Where Different Waters Met: Aspects on the Apollo Grannus vase and its position near Sagån in the province of Västmanland

Abstract

At some time during the Late Roman Iron Age, an originally provincial-Roman vessel called the Apollo Grannus vase was used as a burial urn in a stone-setting at Fycklinge in the province ofVästmanland, on the bank of Sagån by the small rapids where this stream met the sea. In an attempt to understand why this particular vessel was used in this way at this particular place, the author discusses the characteristics ofthe area, of certain vessels and their associations with rebirth/regeneration, the provincial-Roman god Apollo Grannus (associated with fertility and water), the process of creolization, and cremation as part of a process of transformation.

Keywords

• Late Roman Iron Age
• creolization
• fertility
• burial
• cremation
• borderland