I am professor emeritus of medieval archaeology at Lund University, Sweden. My research has mostly been concentrated om Medieval urbanization and countryside.
Wider Das Finstere Mittelalter Festschrift Fur Werner Meyer Zum 65 Geburtstag Schweizer Beitrage Zur Kulturgeschichte Und Archaologie Des Mittelalters Band 29, 2002
Kungahalla Problem Och Forskning Kring Stadens Aldsta Historia Skrifter Utgivna Av Bohuslans Museum Och Bohuslans Hembygdsforbund Nr 70 Lund Studies in Medieval Archaeology Nr 28, 2002
ron played a crucial role for the formation of the Swed- ish medieval state. It was of such signi... more ron played a crucial role for the formation of the Swed- ish medieval state. It was of such significance that kings and other authorities strove to gain and preserve their control over iron production. Those who controlled the iron production governed the state. In Sweden, as in other parts of Europe, the 12th and 13th centuries were important for the development of state formation. Iron was a commodity that was necessary for progress in many fields. Urbanisation was a part of these social changes. Iron has been produced in many parts of Swe- den since prehistoric times both in bloomery furnaces and from the 12th century in the blast furnaces. In the paper it is discussed which role the towns played in the iron-making process. With some examples we can see that some towns were engaged in secondary smithing of bloomery iron. Other towns were a part of the internal and external commerce of iron.
The basic conditions for research concerning Uppsala’s medieval history are rather favourable con... more The basic conditions for research concerning Uppsala’s medieval history are rather favourable concerning written sources, historical maps and archaeology – at least regarding the latter half of the period. Hundreds of archaeological observations are recorded and dozens of them derive from large scale excavations. In this paper I argue that the defining urbanisation of Uppsala took place, not during the 13th century, but in the late 12th century, and that it had more to do with a new need for alliances and a need for a different meeting place, than with logistical preferences and a «natural development». King Knut Eriksson appears as the foresighted player, who realised the need for a new setting for national and international net-working – instead of the politically and religiously charged sites of Old Uppsala and Sigtuna. Nevertheless he used the common strategy of choosing a nearby site, in order to allude to 373 Uppsalas första två hundra år. När var det – och hur gick det till? his predecessors’ rights. I suggest that the traditional elite, with an archaic connection to Old Uppsala, lost influence to somewhat different groups with interests in for example the metal production. The following period, c. 1200–1400, saw a consolidating and expansive process, during which groups of private citizens, corporations and the civic authorities became increasingly visible. Above all I would like to emphasize the importance of considering the role of corporations and interaction in the building of the medieval town.
There is archaeological evidence for activity in the vicinity of Sct. Peder Stræde prior to 1000 ... more There is archaeological evidence for activity in the vicinity of Sct. Peder Stræde prior to 1000 A.D. The activities are best seen in the light of the thing meetings and possible ceremonies of royal homage. But the question of how far back these activities may go remains unanswered. From 1018 King Knut the Powerful must have been responsible for the new settlement by the northern shores of Lake Søndersø. As no thing meetings or other assemblies were held here, only a small number of men would have been necessary, perhaps a kings bailiff and family with a small group of labourers and craftsmen on site. The products and raw-materials of the craftspeople belonged to the king or local magnates. The buyers or recipients of these craft-products would largely have been part of the king’s retinue – members of his hird, workers, slaves etc. and their families.
The conscious town planning from 1050 AD was more than likely a result of royal initiative, but large groups of slaves, workmen and craftspeople were now permanently living in the area.
The church was present in the area from at least 1018 AD if not before and with the foundation of the bishopric around 1065 AD the growing numbers of church men from the cathedral or parish churches must have left their mark on the town. The exact extent of the church’s influence on the daily life and development of the town remains an open question, but the fact that the church at an early stage acquired such large areas of the town for church sites and graveyards must correlate with either very close ties with the ruling classes or a marked influence of its own.
In relation to the questions of initiatives coming from above and down or vice versa the early activities in Viborg clearly came from above with the king, local magnates and the church. I have a general difficulty in seeing how any of the lower classes could gain the freedom to take any initiative. They lived a life that was controlled and bound from those above them, who owned all the means of production and the finished products they produced.
The fact that the most important catalysts of Viborg’s first 150 years were some of the most powerful people of the kingdom led to a somewhat uneven development. Historical developments took place in leaps and bounds reflecting more on the political situation and the possibility for personal enrichment rather than any long term plan.
Founded in the decades around the turn of the first millennium Roskilde was a demonstration of th... more Founded in the decades around the turn of the first millennium Roskilde was a demonstration of the affiliation of the young Christian kingdom and the Christian world. The close relationship between the secular and the spiritual powers manifested itself in the presence of both the king’s court and the cathedral from the beginning of the 11th century. The king was the town lord, but at the end of the century the sovereign’s focus had changed. Instead the development of a clerical centre augmented a centre of almost unparalleled influence, magnitude and wealth in medieval Scandinavia. In spite of the importance of the town and its clerical institutions written sources sketching topographical conditions or giving detailed information on plot sizes and owners are scarce regarding the first 200 years.
Archaeological evidence suggests that from the beginning the town area was fairly large in a Danish context, but probably not densely built. In the 11th century the town contained a mint, at least five minor churches plus the cathedral, and during the following century a further nine churches and a convent were erected. In the mid 12th century some 70 hectares of the town was enclosed by a rampart, excluding the landing site and harbour area.
Aarhus, or Aros, as it was originally named, is the third oldest town in Denmark, nearly as old a... more Aarhus, or Aros, as it was originally named, is the third oldest town in Denmark, nearly as old as Ribe and Hedeby. It sprang up in the 770’s as a trading settlement on the northern bank of the river Århus Å, close to where the river flows into the Aarhus Bay. The original name of the town – Aros – reflects its location: it is Old Danish for «river mouth,» and the name thus means ‘the settlement by the river mouth.’ Aarhus differs from most other early Scandinavian towns in that the centre of the settlement has remained at the same place. In other words, the town has had the exact same location for 1200 years. The archaeological source material makes it possible to trace the oldest Aarhus as far back as to the late decades of the 8th century, whereas the written sources do not mention the town until 948. Until c. 934, Aarhus seems to have been surrounded merely by a town ditch that should be interpreted as a boundary between the town and the surrounding landscape rather than as a form of fortification. This changed around 934, when the town was surrounded by a circular rampart and a modest moat. Some time after 957, and probably before 986/987, the town fortification was strengthened considerably. Both before and after it was fortified, Aarhus benefited from a forward naval defence consisting of naval units stationed on the island Samsø and on the peninsula Helgenæs in Aarhus Bay. This advanced naval defence was necessary due to the exposed location of the town. The major part of the town lay within the circular rampart, but perhaps from as early as the mid-10th century, and certainly from the 11th century, an unfortified town quarter sprang up west of the rampart where the St. Nicolas Cathedral (now the abbey church of Our Lady (Vor Frue)) was erected. Finds of pit houses in the Studsgade area north of the rampart indicate that here, too, a suburb grew up outside the fortified town. During the 11th and 12th centuries, the settlement around the church of St. Nicolas grew, and just north of the rampart, by the sea, a new quarter sprang up before the 12th century around the church of St. Oluf. Around 1200, there were four churches in Aarhus (one inside the fortification and three outside the rampart). During the entire period treated here, the river functioned as the town’s harbour. 226 Hans Skov The structure of Viking Age Aarhus remained unaltered until the late 12th century, when the relocation of the cathedral from the unfortified western town district to the fortified quarter in the 1190s started a comprehensive restructuring of the entire street net in Aarhus. The present street system reflects the reconstruction of Aarhus during the 13th century, while only a few streets go further back in time.
During the 11th century, three towns were established in the border region between the three Nord... more During the 11th century, three towns were established in the border region between the three Nordic kingdoms, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Kungahälla is frequently mentioned in connection with events taking place by the river Göta Älv in the Norse Sagas. The earliest document to mention Kungahälla, is written around 1130. The oldest urban settlement was 241 Kungahälla, Lödöse och Skara – om urbanisering i ett tidigmedeltida gränsland probably a royal demesne. A citadel and a church built by Sigurd Jorsalafar also belong to this period. In the mid-1130s, new construction work took place, dated to 1138–39. During the latter part of the twelfth century buildings changed, and finds of ceramics indicate widespread international contacts, primarily around the North Sea. Furthermore animal bones reveal both organized deep-sea fishing and extensive use of oxen. Around 1200 the settlement was restructured. The castle of Ragnhildsholmen was built, and both a Franciscan and an Augustinian monastery were established in the late twelfth century. A large number of unused coins may indicate local coinage. By the mid-thirteenth century, the town as an institution was a reality. The oldest written evidence of Lödöse has been dated to 1151–52, and the name Leodu(s) is found on coins from the same period. Lödöse is situated on the east side of the Göta River. The earliest urban settlement is dated just before 1100, probably a royal demesne. In the early twelfth century there was a marked quantity of buildings of sturdy, well-grown oak, the buildings were of standard form and size. Extensive and varied handicrafts have been recorded, and the ceramics suggest extensive consumption and many contacts along the North Sea Coast. In the early thirteenth century the sites were rearranged. The castle was built within a system of multiple moats. Minting has been documented since the middle of the 12th century until around 1300. Adam of Bremen refers to Skara as the centre of religious activity, with the first diocese in what later became Sweden. The earliest urban building was probably contemporary with the earliest church, dating to the mid-eleventh century. Today we also know that there are some remains from an earlier settlement dated by C14 to about 700–900 AD. Around 1100 secular buildings expanded and there are also traces of activities principally connected with religious buildings, for example the cathedral crypt. During the second half of the twelfth century the development of the urban sites continued but by the beginning of the thirteenth century there are signs of stagnation. Still the church of St Peter and a Franciscan and a Dominican monastery were established. But the activities generally declined during the latter part of the thirteenth century. This is probably due to the fact that activities associated with the church’s sphere of power were no longer needed to the same extent as earlier.
From an archaeological point of view urbanization may be summarized as a process creating urbanit... more From an archaeological point of view urbanization may be summarized as a process creating urbanity and urbanism. The way people comprehended and organized the landscape changed during the late Iron Age, which in turn created conditions for a landscape inherent with urbanity. Towns are often explained as a deliberate aim, or as the outcome of one-way power relationships. In our opinion, however, towns are the outcome of much broader processes, involving a wide range of agents with varying and changing objectives. These processes may be studied using a landscape and long-term perspective in combination with detailed analyses of individual towns, and several such studies may be combined to highlight the complexity and diversity of urbanization. To exemplify, we present four case-studies from Scania in southern Sweden, namely the towns and landscapes of Malmö, Trelleborg, Ystad, and Lund.
