Swedenization of the North – the early medieval Swedish northern expansion and the emergence of the Birkarls.

Acta Borealia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Risto Nurmi ◽  
Jari-Matti Kuusela ◽  
Ville Hakamäki
Keyword(s):  
Early Medieval ◽  
The North

Maritime and River Traders, Landing Places, and Emporia Ports in the Merovingian Period in and Around the Low Countries

2020 ◽  
pp. 763-796
Author(s):  
Dries Tys
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Institutional Economics ◽  
New Institutional Economics ◽  
Central Position ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Low Countries ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

The origin, rise, and dynamics of coastal trade and landing places in the North Sea area between the sixth and eighth centuries must be understood in relation to how coastal regions and seascapes acted as arenas of contact, dialogue, and transition. Although the free coastal societies of the early medieval period were involved in regional to interregional or long-distance trade networks, their economic agency must be understood from a bottom-up perspective. That is, their reproduction strategies must be studied in their own right, independent from any teleological construction about the development of trade, markets, or towns for that matter. This means that the early medieval coastal networks of exchange were much more complex and diverse than advocated by the simple emporium network model, which connected the major archaeological sites along the North Sea coast. Instead, coastal and riverine dwellers often possessed some form of free status and large degrees of autonomy, in part due to the specific environmental conditions of the landscapes in which they dwelled. The wide estuarine region of the Low Countries, between coastal Flanders in the south and Friesland in the north, a region with vast hinterlands and a central position in northwestern Europe, makes these developments particularly clear. This chapter thus pushes back against longstanding assumptions in scholarly research, which include overemphasis of the influence of large landowners over peasant economies, and on the prioritization of easily retrievable luxuries over less visible indicators of bulk trade (such as wood, wool, and more), gift exchange, and market trade. The approach used here demonstrates that well-known emporia or larger ports of trade were embedded in the economic activities and networks of their respective hinterlands. Early medieval coastal societies and their dynamics are thus better understood from the perspective of integrated governance and economy (“new institutional economics”) in a regional setting.

scholarly journals Grave Goods in Early Medieval Europe: regional variability and decline

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Brownlee
Keyword(s):  
Early Medieval ◽  
Regional Variability ◽  
Low Countries ◽  
The North ◽  
General Decline ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
Grave Good ◽  
Gis Methods ◽  
Individual Choices ◽  
Grave Goods

This article analyses the use of grave goods in burials across early medieval Europe and how that use changed over the course of the 6th to 8th centuries CE with the widespread transition to unfurnished burial. It uses data gathered from published cemetery excavation reports from England, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The grave good use in these cemeteries was analysed using GIS methods to visualise regional differences, as well as statistical methods to analyse how grave good use evolved over time in those regions. This analysis revealed clear regional distinctions in grave good use, with England and Alamannia appearing similar, with relatively high levels of grave good use. Meanwhile, parts of Frankia and of Burgundy had considerably lower levels of grave good use. Distributions of individual artefact types tended to match those of overall numbers, but there were a few key exceptions, such as vessels, which followed a quite different pattern, being found in high numbers along the Frankish coast, but in much lower numbers elsewhere. Despite these overall trends, there was still considerable intra-regional and intra-cemetery variation that suggests communities and individuals had the ability to make highly individual choices about the way to bury their dead, along with the ability to subvert local norms. It also revealed that while there was a general decline in the use of grave goods across this period, and everywhere eventually reached the point of almost completely unfurnished burial, this decline occurred at different rates. In particular, there was a zone around the North Sea, including Kent, western Frankia, and the Low Countries, where there was little change in grave good use until it was suddenly abandoned in the early 8th century. Different types of objects declined at different rates across different regions, with few clear trends, suggesting that only personal accessories held a common significance across Europe; the meanings of all other object types were negotiated on a local basis.

scholarly journals Early Medieval Central Asian Population Estimates

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 788-817
Author(s):  
Étienne de la Vaissière
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Asian Population ◽  
Population Estimates ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
The North ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Census data from 8th-century Eastern Central Asian oases, combined with the measurements of the oases and data from archives discovered there, allow us to calculate estimates both of the individual oases’ populations and of their respective feeding capacities, which is to say the number of people who could be fed from the output of one hectare of agricultural land. These numbers in turn have parallels in Western Central Asia, where oasis sizes can also be calculated by examination of preserved archaeological landscapes and oasis walls. It is therefore possible to reach a rough idea of the populations dwelling in the main oases and valleys of sedentary Central Asia. As regards nomadic regions, the data are far more hypothetical, but references in certain sources to the sizes of nomad armies and rates of nomadic military levying can allow us to calculate at least the possible scales of magnitude for populations living to the north of the Tianshan.

