Year: 2021
Type: book-review
Abstract: Review by Martin RundkvistThe second volume of Cecilia Ljung's massive doctoral thesis is a lavishly illustrated catalogue.There is no theory chapter and hardly any fad jargon.Ljung argues clearly and economically throughout.On p. 28 she dismisses a convoluted previous interpretation with reference to Ockham's razor.I approve on all counts.The title means "Under a rune-carved slab".The work deals with Sweden's early Christian burial monuments from the 11th century.This excludes the runestones, most of which are early Christian monuments, but which were not erected on graves in churchyards.The topic instead covers a few other classes of carved stone monument, notably the Eskilstuna type.They carry the same general kind of runic inscriptions and interlace decoration as the runestones, and they date from the same time span.But they performed a different function in a different context.Nevertheless, the runestones are present throughout as a backdrop to the discussion.Ljung documents four major geographical clusters of these monuments: 1) around Skara in Västergötland, 2) in the western part of Östergötland's plains belt, 3) on either side of Lake Hjälmaren in Närke
Source: Current Swedish Archaeology
DOI: 10.37718/csa.2016.12
Author: Martin Rundkvist
Institution: Stockholm University
Language: Swedish
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W3166166959