ral, must have been intentional and thus hada meaning (Haseloff 1970:31).

Roth is of the opinion that Haseloffs workis the terminal point in a research tradition

Fig. 24. Animal figures on the Vedstrup brooch, Zealand, after Haseloff 1981, Abb. 98,107, 108.


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BIRGITTA HRDH74

aiming to elaborate solid systematics, to regis-ter, classify, describe and clarify evolutionarylinks. He maintains further that the efforts at

interpretations so far have mainly concernedthe gold bracteates, as they combine pictureand script. Te bracteates also often showdistinct scenes such as Odin with the ravens,Tor with the goats or yr with the Fenris

wolf. It is important to consider, accordingto Roth, that the representations on the goldbracteates already in their first embossingprobably are founded on a long oral tradition.o translate this into pictorial representations

was not possible until they were confrontedwith the classical pictorial world which resul-ted in interpretatio Germanica (Roth 1986: 9p.; cf. Werner 1966).

Roth stresses the importance of pictureand motif being considered in context. On

what type of object is the representation app-lied and what function did the object have?Is there a connection to a female or malesphere? Is the picture placed on an amulet oron an everyday object? Does the picture occur

on a simple object or on one which has thecharacter of a sign of dignity, a special sword,a belt or a ring? Why is such a large part ofthe pictorial representations connected to thefemale sphere (Roth 1986:18)?

Migration Period pictorial representationsmay be divided according to three principles.Te gold-foil figures show generally realisticrepresentations of human beings, often ofdistinguished persons, aristocrats or perhapsgods. Some figures carry a ring around the

neck and have their feet pointing downwards,perhaps showing hanged persons. In this caseit is easy to see associations with representa-tions of Odin. A well-dressed woman with abeaker in hand is possibly a Valkyria or thenoble housewife in the role of the Valkyria.Te loving couple has sometimes been inter-

preted as gods, sometimes simply as symbolsof a fertility cult. In all these cases there is ofcourse the possibility that the giver of the

offer, the templum money, depicted himself/herself in a way to arouse associations withreligious ideas.

Te second theme is the representationson the gold bracteates. Especially on theB-bracteates there are often several figuresarranged in a way that might show scenes

which have sometimes been interpreted asmythological representations, known from

written sources. Te bracteates have beenseen as amulets with, among others, healingmotifs (e.g. Hauck 1992). Te sequence ofbracteates from A to D also shows a gradualdevelopment away from realistic to increa-singly symbolic representations (cf. Haseloff1970:35).

Te third theme is found on scabbard rimmountings, relief brooches and embossed foilsof various types. In this case it is a world ofimagination diffi cult to interpret with frag-mented animal representations, figures com-

bining anthropomorphous and zoomorphouselements, and combining parts of humanbeings and animals in an ambiguous way.

On the rectangular head plate of theGummersmark brooch there are two smallhuman figures, in their execution closelyresembling gold-foil figures. Tis representa-tion is unique on a relief brooch but is also anexample that crossing of themes and catego-ries of objects is possible.

A point of departure for the understan-

ding of the iconography is the observationthat themes and motifs are connected to cer-tain categories of objects. Obviously there arealso rules for how a motif can be represented.For instance, Siv Kristoffersen has pointedout that broken symmetry is a frequent traiton relief brooches, while this does not seem


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to be the case on sword scabbard rim moun-tings (Kristoffersen 1995:7).

Vierk and others maintain that the re-

lief brooches and the gold bracteates had thefunction of amulets (Vierk 1967:135; Mag-nus 2001a:282). Te same motifs often occuron both types of objects, and in South Scan-dinavia gold bracteates and relief broochesare often deposited together as hoards whilein Norway and England both types of objectshave been found in womens graves (Magnus2001a:282 with refs.). Haseloff writes abouta picture topos with healing and fortune-bringing character and exemplifies with goldbracteates, the Grnby brooches, the embos-sed foils from Vestlye and the gold foil crossfrom Cividale (Haseloff 1970:36).

o be able to discuss an interpretation ofthe representations on the figure foils fromUppkra, it is necessary to consider the partsit consists of: human heads in profile, hands

with four fingers but no thumbs, serpentswith wide-open mouths over the humanheads, the intertwined animals which sur-

round the human beings, the horse headsen-face, representations in pairs, two humans,two serpents, two horses, transformations andanimal figures that grow into one another.