Linköping is situated in the middle of the old county of Östergötland in southern Sweden. The tow... more Linköping is situated in the middle of the old county of Östergötland in southern Sweden. The town is one of many Swedish towns originating in the 13th century. The historical monograph of Linköping, first published in 1946 (second edition 1976), tells a rather uncomplicated story about an old regional centre, slowly and gradually growing and finally recognized as an urban centre in 1287, indicated by the foundation of the Franciscan friary. 257 Biskopsstaden Linköping In my PhD-thesis Biskop och stad (Bishop and Town) I wanted to reconsider that story. The archaeological and historical source material can be interpreted as telling the tale of rather different historical periods, with quite big differences in the appearance of the town (plots, streets, monuments and institutional buildings). This indicates that the town was used by different historical actors or social groups, using the urban space for manifestations. Among different issues, I want to stress some of the new interpretations. Linköping was certainly an important ecclesiastical and supposedly an aristocratic or royal regional centre in the early middle ages. The town of Linköping was however not founded until the end of the 13th century as a part of the urban interests of the royal family of Folkungarna. The foundation of the friary seems to be an important part of the lay-out of the town-to-be, being one of three important ecclesiastical nodes in the coming town plan. Secondly, the townscape was profoundly altered during the second half of the 14th century, when about 20 residential plots were established around the cathedral, equipped with stone-buildings, and forming an ecclesiastical town quarter. In the article I try to look upon my previous text in a critical way, according to the issues discussed at the seminar. The importance of the archaeological source material is of course crucial for the interpretation, as none of the mentioned issues were ever observed previously. The different periods are very clearly visible in the archaeological archives. At the same time, the archaeological and the historical sources together form the foundation for further interpretations. I also want to stress that the interpretation of the archaeological sources may be overestimated. There are great problems in using the concept of archaeological phases or periods, as recently observed and discussed. At the same time, archaeologists have just started the important task of discerning and discussing the actors in urban history more thoroughly. Who took the initiatives, which social groups or individuals were the driving forces in the development? These questions must be discussed more seriously, in order to get away from simple and narrow-minded answers. Finally, the view of urban archaeologists and urban historians has been too narrowly focused on the town, studying urban history from the town-centre and outwards. Most scholars fail to analyse the town as a part of a cultural landscape; this is an important issue for future town research.
The foundation of the town of Lund has often been referred to as an obvious example of the early ... more The foundation of the town of Lund has often been referred to as an obvious example of the early kings’ effort to unite the Danish kingdom, and in close co-operation with the Christian mission. There is, however, the possibility that Lund emerged as an early Christian burial ground, presumably with a strong influence of local noblemen and the effort of the Catholic Church to christen Nordic souls. Only about three miles south of Lund, a settlement emerged in 100 BC on a hill that dominates the surrounding landscape. This settlement, known as Uppåkra, was to become the central place for the region until the foundation of Lund. A south–north thoroughfare passed Uppåkra and a ford before it reached a crossroads, leading to the sea westbound and the inlands eastbound. Close to the crossroad, the first clear indication of human activity is a Christian burial ground with burials dated from around 990 AD, perhaps one of the first churches in Scania. There are, however, lesser known early burials in coffins of hollowed oak, in the same area as the later St Laurentius Cathedral, perhaps suggesting another early stave church. The earliest dated houses in Lund are from around 1000 AD, and the first settlement is characterised by large farmsteads with longhouses. The structure of the first settlement has no similarity to Viking Age «towns» like Hedeby, Birka and Sigtuna. A runic monument in the near vicinity records the tale of Olof and Ottar, told by their brother Torgisl, son of Asgeir, Björn’s son. The founder of Lund is supposedly the Danish king Swein Forkbeard. In the discussion of the early Lund, the Kununglef, the king’s demesne for local levy, is considered to be of great importance in understanding the foundation of the settlement. There is, however, no clear understanding of the location of the king’s demesne in the earliest period, and there are still no traces of the early Danish minting, nor of workshops or individual artefacts. 273 Den tidiga medeltidens Lund – vems var egentligen staden? Knut the Powerful was perhaps the first king to locate regal power in the local context of the early urbanisation. The coins minted during his rule (1018–1035) are the first with the place-name «Lund» engraved. The first evidence of craftsmanship and workshops also emerged during this period. In the mid 11th century several wooden churches were erected, and Lund may have had as many as eleven wooden churches, along with the groundwork of the stone church of St Salvator/St Trinitas, before the end of the 1060s. Five of these early wooden churches have been archaeologically excavated. This early religious centre has been seen as King Svein Estridsen’s diocesan reform. The local elite was probably behind some of the churches, as a runic stone tells us: «Toke had the church built». The installation of Bishop Egino, connected to the German church of Bremen-Hamburg in the mid 1060s, meant that half a decade of English clerical dominance came to an end. Central places in the vicinity, such as Uppåkra and Dalby, were forever overshadowed by Lund, which became the capital of the Church in the kingdom of Denmark. In the year 1104 AD Lund became the archdiocese for the Nordic kingdoms, and intense activity started in order to establish stone churches, both as replacements of the wooden forebears and as new patrimonies. In the end Lund possessed 19 parish churches, along with several convents. During the 12th century craftsmanship and trade became increasingly important, the activities mainly taking place around the Market Square and in the main streets. The economic aspects of Lund could perhaps better be described in terms of consumption rather than production and prosperity. During the 14th and 15th centuries Lund declined and lost most of its financial power to nearby towns. At the end of the medieval period the dominance of the Church was still significant.
The title of the article: S’Villanorum de Malmøghae, refers to an inscription on a seal from a le... more The title of the article: S’Villanorum de Malmøghae, refers to an inscription on a seal from a letter written in the year of 1350, sent by the council of Malmö to their colleagues in Rostock. The motif depicts a Romanesque church flanked by the moon and a star, and the inscription states that the letter was sent on behalf of the burghers of Malmö. The seal reveals a message that Malmö should be recognised as a peaceful place inhabited by trustworthy people. The seal also forms a point of departure discussing the motley road toward medieval towns in general and the town of Malmö in particular. During the late Iron Age (500–1050 AD) non-agrarian resources were mainly scattered within three different environments. Aristocratic estates were the principal concentrations of administrative, military and economic functions (both agrarian and non agrarian production). There were some ideological (i.e. cultic) ceremonies tied to the governing and lifestyle of a magnate. Access to the estates was restricted to the family and invited persons. Ceremonial places, such as grave fields and thing-places, were the main arenas and holders of ideological 299 S’ Villanorvm de Malmøghae – Landskap, urbanitet, aktörer och Malmö and legal functions of fixed political entities, as legal acts and cult were closely interwoven. Thirdly, along the coastlines there were concentrations of non-agrarian economic functions, such as market places, places of production of prestige artefacts, together with facilities, in order to extract marine resources. Most of these places hosted temporary or seasonal activities on topographically demarcated positions for a widely defined hinterland and anonymous visitors and merchants. There seems to have been a firm spatial divide towards the agrarian settlements, which were situated in the inland. The first activities on the topographically well defined area that was to be the town of Malmö are diffuse and difficult to date and interpret. Most probably they refer to seasonal activities connected to extraction of marine resources, undertaken by locals, most probably living in the nearby agrarian settlement of Övre (eng: upper) Malmö, during the 11th and beginning of the 12th centuries. At the end of the 12th and the following 13th century a myriad of clay-dressed pits were constructed along the coastline, representing a practical way of handling fish catches, and symbolic demarcations of proper ways of dealing with the fish as trading goods. From the later part of the 13th century onwards, several of the well known features of a medieval town were constructed. A permanent settlement situated on successively added plots and blocks, paved streets, a new town church and maybe a castle, situated in a more defined spatial framework characterised the place. Those who lived in the town were artisans, landed nobility, and foreign merchants as well as representatives of the king and the church. Simultaneously with the development of Malmö as a town, a large proportion of the great aristocratic estates were dispersed into smaller agrarian units held by emancipated leaseholders, organised in villages. The forces behind the development were tension between farmers and the nobility, and a huge population growth. In this new landscape towns became central institutions to the maintenance of the rural economy. They were not only centres for smaller commodity production, supplying both peasants and lords with everyday artefacts, but also markets functioning as centres for the distribution of agrarian surplus. For the agrarian population, towns also served as a solution to problems concerning shortage of available land and dependence upon feudal lords. The changing activities in Malmö are interpreted as structured by both reflexive individual and collective actions and structural circumstances. The structural settings connected to the traditional rights of use in relation to the coastline, are seen as the principal starting point in dealing with non-agrarian economical functions. Gradually, when the marine resources became vital and desirable goods, some of the coast places became increasingly important for trading networks (the Hanseatic League), the nobility, and the king. It was, however, probably the change from seasonal activities to permanent settlement which challenged the symbolical ordering of the non-agrarian recourses. Settlements were connected to different sets of rules, not only tied together with trade and elaborated crafts production. Due to these circumstances the population could gain legal independence, since the places for non-agrarian activities still were enclaves in the landscape. At the same time, the king could exercise different kinds of dominion, both connected to him as the principal maintainer of law and order over a fixed population and according to the regal rights. But it is not only the symbolical meaning of the town seal that states that the inhabitants acted in order to be recognised as burghers and the place as a town. Even more important were the investments in the town’s appearance: i.e. well defined public and private spatial structures and architecture. The new huge gothic cathedral, erected in brick in the beginning of the 14th century, signalised that Malmö belonged to an exclusive group of Baltic coastal places.
The decades prior to and around year AD 1000 witnessed great changes in Scandinavian society with... more The decades prior to and around year AD 1000 witnessed great changes in Scandinavian society with the formation of Christian kingdoms. The establishment of new towns, often close to the older urban centres, is one of the more important elements in this process. Sigtuna, founded c. 980 AD, is one of these towns. Large-scale excavations in the past two decades have led to a decisive change in the way Sigtuna’s rise and function is looked upon. The archaeological material shows that the town was founded in one fell swoop. One reasonable interpretation is that king Erik Segersäll was behind, but other initiatives can also be considered. The original town plan was very simple. More than a hundred oblong 20–30 metre long plots were laid along both sides of the main street. In the centre of the town was a large site interpreted as the royal estate. An alternative interpretation of the earliest phases suggests that the original town plan only consisted of one row of plots along the sea shore. There is also a discussion whether the Danish king was the original founder of the town. Less than ten years later a new town plan with plots along both sides of a street was laid out, probably by the Swedish king. Whether following one or the other interpretation, the early town is understood as a royal stronghold, a centre of political power, from where the king could make alliances to petty kings and chieftains in the Lake Mälaren region. Rich gifts, such as gold armlets, were important signs of the friendship established between the king and these men. Even the town plots were gifts that bound the aristocrats to the town and the king. Sigtuna was also a fully Christian town from the start. Even the oldest burial sites lack pagan graves. In time, the effect of the Church on the town plan became so deep that we can speak in terms of a sacred townscape. Late Viking Age and Early Medieval Sigtuna obviously was a site that was leavened all through by cult, gold and royal power.
