Förromersk keramikkronologi tillämpad i Västsverige

Abstract

Ceramics is an underestimated subject category as a source of knowledge about both the chronological, social and other fields of archaeology. Yet it is found in most prehistoric contexts. This article examines the chronological potential of ceramics in the pre-Roman Iron Age in western Sweden. We know quite a lot about ceramics from the later part of the period, but much less from the older part. The study has its origin in the research literature, including the southern Swedish and Danish and is in agreement with their review of empirical studies. Well-founded hypotheses about chronological variables in ceramics are tested in a correspondence analysis. The analysis shows that the pre-Roman pottery can be divided into an older and a later part, but it can not be subdivided further. Applied to a number of previously generally dated burial fields the method is found to be useful.