A characteristic trait of the Uppkra foilsis the diagonal symmetrical composition ofpairs, humans, serpents and horses. Humanfigures in pairs are not unusual in Migra-tion Period representations and have beeninterpreted as a pair of gods, a mythologicalpair of heroes or a representation of blood or

weapon brotherhood. In connection witha presentation of a strap mounting fromVeszkny, Werner treats the motif with twomale faces turned away from one anotherin a symmetrical composition and calls it,after the sword mounting from SnartemoV, the Snartemo motif. Tis representation

is further to be seen in various forms onrelief brooches and mountings from Scandi-navia, Hungary, England and France. Werner

mentioned the mountings from SderbyKarl as an example of diagonal symmetricalcomposition together with a representationof the exchangeability between human andanimal limbs (Werner 1962:98 pp.; alsoVierk 1967:118, note 63). Vierk maintainsthat in representation of pairs of humans thetwo men are usually apparently united (inthe case of Snartemo through the hair plaits).Tis is a well-known motif which is widelydistributed in Scandinavia, England and onthe continent (map in Vierk 1967: Abb. 9).

A composition repeated several times, notleast on relief brooches, is a pair of menlinked together with a pair of serpents. Vierkgives some examples of the combination ofmen and serpents, Wurmkampfmotiv, andmentions the Grnby brooch and a coupleof examples from England. He does not giveany interpretations here but suggests that thehuman pair, as expressed in Snartemo, might

derive from ideas about serpents acting inpairs that have been transformed into a hu-man pair (Vierk 1967:118, Abb. 5; Fig. 25).

As for the Grnby brooch and others, thequestion is of course again whether two menand two animals are depicted or if it is oneand the same representation that is repeatedand reverted.

Te serpent pair is a well-known motif,not least as heads with wide-open mouthsprotruding at both sides of the foot of relief

brooches. Tat the heads with gaping mouthson relief brooches actually are serpents is ob-vious, according to Vierk, who compares theheads with the full-length figures on the reliefbrooch from Lunde, Vest Agder (Haseloff1981: af. 6:2) and the bracteate from V,Scania (Fig. 26). Vierk maintains the dua-


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BIRGITTA HRDH76

listic character in Germanic mythology, withthe serpent as a dangerous monster and at thesame time a protective being. Te represen-tation of paired serpents on sword scabbardmountings, on Pferdestirnanhnger and onbracteates shows the connection to amulets,thus indicating the protective aspect of theserpents (Vierk 1967:114 ff.; see further

Johansen 1997:63 pp.; Vierk uses the termWorm, which can be translated as dragonserpent, see e.g. Johansen 1997). Vierk men-tioned a number of examples of how espe-cially serpents with two heads and a commonbody should be interpreted as protective. As a

well-known example he cites the two-headedserpent extended over the helmet from Sut-ton Hoo and the similar motif on the goldbracteate from V (Vierk 1967:121 pp., Abb.6). A later representation of the same motif

is found on the S-shaped brooches from theMerovingian period, which are frequent notleast in Uppkra (40 items by 8 August 2002;Rundkvist 2003).

Representations of a human being to-gether with a serpent, or serpents, are quiteabundant on relief brooches and have been

discussed frequently, and the interpretationssuggested are highly diverse because of theambiguous signification of the serpents.

Alenstam and Magnus see the animal as amonster. Alenstam interprets the bent andtwisting animal and man on the Grnbybrooch as a struggle, possibly an illustrationof the Beowulf epic (Alenstam 1949:214).

