Soapstone vessels and quernstones as commodities in the Viking Age and Middle Ages

Baug, Irene

doi:10.4324/9781315548197-8

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The iron trade, as with many other commodities, was probably already routinised and specialised within Scandinavian networks, as demonstrated by the increase of imports from the Scandinavian peninsula in this study. These existing trade networks are also evident from Norwegian soapstone vessels and, later on, combs, reindeer antler and quern-stones found throughout many parts of Southern Scandinavia (Baug 2017). Norwegian iron might have been transported along the same routes and thus made the import of British iron unnecessary.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow of Resources in a Changing World

Hansen

Dam

Bjerregaard

et al. 2022

DJA

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The influx of prestigious foreign objects into Southern Scandinavia throughout the Iron Age and Viking Age is well-documented. For example, Roman or Frankish luxury objects would find their way north via trade or through dynastic gift exchanges as part of a conspicuous elite culture. Access to crucial raw materials has in many ways been formative for both prehistoric and historic societies. The availability – or lack thereof – of specific resources could determine technological developments, and the need for nonlocal raw materials could shape evolving networks. For prehistoric and early historic times in Southern Scandinavia, the written sources and typological studies have limited value in determining the provenance of various raw materials. A typological deduction based on design can indicate the area of production for certain artefacts, but the raw materials used might originate from elsewhere. Based on scientific methods, this study sets out to map and analyse the geography of the available provenances of materials used in archaeological objects. From where did the raw materials found in Southern Scandinavia originate? Was there a connection between the flow of raw materials and the political situation?

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow of Resources in a Changing World

Hansen

Dam

Bjerregaard

et al. 2022

DJA

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“…For example, soapstone vessels, originally quarried and produced in western Norway and (perhaps) southwestern Sweden, were valued trading commodities during the Viking Age. From the 9th century onwards, they were distributed also to Denmark where they are frequent finds (e.g., Baug 2016;Sindbaek 2008). However, they are seldom found on Møn or the Lolland-Falster area, which indeed suggests that this area was culturally different.…”

Section: Book Reviewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anna-Elisabeth Jensen: Freunde und Feinde. Dania Slavica. Südseeland, Lolland-Falster und Møn in der Wikingerzeit und Hochmittelalter. Aarhus University Press 2023.

Wessman

2023

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“…New analyses combining archaeological and scientific approaches are beginning to detail the procurement of resources such as beeswax (Gustafsson 2016), quernstones , fur (Lindholm and Ljungkvist 2016), soapstone vessels (Baug 2017;Forster and Turner 2009;Storemyr 2017), iron (Loftsgarden 2019;Rundberget 2017;Tveiten and Loftsgarden 2017), tar (Hennius 2018), and whale bone (Hennius et al 2018). These explorations have gone together with a broadening appreciation of the outfield economy-hunting, fishing, or the collection or extraction of animal and mineral products (Øye 2013).…”

Section: A Maritime Network Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Crossing the Maelstrom: New Departures in Viking Archaeology

Lund

Sindbæk

2021

J Archaeol Res

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This paper reviews the achievements and challenges of archaeological research on Viking Age northern Europe and explores potential avenues for future research. We identify the reemergence of comparative and cross-cultural perspectives along with a turn toward studying mobility and maritime expansion, fueled by the introduction of biomolecular and isotopic data. The study of identity has seen a shift from a focus on collective beliefs and ritual to issues of personal identity and presentation, with a corresponding shift in attention to individual burials and the “animated objects.” Network ontologies have brought new perspectives on the emergence of sea trade and urban nodes and to the significance of outfield production and resources. Field archaeology has seen an emphasis on elite manors, feasting halls, and monuments, as well as military sites and thing assembly places, using new data from remote sensing, geophysical surveys, geoarchaeology, and metal detectors. Concerns over current climate change have placed the study of environment as a key priority, in particular in the ecologically vulnerable North Atlantic settlements. Discussing future directions, we call for alignment between societal/economic and individual/cultural perspectives, and for more ethically grounded research. We point to diaspora theory and intersectionality as frameworks with the potential to integrate genomics, identity, and society, and to ecology as a framework for integrating landscape, mobility, and political power.

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Soapstone vessels and quernstones as commodities in the Viking Age and Middle Ages

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Flow of Resources in a Changing World

Flow of Resources in a Changing World

Anna-Elisabeth Jensen: Freunde und Feinde. Dania Slavica. Südseeland, Lolland-Falster und Møn in der Wikingerzeit und Hochmittelalter. Aarhus University Press 2023.

Crossing the Maelstrom: New Departures in Viking Archaeology

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