by Tim Pestell
MARKETS IN EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE
Markets in Early Medieval Europe
Trading and ‘Productive’ Sites, 650–850
Edited by Tim Pestell and Katharina Ulmschneider
Windgather Press
is an imprint of Oxbow Books
First published in the United Kingdom in 2003. as a paperback in 2019 by
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Cover Illustrations
Front: the gold bow brooch found at Tjitsma in the 1950s.
Collection Fries Museum, Leeuwarden.
Back: the excavated Early Medieval manor and market
at Tissø, Denmark. Lars Jørgensen.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Contributors
Abbreviations
Preface
1Introduction: Early Medieval Markets and ‘Productive’ Sites
Katharina Ulmschneider and Tim Pestell
I History, Numismatics and the Early Medieval Economy
2Production and Distribution in Early and Middle Anglo-Saxon England
James Campbell
3‘Productive’ Sites and the Pattern of Coin Loss in England, 600–1180
Mark Blackburn
4Variations in the Composition of the Currency at Different Places in England
Michael Metcalf
5The Hinterlands of Three Southern English Emporia: Some Common Themes
Ben Palmer
II Trading and ‘Productive’ Sites in the British Isles
6Markets and ‘Productive’ Sites: A View from Western Britain
David Griffiths
7Markets Around the Solent: Unravelling a ‘Productive’ Site on the Isle of Wight
Katharina Ulmschneider
8The Early Anglo-Saxon Framework for Middle Anglo-Saxon Economics: The Case of East Kent
Stuart Brookes
9Exceptional Finds, Exceptional Sites? Barham and Coddenham, Suffolk
John Newman
10Six Middle Anglo-Saxon Sites in West Norfolk
Andrew Rogerson
11The Afterlife of ‘Productive’ Sites in East Anglia
Tim Pestell
12Middle Anglo-Saxon Lincolnshire: An Emerging Picture
Kevin Leahy
13The Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian Sites at Cottam, East Yorkshire
Julian D. Richards
III Markets and Settlements on the Early Medieval Continent
14Markets and Fairs in Norway and Sweden Between the Eighth and Sixteenth Centuries
Peter Sawyer
15Manor and Market at Lake Tissø in the Sixth to Eleventh Centuries: The Danish ‘Productive’ Sites
Lars Jørgensen
16Groß Strömkendorf: A Market Site of the Eighth Century on the Baltic Sea Coast
Astrid Tummuscheit
17Tjitsma, Wijnaldum: An Early Medieval Production Site in the Netherlands
Caroline Tulp
18The Fate of the Ports of the Lower Seine Valley at the End of the Ninth Century
Jacques Le Maho
19San Vincenzo in the Making: The Discovery of an Early Medieval Production Site on the East Bank of the Volturno
Matthew Moran
Bibliography
List of Illustrations
Figures
Front cover. The gold bow brooch found at Tjitsma in the 1950s. Total length 163.5mm. Collection Fries Museum, Leeuwarden.
3.1 The principal ‘productive’ sites in Britain, as detailed in the Appendix
3.2 Histogram comparing hoards and single-finds from England, 780-900
3.3a-c Finds from Hamwic, Tilbury and ‘near Royston’
3.4a-c Finds from Bawsey, ‘South Lincolnshire’ and Hollingbourne
3.5a-c Finds from ‘near Malton’ 1, South Newbald and Whithorn
3.6 Isolated finds from England south of the Humber
3.7a-b Finds from London and Lincoln
4.1 Regression analysis showing the frequency of Hamwic coinage within Wessex, mapped in contours
4.2 Regression analysis showing the proportion of primary porcupine sceattas compared to all primary sceatta finds, mapped in contours
4.3 Regression analysis of Type 15 secondary sceattas of ‘Hwiccian’ style, mapped in contours
4.4 Regression analysis of Series L sceattas, mapped in contours
5.1 Distribution map of sites in receipt of traded goods, based on Palmer (i998)
5.2 Navigable rivers in England before the era of canals (after Sherratt 1996)
5.3 Coin-productive sites (excluding hoards) and Roman roads in Hampshire (after Ulmschneider 2000a, Map 21)
6.1 Some eighth-to eleventh-century finds from Meols (drawn by Mark Faulkner)
6.2 Llanbedrgoch site plan (drawn by Tony Daly © National Museums and Galleries of Wales)
7.1 The location and geography of the Isle of Wight
7.2 A simplified map of the geology of the Isle of Wight
7.3 Coin-productive sites and markets around the Solent
8.1 Map of East Kent, showing the reconstructed coastline c. 800 and its relation to some of the sites and roads mentioned in the text
8.2 Thiessen polygon interpolation, showing the environmental pays of Kent and their relation to early estate-centres, as defined by Everitt (1986)
8.3 Trend surfaces produced from the average number of imported artefacts interred with each individual in Early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries of East Kent
8.4 Trend surface of Early Medieval coin finds in East Kent
9.1 South-east Suffolk, showing the position of Barham and Coddenham in relation to Ipswich, other Middle Anglo-Saxon sites and the local system of Roman roads (sources: Margary 1973; Moore 1988)
9.2 Barham, Suffolk, showing the distributions of artefact-types
9.3 Finds from Coddenham