Vierk agrees with this interpretation andputs forward other examples that, accordingto him, strengthen Alenstams interpretationas a struggle representation. He also empha-sizes a related struggle scene on the Snartemosword (Vierk 1967:121). On the other hand,Vierk sees the animal heads with wide-openmouths over the human figures on theGrnby brooch, as well as other representa-tions of the same kind, as protecting, in ihresympatische Wirksamkeit einbezogen (Vierk

1967:105). However, according to the inter-pretation of the Grnby brooch, Haseloff hasanother opinion. He thinks that, as the manclasps his own body and the animal bites itsown tail, it could hardly be a struggle motif.Haseloff sees an intertwined animal close toan intertwined human figure and believes

Fig. 25. Embossed foil with human pair from

Snartemo, Vest-Agder, Norway. Photo: L. Smes-tad, UKM, Oslo. 2.8x2.8 cm.

Fig. 26. Gold bracteate from V, Scania. Photo:

AA, Stockholm. Diam. 3.5 cm.


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that we cannot come further (Haseloff 1970:28). An interpretation of the big serpent is ofcourse that it represents the Midgard serpent.

In an attempt to interpret the iconographyon the relief brooch from Ekeby, Malsta inUppland, Magnus stresses that the decorationgives a conventional impression of violenceand chaos with monsters that attack humansas well as each other. Gaping jaws with rowsof long teeth are a conspicuous feature. Tereis a whole group of relief brooches whichshow a human being in the mouth of azoomorphous head. Brooches with this motifare known from Denmark, Norway and Ger-many. Possibly this is to be seen as a Ragnarokrepresentation (Magnus 2001a:286 p.).

Te figure foils from Uppkra show thehuman head in the mouth of the animal.Te lower jaw is concealed by the humanhead and the hand of the human being gripsaround the tail of a serpent, but not of theone that keeps its mouth open over his head.Tis gives the impression of an engulfing re-presentation, the body of the serpent twisted

around the neck of the men gives the impres-sion of strangulation. Along the sides of thefigure panels there are two human legs witha foot each, which might be compared to therepresentation on certain relief brooches withseparate limbs, the Ekeby brooch, for example.Perhaps it is also conspicuous that the humanhand is depicted with four fingers but with-out the spread thumb, which otherwise is acharacteristic feature. Te isolated arms onthe Ekeby brooch show the same trait, four

fingers and also a bulge on the wrist, possi-bly representing an arm ring, but no thumb(Magnus 2001a:286). Te question is howimportant it is whether the hand is shown

with a thumb or not. Te thumb is thoughtto indicate humanity in contrast to the pawsof animals (Capelle 2004). Te iconography

on the Ekeby brooch with separate limbs andhands without thumbs in combination withmonsters was interpreted by Magnus as a

Ragnarok representation. A fundamentallydifferent interpretation is given by Arrhenius(2001:307). She thinks it is a representationof the sacred marriage, ultimately with refe-rence to the Osiris myth. Te spread limbsof Osiris are collected by Isis (Freyja) andhe comes to life again with a kiss (Arrhenius2001:307). So, both interpretations refer tosomeone in distress and the thumbless handmight be an indication of this. If this is cor-rect, the Uppkra beaker could also showhumans under attack from monsters. Onthe other hand, Vierk sees the animals withgaping mouths over the human body on theGrnby brooch as protective beings, againshowing the possibility to interpret the ico-nography in diametrically different ways.

Karl Hauck and Alexandra Pesch haveemphasized the back-bent legs of the humanfigures, which can be compared to representa-tions on a number of B-bracteates, e.g. IK 61,

104, 176, 195 and others. Te iconographyon the bracteates is interpreted here as thecontrast between the strong/good (Odin?),coming from above and defeating the evilpowers, which come from beneath (Hauck &Pesch, letter of 26 September 2002).

Te second picture panel on the Uppkrafoils, with entirely zoomorphous representa-tions, is even more diffi cult to understandthan the first one. An obvious feature is theimage of two elongated en-face faces with

oval eyes, big nostrils and pointed ears. Teyare also arranged in opposite directions. Asmentioned above, they have parallels on reliefbrooches. Representations in Style I typicallyshow en-facefaces composed of two faces inprofile. As for the Uppkra faces, it is obviousthat they are divided lengthwise by an empty


