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The Structure and History of the Late Mesolithic Societies in the Oslo Fjord Area

By: Håkon Glørstad

Since the founding of social research, scholars have repeatedly described and discussed a fundamental process of creating social cohesion through matter. This process can, according to some of them, be termed fetishism. The key argument of the present book is that the concept of fetishism can be a productive perspective for interpreting prehistoric societies, because it directly addresses the main source material available for archaeological research – the material culture of past societies.The Nøstvet culture was the first acknowledged Mesolithic find complex in Norway. A similar find complex in Sweden has given name to the Swedish variant of the same culture – the Lihult culture. Today the Nøstvet/Lihult complex is identified in eastern Norway and western Sweden as the major formation of the late Mesolithic in the area. In this book the concept of fetishism makes up a framework for analysing the structure and history of the Nøstvet complex. The writings on fetishism constitute a meaningful framework for interpreting the fragmented archaeological material of the period by emphasising the importance of the material fabric in the constitution of social relations. Through eight chapters different parts of human life in the societies that have produced the Nøstvet assemblage are analysed. This way a holistic model of these societies is presented. In the final chapter the author discusses how this particular social formation gave the historical framework to the process of Neolithisation in the area.

 

May 2010: 328 pp: figs. & illus.  ISBN 978-91-85411-19-1, Pb:
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Ramneskärsparken. Sentida kulturarv med arkeologisk blick

Av: Maria Persson

 

Boken handlar om utgrävningen av Ramneskärsparken, en festplats som var i bruk mellan 1939-1955. Där träffades människor och roade sig för ett halvt sekel sedan, därefter hade platsen legat öde och tyst från musik och skratt. Det skulle återigen komma att bli liv och rörelse på Ramneskärsparken då både fynd och minnen kom i dagen under utgrävningen. Det här är berättelsen om ett modernt kulturarv – dansbanan, och om hur nutidshistorien kan återberättas med arkeologiska metoder som ledstjärna.

 

Januari 2010: 60 sid. illustrationer, foton m. m.  ISBN 978-91-85411-08-6, Mjukpärm
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Neolithisation as if history mattered. Processes of Neolithisation in North-Western Europe
By: Håkon Glørstad & Christopher Prescott (eds).

 

Since the beginning of the 1990's the field of Neolithic research has been dominated by interpretations of European history as a diverse, local and historically anchored process. Behind this ideographic interest is, however, a predilection for universality. Can general principles or trends be established, or is Neolithisation a locally specific process? Are there any common themes that link otherwise historically discrete developments? And what does the Neolithic represent in different regions? This anthology is based on papers presented at a session entitled Neolithisation as if history mattered at the 12th EAA conference in Cracow, Poland, in 2006. A few papers have been added, compared to the original programme, to furnish a fuller thematic and geographical presentation of the subject. The articles explore the tensions between structure and history in understanding Neolithic developments in North-Western Europe with an emphasis on key regions and new studies. The articles provide an up-to-date survey of trends in Neolithic research in North-Western Europe.

 

January 2010:  332 pp: figs. & illus.  ISBN 978-91-85411-09-2, Pb:

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Phenomenology and the Pioneer Settlement on the Western Scandinavian Peninsula

By: Ingrid Fuglestvedt

 

This book aims at an understanding of the earliest colonization of today’s south-western Norway (i.e. the western Scandinavian peninsula) from the perspective of a northern European Late Upper Palaeolithic tradition. The period studied covers the time span 10 200 / 10 000 – 9 500 BP. The Continental Ahrensburg group is understood as being parallel to, or the “same” as, the oldest part of the Norwegian Fosna Tradition as the result of a renewed investi­gation of the lithic assemblages in Norway in comparison with the Continental find assemblages. With the use of a phenomenological framework, this work studies the pioneer experiences and the pioneer condition from different perspectives. A basic precondition is the recognition that the plains of the European Continent on the one side, and the rocky, moun­tainous landscapes along the south-western and western Nor­we­gian coast on the other, appeared as distinct “worlds” – the homely, habitual world of the Continent in contrast to the alien world on the far side of the Norwegian Trench (parts of today’s North Sea). The pioneer process as a social process and a process of enculturation of a new landscape is investigated by way of phe­no­menological con­cepts such as intentionality, body, inter­subject­ivity and life­world.

November 2009:  410 pp: figs. & illus.  ISBN 978-91-85411-07-8, Pb:

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Six Essays on the Materiality of Society and Culture
By: Håkon Glørstad and Lotte Hedeager (eds).

This book provides a platform for scholars of anthropology and archaeology upon which to address central questions concerning the materiality of society in
a wide-reaching geographical and cultural setting. Six essays deal with case studies ranging from sacrifice in medieval saami society to museums in present day Cuba. The essays are of relevance to students and scholars of material culture studies and research in the humanities and social sciences. Håkon Glørstad and Lotte Hedeager introduce some of the founding work on social material studies that make up the framework for the present interest in the material qualities of reality.

Contributions by: Fredrik Fahlander, Michelle Tisdel Flikke, Håkon Glørstad, Ole Grøn, Lotte Hedeager, Torunn Klokkernes, Knut Odner, Knut Rio, Michail Turov

December 2008: 214 pp: figs. & illus. ISBN 978-91-85411-06-X, Pb:
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Dom gör med hjärtat. Kulturarvspedagogikens teori och metod

Av: Anita Synnestvedt

 

Kulturarvspedagogik är ett begrepp som används främst av museer, arkiv, forntidsbyar eller andra som anser sig engagerade i en förmedling av kulturarv till barn, ungdomar och vuxna. Den här boken diskuterar begreppet utifrån olika pedagogiska teorier och metoder. den pedagogiska verksamheten som barn och ungdomsföreningen i Tanum bedriver (BUF), samt förskolan vid Vitlycke museum används som diskussionsexempel. Boken vänder sig till alla som har ett intresse av att diskutera, utveckla och låta sig inspireras av frågor om kulturarv och pedagogik.

 

Mars 2008: 110 sid. illustrationer, foton m. m.  ISBN 978-91-85411-05-1, Mjukpärm

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Ekornavallen. mellan mångtydighet, demokrati och etnografi

Av: Håkan Karlsson

 

I boken diskuteras den ständigt förändrade och mångtydiga meningen hos förhistoriska monument, platser och landskap. Hur påverkar de tolkningarna vi gör av dem? Boken lyfter också fram de etiska och demokratiska dimensioner som i samtiden är knutna till det förflutnas mångtydighet. Vem har rätten att tolka och bruka det förflutna och dess monument, platser och landskap? Dessa teman och frågor diskuteras mot bakgrund av ett etnografiskt metodanslag där den arkeologiska/ antikvariska praktiken undersöks. Detta sker inom ramarna för en fallstudie som behandlar Ekornavallen i Västergötland och de monument som återfinns på denna plats.

 

Mars 2008: 160 sid. illustrationer, kartor, foton m. m.  ISBN 978-91-85411-35-3, Hårdpärm

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