Who owned the products? Production and exchange of quernstones, Hyllestad in Sogn, Western Norway

publishedVersio

Lokalsamfunn, regionar og nettverk i mellomalderen – ulike arkeologiske tilnærmingar

Archaeological approaches in the study of local communities and regional contacts in the Middle Ages Region is a complex and multifaceted concept. To what degree is it a suitable analytical approach to archaeological analyses? The political and administrative system in medieval Norway was largely built up around the assembly organization, where the geographical location of a local community was decisive for what administrative region it belonged to. The political-administrative regions are mainly expressed in written sources and have normally no clear material feature. However, one object type, the stone crosses on the west coast of Norway, may be seen in connection with the law area of the Gulathing law. Distribution of common artefact types within a geographical area may indicate regional contacts where technology and trade are central aspects, here defined as economic-functional regions. The importance of including a variety of objects in order to identify trade regions is emphasized. A homogeneous material culture within a geographical area may represent a common cultural or ethnical identity of the people living there, so-called identity regions. However, in the more complex medieval society, contacts and alliances were also directed to groups of people outside the area, and cultural identity was not always attached to the geographical area where people lived. These three types of regions, then, both overlap and diverge. Nevertheless, reflections concerning contacts and interaction are important, and a regional perspective may represent a useful approach where the material culture is studied according to larger connections and perspectives.

Live Johannesen og Jan-Erik G. Eriksson (Red.): Faglig program for middelalderarkeologi. Byer, sakrale steder, befestninger og borger. Riksantikvaren.

Bokanmeldels

Quarrying in Western Norway: an archaeological study of production and distribution in the Viking period and Middle Ages

The theme of this study is the large-scale exploitation of different stone products that took place in Norway during the Viking Age and the Middle Ages (c. AD 800-1500)

Stones for Bread. Regional Differences and Changes in Scandinavian Food Traditions Related to the Use of Quernstones, Bakestones and Soapstone Vessels c. AD 800-1500

publishedVersio

Outland exploitation and long-distance trade AD 700–1200 – seen in the light of whetstone production and distribution

An aim of this paper is to explore exploitation of outlying resources within a socio-political and economic context, where whetstone quarries form the basis for the discussion. Geological analyses of whetstones in Ribe in Denmark demonstrate that most of the finds were quarried within present-day Norway, in Eidsborg in Telemark and Mostadmarka in Trøndelag. Production in Mostadmarka started in the early 8th century, and in Eidsborg approx. a century later. Both sites should be seen in connection with an intensified exploitation of woodlands and mountainous areas that took place in the Scandinavian Peninsula from the early Viking Age onwards. The paper discusses how important products from the outlands were for the Viking-age economy and urban sites, and demonstrates that outlying areas were integrated parts of wider economic, social, and cultural systems.publishedVersio

Bakestones – Production and Trade in the Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, bakestones, or stone griddles, were an important part of Norwegian households, representing everyday products required for the preparation of food over the hearth. Demand for these Tools formed the basis for large-scale production, which is the subject of this paper. The study is based on analyses of an extended quarry landscape in Ølve and Hatlestrand in the County of Hordaland, representing the largest and most important production centre for bakestones in Norway. The griddles were produced from chlorite-rich talc-amphibole schist, a material able to withstand repeated heating and cooling without an imminent risk of fracturing. The range of products from the quarries also included tiles, building stones, and stone crosses. Small scale archaeological excavations in some of the quarries, and at a workplace where the finishing of bakestones took place, date the production to between the early Middle Ages (c. 11th or early 12th centuries) and the early modern period. The character and scale of production indicate an intense and well-organised activity, a specialisation where the quarries were exploited for profit. Most evidence points to a so-called semi-professional craft where people working and living at the surrounding farms also worked in the quarries. Some of the largest quarry sites may, however, have demanded different organisation and larger workforces. The bakestones were distributed all over Norway from the 1100s and into the early modern period. Outside Norway, they are mainly to be found within the North Atlantic region, whereas in Sweden and Denmark they are only found in small numbers, indicating random export

Everyday Products in the Middle Ages : Crafts, Consumption and the individual in Northern Europe c. AD 800-1600

The medieval marketplace is a familiar setting in popular and academic accounts of the Middle Ages, but we actually know very little about the people involved in the transactions that took place there, how their lives were influenced by those transactions, or about the complex networks of individuals whose actions allowed raw materials to be extracted, hewn into objects, stored and ultimately shipped for market. Twenty diverse case studies combine leading edge techniques and novel theoretical approaches to illuminate the identities and lives of these much overlooked ordinary people, painting of a number of detailed portraits to explore the worlds of actors involved in the lives of everyday products - objects of bone, leather, stone, ceramics, and base metal - and their production and use in medieval northern Europe. In so doing, this book seeks to draw attention away from the emergent trend to return to systems and global models, and restore to centre stage what should be the archaeologist’s most important concern: the people of the past

Preface, Tabula Gratulatoria, Contents

On the 26th of August, 2015, Ingvild Øye celebrates her 70th birthday and retires from her position as Professor of Medieval Archaeology at the University of Bergen. This calls for a Festschrift in her honour, represented by the present volume containing a broad range of recent archaeological and historical research into the Nordic Middle Ages (c. 1050-1536)