Abstracts Session 4

Medieval Urban Life and the Urban Ecosystem

Anna Kjellström, Stockholm University

The integration of scientific analyses into the archaeological field has greatly enhanced our understanding of medieval urban life and death. Within bioarchaeology, advances in techniques such as stable isotope analysis, paleopathology, and molecular research offer valuable insights into the social, demographic, and health aspects of past populations. By combining the results from these methods applied to skeletal remains, researchers can reconstruct patterns of diet, migration, sanitation, disease, and social status in medieval urban contexts. These findings not only illuminate individual lives but also provide a broader view of urban communities, revealing how factors like social stratification, occupational roles, and living conditions influenced the experiences of urban populations during the period.

However, while scientific results contribute essential pieces to the archaeological puzzle, they must be interpreted within the wider archaeological and historical context. Ultimately, a careful integration of scientific analysis and contextual understanding enables a richer and more accurate portrayal of medieval urban life and death.

By adopting a broad perspective, the diversity within the bioarchaeology of urbanisation will be explored through some examples. The aim is to encourage the incorporation of scientific analyses and to illustrate how these approaches can enhance our understanding of social dynamics and the lived experiences of medieval populations.

The urban environment

 Axel Christophersen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Recent urban archaeology has focused on the urban environment, specifically addressing 1) the factors contributing to its declining quality, 2) the potential implications for health and welfare, and 3) the timing, methods, and effectiveness of measures implemented (or omitted) to enhance environmental conditions. This progress has been largely motivated by the availability of new source categories and investigations of ancient DNA and stable isotopes.

Insufficient attention has been directed to another declining environmental condition in the towns; specifically the comprehension of and response to the odours emanating from decomposable domestic trash, contaminated water, and decaying carcasses in the streets. Odour constituted a clear environmental issue; yet, other from expressing grievances, what practical responses did they implement, and what actions did they undertake (or fail to undertake)? The question is not as self-evident and unproblematic as is typically suggested. Olfactory experiences are not merely sensory phenomena but also integral to contemporary mentality and are thus associated with religious and moral values, concepts, and activities. In my contribution, I aim to elucidate smell as a sense that is both an integral aspect of urban environmental degradation and a direct consequence thereof, thus necessitating a nuanced understanding beyond the superficial narratives presented in written sources. My contribution will examine how olfactory cues were seen, analysed, and comprehended as an enhancement to the conventional depiction of the olfactory landscape of medieval towns.

Stella Macheridis (Lund University & Sydsvensk Arkeologi), Hanna Dahlström (Sydsvensk Arkeologi), Johan Kjellberg Jensen (Lund University)

The application of so-called indicator species is common in studies of biodiversity, wildlife conservation, and environmental health in general. Indicator species are used foremost to identify environmental changes and characterise certain habitats for restoration and management purposes. The terminological package of indicator species is rarely applied in zooarchaeology, although it seems more common in areas where zooarchaeologists have a tradition of engaging more in conservation biology research. In this paper, we provide an overview of the concept of indicator species and its applicability in archaeology, using zooarchaeological materials from medieval towns in southern Scandinavia. How may indicator species be used to learn about the development of medieval urban environments and urban life?

Local systems

Kristine Ødeby Haugan, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo

This paper explores seasonally recurring spaces in medieval urban environments, specifically the utilisation of Oslo’s harbour and its surrounding landscape in the cold season. Drawing on the notion that the water landscape is the dominating factor of Nordic seasonality, this paper delves into the transformation and utilisation of these spaces when the bay and rivers froze over. The frozen landscape offered ease of travel by foot on land and ice, expanding the spatial realm for the urban population. However, it simultaneously restricted maritime trade, as Oslo’s position in the depth of the Oslofjord rendered the harbour inoperative for the transport of goods during the winter half-year. While previous research shows how Oslo’s harbour went through considerable intensification through the Middle Ages – shaping the development of the bay and the town’s infrastructure – this paper takes seasonal changes into consideration. Seasonal dualism illustrates the flexible yet repetitive nature of recurring spaces that necessitate both adaptability and consistency in long-term urban planning.