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BIRGITTA HRDH78

space. As a matter of fact the only place onthe whole figure foil where the pattern isopen, where there is empty space from one

long side of the band to the other, is actuallythrough these faces. It is possible to see twofaces in profile, combined to make one en-face face. Vierk mentions some examples ofthe same manner of representation on therelief brooches from Gummersmark andBifrons (Vierk 1967:137, Abb. 8). Te Gum-mersmark example is especially interesting inthis respect, as the face here is divided length-

wise by a strip (Fig. 22). Te Uppkra headsare just as clear examples as those referred toby Vierk and can be seen in the same way.Te composition within this picture panel ismoreover a good example of transformations.Te centrally placed animal body seems,through the neck outlines, to be able to con-nect to both en-face faces at the same timebecause lines from the en-face faces towardsthe short sides of the panels could also be in-terpreted as neck lines. On each of the shortsides of the panels there are also animal legs

with paws. Te representation might be seenas an expression of a principle of duality of akind well known in ethnology, described byLvi-Strauss (Vierk 1967:138 with referen-ces). Siv Kristoffersen has demonstrated thatthis principle of decoration, especially con-nected to rim mountings of sword scabbards,split representation as she calls the principleof representation, following Lvi-Strauss(Kristoffersen 1995:10, Figs. 8, 9, 11). It isnot clear how these objects, made of gold foil

and decorated with filigree and granulation,actually were used. Tey are not worn as

would have been expected if they had beenmounted on scabbards. Tey have never beenfound on swords and have so far not beenfound in graves but in contexts interpreted ashoards or votive finds (Kristoffersen 1995:2

f.). Te connection between split representa-tion and the sword scabbards might be con-nected to its ritual significance (Kristoffersen

1995:11). With reference to Lvi-Strauss,Kristoffersen says that the animal is dividedand spread out over the surface. Te entireanimal is depicted from different perspecti-ves because the picture does not represent theanimal but actually is the animal. Tis agrees

with the discussion above about the humanprofile faces and the diagonal symmetricalcomposition. Also separate limbs from ani-mals and humans can be seen in this way.

An evident example of this type of repre-sentation is seen on the sword scabbard from

mdal, Lista, Norway, analysed by Holm-qvist. Te mounting is made of gold withdecoration in filigree and granulation. In themiddle there is a facial mask with bulgingcheeks. If we draw a line vertically over theface we will instead get two human faces inprofile, rubbing their noses against each other.From the faces the necks of two completeanimal figures protrude. On each side, finally,

there is a small human figure with profilefaces and an arm with a hand and a thumb(Holmqvist 1977:36 p., Fig. 41).

Kristoffersen has also registered a diffe-rence between the decoration of the swordscabbards and the decoration on the reliefbrooches, as the symmetrical composition isoften broken on the relief brooches whereasthis never seems to be the case with the swordscabbards. Te broken symmetry is shown indetails, that for example, one animal has ears

and the opposite animal does not (Kristof-fersen 1995:8 p.). In this respect again therepresentations on the figure foils are closerto the representations on the relief brooches,even if we might have expected the oppositeas the representations of the figure foils, suchas the scabbard mountings, occur on regu-


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larly rectangular surfaces. Te profile animalheads on the Uppkra foils, for example, havedifferently executed ears. A thoroughly ac-

complished split representation, accordingto Kristoffersen, does not occur on objects

which were worn by women, and these arethe majority of objects with animal decora-tion (Kristoffersen 1995:15).

A zoological identification of the animalsdepicted in Style I is of course hazardous.

A quadruped might change into a serpent-like creature, a serpent can have ears, as inUppkra, or possess one or a couple of legs.

Anatomical details are depicted decorativelyrather than naturally. Te en-facefaces fromUppkra, with their elongated shape, pointedears and big nostrils, are however most likelyrepresentations of horses.

Pairwise representation, human beingani-mal (horse), characterizes the figure foils fromUppkra. Te linking together of the twomotifs gives an endless sequence. Haseloff(1970) emphasizes movement in this typeof representation, and it is not far-fetched to

apprehend the representation on the Uppkrafoils as an eternal movement. Te motifs, pai-red humans, en-face faces and animals with

wide open mouths are all found on the Gum-mersmark brooch. All elements on the Upp-kra foils are also to be seen on the mountingsfrom Sderby Karl. A relief brooch from Bi-frons, grave 63, shows a quadruped, horse andhuman being in a representation related to theembossed foils from Sderby Karl as well asthose from Uppkra (Roth 1986: Abb. 9).