The large scale excavations that in recent years have been carried out in �� � � � Skänninge�, no... more The large scale excavations that in recent years have been carried out in �� � � � Skänninge�, north of the river Skenaån, have resulted in great new knowledge, among other things regarding the town’s older history. We knew that there were two churchyards in the 11th century and most probably also two churches, situated on each side of the river. A few features found near the churchyard belonging to the church of St Martin can stem from this period or possibly earlier. Early black earthenware has been found in several different areas in the town. This type of pottery dates from the late 10th to mid 13th century. At the recently excavated sites, a couple of hundred meters east of St Martin’s church, a settlement from late Viking Age and early Middle Ages was discovered. The settlement included both pit-houses, a feature not known earlier from this part of the country, as well as buildings constructed with roof supporting wall posts. Besides constructions like ovens and wells there were also traces of different kinds of crafts and trade. Bronze-casting, soldering and forging but also some type of silver work had been carried out. Apart from the specialized crafts, people have devoted themselves to agriculture and extensive stock-farming. The settlement has been interpreted as part of a manor, with the main house supposedly situated on the ridge nearby the church. During the early Middle Ages the area was structured with several different systems of ditches and the settlement became denser, although still spread out. The settlement covered roughly 50 000 m2, which has no parallel in the province of Östergötland. The whole area north of the river was probably part of a donation for the establishment of the Dominican convent St Martin, later called St Ingrid. The convent was founded in the 1270s 357 Skänninge under vikingatid och tidig medeltid and with that the settlement was abandoned and the whole area was converted into arable fields. An older settlement on the south side of the river Skenaån, by Allhelgonakyrkan (church of All Hallows’), is not known. There was most probably a manor south of the river, perhaps not as old as the northern one, but at least from the 11th century. During the 13th century several institutions were founded, probably coinciding with the establishment of a more urban settlement. The medieval picture with an aristocratic land ownership in Skänninge can most likely be traced back to the manor or manors that were established here during the Viking Age. In any case, the early Christian grave monuments made of limestone are evidence that in the 11th century Skänninge was populated by people from
The article gives a review of present-day urban archaeology in the city of Turku (Sw. Åbo). There... more The article gives a review of present-day urban archaeology in the city of Turku (Sw. Åbo). There are no ancient towns of the Iron Age in Finland, but seasonally used trading sites are known, such as Kyrkosundet at Hiittinen. As the oldest town, Turku emerged by the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. Towns are thus a late phenomenon in Finland, as the country lacked an organizational body, i.e. royal authority as in the other Nordic countries. Extensive archaeological excavations have been carried out in Turku since the 1990s and the initial and preliminary results are presented in this article. There is no evidence for the previously suggested model that Turku evolved from a colony of German traders presumably around the mid-13th century and established around Turku Cathedral. Recent results are more in correspondence with the hypothesis proposed by Markus Hiekkanen, indicating that the town of Turku was planned and founded in the late 13th century and that the king of Sweden, the local bishop and chapter and the Dominican order initiated these plans. According to available information, Turku was founded at the very end of the 13th century. The recent excavations have, however, revealed plough marks at the bottom of the excavated area. It has been suggested that they represent rural settlement preceding the town, but the possibility of ritual ploughing should perhaps also be taken into account. The analysis of the immense body of finds has only just begun. This material will provide new answers to questions on changes or preservation of the conditions and core factors of community life as the town of Turku became a new structure in the late 13th century for its recently Christianized regional community. The present study also addresses the question of how the urban form of life changed and specialised and how trade and the exchange of goods developed through the Middle Ages. In addition, the new finds also open up for research on medieval material and architectural culture, which is still poorly known in Finland.
This article presents the history of town archaeology in the town of Viipuri during the years of ... more This article presents the history of town archaeology in the town of Viipuri during the years of Finnish and Soviet/Russian rule. Archaeological excavation and the systematic supervision of municipal works were considerably activated during the second half of the 1990s. Despite this, the number of archaeological excavations is not particularly large, nor sufficient for tenable conclusions. The analysis of the large bodies of excavated materials still remains to be completed. Viipuri Castle was founded in 1293 to safeguard the eastward expansion of Sweden. On the shore opposite the castle a community emerged which gained its first known town privileges in 1403. Written sources on this period are scant. The lowermost layers of two excavation layers can be dated to the late 13th and early 14th century, i.e. predating the town privileges. In other respects, layers of typical urban character date from the first half of the 15th century. The sharply uneven topography of the town may be one reason for its «patchy» settlement. The steep slopes were levelled and apparently settled only at a later date. Factors of defensive strategy, including the town wall, could have influenced the urban fabric and its evolution.
Wider Das Finstere Mittelalter Festschrift Fur Werner Meyer Zum 65 Geburtstag Schweizer Beitrage Zur Kulturgeschichte Und Archaologie Des Mittelalters Band 29, 2002
Kungahalla Problem Och Forskning Kring Stadens Aldsta Historia Skrifter Utgivna Av Bohuslans Museum Och Bohuslans Hembygdsforbund Nr 70 Lund Studies in Medieval Archaeology Nr 28, 2002
ron played a crucial role for the formation of the Swed- ish medieval state. It was of such signi... more ron played a crucial role for the formation of the Swed- ish medieval state. It was of such significance that kings and other authorities strove to gain and preserve their control over iron production. Those who controlled the iron production governed the state. In Sweden, as in other parts of Europe, the 12th and 13th centuries were important for the development of state formation. Iron was a commodity that was necessary for progress in many fields. Urbanisation was a part of these social changes. Iron has been produced in many parts of Swe- den since prehistoric times both in bloomery furnaces and from the 12th century in the blast furnaces. In the paper it is discussed which role the towns played in the iron-making process. With some examples we can see that some towns were engaged in secondary smithing of bloomery iron. Other towns were a part of the internal and external commerce of iron.
The basic conditions for research concerning Uppsala’s medieval history are rather favourable con... more The basic conditions for research concerning Uppsala’s medieval history are rather favourable concerning written sources, historical maps and archaeology – at least regarding the latter half of the period. Hundreds of archaeological observations are recorded and dozens of them derive from large scale excavations. In this paper I argue that the defining urbanisation of Uppsala took place, not during the 13th century, but in the late 12th century, and that it had more to do with a new need for alliances and a need for a different meeting place, than with logistical preferences and a «natural development». King Knut Eriksson appears as the foresighted player, who realised the need for a new setting for national and international net-working – instead of the politically and religiously charged sites of Old Uppsala and Sigtuna. Nevertheless he used the common strategy of choosing a nearby site, in order to allude to 373 Uppsalas första två hundra år. När var det – och hur gick det till? his predecessors’ rights. I suggest that the traditional elite, with an archaic connection to Old Uppsala, lost influence to somewhat different groups with interests in for example the metal production. The following period, c. 1200–1400, saw a consolidating and expansive process, during which groups of private citizens, corporations and the civic authorities became increasingly visible. Above all I would like to emphasize the importance of considering the role of corporations and interaction in the building of the medieval town.
There is archaeological evidence for activity in the vicinity of Sct. Peder Stræde prior to 1000 ... more There is archaeological evidence for activity in the vicinity of Sct. Peder Stræde prior to 1000 A.D. The activities are best seen in the light of the thing meetings and possible ceremonies of royal homage. But the question of how far back these activities may go remains unanswered. From 1018 King Knut the Powerful must have been responsible for the new settlement by the northern shores of Lake Søndersø. As no thing meetings or other assemblies were held here, only a small number of men would have been necessary, perhaps a kings bailiff and family with a small group of labourers and craftsmen on site. The products and raw-materials of the craftspeople belonged to the king or local magnates. The buyers or recipients of these craft-products would largely have been part of the king’s retinue – members of his hird, workers, slaves etc. and their families.
The conscious town planning from 1050 AD was more than likely a result of royal initiative, but large groups of slaves, workmen and craftspeople were now permanently living in the area.
The church was present in the area from at least 1018 AD if not before and with the foundation of the bishopric around 1065 AD the growing numbers of church men from the cathedral or parish churches must have left their mark on the town. The exact extent of the church’s influence on the daily life and development of the town remains an open question, but the fact that the church at an early stage acquired such large areas of the town for church sites and graveyards must correlate with either very close ties with the ruling classes or a marked influence of its own.
In relation to the questions of initiatives coming from above and down or vice versa the early activities in Viborg clearly came from above with the king, local magnates and the church. I have a general difficulty in seeing how any of the lower classes could gain the freedom to take any initiative. They lived a life that was controlled and bound from those above them, who owned all the means of production and the finished products they produced.
The fact that the most important catalysts of Viborg’s first 150 years were some of the most powerful people of the kingdom led to a somewhat uneven development. Historical developments took place in leaps and bounds reflecting more on the political situation and the possibility for personal enrichment rather than any long term plan.
Founded in the decades around the turn of the first millennium Roskilde was a demonstration of th... more Founded in the decades around the turn of the first millennium Roskilde was a demonstration of the affiliation of the young Christian kingdom and the Christian world. The close relationship between the secular and the spiritual powers manifested itself in the presence of both the king’s court and the cathedral from the beginning of the 11th century. The king was the town lord, but at the end of the century the sovereign’s focus had changed. Instead the development of a clerical centre augmented a centre of almost unparalleled influence, magnitude and wealth in medieval Scandinavia. In spite of the importance of the town and its clerical institutions written sources sketching topographical conditions or giving detailed information on plot sizes and owners are scarce regarding the first 200 years.
Archaeological evidence suggests that from the beginning the town area was fairly large in a Danish context, but probably not densely built. In the 11th century the town contained a mint, at least five minor churches plus the cathedral, and during the following century a further nine churches and a convent were erected. In the mid 12th century some 70 hectares of the town was enclosed by a rampart, excluding the landing site and harbour area.