9.4 Sceatta finds from Suffolk showing the number of coins known from each site (source: Suffolk SMR)
10.1 Location map of sites discussed in Chapter 10
10.2 Bawsey: an aerial view of the site from the north-west. (Photograph: D. A. Edwards, Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service)
10.3 Selected finds from Rudham
11.1 Locations mentioned in Chapter 11
11.2 (a) Bawsey and its surrounding parishes; (b) East and West Rudham and surrounding parishes; (c) Hindr
ingham and its surrounding parishes
11.3 The parish church of Burnham Overy St Clement’s from the south
12.1 Finds of Early Anglo-Saxon metalwork from Lincolnshire
12.2 Middle Anglo-Saxon finds from Lincolnshire and imported material of similar date. Roman roads and early trackways are shown as broken lines
12.3 Tenth-century and Viking metalwork shown against the pattern of Middle Anglo-Saxon finds
12.4 Selected finds from Melton Ross
12.5 The site at Melton Ross
12.6 The combined parishes of Melton Ross, Barnetby le Wold and the surrounding sites
12.7 The Yarborough Camp earthworks. Plan based on a survey carried out by K. A. Leahy and J. C. Dyson in May 1984
13.1 The location of the sites at Cottam
13.2 The distribution of metal-detector finds (marked by crosses) superimposed on crop-mark features of the Cottam B enclosures
13.3 The Anglo-Scandinavian farmstead at Cottam B, seen as a magnetometer plot
13.4 The distribution of lead weights, Norse bells, and other objects attributed to the tenth century, superimposed on the crop-mark enclosure and the suggested northward settlement shift
13.5 The distribution of strap-ends
14.1 Markets and fairs in Norway and Sweden mentioned in Chapter 14
15.1 The distribution of major ‘productive’ sites in Denmark and southern Sweden. Sites mentioned in the text are numbered
15.2 Plan of the specialized production site at N®s on Zealand. (after M0ller-Hansen and H0ier 2000, redrawn)
15.3 Plan of the Toftegård complex near K0ge. (after Tornbjerg 1998, redrawn)
15.4 The manor complex from the seventh to tenth centuries at Lejre with the residential area and workshop area to the east
15.5 Plan of one of the great halls in Lejre. (after Christensen 1997, redrawn)
15.6 Map showing the archaeological status of the Tissø area in the Viking period
15.7 The distribution of the c. 10,000 finds made at Tissø in the metal-detector surveys and archaeological excavations
15.8 Distribution map showing the equal-armed brooches from the middle of the sixth century (cross) and beaked brooches (circle) from c. 600
15.9 Tissø: the excavated area with the manor dating from the seventh to eleventh centuries and the adjacent market
15.10 A selection of the fine pendants, brooches and strap-mounts of gilded silver and tin-plated bronze from the later manor at Tissø. (Photographs: Pia Brejnholt)
15.11 A selection of arrowheads from the later manor at Tissø. (Photograph: Danish National Museum)
15.12 Distribution map showing the weapons and weapon parts at the Tissø complex
15.13 Coins from Tissø. (Photographs: Pia Brejnholt)
15.14 Distribution map of the coins at Tissø
15.15 The layout of the later manor at Tissø in Phase One, preliminarily dated to the seventh to eighth centuries
15.16 Tissø: the layout of the manor in Phase Two, preliminarily dated to the eighth to ninth centuries
15.17 The layout of the manor at Tissø in Phase Three, preliminarily dated to the ninth to tenth centuries
15.18 A selection of the Thor’s hammers and a miniature strike-a-light from the later manor area at Tissø
15.19 Pendants depicting the valkyries of Norse mythology, in gilded silver with niello inlays. (Photographs: Pia Brejnholt)
15.20 The layout of the manor at Tissø in Phase Four, preliminarily dated to the late tenth to early eleventh centuries. The exact size of the manor at this date cannot be determined
15.21 Plan of the hall area with the three main buildings in Phase Four
15.22 Distribution map of the molten bronze and lead from workshop activities at Tissø
15.23 (i)—(4) Three bronze and one lead model for the manufacture of moulds for plate brooches and a cross-shaped brooch. (Photographs: Pia Brejnholt)
15.24 Distribution map showing the weights at Tissø
15.25 A lead seal of the high-ranking Byzantine official Theodosios, mid-ninth century. (Photograph: Danish National Museum)
15.26 Plan of the central representative area of Charlemagne’s Pfalz in Aix, Germany. (after Hugot 1965, with additions by the author)
16.1 Location of Groß Strömkendorf and other sites mentioned in the text in relation to local topography
16.2 Overall plan of excavated areas with reconstruction of the landscape to the west of the site. (Archäologisches Landesmuseum Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schloß Wiligrad, 19069 Lübstorf)
16.3 One part of the central area of the trading site showing the careful alignment of pit-houses
16.4 Plan of the excavated area in the southern and central parts of the site showing the dense occupation and selected dendrochronological dates
