The Sösdala Horsemen
and the equestrian elite of fifth century Europe
A part of the series Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter (99) , and the subject area Archaeology
Edited by
Charlotte Fabech and
Ulf Näsman
With a foreword by
Per Karsten
With contributions by
Anna Bitner-Wróblewska,
Lovisa Dal,
Charlotte Fabech,
Svante Fischer,
Bertil Helgesson,
Per Karsten,
Michel Kazanski,
Anna Mastykova,
Ulf Näsman,
Bengt Nordqvist,
Dieter Quast,
Per H. Ramqvist,
Erika Rosengren,
Konstantin Skvortsov,
Anneli Sundkvist and
Ola Svensson
More about the book
About the book
Sösdala is a famous name in European archaeology of the Migration Period. But the fame of the name has thrown the find itself in deep shade. This is surprising since it contains mounts from an exquisitely decorated parade bridle, the closest parallels to which are found in Austria, Poland, Romania and Ukraine. The craftsmanship equals the best Late Roman metalwork.
The content of the Sösdala finds reveal that Scandinavians were involved in the turmoil when the Late Roman Empire disintegrated. The context, depositions of dismantled horse tack in gravel ridges, is explainable with reference to Nomadic funerary rituals.
Based on new scholarly studies and scientific analyses a European team of scholars places Sösdala in its European setting. The book is concluded by full catalogues of three finds of horse tack from Sösdala and Fulltofta. The papers in English have résumés and captions in Russian.
Press reviews
The book itself is pleasure to hold, beautifully designed, generously laid out, and well‑illustrated, with extended Russian summaries to ensure availability across a scholarly network as broad as the Sösdala horizon itself. It is a work which will spark debate, and which stands as a seminal contribution to the archaeology of the fifth century across Europe.
Fraser Hunter in Revue archéologique