Aarhus, or Aros, as it was originally named, is the third oldest town in Denmark, nearly as old a... more Aarhus, or Aros, as it was originally named, is the third oldest town in Denmark, nearly as old as Ribe and Hedeby. It sprang up in the 770’s as a trading settlement on the northern bank of the river Århus Å, close to where the river flows into the Aarhus Bay. The original name of the town – Aros – reflects its location: it is Old Danish for «river mouth,» and the name thus means ‘the settlement by the river mouth.’ Aarhus differs from most other early Scandinavian towns in that the centre of the settlement has remained at the same place. In other words, the town has had the exact same location for 1200 years. The archaeological source material makes it possible to trace the oldest Aarhus as far back as to the late decades of the 8th century, whereas the written sources do not mention the town until 948. Until c. 934, Aarhus seems to have been surrounded merely by a town ditch that should be interpreted as a boundary between the town and the surrounding landscape rather than as a form of fortification. This changed around 934, when the town was surrounded by a circular rampart and a modest moat. Some time after 957, and probably before 986/987, the town fortification was strengthened considerably. Both before and after it was fortified, Aarhus benefited from a forward naval defence consisting of naval units stationed on the island Samsø and on the peninsula Helgenæs in Aarhus Bay. This advanced naval defence was necessary due to the exposed location of the town. The major part of the town lay within the circular rampart, but perhaps from as early as the mid-10th century, and certainly from the 11th century, an unfortified town quarter sprang up west of the rampart where the St. Nicolas Cathedral (now the abbey church of Our Lady (Vor Frue)) was erected. Finds of pit houses in the Studsgade area north of the rampart indicate that here, too, a suburb grew up outside the fortified town. During the 11th and 12th centuries, the settlement around the church of St. Nicolas grew, and just north of the rampart, by the sea, a new quarter sprang up before the 12th century around the church of St. Oluf. Around 1200, there were four churches in Aarhus (one inside the fortification and three outside the rampart). During the entire period treated here, the river functioned as the town’s harbour. 226 Hans Skov The structure of Viking Age Aarhus remained unaltered until the late 12th century, when the relocation of the cathedral from the unfortified western town district to the fortified quarter in the 1190s started a comprehensive restructuring of the entire street net in Aarhus. The present street system reflects the reconstruction of Aarhus during the 13th century, while only a few streets go further back in time.
During the 11th century, three towns were established in the border region between the three Nord... more During the 11th century, three towns were established in the border region between the three Nordic kingdoms, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Kungahälla is frequently mentioned in connection with events taking place by the river Göta Älv in the Norse Sagas. The earliest document to mention Kungahälla, is written around 1130. The oldest urban settlement was 241 Kungahälla, Lödöse och Skara – om urbanisering i ett tidigmedeltida gränsland probably a royal demesne. A citadel and a church built by Sigurd Jorsalafar also belong to this period. In the mid-1130s, new construction work took place, dated to 1138–39. During the latter part of the twelfth century buildings changed, and finds of ceramics indicate widespread international contacts, primarily around the North Sea. Furthermore animal bones reveal both organized deep-sea fishing and extensive use of oxen. Around 1200 the settlement was restructured. The castle of Ragnhildsholmen was built, and both a Franciscan and an Augustinian monastery were established in the late twelfth century. A large number of unused coins may indicate local coinage. By the mid-thirteenth century, the town as an institution was a reality. The oldest written evidence of Lödöse has been dated to 1151–52, and the name Leodu(s) is found on coins from the same period. Lödöse is situated on the east side of the Göta River. The earliest urban settlement is dated just before 1100, probably a royal demesne. In the early twelfth century there was a marked quantity of buildings of sturdy, well-grown oak, the buildings were of standard form and size. Extensive and varied handicrafts have been recorded, and the ceramics suggest extensive consumption and many contacts along the North Sea Coast. In the early thirteenth century the sites were rearranged. The castle was built within a system of multiple moats. Minting has been documented since the middle of the 12th century until around 1300. Adam of Bremen refers to Skara as the centre of religious activity, with the first diocese in what later became Sweden. The earliest urban building was probably contemporary with the earliest church, dating to the mid-eleventh century. Today we also know that there are some remains from an earlier settlement dated by C14 to about 700–900 AD. Around 1100 secular buildings expanded and there are also traces of activities principally connected with religious buildings, for example the cathedral crypt. During the second half of the twelfth century the development of the urban sites continued but by the beginning of the thirteenth century there are signs of stagnation. Still the church of St Peter and a Franciscan and a Dominican monastery were established. But the activities generally declined during the latter part of the thirteenth century. This is probably due to the fact that activities associated with the church’s sphere of power were no longer needed to the same extent as earlier.
From an archaeological point of view urbanization may be summarized as a process creating urbanit... more From an archaeological point of view urbanization may be summarized as a process creating urbanity and urbanism. The way people comprehended and organized the landscape changed during the late Iron Age, which in turn created conditions for a landscape inherent with urbanity. Towns are often explained as a deliberate aim, or as the outcome of one-way power relationships. In our opinion, however, towns are the outcome of much broader processes, involving a wide range of agents with varying and changing objectives. These processes may be studied using a landscape and long-term perspective in combination with detailed analyses of individual towns, and several such studies may be combined to highlight the complexity and diversity of urbanization. To exemplify, we present four case-studies from Scania in southern Sweden, namely the towns and landscapes of Malmö, Trelleborg, Ystad, and Lund.
Linköping is situated in the middle of the old county of Östergötland in southern Sweden. The tow... more Linköping is situated in the middle of the old county of Östergötland in southern Sweden. The town is one of many Swedish towns originating in the 13th century. The historical monograph of Linköping, first published in 1946 (second edition 1976), tells a rather uncomplicated story about an old regional centre, slowly and gradually growing and finally recognized as an urban centre in 1287, indicated by the foundation of the Franciscan friary. 257 Biskopsstaden Linköping In my PhD-thesis Biskop och stad (Bishop and Town) I wanted to reconsider that story. The archaeological and historical source material can be interpreted as telling the tale of rather different historical periods, with quite big differences in the appearance of the town (plots, streets, monuments and institutional buildings). This indicates that the town was used by different historical actors or social groups, using the urban space for manifestations. Among different issues, I want to stress some of the new interpretations. Linköping was certainly an important ecclesiastical and supposedly an aristocratic or royal regional centre in the early middle ages. The town of Linköping was however not founded until the end of the 13th century as a part of the urban interests of the royal family of Folkungarna. The foundation of the friary seems to be an important part of the lay-out of the town-to-be, being one of three important ecclesiastical nodes in the coming town plan. Secondly, the townscape was profoundly altered during the second half of the 14th century, when about 20 residential plots were established around the cathedral, equipped with stone-buildings, and forming an ecclesiastical town quarter. In the article I try to look upon my previous text in a critical way, according to the issues discussed at the seminar. The importance of the archaeological source material is of course crucial for the interpretation, as none of the mentioned issues were ever observed previously. The different periods are very clearly visible in the archaeological archives. At the same time, the archaeological and the historical sources together form the foundation for further interpretations. I also want to stress that the interpretation of the archaeological sources may be overestimated. There are great problems in using the concept of archaeological phases or periods, as recently observed and discussed. At the same time, archaeologists have just started the important task of discerning and discussing the actors in urban history more thoroughly. Who took the initiatives, which social groups or individuals were the driving forces in the development? These questions must be discussed more seriously, in order to get away from simple and narrow-minded answers. Finally, the view of urban archaeologists and urban historians has been too narrowly focused on the town, studying urban history from the town-centre and outwards. Most scholars fail to analyse the town as a part of a cultural landscape; this is an important issue for future town research.
The foundation of the town of Lund has often been referred to as an obvious example of the early ... more The foundation of the town of Lund has often been referred to as an obvious example of the early kings’ effort to unite the Danish kingdom, and in close co-operation with the Christian mission. There is, however, the possibility that Lund emerged as an early Christian burial ground, presumably with a strong influence of local noblemen and the effort of the Catholic Church to christen Nordic souls. Only about three miles south of Lund, a settlement emerged in 100 BC on a hill that dominates the surrounding landscape. This settlement, known as Uppåkra, was to become the central place for the region until the foundation of Lund. A south–north thoroughfare passed Uppåkra and a ford before it reached a crossroads, leading to the sea westbound and the inlands eastbound. Close to the crossroad, the first clear indication of human activity is a Christian burial ground with burials dated from around 990 AD, perhaps one of the first churches in Scania. There are, however, lesser known early burials in coffins of hollowed oak, in the same area as the later St Laurentius Cathedral, perhaps suggesting another early stave church. The earliest dated houses in Lund are from around 1000 AD, and the first settlement is characterised by large farmsteads with longhouses. The structure of the first settlement has no similarity to Viking Age «towns» like Hedeby, Birka and Sigtuna. A runic monument in the near vicinity records the tale of Olof and Ottar, told by their brother Torgisl, son of Asgeir, Björn’s son. The founder of Lund is supposedly the Danish king Swein Forkbeard. In the discussion of the early Lund, the Kununglef, the king’s demesne for local levy, is considered to be of great importance in understanding the foundation of the settlement. There is, however, no clear understanding of the location of the king’s demesne in the earliest period, and there are still no traces of the early Danish minting, nor of workshops or individual artefacts. 273 Den tidiga medeltidens Lund – vems var egentligen staden? Knut the Powerful was perhaps the first king to locate regal power in the local context of the early urbanisation. The coins minted during his rule (1018–1035) are the first with the place-name «Lund» engraved. The first evidence of craftsmanship and workshops also emerged during this period. In the mid 11th century several wooden churches were erected, and Lund may have had as many as eleven wooden churches, along with the groundwork of the stone church of St Salvator/St Trinitas, before the end of the 1060s. Five of these early wooden churches have been archaeologically excavated. This early religious centre has been seen as King Svein Estridsen’s diocesan reform. The local elite was probably behind some of the churches, as a runic stone tells us: «Toke had the church built». The installation of Bishop Egino, connected to the German church of Bremen-Hamburg in the mid 1060s, meant that half a decade of English clerical dominance came to an end. Central places in the vicinity, such as Uppåkra and Dalby, were forever overshadowed by Lund, which became the capital of the Church in the kingdom of Denmark. In the year 1104 AD Lund became the archdiocese for the Nordic kingdoms, and intense activity started in order to establish stone churches, both as replacements of the wooden forebears and as new patrimonies. In the end Lund possessed 19 parish churches, along with several convents. During the 12th century craftsmanship and trade became increasingly important, the activities mainly taking place around the Market Square and in the main streets. The economic aspects of Lund could perhaps better be described in terms of consumption rather than production and prosperity. During the 14th and 15th centuries Lund declined and lost most of its financial power to nearby towns. At the end of the medieval period the dominance of the Church was still significant.
