Å tenke med havet: Et maritimt perspektiv på jernalderlandskapet mellom Buksnesfjorden og Borg på Vestvågøy i Lofoten

Abstract

Vestvågøy, an island in the Lofoten archipelago, is well known in Scandinavian archaeology due to two massive Iron Age buildings at the Borg farm. Borg has been a popular subject for Iron Age research. Research has mainly focused on agricultural aspects of the Iron Age society on Vestvågøy. Nevertheless, a large number of Iron Age graves are located on islets and headlands. These are not often considered in earlier contributions. In this paper, I explore how a maritime perspective can contribute to a new understanding of Iron Age Vestvågøy. The main premise is that the presence of the sea affects how people structure their landscapes. I view the Iron Age sites and the landscape from the sea: the main transport route in prehistoric coastal Norway. Although interpreted as a central place, Borg is located by a hidden bay north on the island, excluded from maritime communication lines. While some researchers suggest that the Buksnesfjord area was the location for another central place, the layout of the Buksnesfjord area differs from Borg. Through a GIS-based quantitative spatial study of Iron Age graves, I outline an alternative view of the Iron Age landscape.