The long history of Swedish bread. Continuity and change in Swedish regional bread-cereal traditions

Abstract

The beginnings of the Swedish regional bread-cereal traditions, described in Åke Campbell's 1950 survey 'The Swedish bread", are studied, and the causes for change and continuity in cereal usage are discussed. Archaeobotanical evidence from ten archaeological sites dating to the Iron Age and Middle Ages, in northem, central and southem Sweden, forms the basis of the study. The results suggest dif-ferent ages for the bread-cereal traditions in these regions. In the discussion of change or stability in the usage of different cereals, cultural influences are empha-sized.