The title of the article: S’Villanorum de Malmøghae, refers to an inscription on a seal from a le... more The title of the article: S’Villanorum de Malmøghae, refers to an inscription on a seal from a letter written in the year of 1350, sent by the council of Malmö to their colleagues in Rostock. The motif depicts a Romanesque church flanked by the moon and a star, and the inscription states that the letter was sent on behalf of the burghers of Malmö. The seal reveals a message that Malmö should be recognised as a peaceful place inhabited by trustworthy people. The seal also forms a point of departure discussing the motley road toward medieval towns in general and the town of Malmö in particular. During the late Iron Age (500–1050 AD) non-agrarian resources were mainly scattered within three different environments. Aristocratic estates were the principal concentrations of administrative, military and economic functions (both agrarian and non agrarian production). There were some ideological (i.e. cultic) ceremonies tied to the governing and lifestyle of a magnate. Access to the estates was restricted to the family and invited persons. Ceremonial places, such as grave fields and thing-places, were the main arenas and holders of ideological 299 S’ Villanorvm de Malmøghae – Landskap, urbanitet, aktörer och Malmö and legal functions of fixed political entities, as legal acts and cult were closely interwoven. Thirdly, along the coastlines there were concentrations of non-agrarian economic functions, such as market places, places of production of prestige artefacts, together with facilities, in order to extract marine resources. Most of these places hosted temporary or seasonal activities on topographically demarcated positions for a widely defined hinterland and anonymous visitors and merchants. There seems to have been a firm spatial divide towards the agrarian settlements, which were situated in the inland. The first activities on the topographically well defined area that was to be the town of Malmö are diffuse and difficult to date and interpret. Most probably they refer to seasonal activities connected to extraction of marine resources, undertaken by locals, most probably living in the nearby agrarian settlement of Övre (eng: upper) Malmö, during the 11th and beginning of the 12th centuries. At the end of the 12th and the following 13th century a myriad of clay-dressed pits were constructed along the coastline, representing a practical way of handling fish catches, and symbolic demarcations of proper ways of dealing with the fish as trading goods. From the later part of the 13th century onwards, several of the well known features of a medieval town were constructed. A permanent settlement situated on successively added plots and blocks, paved streets, a new town church and maybe a castle, situated in a more defined spatial framework characterised the place. Those who lived in the town were artisans, landed nobility, and foreign merchants as well as representatives of the king and the church. Simultaneously with the development of Malmö as a town, a large proportion of the great aristocratic estates were dispersed into smaller agrarian units held by emancipated leaseholders, organised in villages. The forces behind the development were tension between farmers and the nobility, and a huge population growth. In this new landscape towns became central institutions to the maintenance of the rural economy. They were not only centres for smaller commodity production, supplying both peasants and lords with everyday artefacts, but also markets functioning as centres for the distribution of agrarian surplus. For the agrarian population, towns also served as a solution to problems concerning shortage of available land and dependence upon feudal lords. The changing activities in Malmö are interpreted as structured by both reflexive individual and collective actions and structural circumstances. The structural settings connected to the traditional rights of use in relation to the coastline, are seen as the principal starting point in dealing with non-agrarian economical functions. Gradually, when the marine resources became vital and desirable goods, some of the coast places became increasingly important for trading networks (the Hanseatic League), the nobility, and the king. It was, however, probably the change from seasonal activities to permanent settlement which challenged the symbolical ordering of the non-agrarian recourses. Settlements were connected to different sets of rules, not only tied together with trade and elaborated crafts production. Due to these circumstances the population could gain legal independence, since the places for non-agrarian activities still were enclaves in the landscape. At the same time, the king could exercise different kinds of dominion, both connected to him as the principal maintainer of law and order over a fixed population and according to the regal rights. But it is not only the symbolical meaning of the town seal that states that the inhabitants acted in order to be recognised as burghers and the place as a town. Even more important were the investments in the town’s appearance: i.e. well defined public and private spatial structures and architecture. The new huge gothic cathedral, erected in brick in the beginning of the 14th century, signalised that Malmö belonged to an exclusive group of Baltic coastal places.
The decades prior to and around year AD 1000 witnessed great changes in Scandinavian society with... more The decades prior to and around year AD 1000 witnessed great changes in Scandinavian society with the formation of Christian kingdoms. The establishment of new towns, often close to the older urban centres, is one of the more important elements in this process. Sigtuna, founded c. 980 AD, is one of these towns. Large-scale excavations in the past two decades have led to a decisive change in the way Sigtuna’s rise and function is looked upon. The archaeological material shows that the town was founded in one fell swoop. One reasonable interpretation is that king Erik Segersäll was behind, but other initiatives can also be considered. The original town plan was very simple. More than a hundred oblong 20–30 metre long plots were laid along both sides of the main street. In the centre of the town was a large site interpreted as the royal estate. An alternative interpretation of the earliest phases suggests that the original town plan only consisted of one row of plots along the sea shore. There is also a discussion whether the Danish king was the original founder of the town. Less than ten years later a new town plan with plots along both sides of a street was laid out, probably by the Swedish king. Whether following one or the other interpretation, the early town is understood as a royal stronghold, a centre of political power, from where the king could make alliances to petty kings and chieftains in the Lake Mälaren region. Rich gifts, such as gold armlets, were important signs of the friendship established between the king and these men. Even the town plots were gifts that bound the aristocrats to the town and the king. Sigtuna was also a fully Christian town from the start. Even the oldest burial sites lack pagan graves. In time, the effect of the Church on the town plan became so deep that we can speak in terms of a sacred townscape. Late Viking Age and Early Medieval Sigtuna obviously was a site that was leavened all through by cult, gold and royal power.
The large scale excavations that in recent years have been carried out in �� � � � Skänninge�, no... more The large scale excavations that in recent years have been carried out in �� � � � Skänninge�, north of the river Skenaån, have resulted in great new knowledge, among other things regarding the town’s older history. We knew that there were two churchyards in the 11th century and most probably also two churches, situated on each side of the river. A few features found near the churchyard belonging to the church of St Martin can stem from this period or possibly earlier. Early black earthenware has been found in several different areas in the town. This type of pottery dates from the late 10th to mid 13th century. At the recently excavated sites, a couple of hundred meters east of St Martin’s church, a settlement from late Viking Age and early Middle Ages was discovered. The settlement included both pit-houses, a feature not known earlier from this part of the country, as well as buildings constructed with roof supporting wall posts. Besides constructions like ovens and wells there were also traces of different kinds of crafts and trade. Bronze-casting, soldering and forging but also some type of silver work had been carried out. Apart from the specialized crafts, people have devoted themselves to agriculture and extensive stock-farming. The settlement has been interpreted as part of a manor, with the main house supposedly situated on the ridge nearby the church. During the early Middle Ages the area was structured with several different systems of ditches and the settlement became denser, although still spread out. The settlement covered roughly 50 000 m2, which has no parallel in the province of Östergötland. The whole area north of the river was probably part of a donation for the establishment of the Dominican convent St Martin, later called St Ingrid. The convent was founded in the 1270s 357 Skänninge under vikingatid och tidig medeltid and with that the settlement was abandoned and the whole area was converted into arable fields. An older settlement on the south side of the river Skenaån, by Allhelgonakyrkan (church of All Hallows’), is not known. There was most probably a manor south of the river, perhaps not as old as the northern one, but at least from the 11th century. During the 13th century several institutions were founded, probably coinciding with the establishment of a more urban settlement. The medieval picture with an aristocratic land ownership in Skänninge can most likely be traced back to the manor or manors that were established here during the Viking Age. In any case, the early Christian grave monuments made of limestone are evidence that in the 11th century Skänninge was populated by people from
The article gives a review of present-day urban archaeology in the city of Turku (Sw. Åbo). There... more The article gives a review of present-day urban archaeology in the city of Turku (Sw. Åbo). There are no ancient towns of the Iron Age in Finland, but seasonally used trading sites are known, such as Kyrkosundet at Hiittinen. As the oldest town, Turku emerged by the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. Towns are thus a late phenomenon in Finland, as the country lacked an organizational body, i.e. royal authority as in the other Nordic countries. Extensive archaeological excavations have been carried out in Turku since the 1990s and the initial and preliminary results are presented in this article. There is no evidence for the previously suggested model that Turku evolved from a colony of German traders presumably around the mid-13th century and established around Turku Cathedral. Recent results are more in correspondence with the hypothesis proposed by Markus Hiekkanen, indicating that the town of Turku was planned and founded in the late 13th century and that the king of Sweden, the local bishop and chapter and the Dominican order initiated these plans. According to available information, Turku was founded at the very end of the 13th century. The recent excavations have, however, revealed plough marks at the bottom of the excavated area. It has been suggested that they represent rural settlement preceding the town, but the possibility of ritual ploughing should perhaps also be taken into account. The analysis of the immense body of finds has only just begun. This material will provide new answers to questions on changes or preservation of the conditions and core factors of community life as the town of Turku became a new structure in the late 13th century for its recently Christianized regional community. The present study also addresses the question of how the urban form of life changed and specialised and how trade and the exchange of goods developed through the Middle Ages. In addition, the new finds also open up for research on medieval material and architectural culture, which is still poorly known in Finland.
This article presents the history of town archaeology in the town of Viipuri during the years of ... more This article presents the history of town archaeology in the town of Viipuri during the years of Finnish and Soviet/Russian rule. Archaeological excavation and the systematic supervision of municipal works were considerably activated during the second half of the 1990s. Despite this, the number of archaeological excavations is not particularly large, nor sufficient for tenable conclusions. The analysis of the large bodies of excavated materials still remains to be completed. Viipuri Castle was founded in 1293 to safeguard the eastward expansion of Sweden. On the shore opposite the castle a community emerged which gained its first known town privileges in 1403. Written sources on this period are scant. The lowermost layers of two excavation layers can be dated to the late 13th and early 14th century, i.e. predating the town privileges. In other respects, layers of typical urban character date from the first half of the 15th century. The sharply uneven topography of the town may be one reason for its «patchy» settlement. The steep slopes were levelled and apparently settled only at a later date. Factors of defensive strategy, including the town wall, could have influenced the urban fabric and its evolution.
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Papers by Hans Andersson
373
Uppsalas första två hundra år. När var det – och hur gick det till?
his predecessors’ rights. I suggest that the traditional elite, with an archaic connection to Old Uppsala, lost influence to somewhat different groups with interests in for example the metal production. The following period, c. 1200–1400, saw a consolidating and expansive process, during which groups of private citizens, corporations and the civic authorities became increasingly visible. Above all I would like to emphasize the importance of considering the role of corporations and interaction in the building of the medieval town.
The conscious town planning from 1050 AD was more than likely a result of royal initiative, but large groups of slaves, workmen and craftspeople were now permanently living in the area.
The church was present in the area from at least 1018 AD if not before and with the foundation of the bishopric around 1065 AD the growing numbers of church men from the cathedral or parish churches must have left their mark on the town. The exact extent of the church’s influence on the daily life and development of the town remains an open question, but the fact that the church at an early stage acquired such large areas of the town for church sites and graveyards must correlate with either very close ties with the ruling classes or a marked influence of its own.
In relation to the questions of initiatives coming from above and down or vice versa the early activities in Viborg clearly came from above with the king, local magnates and the church. I have a general difficulty in seeing how any of the lower classes could gain the freedom to take any initiative. They lived a life that was controlled and bound from those above them, who owned all the means of production and the finished products they produced.