Both Haseloff and Roth maintain that therepresentations on gold bracteates as well ason relief brooches should be seen as pictures

with a healing character, bringing fortune,auspicious signs or meanings (Haseloff 1970:36; Roth 1986:12). Te themes on the brac-teates go back to conceptions which probably

already existed for a long time as oral tradi-tions (Roth 1986:10).

If we go back to the three different the-

matic representations mentioned above, wecan state that in both content and structurethe Uppkra foils, like other embossed figurefoils, show the closest relation to the reliefbrooches and to a certain extent to the goldbracteates. Relief brooches and gold bractea-tes have been seen as healing and protectingobjects. Both belong to the female sphere andthe representations have largely been connec-ted to ideas about Odin.

Dating

Tere are many problems concerning the da-ting of the hoard in the house. Te context,the house in itself and other finds such as thegold-foil figures, give an average chronologi-cal frame, although very wide as the houseseems to have existed for several centuries.But even if we can state during what phasethe beaker and the glass bowl were deposi-

ted, this is still of limited help. Te objectsmight have been old at deposition and theyare also not necessarily contemporaneous.Regarding richly furnished graves it has oftenbeen stated that especially prestigious objects,

weapons, beakers or brooches were old whendeposited (e.g. Hougen 1935:26; Kristoffer-sen 1997:13).

First and foremost we must consider thepossibility that the beaker was not manu-factured on one single occasion. It is quite

possible that the metal beaker was only latergiven the embossed foil bands, possibly also

with the profiled silver strips. Te small pieceof embossed foil with a human face, whichdid not fit into the foils on the beaker, mightderive from an earlier decoration of the bea-ker. A further complication is the dating of


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the embossed figure foil bands. A prerequisitefor them is patrices of some kind. Patrices,especially if they are cast in metal, may have

been used for a long time, been transmittedover vast areas and not least been modified (cf.

Werner 1970). Details could have been addedor removed when an old patrix emerged again

with the aid of e.g. wax model and moulds.(Cf. also Shepherds critical comments on thepossibility of dating objects from this periodat all; he maintains that it is de facto impos-sible to obtain an absolute dating for Migra-tion Period objects. An element of relativedating might be accepted for individual sites,according to Shepherd, but these cannot betransferred beyond the limits which the ma-terial itself sets, 1998:12 pp., 24.)

For dating of the beaker itself there ishardly anything more than analogies in shapeand decoration to be used. Te shape of thebeaker is connected to the late antique glassesdated to period IVV or possibly VI, RomanIron AgeMigration Period (Nsman 1984and above). Te Uppkra beaker is made of

metal and with a shape that resembles theglasses. Tis gives an indication but is notsuffi cient for a more accurate dating.

Te profiled silver strips have close paral-lels among the hack silver in the Hstentorphoard. However, their shape is rather simpleand thus diffi cult to use for dating purposes.Similar strips are also known from much latercontexts, for example, in Viking Age silverhoards. Te correspondence to the strips inthe Hstentorp hoard show that details on

the beaker can be linked in a South Scandina-vian context and does not contradict a datingto the Migration Period.

Te embossed foils are decorated in StyleI and various elements show connections toelements on relief brooches in Style I. Bakkadiscusses the brooches from Gummersmark,

Bifrons grave 41, Vedstrup and others andstates a connection between them. He dividesearly Style I objects into two chronological

groups, with the animal head in wood fromVimose and the relief brooches from Gum-mersmark and veitane viewed as somewhatolder than the relief brooches from Engers,Vedstrup and Bifrons 41 (Bakka 1958:39).Te so-called Kent master immigrated, ac-cording to Bakka, to England around 500,

which gives a chronological basis for, amongother things, the brooch from Bifrons (Bakka1958:57). In several respects the embossedfoils from Uppkra show connections to bothgroups.

