Courtyard sites in western Norway. Central assembly places and judicial institutions in the Late Iron Age

This paper presents four western Norwegian Iron-Age courtyard sites, of which three

have been investigated during the last ten years. By comparing functional and contextual

aspects of these sites it is argued that they represent central assembly sites in local

communities. The coherent similarity of such complex physical structures across time is

seen as an expression of strong social and ideological continuity in Iron-Age society from

the Roman period until the process of territorial unification under kings with national

ambitions that started in the late 9th century. With reference to the Icelandic analogy

and the historical connection between Iceland and Western Norway in the Viking period

it is also argued for the courtyard sites as an important institution (þing) in the pre-state

judicial and political system.