From Samland to Rogaland: East-West Connections in the Baltic Basin During the Early Migration Period

The principal aim in this study is to present connections linking during the Early Migration Period Balt lands and their counterparts bordering the Baltic Sea. An attempt is made at establishing a more comprehensive perspective analysing the material occurring from Finland to Rogaland in west Norway and from Samland and Pomerania to the Lofoten islands. The Early Migration Period, the basic chronological unit under discussion here, cannot be understood as a chronological watershed in Balt-Scandinavian connections. Many issues addressed by the present work have a much larger chronological range, being rooted in the Late Roman Period or continuing into the subsequent phase. The emphasis on the Early Migration Period is intended to draw attention to the earlier origin of certain phenomena as well as to their scale in the period in question, the problems being earlier largely ignored.