During the coldest months, the urban area expanded onto the ice, which facilitated diverse activities such as building practices, fishing, warfare, recreation, and possibly winter markets. The disadvantages posed by the frozen bay, such as restricted ship access and the dangers of spring melts, were outweighed by the significant benefits of the recurring seasonal space. Excavations in the bay area reveal that wharf foundations were likely constructed on the winter ice and then submerged in spring. Finds of fishing equipment suggest that ice fishing was a common practice among urban dwellers, and ice skates indicate that children and young adults used the ice for recreation and short-distance travel. Based on modern records of winter markets in Oslo, I will further speculate on their age and localisation. Overall, the winter ice was a welcome recurring space that the urban population effectively utilised. This paper contributes to understanding urban dynamics in cold climates, proposing that the integration of recurring spaces can significantly enhance our understanding of the versatility and resilience of Nordic urban environments.

Astrid Kristine Tvedte Kristoffersen, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo

In the Old Town of Oslo, a significant assemblage of medieval artefacts has been unearthed over the years: Lead and silver artefacts, lumps of molten lead, cupellation debris, and galena crystals – the raw material for producing lead and silver. In my thesis, «Rock and Heavy Metal. Mining and Metallurgy in Eastern Norway in the Middle Ages», I argue that metallic lead was produced from local galena at the site Oslogate 6. The combination of empirical archaeological investigations and archaeometrical analysis have made it probable that the technology of extracting lead from ore existed in the Old Town of Oslo from 1125 onwards and by 1200 at the latest. Specific local natural resources were utilised, and they were transformed into usable artefacts, like balance weights, sinkers, miniature anchors, and a specific spindle whorl with a ribbed collar.

In this paper, I argue that several crafts co-existed interdependently in a local eco-system in Oslogate 6 during the High Middle Ages and that both local and foreign craftspeople, for example, German shoemakers or British stonemasons, could have worked together or alongside each other in this area. It is possible that foreign craftspeople brought the knowledge and skill of producing lead from galena with them from mainland Europe or Britain. Alternatively, urban craftspeople could have developed the technology from the already familiar iron production or various metalwork and cupellation practices in the workshops. During the High Middle Ages, local galena deposits could have been discovered by quarrying for building materials in and around the town. For example, building material for the 12th-century Old Aker Church was quarried just 100 meters from the documented 16th-century Akersberg lead-silver mine. As the deposit’s full extent is unknown, Akersberg cannot be excluded as a possible high medieval source of lead or silver. However, based on bedrock- and network analysis, I find it more likely that the Oslogate 6 galena derived from a source closer to the Old Town of Oslo.

There is a strong correlation between using lead from the local raw material and producing spindle whorls with a ribbed collar. I therefore propose that metallic lead and the ribbed whorls be made in the same local environment, used locally, and distributed regionally. Some spindle whorls even show identical features and could have been cast in the same mould, and it is suggested that Oslogate 6 was such a production site. Earlier, Oslogate 6 has been characterised as the shoemaker’s district. The area around Oslogate 6 could then be considered a local urban ecosystem connected to local natural resources, associated crafts, and possibly foreign social groups. Here, medieval life could have been experienced as both multi-craft and multi-cultural.

Gitte Hansen, University Museum of Bergen

Today, reuse and repurposing are the new cool. Reused and repurposed portable objects, structures, raw materials, etc., are plentiful in the archaeological record from medieval urban communities. Debris from leather working shows that worn-out shoes were remodelled, soapstone vessels were repurposed when broken, religious buildings of stone were quarried for new purposes, and even landscapes were repurposed. These finds are material evidence of an urban ecosystem in everyday practice. With examples from the urban communities of Bergen and Borgund in Norway, this paper addresses the implications of reuse and repurposing for our understanding of medieval consumption and perception of value. There are methodological challenges regarding the basic interpretation of archaeological finds (dating and quantification). What insights may reuse and repurposing lend us in relation to medieval folk’s perception of the tangible and intangible value of matter?

Regional connections

Gunilla Gardelin, Kulturen

As early as the end of the 10th century, people began to settle in what was to become the city of Lund. During the 11th century, at least seven stave churches were built in the city. During the 11th century, secular buildings evolved from large longhouses to smaller houses built with posts in combination with standing or horizontal timber. This meant that more and more timber had to be produced for building projects in the growing city.

