Boathouses in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic

The paper describes the status and further perspectives of boathouse research in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. The main questions asked are: what are the characteristics of such buildings in archaeological, social and functional terms, and which options are given to promote further research? The case of Norway, where there is a continuing tradition of storing boats in boathouses, plays a key role. The Norwegian experiences seem to be to some extent transferable to other areas in the Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. © 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Reply to comments on relative chronology

The court sites in south‐west Norway are a key material for discussing aspects of Roman period archaeology. So far, the Stand der Forschung is not satisfactory, mainly because the excavations that took place in the middle of the 20th century have not so far led to more systematic and synthesising studies being undertaken. It is argued in the article that the court sites can be considered indicative of central settlements in the Roman period, and that the sites were multifunctional. They probably served as gathering places for social activities like games, things and ritual, as production sites, and maybe as temporary accommodation for chieftains' retinues playing a role in intra‐Norwegian or perhaps Scandinavian military confrontations. The latter aspect is considered in some detail in the article, and it is suggested that the court site organisation is indicative of a Roman period (petty) south‐west Norwegian kingdom, and that the bog offering in Illerup place A might have originated from a south‐west Norwegian army defeated by ‘Danish’ forces. On an international level the court sites are an unparalleled type of archaeological monument reflecting social and functional aspects of general interest for European archaeology.     

Interpretation of archaeological small-scale features in spectral images

The paper's focus is the use of spectral images for the distinction of small archaeological anomalies on the basis of the authors work. Special attention is given to the ground truthing perspective in the discussion of a number of cases from Norway. Different approaches to pattern-recognition are considered in the light of the increasing availability of hyperspectral images that are difficult to analyse using visual inspection alone.