16.5 Plan of the settlement structures within the area of the cemetery and dendrochronological dates
16.6 Map showing the distribution of finds and archaeological sites in the hinterland of Groß Strömkendorf. (after Schmitz 1999, Abb. 27)
17.1 The location of Tjitsma terp, Wijnaldum. (after Besteman, Bos and Heidinga i993)
17.2 Finds associated with precious metalworking. (J. de Koning)
17.3 Copper-alloy die stamp with cross-hatched decoration. (Colin Slack, English Heritage)
17.4 Iron bars from Tjitsma. (after J. de Koning)
17.5 Assorted finds from Tjitsma. (all J. de Koning)
18.1 The ports of the Lower Seine in the ninth and tenth centuries
19.1 The location of San Vincenzo (a) and a plan of the site (b)
19.2 Site plan, showing the surveyed and excavated areas, and prominent archaeological features, on the east bank of the Volturno
19.3 Plan of the 1996—7 excavations
19.4 Early Medieval red-painted pottery from the excavations
19.5 Early Medieval glass-working crucibles from the excavations
19.6 Plan of Early Medieval clay-bonded structures, showing their relation to the temporary workshops, prior to construction of the atrium of San Vincenzo Maggiore
19.7 Plans of (a) the Early Medieval clay-bonded structures and adjoining yards and (b) the so-called ‘collective workshop’
Table
12.1 The breakdown of Early Medieval metalwork recorded in Lincolnshire to December 2000
12.2 The breakdown of metalwork from Melton Ross, by date
12.3 The breakdown of Anglo-Saxon and Viking metalwork from Melton Ross, by type
15.1 Features appearing at both Tissø and a contemporary Carolingian Pfalz
Contributors
Mark Blackburn Department of Coins and Medals, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Stuart Brookes Institute of Archaeology, University College, London
James Campbell Worcester College, University of Oxford
David Griffiths Kellogg College, University of Oxford
Lars Jørgensen Department of Danish Prehistory, National Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
Kevin Leahy North Lincolnshire Museum, Scunthorpe
Jacques Le Maho CNRS, Rouen, France
Michael Metcalf Department of Coins, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Matthew Moran School of World Art Studies and Museology, University of East Anglia
John Newman Field Team, Archaeological Service, Suffolk County Council
Ben Palmer Exeter College, University of Oxford
Tim Pestell Department of Archaeology, Norwich Castle Museum
Julian D. Richards Department of Archaeology, University of York
Andrew Rogerson Finds Identification and Recording Service, Field Archaeology Division, Norfolk County Council
Peter Sawyer Trondheim, Norway
Caroline Tulp Institute of Archaeology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Astrid Tummuscheit Department for Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Kiel, Germany
Katharina Ulmschneider Worcester College, University of Oxford
Abbreviations
&nbs
p; BM British Museum
EMC Early Medieval Coins
SMR Sites and Monuments Record
Preface
In 1989, a gathering of distinguished archaeologists and numismatists met in Oxford to discuss the growing number of Middle Anglo-Saxon sites, dubbed ‘productive’, then being revealed by metal-detection. Ten years on, and thousands of metal-detected artefacts later, the two editors of this volume organised another conference on a similar, though somewhat broader, theme, as an update. Fittingly it was again in Oxford that, in December 2000, Worcester College played host to a meeting, this time international, of historians, archaeologists and numismatists, to reconsider the knotty problems of trade and economics in Early Medieval Europe.
The success of this event has owed much to the award of a conference grant by the British Academy and in particular to the generosity of Mr David Newkirk of London. Without their kind support, neither the conference nor this subsequent book would have been possible. We are also very grateful to the Danish National Museum for a generous grant for the publication of the extensive illustrations to accompany Lars Jørgensen’s contribution on Lake Tissø.
The essays contained in this volume are essentially those papers as delivered to the Worcester College conference, modified to a greater or lesser extent. Indeed, such has been the enthusiasm for the publication of the conference’s proceedings that only one paper delivered is not included. By way of compensation we are very grateful to Stuart Brookes for contributing an article on the economic framework of Middle Anglo-Saxon Kent. It will also be apparent that there is no survey of the continental sources for markets and fairs in the period covered by this volume. Such a contribution was intended, but unfortunately circumstances prevented Prof. Johanek from submitting his paper. In its place the editors would like to draw attention to his two important and still highly relevant surveys on the topic in 1985 and 1987.
