the Merovingian and Carolingian state has been rather neglected, as already hinted at
above. It has been understood as German influence. This is a misconception since
Germany indeed did not exist at that time either as a political entity or as a cultural
province.
The study of this development of an aristocratic lifestyle under Continental influence
in Scandinavia can be followed only with great difficulty in the archaeological record.
The main reason is the almost complete discontinuation of articulate aristocratic graves
in southern Scandinavia beginning already in the Migration period. In other parts of
Scandinavia some graves from the top level of society are known, but being cremations
they have few and in some cases not very representative fragments. Thus we have little
or no possibility of studying significant complexes of personal artefacts of various
types. During the past fifteen years our knowledge of aristocratic milieus in Scandinavia
has expanded immensely. The main traits of aristocratic residences both in the pre-
Viking period and in the Viking period have become increasingly clear. These complexes
with their halls, cult houses, cult enclosures, houses and workshops have been brought
into connection with supposed influence from Carolingian palaces. So far this seems to
be a misconception. The tradition of the layout of aristocratic compounds and their
buildings must rather be seen as a northern, Barbarian cultural phenomenon developed
already in the Roman Iron Age or even earlier. This northern tradition consequently has
little to do with the southern developments. The concept of the Carolingian palace is
firmly rooted in the tradition of Late Antiquity and Byzantine tradition and it reaches
Scandinavia only at the very end of the Viking Age.
Accepting this negative situation for a closer study of the Merovingian and Carolingian
influence on Scandinavian aristocratic culture we can pick out some secondary cultural
traits, which can give us some idea of the connection. It is very notable that it is
primarily in the masculine sector of Scandinavian society that we can best record this
influence. Although ceremonial drinking of alcoholic drinks in the northern cultures
also had a long history, the cultural requisites employed at the highest social level, from
the late migration period onwards, were largely copied from Continental cultural
patterns. Ceremonial drinking at this level of society was connected with drinking from
glass beakers imported from the Continent. Although glass vessels had already been
brought to the north in the Roman Iron Age the volume of this importation expanded
in the Merovingian and especially the early Carolingian period. Huge numbers of shards
of glass vessels have been recovered on the trading sites of the pre-Viking and Viking
Age around Scandinavia (Näsman 1986 , 1990 ; Jensen 1991 : 15 ). It is very likely that
the local drinking ceremonies were also influenced by those of the Merovingian
aristocracy. Exclusive foreign drinking practices were integrated into the aristocratic
culture of the halls. Whether wines were imported throughout the period must remain
uncertain, but it is most likely that at least in Jutland aristocrats could occasionally
drink wine (mulled?). Especially in south-western Scandinavia this influence has been
strong, but it also reached out further towards the north and north-east.
Hunting was another socially significant pastime among the Merovingian and
Carolingian aristocracy. Hunting of course also had a long history in Scandinavia with
its large woodlands. It is however a tendency especially in south-western Scandinavia
that venison disappears completely from the menu of ordinary people already in the
Roman Iron Age if not even earlier. The right to hunt for the big game available
seemingly becomes a prerogative of the uppermost stratum of society. The Continental
–– chapter 33: Scandinavia and the Continent––