The fact that the most important catalysts of Viborg’s first 150 years were some of the most powerful people of the kingdom led to a somewhat uneven development. Historical developments took place in leaps and bounds reflecting more on the political situation and the possibility for personal enrichment rather than any long term plan.
Archaeological evidence suggests that from the beginning the town area was fairly large in a Danish context, but probably not densely built. In the 11th century the town contained a mint, at least five minor churches plus the cathedral, and during the following century a further nine churches and a convent were erected. In the mid 12th century some 70 hectares of the town was enclosed by a rampart, excluding the landing site and harbour area.
Until c. 934, Aarhus seems to have been surrounded merely by a town ditch that should be interpreted as a boundary between the town and the surrounding landscape rather than as a form of fortification. This changed around 934, when the town was surrounded by a circular rampart and a modest moat. Some time after 957, and probably before 986/987, the town fortification was strengthened considerably. Both before and after it was fortified, Aarhus benefited from a forward naval defence consisting of naval units stationed on the island Samsø and on the peninsula Helgenæs in Aarhus Bay. This advanced naval defence was necessary due to the exposed location of the town. The major part of the town lay within the circular rampart, but perhaps from as early as the mid-10th century, and certainly from the 11th century, an unfortified town quarter sprang up west of the rampart where the St. Nicolas Cathedral (now the abbey church of Our Lady (Vor Frue)) was erected. Finds of pit houses in the Studsgade area north of the rampart indicate that here, too, a suburb grew up outside the fortified town.
During the 11th and 12th centuries, the settlement around the church of St. Nicolas grew, and just north of the rampart, by the sea, a new quarter sprang up before the 12th century around the church of St. Oluf. Around 1200, there were four churches in Aarhus (one inside the fortification and three outside the rampart). During the entire period treated here, the river functioned as the town’s harbour.
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Hans Skov
The structure of Viking Age Aarhus remained unaltered until the late 12th century, when the relocation of the cathedral from the unfortified western town district to the fortified quarter in the 1190s started a comprehensive restructuring of the entire street net in Aarhus. The present street system reflects the reconstruction of Aarhus during the 13th century, while only a few streets go further back in time.
241
Kungahälla, Lödöse och Skara – om urbanisering i ett tidigmedeltida gränsland
probably a royal demesne. A citadel and a church built by Sigurd Jorsalafar also belong to this period. In the mid-1130s, new construction work took place, dated to 1138–39. During the latter part of the twelfth century buildings changed, and finds of ceramics indicate widespread international contacts, primarily around the North Sea. Furthermore animal bones reveal both organized deep-sea fishing and extensive use of oxen. Around 1200 the settlement was restructured. The castle of Ragnhildsholmen was built, and both a Franciscan and an Augustinian monastery were established in the late twelfth century. A large number of unused coins may indicate local coinage. By the mid-thirteenth century, the town as an institution was a reality.
The oldest written evidence of Lödöse has been dated to 1151–52, and the name Leodu(s) is found on coins from the same period. Lödöse is situated on the east side of the Göta River. The earliest urban settlement is dated just before 1100, probably a royal demesne. In the early twelfth century there was a marked quantity of buildings of sturdy, well-grown oak, the buildings were of standard form and size. Extensive and varied handicrafts have been recorded, and the ceramics suggest extensive consumption and many contacts along the North Sea Coast. In the early thirteenth century the sites were rearranged. The castle was built within a system of multiple moats. Minting has been documented since the middle of the 12th century until around 1300.
Adam of Bremen refers to Skara as the centre of religious activity, with the first diocese in what later became Sweden. The earliest urban building was probably contemporary with the earliest church, dating to the mid-eleventh century. Today we also know that there are some remains from an earlier settlement dated by C14 to about 700–900 AD. Around 1100 secular buildings expanded and there are also traces of activities principally connected with religious buildings, for example the cathedral crypt. During the second half of the twelfth century the development of the urban sites continued but by the beginning of the thirteenth century there are signs of stagnation. Still the church of St Peter and a Franciscan and a Dominican monastery were established. But the activities generally declined during the latter part of the thirteenth century. This is probably due to the fact that activities associated with the church’s sphere of power were no longer needed to the same extent as earlier.
257
Biskopsstaden Linköping
In my PhD-thesis Biskop och stad (Bishop and Town) I wanted to reconsider that story. The archaeological and historical source material can be interpreted as telling the tale of rather different historical periods, with quite big differences in the appearance of the town (plots, streets, monuments and institutional buildings). This indicates that the town was used by different historical actors or social groups, using the urban space for manifestations. Among different issues, I want to stress some of the new interpretations. Linköping was certainly an important ecclesiastical and supposedly an aristocratic or royal regional centre in the early middle ages. The town of Linköping was however not founded until the end of the 13th century as a part of the urban interests of the royal family of Folkungarna. The foundation of the friary seems to be an important part of the lay-out of the town-to-be, being one of three important ecclesiastical nodes in the coming town plan. Secondly, the townscape was profoundly altered during the second half of the 14th century, when about 20 residential plots were established around the cathedral, equipped with stone-buildings, and forming an ecclesiastical town quarter.
In the article I try to look upon my previous text in a critical way, according to the issues discussed at the seminar. The importance of the archaeological source material is of course crucial for the interpretation, as none of the mentioned issues were ever observed previously. The different periods are very clearly visible in the archaeological archives. At the same time, the archaeological and the historical sources together form the foundation for further interpretations.
I also want to stress that the interpretation of the archaeological sources may be overestimated. There are great problems in using the concept of archaeological phases or periods, as recently observed and discussed. At the same time, archaeologists have just started the important task of discerning and discussing the actors in urban history more thoroughly. Who took the initiatives, which social groups or individuals were the driving forces in the development? These questions must be discussed more seriously, in order to get away from simple and narrow-minded answers. Finally, the view of urban archaeologists and urban historians has been too narrowly focused on the town, studying urban history from the town-centre and outwards. Most scholars fail to analyse the town as a part of a cultural landscape; this is an important issue for future town research.
Only about three miles south of Lund, a settlement emerged in 100 BC on a hill that dominates the surrounding landscape. This settlement, known as Uppåkra, was to become the central place for the region until the foundation of Lund. A south–north thoroughfare passed Uppåkra and a ford before it reached a crossroads, leading to the sea westbound and the inlands eastbound. Close to the crossroad, the first clear indication of human activity is a Christian burial ground with burials dated from around 990 AD, perhaps one of the first churches in Scania. There are, however, lesser known early burials in coffins of hollowed oak, in the same area as the later St Laurentius Cathedral, perhaps suggesting another early stave church.
The earliest dated houses in Lund are from around 1000 AD, and the first settlement is characterised by large farmsteads with longhouses. The structure of the first settlement has no similarity to Viking Age «towns» like Hedeby, Birka and Sigtuna. A runic monument in the near vicinity records the tale of Olof and Ottar, told by their brother Torgisl, son of Asgeir, Björn’s son. The founder of Lund is supposedly the Danish king Swein Forkbeard.
In the discussion of the early Lund, the Kununglef, the king’s demesne for local levy, is considered to be of great importance in understanding the foundation of the settlement. There is, however, no clear understanding of the location of the king’s demesne in the earliest period, and there are still no traces of the early Danish minting, nor of workshops or individual artefacts.
273
Den tidiga medeltidens Lund – vems var egentligen staden?
Knut the Powerful was perhaps the first king to locate regal power in the local context of the early urbanisation. The coins minted during his rule (1018–1035) are the first with the place-name «Lund» engraved. The first evidence of craftsmanship and workshops also emerged during this period.
In the mid 11th century several wooden churches were erected, and Lund may have had as many as eleven wooden churches, along with the groundwork of the stone church of St Salvator/St Trinitas, before the end of the 1060s. Five of these early wooden churches have been archaeologically excavated. This early religious centre has been seen as King Svein Estridsen’s diocesan reform. The local elite was probably behind some of the churches, as a runic stone tells us: «Toke had the church built».
The installation of Bishop Egino, connected to the German church of Bremen-Hamburg in the mid 1060s, meant that half a decade of English clerical dominance came to an end. Central places in the vicinity, such as Uppåkra and Dalby, were forever overshadowed by Lund, which became the capital of the Church in the kingdom of Denmark.
In the year 1104 AD Lund became the archdiocese for the Nordic kingdoms, and intense activity started in order to establish stone churches, both as replacements of the wooden forebears and as new patrimonies. In the end Lund possessed 19 parish churches, along with several convents.
During the 12th century craftsmanship and trade became increasingly important, the activities mainly taking place around the Market Square and in the main streets. The economic aspects of Lund could perhaps better be described in terms of consumption rather than production and prosperity. During the 14th and 15th centuries Lund declined and lost most of its financial power to nearby towns. At the end of the medieval period the dominance of the Church was still significant.
During the late Iron Age (500–1050 AD) non-agrarian resources were mainly scattered within three different environments. Aristocratic estates were the principal concentrations of administrative, military and economic functions (both agrarian and non agrarian production). There were some ideological (i.e. cultic) ceremonies tied to the governing and lifestyle of a magnate. Access to the estates was restricted to the family and invited persons. Ceremonial places, such as grave fields and thing-places, were the main arenas and holders of ideological
299
S’ Villanorvm de Malmøghae – Landskap, urbanitet, aktörer och Malmö
and legal functions of fixed political entities, as legal acts and cult were closely interwoven. Thirdly, along the coastlines there were concentrations of non-agrarian economic functions, such as market places, places of production of prestige artefacts, together with facilities, in order to extract marine resources. Most of these places hosted temporary or seasonal activities on topographically demarcated positions for a widely defined hinterland and anonymous visitors and merchants. There seems to have been a firm spatial divide towards the agrarian settlements, which were situated in the inland.
The first activities on the topographically well defined area that was to be the town of Malmö are diffuse and difficult to date and interpret. Most probably they refer to seasonal activities connected to extraction of marine resources, undertaken by locals, most probably living in the nearby agrarian settlement of Övre (eng: upper) Malmö, during the 11th and beginning of the 12th centuries. At the end of the 12th and the following 13th century a myriad of clay-dressed pits were constructed along the coastline, representing a practical way of handling fish catches, and symbolic demarcations of proper ways of dealing with the fish as trading goods. From the later part of the 13th century onwards, several of the well known features of a medieval town were constructed. A permanent settlement situated on successively added plots and blocks, paved streets, a new town church and maybe a castle, situated in a more defined spatial framework characterised the place. Those who lived in the town were artisans, landed nobility, and foreign merchants as well as representatives of the king and the church.
