Byns vara eller icke vara, är det frågan ?

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the concept of village and settlement patterns in a long-term perspective in the southern part of Sweden. For whom were villages a successful concept and was one definition really enough to describe the role villages played in different societies ? All excavated farmsteads in the period AD 400–1800 were registered in a GIS database that was used for large-scale analysis. Trends in ups and downs in the settlements at different times became visible. Large farm units/estates influenced village formation due to control over land and the ability to organize people and agrarian production. Village nucleation was considered as a precondition for state formation, as it guaranteed a stable and continuous transfer of agrarian surplus through taxes.