Fornborgar i Halland - Morfologi, klassificering, kulturlandskap och regionalitet

Sammanfattning

This thesis studies hallandic hillforts through both field research and computer analysis. The research questions concern morphology, classification, cultural landscape, and regional variation. The purpose of this thesis is to create a more developed and nuanced image of the hill forts, starting by mentioning them as enclosures (hägnadsanläggning) instead of hill fort (fornborg). By dividing the enclosures into morphology-based categories an examination of their relationship with the cultural landscape is performed. The survey examines whether a specific category of enclosure can be associated with a specific category of archaeological site. In addition, it is examined how the previously mentioned categories of enclosures are reflected in the landscape. The results are regarding the term hill fort, the shape and structure of the enclosures in Halland, to which degree the categories are reflected in the cultural landscape, the spatial distribution of the categories over Halland, and how future research should address the studied subject. In summary the results indicate that the categorization performed in the thesis is without major relevance regarding association to certain aspects of the cultural landscape. It is however shown that the enclosures in north Halland generally exhibits stronger walls, and that one enclosure in south Halland is unique in the survey and rare in western Sweden.