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fossils was recovered by R. Broom and J.T. Robinson in 1948. Work has continued at the site (most notably by C.K. Brain since 1965), and more than 100 representatives of Australopithecus robustus have been identified. This human ancestor is substantially more “robust” than the smaller gracile East African A. afarensis and A. africanus, although it is younger than them at one million years old. The site has gained additional significance through the discovery of fossils of Homo erectus in the same deposits as those of the australopithecines, which indicates that at some time in the early Pleistocene period, both hominids were contemporaneous.

Tim Murray

Sweden

Not only is Sweden’s antiquarian/archaeological history closely related to that of the other Scandinavian countries, but the subject has also been influenced by theories from other disciplines as well as by currents of thought in Europe. Sociopolitical changes in Sweden have also contributed to this history. The antiquarian/archaeological discourse thus consists of a multitude of more or less connected assertions that must be understood against this background. A summary of such a multitude is made at the expense of other material, and this article is an attempt to show how the subject successively changed and finally developed. The history is therefore more a question of discontinuities rather than one of continuous development, and the changes can only be understood in relation to earlier ways of thinking.

The 1500s

In the mid-fifteenth century, the first chronicle was written about the history of the Swedish state until the reign of Karl VIII (1448–1457). The author is unknown but was most likely a monk closely connected to the regent. Thus, history was closely tied to power. The chronicle began with the Flood, and Swedish history was associated with myths about Noah. Scyths and Geats, historically known peoples from around the Black Sea and ancient Thrace, are mentioned. This chronicle was also the first example of the Gothic interpretation of history. The author used older sources, which fueled speculations, and the chronicle’s influence on sixteenth-century historians is very apparent.

On 6 June 1523, Gustav I (1496?–1560) was crowned king, and a new era began in Sweden. The country converted to Protestantism, and the entire Swedish society was reformed, including the interpretation of history. One of the more influential reformers was Olaus Petri (1493?–1552), who wrote, at the end of the 1530s, Svenska krönika [Swedish Chronicle] as a reaction against the biased nature of the older chronicles. Characterized by a certain freedom from national prejudice, Petri’s chronicle was the first original work to be written in the modern Swedish language, and thousands of copies were printed and distributed. According to Petri, the historian should be impartial and seek the truth, but in spite of this claim, the chronicle should be judged in the context of political and religious changes. Petri expressed, for example, doubts about the Goths’ migration from Sweden, but he also found fault with Gustav I’s church politics and government. Didactic intentions can also be discerned.

Petri believed there was very little knowledge available about Swedish history between the birth of Christ and the introduction of Christianity. Only medieval history was completely clear, because written evidence, such as sealed letters and documents, existed from that time. Petri was also interested in runes, which resulted in a separate work.

If Petri tried to shorten historical perspective, the opposite is true of Johannes Magnus (1488–1544), Sweden’s last Catholic bishop. His view of Swedish history in his Historia de omnibus gothorum sueonumque regibus, published in 1553 in Rome, was from the perspective of 4,000 years. Although it was supposed to reflect a desire for truth, rather than a desire for eloquence, it hardly succeeded. Instead, the work was characterized by uncritical views of history and pure fabrication. Magnus saw, for