The Well and Rituals in Everyday Life – Three Iron Age Wells Excavated in Trøndelag, Norway
Peer reviewed, Journal article
Published version
Date
2024Metadata
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Original version
Journal of Wetland Archaeology. 2024, 23 62-80. https://doi.org/10.1080/14732971.2024.2411798Abstract
In the summer of 2018, three wells were excavated in Brekstad, Ørland, Norway. The wells, all dated to the late first century BC/early first century AD, were refilled with large quantities of wooden objects, animal bones, shells, animal dung and pottery. They were found in a field with cooking pits near a previous wetland on one side and a contemporary settlement area on the other. The refilling of wells falls into a pattern of depositing objects and people in bogs and wetlands throughout Northern Europe. The article discusses the refilling of wells as a ritual where wetlands are the common denominators. The article further discusses what type of rituals the refilling of the wells represents, focusing on its role in the settlement's life cycle.