Written sources on forest use are scarce. What we know about the importance of the forest for the city comes mainly from archaeological research, where a large number of preserved wooden structures have been examined and samples taken for dendrochronological analysis. Many of these samples from Lund’s 11th-century wooden buildings were taken in the 1970s and 80s. The field of dendrochronology has developed since then. It is, therefore, of interest to re-analyse older samples to investigate where the wood came from and what type of stand it was harvested from. This lecture aims to discuss how the city of Lund was supplied with wood during the 11th century.

Håvard Hegdal, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research

The most prominent structure uncovered so far from Oslo’s medieval harbour is an extensive wharf complex, popularly known as “Kongsbrygga” (“the King’s Wharf”) due to its proximity to the city’s royal manor. The wharf and its associated deposits have been studied in detail during and after its excavation in 2023. This paper presents the results of a closely integrated analysis of archaeological, chronological and environmental data associated with the wharf.

The timber structure was dated dendrochronologically to the winter of 1288–89, yet quite strikingly, the wharf had already been completely dismantled by the early 1400s. The 14th century is notoriously difficult to date using radiocarbon methods, but a carefully controlled series of samples has made it possible to reconstruct, in detail, the wharf’s development from the High Middle Ages through to its decline. Exceptionally good preservation conditions and a rich array of associated finds make this a rare, detailed case study, providing new insight into cultural development and urban conditions, as well as into natural processes, natural disasters, and local ecology. We integrate botanic and faunal evidence, finds and depositional environmental data in our chronology and examine their implications for local activities and conditions in the harbour area and the broader implications for the city.

Paula U. Sandvik, UiS & Anna H. Petersén, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU)

We present results from an extensive cross-disciplinary study of evidence related to the production, processing and consumption of food and foodstuffs in medieval and late-medieval Trondheim, located at 63⁰ 25´N in the region of Trøndelag, Norway. Due to the climatic conditions, the growth season lasts approximately five months, and the ecosystem is volatile and affects people and animals equally. Analysis of botanical and zoological subfossils have provided information about foods and foodstuffs grown, harvested, cultivated, gathered, or imported and thus available to the urban population over a period of c.600 years (c.1000 – 1600 AD). The bio-archaeological results have been related to archaeological features such as outdoor ovens, drying kilns, latrines and cesspits, animal pens, selected artefacts, and radiocarbon dates. This details the dietary resources and the means and opportunities available to process food in the northernmost medieval town in Europe. The empirical data were sorted into the early, high, and late medieval periods. Our method of handling a complex data set has allowed us to explore the medieval diet in an urban context on the periphery of northern Europe and trace temporal changes and developments in the production, processing and consumption of food and foodstuffs.

The study is a final delivery to the research project “MedHeal 600” (Medieval Urban Health: From individual to public responsibility AD 1000-1600) led by Professor Axel Christophersen, NTNU, and funded by the Research Council of Norway.

Wider links

Mathias Blobel, University Museum, Bergen

Borgund in Sunnmøre is a medieval settlement or small town on the western Norwegian seaboard. As a greenfield site with good organic preservation conditions, the excavation of Borgund through much of the third quarter of the 20^th century was a first in Norwegian medieval archaeology, but it posed a set of challenges that the excavation methodology of the day struggled to meet. Without the benefits of tight stratigraphic control, the extensive excavation archives and numerous finds from this site represent a well-curated but flawed dataset typical of its time, which poses a challenge to modern analysis.

Despite these difficulties, the pottery material from the settlement provides a valuable and hitherto largely unexploited dataset comparable to the ceramics spectra of the larger medieval towns in Norway. The soapstone vessel material from Borgund was instrumental in developing the medieval soapstone pot typology, which is still in use today, but it has never been published in its entirety.

Based on the author’s PhD work, this paper presents the pottery and soapstone vessel material from Borgund. Together, these finds spectra show a settlement which was embedded in a trade network that allowed the acquisition of both imported and regional goods for daily use and representation, and which permitted the inhabitants the freedom to choose the material most suited to their identities and foodways.

Focusing on a use perspective and employing methods ranging from classical typology to organic residue analysis, this paper seeks to showcase different ways in which this legacy dataset illuminates the lifestyles and identities of the inhabitants of a town enmeshed in an ecosystem which stretched from trade and intellectual traditions on a European scale down to foodways and raw materials on a local scale.