Keramikskräp eller skräpig keramik? - avfallshantering under järnåldern med utgångspunkt i Uppåkra och keramikmaterialet från Hus 21

Sammanfattning: With this paper the goal was to study the pottery of the Iron Age settlement of Uppåkra in southern Sweden, with the view that the ceramic material from this site is indeed a “mass material”. I examined what strategies an Iron Age society might have had for their waste, as waste is something that all societies create and have to manage, somehow. I was curious to know how the waste from this period accumulated, and I proceeded with the paper with the opinion that all archaeological material is waste. The material that I studied was almost exclusively found in connection to and in, House 21, which burnt down during the Roman Iron Age, during the 5th century BC. By studying the pottery and the cultural layers, one can draw conclusions about the people who lived and worked at the Uppåkra settlement and how they handled the management of their waste. It is difficult to give an indication of how those strategies varied over the long time period that the site was in use since I have studied a relatively limited material. Large collections of waste did exist, and they were a resource as well as a nuisance. Ceramic material was used, re-used and recycled at the site in some capacity. Several shards that have been re-used have been located. The influence of natural decomposition processes, soil chemistry and how the site was used after it ceased to be a settlement can never be ignored. The fragmentation of the pottery therefore depends on many factors. The goods that are more heavily fired not only have greater durability when the vessel is in use, but it also has a better chance of preservation. Shards from vessels fired in an oxidized environment, often have better preserved décor and have also been extra popular for re-usage.