Haseloff divides Style I into four phases,AD. Te first phase, A, is characterized byanimal figures with rounded bodies and atypical shape of the head, known as Vimoseheads after the wooden head mentionedabove. In phase A figures composed of hu-mans and animals also occur (Haseloff 1981:707). Solid animal figures are also characte-ristic, and the fact that the animals usually

are depicted complete, with head, neck, bodyand legs (Haseloff 1981:175). Among otherthings, Haseloff assigns the relief broochesfrom Gummersmark and Bifrons 41, to-gether with the embossed foils from the glassbeaker from Snartemo V and the embossedfoils from Rimestad and Sderby Karl, tophase A. He sees the Gummersmark broochas the classical expression of phase A. PhaseB likewise has crawling quadrupeds but thesehave, instead of a rounded, plastic body, a flat

body, striped between the outline lines. Ha-seloff refers the relief brooches from Grnbyand Vedstrup, together with the Kirchheimbrooch and others, to phase B (Haseloff1981:175 pp.). Geographically phase B withits striped animal bodies seems to show a con-centration in the Baltic area (Haseloff 1981:


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707). Phase A, according to Haseloff, is thecommon ground from which the followingphases of Style I have developed. Tis is also

the only phase that follows directly after theNydam Style. In phase B the animals showthe same compact shapes as in phase A. Anew feature is that the bodies of the animals,still depicted with outlines, are now filled

with raised stripes (Haseloff 1981:180).According to the classification by Hase-

loff, the Uppkra foils should be referred toan early part of the Migration Period withtraits related to phase A as well as to phaseB. Te execution of the striped animal bodyand double outlines and the animal heads,the heads in profile as well as those en-facemakes it appropriate to put them in the samehorizon of time as the brooches from Grnbyand Vedstrup. Te representations on thefoils also have parallels on objects assignedby Haseloff to phase A, especially the Gum-mersmark brooch and the mountings fromSderby Karl.

Te diffi culty in obtaining an absolute

dating of early Style I and connected objectsis well illustrated by the Gummersmarkbrooch, dated by Montelius to the beginningor middle of the 5th century, by B. Almgrento the 5th century, by Salin to the end of the5th century, by berg to the early 6th centuryand by Mackeprang to the 6th century (Voss1955:179).

Bakka refers to Nissen Meyers divisionof the relief brooches into six stages. TeGummersmark and Grnby brooches belong

here to stage 3, whereas Vedstrup is referredto stage 4. Bakka also puts the Bifrons 41brooch in stage 4. Nissen Meyer dates stage 3to the end of the 5th century and around 500and stage 4 to early 6th century (Bakka 1958:60). with cited literature). Te brooch fromBifrons grave 41 was very worn when it was

laid in the grave. Te interment is thought tohave been made in the middle of the 6th cen-tury and the brooch should be considerably

older (Bakka 1958:69). Haseloff dates it to500520 (Haseloff 1981:173).

Haseloff refers the Kirchheim brooch tohis phase B. Te interment from Kirchheim,according to Haseloff, should have been madearound 600 (Haseloff 1981:325). Trough itsZangenfries (the border of triangles withcircles at the peak), the relief brooch has anobvious South Scandinavian connection. Tedecoration is related to Scandinavian bracteateart and animal decoration and, according toHaseloff, is one of the foremost expressionsof the Scandinavian goldsmiths art from thefirst half of the 6th century. He suggests thatit might have been made on Zealand (Ha-seloff 1981:302 pp.). Te brooch is one ofthe oldest objects in the grave and should,according to Haseloff, be dated no later thanto the first half of the 6th century. It was thusabout half a century old when deposited inthe grave. Haseloff maintains that the deposi-

tion of old Scandinavian brooches as late asaround 600 shows that they were highly ap-preciated, especially in the Alemannic area. Itseems that animal decoration, together withthe closely connected bracteate decoration,

was valued as a talisman or amulet because ofits magic-religious content, even though thelady in the Kirchheim grave was a Christian,as the gold-foil cross obviously testifies (Ha-seloff 1981:325).

