Att se med andras ögon

Abstract

”To see with someone else’s eyes”: In this article I try to decipher something of the frame of reference held by prehistoric people by
using the contents of the place names. Thus, I have explored some possible fields of research in order to find out what information archaeologists can get from place names. One is called Images of the landscape. It is shown that the agrarian landscape dominates in the names. Another is called What way of thinking can be found in the names? I suggest that the place names depict a farmer’s
interests in the landscape and that the streams have been useful for orientation. As to the question of ownership to land, place names point to a development from a group’s access to a certain area in the Early Iron Age to individual ownership in the Medieval Period. A third field of research is called Wherein are the people seen? The answer is that they are seen both as givers of name and as persons in names.