Architecture, society, and ritual in Viking Age Scandinavia : doors, dwellings, and domestic space /
In this book, Marianne Hem Eriksen explores the social organization of Viking Age Scandinavia through a study of domestic architecture, and in particular, the doorway. A highly charged architectural element, the door is not merely a practical, construction solution. Doors control access, generate mo...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge ; New York :
Cambridge University Press,
2019.
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| Summary: | In this book, Marianne Hem Eriksen explores the social organization of Viking Age Scandinavia through a study of domestic architecture, and in particular, the doorway. A highly charged architectural element, the door is not merely a practical, construction solution. Doors control access, generate movement, and demark boundaries, yet also serve as potent ritual objects. For this study, Eriksen analyzes and interprets the archaeological data of house remains from Viking Age Norway, which is here synthesized for the first time. Using social approaches to architecture, she demonstrates how the domestic space of the Viking household, which could include masters and slaves, wives and mistresses, children and cattle, was not neutral. Quotidian and ritual interactions with, through, and orchestrated by doorways prove to be central to the production of a social world in the Viking Age. Eriksen's book challenges the male-dominated focus of research on the Vikings and expands research questions beyond topics of seaborne warriors, trade and craft. |
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| Physical Description: | xiv, 275 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of color plates : illustrations ; 26 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-263) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781108497220 1108497225 9781108739603 1108739601 |