Roman Period Court Sites in South-Western Norway: A Social Organisation in an International Perspective

The present study, which considers south-western Norway, has two main goals: firstly, to publish the excavation documents of four large-scale investigations of such places in areas to the north and south of Stavanger; secondly, to consider all the sites in south-western Norway in archaeological, social and functional terms against a local, regional and international background. From an archaeological perspective, the gathering places in the south-west were mainly in use in the first half of the first millennium AD, and the houses were used as temporary accommodation and for the preparation of food. Socially, the sites themselves seem to point towards a gathering of persons of equal rank. However, there are often indications of a top level in the society and/or large farms close by. Functionally, the gathering places seem to have met social needs since they were situated in the middle of naturally delimitated settlement districts. One may assume additional functions, such as: the holding of tings etc. The study focuses its discussion on the use of the sites in terms of equality (ting) vs. inequality (gatherings controlled by persons of some rank). In fact, many different arguments can be put forward for both points of view, but on the basis of the present source situation it seems difficult to make any firm statement. The study particularly relates to archaeological central place research in selected European countries, but sadly there is little to deduce from these methodologically well-advanced studies with regards to the very first centuries AD in Norway and on a broader scale.