Agrarian plant economy at Uppåkra and the surrounding area : Archaeobotanical studies of an Iron Age regional center

Abstract: Up until the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and probably since the introduction of agriculture to Sweden, the social life, culture, traditions, building patterns and material culture would largely have been based on agricultural practices. And yet, in the archaeological record, agricultural aspects of social life remain elusive and little is known about the organization of farming and of the handling and distribution of food and other agricultural products, both within settlements and on a societal level. This study focuses on Iron Age society at the regional center of Uppåkra, which is situated south of Lund in southern Sweden, and smaller farming settlements which surrounded it. In light of new investigations on botanical remains from these areas, the study aims to develop and discuss economic aspects of cultivated plants and to contribute to an extended interdisciplinary discussion on the regional center. Uppåkra was a center of political and religious power as well as of craftsmanship and trade. It was inhabited for more than a millennium. The site’s long continuity together with the size of the settlement and the high degree of specialization practiced there all raise questions on how food supplies and local communities were agriculturally organized. Whether the regional center affected the scope and focus of the plant economy in the surrounding farming community is discussed in terms of production and consumption, including local and regional perspectives.