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Southern Sweden

Further south, settlement at Lund is archaeologically attested from the late 10th century (Clarke and Ambrosiani 1991, 64) and, though the most comprehensive work on the comb material (Christophersen 1980a; 1980b) focuses on the industry itself rather than the combs produced, some typological data are available from earlier studies. As might be expected, combs recovered from excavations in the town include Types 6, 9, 13 and 14a (see Mårtensson and Wahlöö 1970, plates 82-84; Persson 1976; Smirnova 2005, 91, 296).

A key site in what is now southern Sweden is Åhus, Scania (Callmer 1984; 2002). With its origins back in the 8th century, this site is something of a specialist traders' settlement, and, under the direction of Johan Callmer, it has been subject to extensive research over the last few decades. A particular focus of this work relates to the site's potential in clarifying the nature and organisation of craft production. It is mainly of relevance here in that excavations have provided an important 8th- to 9th-century collection of combs, and many of these examples have their closest parallels in Frisia (Callmer 1998, 478). Similar comb forms are known from settlement excavations elsewhere in Scania, such as at Trelleborg (where the 10th-century fortification is associated with a long-lived settlement of greater antiquity: Jacobsson 1986), at the early medieval town of Ystad (Strömberg 1978), the high-status coastal site of Östra Torp (Stjernquist 1987-8), and the market centre of Västra Karaby (Ohlsson 1971). The combs from these Scanian sites are reviewed in more detail by Callmer (1998, 478).

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