Invisible and Ignored: The Archaeology of Nineteenth-Century Subalterns in Sweden

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss subalterns in different social environments in Sweden. The potential of archaeological studies of landless subalterns in rural and urban areas are shown though a number of case studies. It is argued that archaeology can show the multivocality of the lives of the subalterns, in the same way as it shows how the subalterns organized their daily life. This is done through the use of the concepts of matterscape, powerscape, and mindscape. The subalterns used the physical landscape (matterscape) according to prevailing norms and power structures (powerscape), thus creating a perceptive understanding of their daily landscape (mindscape). change, a large number of hitherto unresearched or under-researched remains will be included in heritage management, conservation, and contract archaeology. Thus, the new legal situation opens new possibilities for historical archaeology, but also poses challenges. In this article we will address one field that has come into focus due to the changed law, namely the field of landless subalterns in rural and urban areas. Archaeologists in Sweden have traditionally ignored this large group of people, thus making them invisible in the archaeological record. In this paper we argue that doing archaeology connected to the heritage of the subalterns produces new and independent knowledge in relation to traditional historical research. Specific use will be made of Swedish case studies where subalterns in different social contexts have been studied by triangulating material culture, written documents, maps, and folklore, in order to see if and how attitudes toward subalterns differed between urban areas and the countryside.Research and documentation of the living conditions of subalterns and poor people in Sweden have occurred since the end of the nineteenth century, but in scholarly disciplines other than archaeology. This research has concerned different aspects of the history of subalterns, but have mainly focused on rural conditions, especially on crofters. The number of archaeological excavations that have concerned crofters and other sites connected to subalterns is so far rather small, especially if related to the large number of excavations that are conducted every year within Swedish contract archaeology (according to the Heritage Conservation act).

’Gooseberry is the only thing left’ – a study of declining biological cultural heritage at abandoned crofts in the province of Södermanland, Sweden

“…Svensson et al 2018). Hansson, Nilsson, and Svensson (2019) remarked that the fact that material remains older than 1850 since 2014 are legally protected in Sweden (and many crofts are older than this date) implies that the crofter's history ('tradition') has to be revived. Hansson, Nilsson, and Svensson (2019) argued that the lives, experiences and strategies of people with the lowest societal status, the 'subalterns' (and crofters were among them), deserves to have their history written.…”

“…Hansson, Nilsson, and Svensson (2019) remarked that the fact that material remains older than 1850 since 2014 are legally protected in Sweden (and many crofts are older than this date) implies that the crofter's history ('tradition') has to be revived. Hansson, Nilsson, and Svensson (2019) argued that the lives, experiences and strategies of people with the lowest societal status, the 'subalterns' (and crofters were among them), deserves to have their history written. They further suggested a theoretical framework distinguishing between the crofter's material reality ('matterscape'), the inner subjective experiences of individuals ('mindscape') and the rules that regulate the behaviour of people ('powerscapes').…”

“…Crofters in Sweden have been subject to few systematic studies (e.g. Welinder 2007;Hansson, Nilsson, and Svensson 2019). As remarked by Svensson et al (2018), crofters have largely fallen outside a so-called 'authorised heritage discourse', i.e.…”

Subaltern Debris: Archaeology and Marginalized Communities

“…Understood as a marginalized group vis-à-vis power, subalterns have entered the archaeological debate particularly in the fields of ancient Mediterranean archaeology (Delgado Hervás 2010; van Dommelen 2006; 2014; Zuchtriegel 2018), historical archaeology (Battle-Baptiste 2016; Casella 2012; Ferris et al 2014; Liebmann 2012; Singleton 2009; Spencer-Wood 1994), and in the archaeology of the most recent past (Gnecco & Ayala 2011; González-Ruibal 2014; 2019b; Hansson et al 2019; McGuire 2006; Pollock & Bernbeck 2016). This is reflected in the steady flow of publications discussing subalterns from the early 2000s, and especially from the 2010s, in leading Anglo-American journals such as the Journal of Contemporary Past , International Journal of Historical Archaeology , Historical Archaeology , World Archaeology , Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory and Current Anthropology .…”

Aspek Geoarkeologi Terhadap Strategi Subsistensi Masyarakat Di Pesisir Selatan Belitung Dari Abad Ke-19 Sampai Awal Abad Ke-20 Masehi

“…Hasil hutan seperti madu, getah, buahbuahan, tanduk, kulit hewan, dan bahan mineral 2 Sering disamakan dengan teminologi exchange yang di dalamnya melibatkan kegiatan perdagangan atau trade menggunakan mata uang atau tanpa mata uang 3 Pengamatan sepintas atas kandungan mineral sejumlah pecahan gerabah dari pulau Kampak memperlihatkan diduga merupakan sumber daya yang dipertukarkan dengan barang-barang yang berasal dari luar pulau. Sumber daya hutan tersebut diperoleh dengan cara berburu dan meramu (Costa 2018;Hansson, Nilsson, dan Svensson 2020;Lancelotti, Pecci, dan Zurro 2017). Barang-barang yang tidak dihasilkan secara lokal menjadi bukti terjadinya pertukaran 2 yang juga melibatkan faktor jarak dan mobilitas yang lebih kompleks (Skelly dan David 2017).…”