Understanding Bronze Age Life: Pryssgården (LBA) in Sweden From an Artisanal Perspective

Foreword 11
Pryssgården in Östergötland – People Lived Here 13
Pryssgården and Archaeology 15
Pryssgården and the Crafting 18
Method and Analysis 21
Method of Artisanal Interpretation 21
Artisanal Interpretation 22
Description of the Method 23
The Three Skill Levels 24
Artisanal Interpretation of Ceramics 25
Material Description and Evaluation of Literature 25
Artisanal Skill at Pryssgården 27
Artisanal Interpretation of Pryssgården’s Ceramics 29
Previous Research 29
Implementation and Selection 29
Presentation of the Results 31
Ceramic Crafts at Pryssgården 35
Anomalies 36
Special Finds That Indicate the Unique in a Common Place 37
The Pryssgården Figurine – a Woman Without a Face 37
From Figurine to Tuyère – Practical Use for an Animal-Shaped Blast Nozzle 39
Artisanal Interpretation of Find 5918, the Pryssgården Figurine 39
How Was the Tuyère Made? An Artisanal Analysis of Tubular Objects 43
From Tuyère to Tuyère? ESS Object 4 50
How Does the Reconstruction Work in Practice? 53
Reconstruction 56
The Result of Using the Reconstructions of Find 5918 from Pryssgården 56
Skilful Child Ceramists – or a Particular Individual 59
How Was Vessel Find 5889 Made? 60
Vessel Find 5889 60
Comparison of Fingerpad Prints, preliminary Study of the Age of the Ceramic Artisan 63
Comments on Craft Interpretation 66
Three Bowls – Original and Imitations 70
Analysis of Crafting 71
Copies and Attempts 73
Black Vessels at Pryssgården – the Beginning of a New Tradition? 76
The Oldest Swedish \'Sortepotte\'? 80
Ceramics with Traces of Textiles and Technical Ceramics 80
Use and Reuse of Textiles 82
Summary of the Analysis Results and Discussion of the Ceramic Material in the Pryssgården Settlement 82
Living in a Craft Environment – Placement of Buildings and Places for Crafting in Pryssgården 85
Presentation of the Farmstead 89
The Farm 89
Pits at Pryssgården 91
The Farmhouse and Outbuildings 91
Crafting Pits in the Farmstead 93
Taphonomic Discussion of Ceramics 99
A Possible Work Area for Bronze Working 103
Three Bronze-Age Buildings in Pryssgården – Analysis and Reconstruction from an Artisanal Perspective 106
Outbuildings and Functions in the Late Bronze Age – Three Examples of Reevaluation of the Building Remains from a Craft Perspective 107
A Step-By-Step Reconstruction of the Drying House for Ceramics – Building 256 in Area E 109
Outbuilding 256 Interpreted as a Drying House for Ceramics 109
Step-By-Step Reconstruction of the Storage Structure 255 in Area E 116
Step-By-Step Reconstruction of the Ceramic Workshop 152 in Area G 117
Final Discussion and Conclusions 121
The Little Picture – the Home and the Crafts 122
Living at Pryssgården as an Active Person 123
The Settlement 123
Food and Vessels 125
The Big Picture – Petroglyphs, Mobility and Transit Places 129
Concluding Thoughts 135
Acknowledgements 137
Research Loan 138
Bibliography 139
Appendix 145
I The Path of the Clay 145
I:I Clay Beds 145
I:II Weathering the Clay 146
I:III Preparing the Basic Claybody 147
I:IV Maturing the Clay 148
I:V Dividing and Storing the Clay 148
II Preparing the Clay for Special Purposes 149
III Clay Ready for Forming 149
III:I Paddle and Anvil 150
Glossary 153