Simultaneously with the development of Malmö as a town, a large proportion of the great aristocratic estates were dispersed into smaller agrarian units held by emancipated leaseholders, organised in villages. The forces behind the development were tension between farmers and the nobility, and a huge population growth. In this new landscape towns became central institutions to the maintenance of the rural economy. They were not only centres for smaller commodity production, supplying both peasants and lords with everyday artefacts, but also markets functioning as centres for the distribution of agrarian surplus. For the agrarian population, towns also served as a solution to problems concerning shortage of available land and dependence upon feudal lords.
The changing activities in Malmö are interpreted as structured by both reflexive individual and collective actions and structural circumstances. The structural settings connected to the traditional rights of use in relation to the coastline, are seen as the principal starting point in dealing with non-agrarian economical functions. Gradually, when the marine resources became vital and desirable goods, some of the coast places became increasingly important for trading networks (the Hanseatic League), the nobility, and the king. It was, however, probably the change from seasonal activities to permanent settlement which challenged the symbolical ordering of the non-agrarian recourses. Settlements were connected to different sets of rules, not only tied together with trade and elaborated crafts production. Due to these circumstances the population could gain legal independence, since the places for non-agrarian activities still were enclaves in the landscape. At the same time, the king could exercise different kinds of dominion, both connected to him as the principal maintainer of law and order over a fixed population and according to the regal rights. But it is not only the symbolical meaning of the town seal that states that the inhabitants acted in order to be recognised as burghers and the place as a town. Even more important were the investments in the town’s appearance: i.e. well defined public and private spatial structures and architecture. The new huge gothic cathedral,
erected in brick in the beginning of the 14th century, signalised that Malmö belonged to an exclusive group of Baltic coastal places.
At the recently excavated sites, a couple of hundred meters east of St Martin’s church, a settlement from late Viking Age and early Middle Ages was discovered. The settlement included both pit-houses, a feature not known earlier from this part of the country, as well as buildings constructed with roof supporting wall posts. Besides constructions like ovens and wells there were also traces of different kinds of crafts and trade. Bronze-casting, soldering and forging but also some type of silver work had been carried out. Apart from the specialized crafts, people have devoted themselves to agriculture and extensive stock-farming.
The settlement has been interpreted as part of a manor, with the main house supposedly situated on the ridge nearby the church. During the early Middle Ages the area was structured with several different systems of ditches and the settlement became denser, although still spread out. The settlement covered roughly 50 000 m2, which has no parallel in the province of Östergötland.
The whole area north of the river was probably part of a donation for the establishment of the Dominican convent St Martin, later called St Ingrid. The convent was founded in the 1270s
357
Skänninge under vikingatid och tidig medeltid
and with that the settlement was abandoned and the whole area was converted into arable fields.
An older settlement on the south side of the river Skenaån, by Allhelgonakyrkan (church of All Hallows’), is not known. There was most probably a manor south of the river, perhaps not as old as the northern one, but at least from the 11th century.
During the 13th century several institutions were founded, probably coinciding with the establishment of a more urban settlement. The medieval picture with an aristocratic land ownership in Skänninge can most likely be traced back to the manor or manors that were established here during the Viking Age. In any case, the early Christian grave monuments made of limestone are evidence that in the 11th century Skänninge was populated by people from
Extensive archaeological excavations have been carried out in Turku since the 1990s and the initial and preliminary results are presented in this article. There is no evidence for the previously suggested model that Turku evolved from a colony of German traders presumably around the mid-13th century and established around Turku Cathedral. Recent results are more in correspondence with the hypothesis proposed by Markus Hiekkanen, indicating that the town of Turku was planned and founded in the late 13th century and that the king of Sweden, the local bishop and chapter and the Dominican order initiated these plans. According to available information, Turku was founded at the very end of the 13th century.
The recent excavations have, however, revealed plough marks at the bottom of the excavated area. It has been suggested that they represent rural settlement preceding the town, but the possibility of ritual ploughing should perhaps also be taken into account.
The analysis of the immense body of finds has only just begun. This material will provide new answers to questions on changes or preservation of the conditions and core factors of community life as the town of Turku became a new structure in the late 13th century for its recently Christianized regional community. The present study also addresses the question of how the urban form of life changed and specialised and how trade and the exchange of goods developed through the Middle Ages. In addition, the new finds also open up for research on medieval material and architectural culture, which is still poorly known in Finland.
Viipuri Castle was founded in 1293 to safeguard the eastward expansion of Sweden. On the shore opposite the castle a community emerged which gained its first known town privileges in 1403. Written sources on this period are scant. The lowermost layers of two excavation layers can be dated to the late 13th and early 14th century, i.e. predating the town privileges. In other respects, layers of typical urban character date from the first half of the 15th century. The sharply uneven topography of the town may be one reason for its «patchy» settlement. The steep slopes were levelled and apparently settled only at a later date. Factors of defensive strategy, including the town wall, could have influenced the urban fabric and its evolution.
373
Uppsalas första två hundra år. När var det – och hur gick det till?
his predecessors’ rights. I suggest that the traditional elite, with an archaic connection to Old Uppsala, lost influence to somewhat different groups with interests in for example the metal production. The following period, c. 1200–1400, saw a consolidating and expansive process, during which groups of private citizens, corporations and the civic authorities became increasingly visible. Above all I would like to emphasize the importance of considering the role of corporations and interaction in the building of the medieval town.
The conscious town planning from 1050 AD was more than likely a result of royal initiative, but large groups of slaves, workmen and craftspeople were now permanently living in the area.
The church was present in the area from at least 1018 AD if not before and with the foundation of the bishopric around 1065 AD the growing numbers of church men from the cathedral or parish churches must have left their mark on the town. The exact extent of the church’s influence on the daily life and development of the town remains an open question, but the fact that the church at an early stage acquired such large areas of the town for church sites and graveyards must correlate with either very close ties with the ruling classes or a marked influence of its own.
In relation to the questions of initiatives coming from above and down or vice versa the early activities in Viborg clearly came from above with the king, local magnates and the church. I have a general difficulty in seeing how any of the lower classes could gain the freedom to take any initiative. They lived a life that was controlled and bound from those above them, who owned all the means of production and the finished products they produced.
The fact that the most important catalysts of Viborg’s first 150 years were some of the most powerful people of the kingdom led to a somewhat uneven development. Historical developments took place in leaps and bounds reflecting more on the political situation and the possibility for personal enrichment rather than any long term plan.
Archaeological evidence suggests that from the beginning the town area was fairly large in a Danish context, but probably not densely built. In the 11th century the town contained a mint, at least five minor churches plus the cathedral, and during the following century a further nine churches and a convent were erected. In the mid 12th century some 70 hectares of the town was enclosed by a rampart, excluding the landing site and harbour area.
Until c. 934, Aarhus seems to have been surrounded merely by a town ditch that should be interpreted as a boundary between the town and the surrounding landscape rather than as a form of fortification. This changed around 934, when the town was surrounded by a circular rampart and a modest moat. Some time after 957, and probably before 986/987, the town fortification was strengthened considerably. Both before and after it was fortified, Aarhus benefited from a forward naval defence consisting of naval units stationed on the island Samsø and on the peninsula Helgenæs in Aarhus Bay. This advanced naval defence was necessary due to the exposed location of the town. The major part of the town lay within the circular rampart, but perhaps from as early as the mid-10th century, and certainly from the 11th century, an unfortified town quarter sprang up west of the rampart where the St. Nicolas Cathedral (now the abbey church of Our Lady (Vor Frue)) was erected. Finds of pit houses in the Studsgade area north of the rampart indicate that here, too, a suburb grew up outside the fortified town.
During the 11th and 12th centuries, the settlement around the church of St. Nicolas grew, and just north of the rampart, by the sea, a new quarter sprang up before the 12th century around the church of St. Oluf. Around 1200, there were four churches in Aarhus (one inside the fortification and three outside the rampart). During the entire period treated here, the river functioned as the town’s harbour.
226
Hans Skov
The structure of Viking Age Aarhus remained unaltered until the late 12th century, when the relocation of the cathedral from the unfortified western town district to the fortified quarter in the 1190s started a comprehensive restructuring of the entire street net in Aarhus. The present street system reflects the reconstruction of Aarhus during the 13th century, while only a few streets go further back in time.
241
Kungahälla, Lödöse och Skara – om urbanisering i ett tidigmedeltida gränsland
probably a royal demesne. A citadel and a church built by Sigurd Jorsalafar also belong to this period. In the mid-1130s, new construction work took place, dated to 1138–39. During the latter part of the twelfth century buildings changed, and finds of ceramics indicate widespread international contacts, primarily around the North Sea. Furthermore animal bones reveal both organized deep-sea fishing and extensive use of oxen. Around 1200 the settlement was restructured. The castle of Ragnhildsholmen was built, and both a Franciscan and an Augustinian monastery were established in the late twelfth century. A large number of unused coins may indicate local coinage. By the mid-thirteenth century, the town as an institution was a reality.
The oldest written evidence of Lödöse has been dated to 1151–52, and the name Leodu(s) is found on coins from the same period. Lödöse is situated on the east side of the Göta River. The earliest urban settlement is dated just before 1100, probably a royal demesne. In the early twelfth century there was a marked quantity of buildings of sturdy, well-grown oak, the buildings were of standard form and size. Extensive and varied handicrafts have been recorded, and the ceramics suggest extensive consumption and many contacts along the North Sea Coast. In the early thirteenth century the sites were rearranged. The castle was built within a system of multiple moats. Minting has been documented since the middle of the 12th century until around 1300.
Adam of Bremen refers to Skara as the centre of religious activity, with the first diocese in what later became Sweden. The earliest urban building was probably contemporary with the earliest church, dating to the mid-eleventh century. Today we also know that there are some remains from an earlier settlement dated by C14 to about 700–900 AD. Around 1100 secular buildings expanded and there are also traces of activities principally connected with religious buildings, for example the cathedral crypt. During the second half of the twelfth century the development of the urban sites continued but by the beginning of the thirteenth century there are signs of stagnation. Still the church of St Peter and a Franciscan and a Dominican monastery were established. But the activities generally declined during the latter part of the thirteenth century. This is probably due to the fact that activities associated with the church’s sphere of power were no longer needed to the same extent as earlier.
257
Biskopsstaden Linköping
In my PhD-thesis Biskop och stad (Bishop and Town) I wanted to reconsider that story. The archaeological and historical source material can be interpreted as telling the tale of rather different historical periods, with quite big differences in the appearance of the town (plots, streets, monuments and institutional buildings). This indicates that the town was used by different historical actors or social groups, using the urban space for manifestations. Among different issues, I want to stress some of the new interpretations. Linköping was certainly an important ecclesiastical and supposedly an aristocratic or royal regional centre in the early middle ages. The town of Linköping was however not founded until the end of the 13th century as a part of the urban interests of the royal family of Folkungarna. The foundation of the friary seems to be an important part of the lay-out of the town-to-be, being one of three important ecclesiastical nodes in the coming town plan. Secondly, the townscape was profoundly altered during the second half of the 14th century, when about 20 residential plots were established around the cathedral, equipped with stone-buildings, and forming an ecclesiastical town quarter.
