by Tim Pestell
FIGURE 13.5. The location and geography of the Isle of Wight.
The Anglo-Scandinavian site was itself short-lived and abandoned later in the tenth century, in favour of the Medieval villages, represented by deserted Medieval village earthworks at Cottam and Cowlam. The latter is about one kilometre from the Cottam B enclosures, on the other side of the valley. Excavation of the Post-Medieval farmstead at Cowlam by Brewster, prior to its destruction, also yielded some earlier structures associated with Torksey ware (Brewster and Hayfield 1988). Although the site has now been ploughed out, metal-detecting there has yielded exclusively tenth-century and post-Conquest artefacts, in much smaller numbers (D. Haldenby, pers. comm.).
The project as a whole illustrates the value of combining evidence collected by metal-detector users with various forms of remote sensing, including aerial photography and magnetometry and resistivity, alongside targeted excavation. It also demonstrates the potential of combining aerial photographic data from the English Heritage National Mapping Programme with finds spots collected via the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
I have argued that when compared with other Middle Anglo-Saxon sites Cottam is not exceptional (Richards 1999c, 51–2). Although it is difficult to derive accurate figures for the total area of the settlement, it seems reasonable to calculate this based on the total area from which artefacts have been recovered. For excavated sites the artefact density can be based on the density of finds within the excavation trenches. Although some thirty-four strap-ends have been recovered from Cottam B it has to be borne in mind that this is from an area of c. 30,000 square metres. The density of strap-ends per square metre is identical to that from the South Manor at Wharram Percy, and actually lower than that at Fishergate (York), Flixborough, and Whitby. Similarly, although there were sixty-three copper-alloy dress pins recovered at Cottam B, the density of these finds is lower than that at Wharram Percy, Fishergate, Flixborough and Whitby. Even the density of ninth-century coins at Cottam is lower than that of the other sites. When one also takes account of the fact that the use of metal-detectors both before and during the excavations at Cottam has led to a higher rate of recovery of small copper-alloy objects than is probably typical, one is forced to conclude that the rate of loss of these objects fits well within the continuum of sites.
These sites therefore represent a range of functions; the use of metal-detectors at some sites artificially inflates the rate of recovery of metal finds. These sites need to be assigned to a hierarchy of settlement types: rural, urban, secular, monastic, trading and farming. A large quantity of metalwork does not by itself denote a special distinctive class of inland trading site, though I am not suggesting that such sites do not exist (cf. Naylor 2001; Ulmschneider 2000b).
The role of Cottam
What was the function, therefore, of the ‘productive’ site at Cottam? The animal bone assemblage reflects both production and consumption. Sheep/goat are the most common species, followed by cattle. The wide range of size of sheep was particularly noted, indicating a breeding population (Richards i999a, 85). The presence of wool combs indicates that the sheep were being kept for cloth production, as well as for their contribution to diet. Pig, domestic fowl and geese appeared to be very poorly represented, although there is limited evidence for some variety in the diet, including salmon bones, eggshell, and deer bones. The contribution of arable crops to the economy is more difficult to assess, given the poor preservation of botanical remains. Nevertheless, imported quernstones and a corn-drier at least indicate the cultivation and processing of cereal crops.
Some local metalworking may have taken place, and although there is little evidence for iron smelting, pieces of fuel ash slag probably indicate the presence of the smith who would have been required to manufacture and maintain farm implements. A small piece of gold sheeting and a silver ring indicate that Cottam was part of a wider network, and the coins include a non-local Secondary phase sceatta (Naylor 2001, 87). Nonetheless, the balance of evidence suggests that Cottam was not free to import goods from the wic sites. All the honestones recovered from this phase of activity are from sandstone available locally in the Wharram area. Similarly there is no evidence for imported pottery, either for foreign imports as seen in York and Flixborough, or for Ipswich ware from the South. This is despite the fact that Cottam’s location only fifteen kilometres from the coast and on the surviving Roman road network (see above) might have put it in a good position for traders coming ashore on the east coast and moving around the countryside.
Generally, the artefactual evidence suggests a low level of trade, just as the dietary evidence suggests quite a low level of subsistence. In contrast to the contemporary settlement at Flixborough (Loveluck i998) Cottam appears distinctly impoverished. This is the same situation as that observed at Wharram Percy, where there was little trickle-down from the thriving wic site in York (Richards 2000). At this stage Cottam and Wharram Percy may both have been excluded from direct contact with this developing market.
