The article reviews Iron Age settlement archaeology before the 1990s, focusing on how interpretations were influenced by the knowledge and values of that time. Early studies in Scandinavia saw settlement development as continuous and expanding, based on place-names and cemeteries. However, discoveries in the 1990s showed a different spread of settlements in the landscape, with both growth and decline. This challenges the traditional view of settlements and highlights weaknesses in using farm-cemeteries and place-names in settlement archaeology.