VV2023_R5_P15

15. VV2023. Discussion

In our opinion, the objective of the 2023 subproject has been met. Knowledge of the various sub-areas of the archaeological site has increased significantly with regard to Vång Hill, the arable land south of it, and also the presence of finds outside the core area of the settlement. On several points, there is now a broad knowledge base on which to base any decision on further investigations concerning, for example, the remains up on the hill.

The different interpretation options for the building on Vång Hill underline the importance of further chronological and stratigraphic analysis of the excavation results and the sample material collected from the current and previous surveys. A crucial prerequisite for further interpretation of the building phase(s) represented by the remains on Vång Hill is that the dating basis is expanded. This future work should focus on bringing chronological clarity to the construction elements investigated between the years 2019 and 2023.

These elements also include the documented floor levels. Therefore, during the current investigation, two samples for micromorphological analysis were secured in the area of Trench A, where the most coherent layer sequences were observed (see Appendix 3m). An interesting feature of the construction on the Vång hill is the significant element of stone packings and stone layers. These can be seen in the form of both the northern bounding stone packings, which were partly investigated in previous years, but also in the ditch and the foundational stone layer, which were investigated in the current investigation. The stone construction elements may indicate that further parallels to the building on the hill in Västra Vång may be possible in the future when their design and chronology have been further investigated in a more comprehensive excavation.

Today, the archaeological situation in Västra Vång is far more complicated than could have been predicted at the time of the first excavations at the settlement in 2004 (see Henriksson 2006 and 2024 and fig. 9). Not least the various metal detection surveys over the years the years have effectively contributed to expanding knowledge of the spatial extent, character and temporal depth of the archaeological site. This experience should, of course, be taken into account when discussions are held about possibly finding and delimiting further settlements along the Johannishus ridge, but also elsewhere in the county. The same applies to the exploratory investigations in various sub-areas in the arable land around Vång Hill. These have been cost-effective in terms of locating and delimiting traces of archaeological remains. The combination of extensive volunteer activities focusing on topsoil archaeology has further contributed to rich knowledge of the settlement as a whole. However, to fully understand the settlement's building and crafts areas requires not only a diagnostic archaeology that uncovers and recovers, but also one that investigates the settlement's remains to a much greater extent with far greater financial resources have been available so far.

March 27, 2025

en Lund University (Sweden)

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