Handicraft Archaeology based on Intelligent Technolog

INTERNATIONAL POSTDOC PROJECT WITH FUNDING FROM THE SWEDISH RESEARCH COUNCIL

Thanks to new possibilities in natural and digital sciences, archaeology is experiencing an unparalleled renaissance in material research. However, in regard to cultural change, some important aspects of ancient metal crafting remain to be explored. HAbIT aims to generate a novel and empirically grounded theory on the materiality of cultural transformation. The project title alludes both to ancient craft processes and the digital solutions of our day and age that help us unveil them. During the course of my project, I will examine how the interplay of three factors – i.e. urbanisation, religious change and the serial production of pictorial art – made Viking Age Scandinavia a part of Western Christendom. Due to its novel set-up, HAbIT will generate method-related and technical innovations with significance beyond the chosen field of study. The idea of spreading pictorial messages through metal casting had been implemented, abandoned and re-invented many times before urbanity finally took root. The catalyst that forged the permanent link between urban settlements and serial production was the Christian ideology. Having entered Scandinavia through newly founded emporia, it established a new set of material anchors that merged domestic and foreign values into something entirely new that would manifest itself within the pictorial domain and beyond. This led to the entanglement of Viking period people into an accelerating spiral that transformed their traditional society into a medieval one.