Phase A is thus, according to Haseloff, the

introduction to Style I. It replaces the Ny-dam Style, thereby being the beginning of aGermanic art which had liberated itself fromthe Roman heritage. Haseloff thinks that thisprocess might have taken place about 475and that early Style I was developed duringthe last decades of the 5th century (Haseloff


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1981:172). He also thinks that phases Aand B run more or less parallel and togetherconstitute early Style I. Te execution of

the animals in the later phases, C and D, isclearly different from that of the early style,

with band-shaped animals and a more dissol-ved decoration. Te various element on theUppkra foils correspond mainly to phases Aand B. Tere is a certain tendency towards adissolved decoration that is diffi cult to inter-pret, which possibly points forward towardsyounger Style I. Stylistically the Uppkra foilsbelong to the early Style I but have a youngercharacter than e.g. the mountings from S-derby Karl.

Tus, the shape of the beaker shows tra-ditions which are older than the style of theembossed figure foils. But as we do not haveany accurate parallels to the beaker we do notknow anything about the time of manufac-ture of metal beakers in shapes connected tolate antique glasses. Te embossed foils be-long stylistically within the older part of StyleI, somewhere in the late 5th century or around

500 AD, if we accept Haseloffs dating. How-ever, we must consider the possibility that thatthe figure foils are a later addition to an olderbeaker.

The background to thedevelopment in SouthScandinavia

Style I represents the first independent Scan-dinavian achievement that has liberated itselffrom late antique models. Haseloff has con-vincingly demonstrated that the developmentof Style I, with a background in the NydamStyle, is clearly connected to South Scandi-navia (Haseloff 1981:706, 1986:86). Roth

maintains that the development of an inde-pendent figure art proceeded in similar waysin South Scandinavia and in the Slovakian

Hungarian area. Tat the development of thefirst figure art took place precisely in theseregions is explained by Roth as showing thatthese areas were not immediate neighboursof the Roman-Germanic conflicts, but wereexposed to influences from the ProvincialRoman area and probably also had contacts

with artists and, for example, also access tostamps, patrices etc. from the former Romanprovinces (Roth 1979:45 pp.).

Joachim Werner maintains that the exter-nal conditions were especially favourable inSouth Scandinavia. He emphasizes the con-nection between the early runic script andthe pictorial art. Runic inscriptions on metalobjects, dated before 300, occur in SouthScandinavia from Scania to Jutland whereasthe area with Germanic pictorial art in the3rd century was considerably larger, from Es-tonia and Norway to Silesia and Slovakia. Onthe other hand, Werner points out, the core

area with the technically and qualitativelymost important works is not so extensive butrestricted to the same South Scandinavianregion between Himlingje (Zealand) andTorsbjerg (Schleswig) from which also therunic inscriptions originate. Conclusive here

was close contact with the Roman world, afavourable position in long-distance trade,the self-consciousness of the local nobilityand not least the creative ability of local ar-tists and runic masters. Werner emphasizes

that the process towards the independentstyle was prolonged. It lasted two hundredyears until the successors of the Hoby chiefthemselves were able to create pictures andstarted to use script. Te development of anindigenous epigraphic script is an obviousparallel to the development of an indigenous


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pictorial art. Te development of picture andscript was thus an expression of one and thesame changing mental concept. Werner looks

at it as some kind of emancipation process.Pictures and script give a personal meaningto the individual, as healing images on orna-ments and weapons or as magic inscriptionsto protect the owner and his weapons. Tus,they worked as a visible expression of theindividuals personality and as a personal rela-tion to the protecting divinity. Tis step wastaken earliest, Werner maintains, in the SouthScandinavian region (Werner 1966:34 pp.).

If we assume that style carries meaning,a change of style and especially the deve-lopment of a new style must have a centralsignification concerning social and politicalchanges, as Hedeager maintains (1999:223).She thinks that the early Nordic iconographymust have had an organizing role in the esta-blishment of the new Germanic realms and

worked as an active part in political legitima-tion. Te stylistic expression is highly invol-ved in the social strategies that shape relations

and ideologies. Control of style is thus a partof the control of the social reproduction, inthe legitimation of power and thus a part ofthe cosmology of society (Hedeager 1995:225 pp.). Siv Kristoffersen maintains thatStyle I develops in a period characterized bysociopolitical changes and with the emergen-ce of a more complex type of society. Te de-velopment of the style expresses a demand tocreate an independent Germanic expressionand was probably a part of an identity-crea-

ting process. So, the style may have played animportant part in social and political strate-gies, e.g. to regularize the relations of powerbetween various groupings (Kristoffersen1992:40 p.; 1997:202 pp., 241 pp.).

