DOI: 10.33547/terra.fertilis11
Structures and driving forces behind central places of southern Scandinavia of the 1st millennium: new views on Gudme and Sorte Muld
by Sofie Laurine Albris 
and Mads Dengsø Jessen
in Terra fertilis, terra deserta. Exploitation of marginal zones, edited by M. J. Przybyła, J. Rodzińska-Nowak and M. Wojenka, Neue Studien zur Sachsenforschung 15, Braunschweig – Kraków: Braunschweigische Landesmuseum, Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Profil-Archeo, pp. 179-194.
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Abstract: This paper examines the structure and driving forces behind early central places in southern Scandinavia during the 1st millennium AD, with a particular focus on Gudme and Sorte Muld. It argues that these sites represent large, complex settlement clusters that differ significantly from typical Iron Age settlements and can be understood within the framework of low-density urbanism.
The study explores how these “1st-generation” central places developed rapidly between the 2nd and 6th centuries AD, characterized by clusters of farmsteads surrounding monumental core areas with evidence of craft production, trade, and long-distance connections. Unlike later, more standardized “2nd-generation” centres, these early sites were spatially extensive, economically dynamic, and socially complex.
A key argument of the paper is that religious activity played a central role in the emergence and growth of these settlements. Ritual practices, sanctuaries, and periodic gatherings likely attracted large numbers of people, fostering economic exchange, social interaction, and the accumulation of wealth. In this sense, religion functioned as a primary catalyst for the development of these proto-urban environments.
The decline of these centres in the 6th and 7th centuries is interpreted as the result of broader social, economic, and environmental changes, including the weakening of long-distance networks, climatic crises, and shifts in religious practices associated with the spread of Christianity. As a result, the earlier large settlement clusters lost their central roles and were replaced by new types of political and economic centres.
Overall, the paper contributes to a re-evaluation of early Scandinavian central places by framing them as transient, low-density urban systems shaped by religious, economic, and social dynamics, rather than as linear precursors to later urban development.