Estate Landscapes in England: Interpretive Archaeologies

The centre of the world: The material construction of Eurocentric domination and hybridity in a Scandinavian 17th-century context

“…The larger houses and estates were developed like theatre stages, with tenants and farmers appearing as actors in the periphery of the aristocratic protagonists (cf. Williamson, 2011: 36). Adjusting to a noble past and a glorious history was another way of coping with changes in society.…”

“…These kinds of substantial reform of estates and estate landscapes were not unusual amongst the larger landowners of the early modern era, but are expressions of a nascent modernity, rapidly spreading in the 17th century. The lands of the estate were more often brought together and centred on the manor or castle than during the previous period, and substantial parks, ponds, hunting grounds, views and other such features were constructed around the centre of the estates (Williamson, 2011: 28).…”

“…Kelso, 1997: 25). The dome, giving Monticello a panoptical function on the hilltop, resembled that of the towers of Skokloster and added a Baroque style to the hybrid space (Epperson, 2000; Leone and Shackel, 1990: 154; Williamson, 2011). At the same time, further to the north in Virginia, the Washington family erected mounds, similar to English Iron Age barrows, as boundary features between garden and arable land.…”