Within Style I local variation has sincelong been recognized. Bakka emphasizes that

the creative activity expressed in Style I hastwo centres: southern Norway and Denmark.His examples from the Danish centre are re-

lief brooches like those from Gummersmarkand Vedstrup, which show close mutualrelations. Te Danish centre moreover hasclose relations to southern England; the Kentmaster, the creator of objects such as the Bi-frons 41 brooch belonged to the same groupof artists as the one who made the Vedstrupbrooch. Maybe they also knew each other(Bakka 1958:42, 55).

Glass beakers repaired with embossed foilsin Style I show a marked concentration insouth-western Norway. A close analysis of thefoils also shows a connection between thoseglasses (Straume 1987:50; cf. Nsman 1984on the concentration of glasses in Norway).

From the decoration Straume divides thefoils from glass beakers into two groups. Tefirst one comprises the foils from the beakersfrom Rimestad, Snartemo and Vestly. Teyshare the representation of crouched humansand animals and hands with spread thumbs.

Te mountings from Rimestad and Snartemoare most closely related, in figure represen-tations as well as in the beaded border thatencloses the figure panel. Already Hougennoticed the relation between these foils andthe middle part of the sword grip from theSnartemo V grave. Tey might derive fromthe same workshop. Te band-shaped animalfriezes from Solberg also show agreement

with Snartemo and Rimestad.o the second group Straume assigns the

mountings from Kvassheim and Haugestadwith animal figures without anthropomor-phous details. Te composition and stripeddetails correspond to pieces of work in earlyStyle I. Common for both groups are thedivision into figure panels, the animal friezesand the beaded border decoration. Gold or


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BIRGITTA HRDH84

silver were used in both cases. Probably bothgroups originate from related workshops,

which is also indicated by the distribution of

the items. Hougen suggests a local goldsmithtradition in south-western Norway, and thatthose figure foils were produced in a work-shop in the region (Hougen 1935:34 pp., 51pp.). It is conclusive, as Straume points out,that the Vestly foils obviously were found in agoldsmiths grave (Straume 1987:52).

Te Scandinavian style arrived on thecontinent by various routes. Te Rhine es-tuary region was a transmission area and theRhine served as a communication link. It wasin the Rhine estuary region that Style I wasaccepted and further developed by Frankishgoldsmiths. Also the Alemannes in south-

west Germany obviously played an importantpart in this process. Besides the Rhine areathere was also a centre in Turingia shownin a concentration of Scandinavian broochesand bracteates. Te communication linksmight have gone via the Elbe and Saale (Ha-seloff 1970:37). Haseloff discusses where the

Kirchheim brooch was produced. He is of theopinion that it was made in the core area ofthe B-bracteates, that is, in South Scandina-via, Jutland, the Danish islands and Scania.Te Zangenmuster shows a concentrationin Zealand. However, Haseloff maintains, theregion suffers from a scarcity in finds whichmakes it diffi cult to discuss the origin (Ha-seloff 1981:319). Te abundance of finds inSouth Scandinavia is rapidly changing now,however, through new finds, mainly from

settlement sites and central places. Te findcontexts are new and show on the one handdepositions at settlements and on the otherhand residue from metal handicraft.

Several of the so-called central places inSouth Scandinavia emerge in Late RomanIron Age. Te central places indicate a new

type of societal organization and larger socialand political units than earlier (Helgesson2002:143). For Scania Helgesson outlines

five central areas, with Uppkra appearing asthe most prominent place with a more com-plex settlement structure in the neighbouringregion than what is seen in the rest of Scania(Helg

birgitta hårdh - the metal beaker with embossed foil bands

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