Ethnic Identity and the Archaeology of the aduentus Saxonum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Harland
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Migration Patterns ◽  
Roman World ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Alternative Understanding

For centuries, archaeologists have excavated the soils of Britain to uncover finds from the early medieval past. These finds have been used to reconstruct the alleged communities, migration patterns, and expressions of identity of coherent groups who can be regarded as ethnic 'Anglo-Saxons'. Even in the modern day, when social constructionism has been largely accepted by scholars, this paradigm still persists. <br><br>This book challenges the ethnic paradigm. As the first historiographical study of approaches to ethnic identity in modern 'Anglo-Saxon' archaeology, it reveals these approaches to be incompatible with current scholarly understandings of ethnicity. Drawing upon post-structuralist approaches to self and community, it highlights the empirical difficulties the archaeology of ethnicity in early medieval Britain faces, and proposes steps toward an alternative understanding of the role played by the communities of lowland Britain - both migrants from across the North Sea and those already present - in transforming the Roman world.

scholarly journals Charcoal Production During the Norse and Early Medieval Periods in Eyjafjallahreppur, Southern Iceland

Radiocarbon ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 659-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J Church ◽  
A J Dugmore ◽  
K A Mairs ◽  
A R Millard ◽  
G T Cook ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Sediment Accumulation ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Charcoal Production ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The North ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Two Phases

Timber procurement and the use of woodlands are key issues in understanding the open landscapes of the Norse and Medieval periods in the North Atlantic islands. This paper outlines evidence for the timing and mechanisms of woodland use and deforestation in an area of southern Iceland, which is tracked through the mapping and analysis of charcoal production pits. Precise dating of the use of these charcoal production pits within a Bayesian framework is demonstrated through the combination of tephrochronology, sediment accumulation rates, and multiple radiocarbon dates on the archaeological charcoal. Two phases of charcoal production and woodland exploitation have been demonstrated, the first within the first 2 centuries of settlement (cal AD 870–1050) and the second phase over 100 yr later (cal AD 1185–1295). The implications for using charcoal as a medium for 14C dating in Iceland and the wider North Atlantic are then explored. Archaeobotanical analysis of the charcoal sampled from the pits has indicated that birch roundwood was the dominant wood used, that the roundwood was stripped from larger shrubs/trees in late spring/early summer, and that certain sizes and ages of roundwood were harvested. Finally, the timing of the charcoal production is placed into the wider debate on deforestation across Iceland during the Norse and early Medieval periods.

scholarly journals A hillfort complex in Myślibórz in the Sudety Mountains

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Anna Lisowska ◽  
Sylwia Rodak
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Spatial Arrangement ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
The Past ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Sudety Mountains ◽  
Defensive Sites

The Myślibórz Gorge, located within the Kaczawy Foothills, is well-known to environmentalists and scholars studying the past. The investigations launched in the 1990s made it possible to determine the chronology of three of the archaeological sites in this area. In 2018, two hillforts – on the Kobylica and Golica hills – were investigated. Czech literature classifies such hillforts as the ostrožna-type. The excavations of these hillforts made it possible to establish to date them between the 9th and 10th centuries.The hillforts were located on hilltops with similar altitudes above the sea level, less than 200 m from each other. Such a spatial arrangement made it possible to control the gateway to the Myślibórz Gorge from the north-east. Reasons for developing a defensive system in the southern part of the gorge are obscure, as is the role that two other early medieval hillforts played in it. Was it simply a warning system, or rather part of a comprehensive network of defensive sites?

scholarly journals GLASS FINDS FROM THE EARLY MEDIEVAL CEMETERIES IN THE MOUNTAINOUS AREAS OF THE NORTH CAUCASUS CENTRAL REGIONS: CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ORIGIN

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
О.С. Румянцева ◽  
А.А. Кадиева ◽  
С.В. Демиденко ◽  
Д.А. Ханин ◽  
М.В. Червяковская ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Mountainous Areas ◽  
North Caucasus ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
The North ◽  
Icp Ms ◽  
Central Regions ◽  
Plant Ash ◽  
Different Origin

В статье рассмотрен химический состав серии стеклянных изделий, происходящих из раннесредневековых могильников центральных районов Северного Кавказа (втор. пол. V VIII в.). Стекло проанализировано методами SEM EDS, EPMA, LA ICP MS. Стекло одного из украшений изготовлено на золе растений и происхождением связано с регионом к востоку от Евфрата (возможно, с сасанидским Ираном) остальные стекла содовые и происходят, вероятно, из Восточного и Юго Восточного Средиземноморья. По составу они находят соответствие среди групп, распространенных на территории Римской империи как в синхронное, так и в более раннее время (HIMT, группы Foy 3.2 Foy 4, Левантийская 1, римское зеленоголубое). Некоторые признаки химического состава позволяют говорить о случайном характере сырья, использовавшегося при изготовлении вставок, и/или о разном происхождении самих украшений со вставками. The paper explores the chemical composition of a series of glass items originating from the early medieval cemeteries discovered in the North Caucasus central regions (second half of the 5th 8th centuries). The glass was analyzed by SEM EDS, EPMA, LA ICP MS methods. The glass of one item was made of plant ash glass, originated from a region east of the Euphrates (possibly, Sasanian Iran) other items were made from soda glass and, most likely, came from the Eastern and Southeastern Mediterranean. Their composition is similar to the glass of the groups well known in the Roman Empire during the same period and earlier (HIMT, Foy 3.2 Foy 4, Roman bluegreen, Levantine I groups). Some aspects of the chemical composition suggest that the the accidental choice of the glass used in making inserts and/or about different origin of the items with inserts.

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