"Rummet mellan rummen" : En studie om keramiken från Buttle Änge

Sammanfattning: The Iron age settlement of Buttle Änge is located on the island of Gotland (Sweden), in the inland south of the medieval town Visby. The Stonehouse foundations on the site have been the focus for the University of Uppsala Campus Gotland archeological excavation since 2013. This paper aims to present a study of the pottery found in the Stonehouse foundations and the spaces between the houses from the excavations 2014-2016. The intention is to map and comprehend the Buttle ceramics. In order to accomplish the intended purpose and questions, I have defined and categorized the ceramics in different ceramic types based on color and minerals alterations in the clay, as well as other defining features to investigate the craft and the archaeological structures. The ceramic ware is evaluated by certain restrictions intended for obtaining a relative dating for the houses, which can provide an increased insight into the locations relationships to other Stonehouse foundations. The houses display many similarities with both foundations and construction, the difficulty has been to establish a chronology.   The focus has been on ceramics rather than on the Stonehouse foundations, which has resulted in 21 different ceramic types, based on color and minerals variations in the clay. In the documentation of the material, both archaeological and handicraft markers have been considered. This is where the pottery is both a source of information for the archaeologists, but also a craft that possesses information. By trying to put the ceramics into its context, it becomes possible to get an understanding of how it has changed and developed. The pottery has then been compared with Vallhagar (Fröjel, Gotland), to see if the material from Buttle is of the same style and shape. Different markers have since been compared with the Vallhagar material, which has given deeper understanding for a chronology, but also that there are similarities that indicate that there has been a know-how to produce the ceramic. Although there are minor details that have changed in the vessel's markers, it may be crucial for the chronology. The change may have been for practical reasons, but also for social reasons, and we need to know the significance of the change before we can see the chronological value. The study of pottery can hopefully give a wide-ranging understanding of the Stonehouse foundations timelines and the iron age people’s daily life.