In the article I try to look upon my previous text in a critical way, according to the issues discussed at the seminar. The importance of the archaeological source material is of course crucial for the interpretation, as none of the mentioned issues were ever observed previously. The different periods are very clearly visible in the archaeological archives. At the same time, the archaeological and the historical sources together form the foundation for further interpretations.
I also want to stress that the interpretation of the archaeological sources may be overestimated. There are great problems in using the concept of archaeological phases or periods, as recently observed and discussed. At the same time, archaeologists have just started the important task of discerning and discussing the actors in urban history more thoroughly. Who took the initiatives, which social groups or individuals were the driving forces in the development? These questions must be discussed more seriously, in order to get away from simple and narrow-minded answers. Finally, the view of urban archaeologists and urban historians has been too narrowly focused on the town, studying urban history from the town-centre and outwards. Most scholars fail to analyse the town as a part of a cultural landscape; this is an important issue for future town research.
Only about three miles south of Lund, a settlement emerged in 100 BC on a hill that dominates the surrounding landscape. This settlement, known as Uppåkra, was to become the central place for the region until the foundation of Lund. A south–north thoroughfare passed Uppåkra and a ford before it reached a crossroads, leading to the sea westbound and the inlands eastbound. Close to the crossroad, the first clear indication of human activity is a Christian burial ground with burials dated from around 990 AD, perhaps one of the first churches in Scania. There are, however, lesser known early burials in coffins of hollowed oak, in the same area as the later St Laurentius Cathedral, perhaps suggesting another early stave church.
The earliest dated houses in Lund are from around 1000 AD, and the first settlement is characterised by large farmsteads with longhouses. The structure of the first settlement has no similarity to Viking Age «towns» like Hedeby, Birka and Sigtuna. A runic monument in the near vicinity records the tale of Olof and Ottar, told by their brother Torgisl, son of Asgeir, Björn’s son. The founder of Lund is supposedly the Danish king Swein Forkbeard.
In the discussion of the early Lund, the Kununglef, the king’s demesne for local levy, is considered to be of great importance in understanding the foundation of the settlement. There is, however, no clear understanding of the location of the king’s demesne in the earliest period, and there are still no traces of the early Danish minting, nor of workshops or individual artefacts.
273
Den tidiga medeltidens Lund – vems var egentligen staden?
Knut the Powerful was perhaps the first king to locate regal power in the local context of the early urbanisation. The coins minted during his rule (1018–1035) are the first with the place-name «Lund» engraved. The first evidence of craftsmanship and workshops also emerged during this period.
In the mid 11th century several wooden churches were erected, and Lund may have had as many as eleven wooden churches, along with the groundwork of the stone church of St Salvator/St Trinitas, before the end of the 1060s. Five of these early wooden churches have been archaeologically excavated. This early religious centre has been seen as King Svein Estridsen’s diocesan reform. The local elite was probably behind some of the churches, as a runic stone tells us: «Toke had the church built».
The installation of Bishop Egino, connected to the German church of Bremen-Hamburg in the mid 1060s, meant that half a decade of English clerical dominance came to an end. Central places in the vicinity, such as Uppåkra and Dalby, were forever overshadowed by Lund, which became the capital of the Church in the kingdom of Denmark.
In the year 1104 AD Lund became the archdiocese for the Nordic kingdoms, and intense activity started in order to establish stone churches, both as replacements of the wooden forebears and as new patrimonies. In the end Lund possessed 19 parish churches, along with several convents.
During the 12th century craftsmanship and trade became increasingly important, the activities mainly taking place around the Market Square and in the main streets. The economic aspects of Lund could perhaps better be described in terms of consumption rather than production and prosperity. During the 14th and 15th centuries Lund declined and lost most of its financial power to nearby towns. At the end of the medieval period the dominance of the Church was still significant.
During the late Iron Age (500–1050 AD) non-agrarian resources were mainly scattered within three different environments. Aristocratic estates were the principal concentrations of administrative, military and economic functions (both agrarian and non agrarian production). There were some ideological (i.e. cultic) ceremonies tied to the governing and lifestyle of a magnate. Access to the estates was restricted to the family and invited persons. Ceremonial places, such as grave fields and thing-places, were the main arenas and holders of ideological
299
S’ Villanorvm de Malmøghae – Landskap, urbanitet, aktörer och Malmö
and legal functions of fixed political entities, as legal acts and cult were closely interwoven. Thirdly, along the coastlines there were concentrations of non-agrarian economic functions, such as market places, places of production of prestige artefacts, together with facilities, in order to extract marine resources. Most of these places hosted temporary or seasonal activities on topographically demarcated positions for a widely defined hinterland and anonymous visitors and merchants. There seems to have been a firm spatial divide towards the agrarian settlements, which were situated in the inland.
The first activities on the topographically well defined area that was to be the town of Malmö are diffuse and difficult to date and interpret. Most probably they refer to seasonal activities connected to extraction of marine resources, undertaken by locals, most probably living in the nearby agrarian settlement of Övre (eng: upper) Malmö, during the 11th and beginning of the 12th centuries. At the end of the 12th and the following 13th century a myriad of clay-dressed pits were constructed along the coastline, representing a practical way of handling fish catches, and symbolic demarcations of proper ways of dealing with the fish as trading goods. From the later part of the 13th century onwards, several of the well known features of a medieval town were constructed. A permanent settlement situated on successively added plots and blocks, paved streets, a new town church and maybe a castle, situated in a more defined spatial framework characterised the place. Those who lived in the town were artisans, landed nobility, and foreign merchants as well as representatives of the king and the church.
Simultaneously with the development of Malmö as a town, a large proportion of the great aristocratic estates were dispersed into smaller agrarian units held by emancipated leaseholders, organised in villages. The forces behind the development were tension between farmers and the nobility, and a huge population growth. In this new landscape towns became central institutions to the maintenance of the rural economy. They were not only centres for smaller commodity production, supplying both peasants and lords with everyday artefacts, but also markets functioning as centres for the distribution of agrarian surplus. For the agrarian population, towns also served as a solution to problems concerning shortage of available land and dependence upon feudal lords.
The changing activities in Malmö are interpreted as structured by both reflexive individual and collective actions and structural circumstances. The structural settings connected to the traditional rights of use in relation to the coastline, are seen as the principal starting point in dealing with non-agrarian economical functions. Gradually, when the marine resources became vital and desirable goods, some of the coast places became increasingly important for trading networks (the Hanseatic League), the nobility, and the king. It was, however, probably the change from seasonal activities to permanent settlement which challenged the symbolical ordering of the non-agrarian recourses. Settlements were connected to different sets of rules, not only tied together with trade and elaborated crafts production. Due to these circumstances the population could gain legal independence, since the places for non-agrarian activities still were enclaves in the landscape. At the same time, the king could exercise different kinds of dominion, both connected to him as the principal maintainer of law and order over a fixed population and according to the regal rights. But it is not only the symbolical meaning of the town seal that states that the inhabitants acted in order to be recognised as burghers and the place as a town. Even more important were the investments in the town’s appearance: i.e. well defined public and private spatial structures and architecture. The new huge gothic cathedral,
erected in brick in the beginning of the 14th century, signalised that Malmö belonged to an exclusive group of Baltic coastal places.
At the recently excavated sites, a couple of hundred meters east of St Martin’s church, a settlement from late Viking Age and early Middle Ages was discovered. The settlement included both pit-houses, a feature not known earlier from this part of the country, as well as buildings constructed with roof supporting wall posts. Besides constructions like ovens and wells there were also traces of different kinds of crafts and trade. Bronze-casting, soldering and forging but also some type of silver work had been carried out. Apart from the specialized crafts, people have devoted themselves to agriculture and extensive stock-farming.
The settlement has been interpreted as part of a manor, with the main house supposedly situated on the ridge nearby the church. During the early Middle Ages the area was structured with several different systems of ditches and the settlement became denser, although still spread out. The settlement covered roughly 50 000 m2, which has no parallel in the province of Östergötland.
The whole area north of the river was probably part of a donation for the establishment of the Dominican convent St Martin, later called St Ingrid. The convent was founded in the 1270s
357
Skänninge under vikingatid och tidig medeltid
and with that the settlement was abandoned and the whole area was converted into arable fields.
An older settlement on the south side of the river Skenaån, by Allhelgonakyrkan (church of All Hallows’), is not known. There was most probably a manor south of the river, perhaps not as old as the northern one, but at least from the 11th century.
During the 13th century several institutions were founded, probably coinciding with the establishment of a more urban settlement. The medieval picture with an aristocratic land ownership in Skänninge can most likely be traced back to the manor or manors that were established here during the Viking Age. In any case, the early Christian grave monuments made of limestone are evidence that in the 11th century Skänninge was populated by people from
Extensive archaeological excavations have been carried out in Turku since the 1990s and the initial and preliminary results are presented in this article. There is no evidence for the previously suggested model that Turku evolved from a colony of German traders presumably around the mid-13th century and established around Turku Cathedral. Recent results are more in correspondence with the hypothesis proposed by Markus Hiekkanen, indicating that the town of Turku was planned and founded in the late 13th century and that the king of Sweden, the local bishop and chapter and the Dominican order initiated these plans. According to available information, Turku was founded at the very end of the 13th century.
The recent excavations have, however, revealed plough marks at the bottom of the excavated area. It has been suggested that they represent rural settlement preceding the town, but the possibility of ritual ploughing should perhaps also be taken into account.
The analysis of the immense body of finds has only just begun. This material will provide new answers to questions on changes or preservation of the conditions and core factors of community life as the town of Turku became a new structure in the late 13th century for its recently Christianized regional community. The present study also addresses the question of how the urban form of life changed and specialised and how trade and the exchange of goods developed through the Middle Ages. In addition, the new finds also open up for research on medieval material and architectural culture, which is still poorly known in Finland.
Viipuri Castle was founded in 1293 to safeguard the eastward expansion of Sweden. On the shore opposite the castle a community emerged which gained its first known town privileges in 1403. Written sources on this period are scant. The lowermost layers of two excavation layers can be dated to the late 13th and early 14th century, i.e. predating the town privileges. In other respects, layers of typical urban character date from the first half of the 15th century. The sharply uneven topography of the town may be one reason for its «patchy» settlement. The steep slopes were levelled and apparently settled only at a later date. Factors of defensive strategy, including the town wall, could have influenced the urban fabric and its evolution.