Central places and change in Late prehistoric and Early medieval period in Vestfold

Abstract

In Vestfold Kaupang, Borre and Tønsberg has been discussed as central places of the Viking Age. Only Tønsberg survived to be a town in the Middle Ages. To decide the back-ground for central places and to trace signs of change, a settlement pattem of the Viking Age and the Middle Ages is suggested. The use of land and its division into units is dependable on the geographical resources of the landscape. The resources of sand and clay soi1 decide where expansion and change can be. Central places besides the so far nentioned could be "-hus", "-heim''and "Tun-" names. The introduction of Christianity plays an active role as a variable of change.