IoA/BM Seminar Danielsson

Dr Ing-Marie Back Danielsson (Uppsala): What do gold foil couples want? A discussion of gold foil couples and their central places in Middle Sweden and Norway during the Vendel period (AD 550-800)

This presentation will discuss aspects of an ongoing research project which focuses on a type of material culture that is called gold foil figures, or "guldgubbar" in Swedish. "Guldgubbar" are miniscule figures made from thin hammered gold sheets. They are found only in Scandinavia, and are commonly encountered in halls of ceremonial character at so-called central places. Since gold foil couples from different regions at times are similar or identical, the "guldgubbar" can be used to understand how aristocratic contacts and networks operated and were interlinked. The presentation will address questions relating to the figures' agential dimensions, their ontological status, and the myriad rhizomatic relations that were generated through processes of making, manipulation and visual encounter.