Exploring interconnectivity and similarity in the rune-stones of 10th-12th century Sweden

Abstract

What began as a study of difference in the 10th-12th century rune-stones of Sweden has become a case study in homogeneity. These ‘close-knit’ people as described by Olrik in 1930 (:4) were much more interconnected than the current literature generally suggests, and clearly had communication networks running the length and breadth of settled Sweden. A result of the trade and wealth that characterised pre-Medieval Sweden, the rune-stones illustrate just how small and intertwined the world of the Scandinavians actually was. They suggest an interconnectivity that is now only just beginning to be recognised. The initial rapid proliferation of a small, highly integrated tradition that then contracted to the Mälaren Valley may be indicative of a society at a cultural ‘crossroads’, caught between the traditions of the past and the consequences of trade.