I have suggested that one possible explanation for this is that Cottam was itself under royal control during the Anglian period (Richards i999a, 9i–2). Chris Loveluck ([996, 25) has suggested that there was a significant Northumbrian royal centre at Driffield and that there may have been a substantial royal landholding in this part of the Yorkshire Wolds. Naylor (200i, 88) suggests that the coin finds at Cottam and Kilham may be related to trade and exchange taking place through that estate, in which case one would assume that such trade was controlled from the centre.
Conclusion
In summary, therefore, we can say a bit more in answer to the questions posed at the start of this volume. In the case of Cottam, excavation of this particular ‘productive’ site has demonstrated that it actually represents a sequence of settlements, whose role and social context changes through time. At Cottam B there certainly is settlement activity, including farming, but possibly as part of a royal estate. Trading may have taken place, and this must explain the context of the metal finds, but it was generally of a local nature. That activity is associated with monetary exchange, at least in the eighth and ninth centuries, but not in the tenth century when there is reversion to a barter economy. Activity was initially under elite control, possibly from a royal vill at Driffield, but the occupants broke free from this in the Anglo-Scandinavian phase.
By using the evidence of ‘productive’ sites provided by the controlled use of metal-detectors we can certainly advance our knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon period, and of the range of sites, but only if we break away from simplistic classifications, and assess the metalwork alongside other forms of archaeological evidence.
III
Markets and Settlements on the Early Medieval Continent
CHAPTER 14
Markets and Fairs in Norway and Sweden Between the Eighth and Sixteenth Centuries
Peter Sawyer
There is very little written evidence for fairs or markets in Norway and Sweden before the thirteenth century, and there are few references to them being held in particular places before about i400. Information about tenth-century trade in Icelandic sagas is sometimes treated as reliable evidence although there is no reason to believe that the authors, writing in the thirteenth century, relied on well-remembered traditions. They were, rather, elaborating their accounts of the distant past with details drawn from what they knew about trade in their own time. There are, however, two texts written in the late ninth century that give valuable information about trade in Scandinavia; the Vita Anskarii, and the accounts of voyages by Ohthere and Wulfstan that were included in the Old English translation of Orosius’ Historiarum adversum Paganos that was made for King Alfred (Lund 1984).
The sparsity of historical evidence means that our knowledge of trade and trading places in Scandinavia depends largely on archaeological investigations which have not only given substance to the references to trading places named in the texts but also identified many others, large and small, that are not. Archaeological
evidence also shows that some goods were transported great distances within Scandinavia before and during the Viking Age. In Norway, for example, different types of whetstones have been found far from their sources (Resi 1987), while iron from Norway and soap stone from Norway or Sweden has been found in Denmark. Similarly quernstones from the Eifel region that were imported through Ribe and Hedeby in the eighth and ninth centuries, were widely distributed; fragments have been found in almost all the contemporary Danish settlements that have been excavated (Roesdahl 1982, 88–91). Then, as later, such things, as well as ornaments, tools, weapons, combs and other craft products were distributed in various ways; by peddlers, itinerant craftsmen, by farmers, landowners and traders, but the fairs and trading places discussed here had an important role in the process (Fig. 14.1).
Place-names are a less rewarding guide to early trading places. Many were called in Old Norse kaupang(r), which has become koping in modern Swedish and kobing in Danish. There is general agreement that it was a loan from the Old English noun ciping, which can mean ‘market’, and many scholars think that it was borrowed fairly early in the Viking Age (Schmidt 2000, 86–8). That is, however, most unlikely. It was rare as a place-name in England and only occurs twice in Domesday Book, at Chipping and Chippindale in Lancashire, names such as Chipping Camden or Chipping Norton being later (Harmer 1950, 335 n. 2). Old English ciping could also mean ‘market dues’ owed from places that were variously called tun, port or burh (ibid., 342–4). Kaupang names in Scandinavia are therefore probably no older than the eleventh century and cannot be used to identify earlier trading places. It is worth noting that the trading place in south Norway that Ohthere visited is now called Kaupang, but that name was first recorded in 1401 (Schmidt 2000, 91 n. 16): in the Old English text it is called Sciringes heal.
FIGURE 14.1. Markets and fairs in Norway and Sweden mentioned in the text.
Numerous Scandinavian place-names mean that they were suitable places for loading boats. A well-known example is Lade, meaning ‘landing-’ or ‘loading-place’, across the River Nid from the site of the Medieval city of Trondheim. In Norway there are several places called Laberg or Lahelle, names that are closely related to Lade, and in Denmark there are two places called Ladby (Sandnes and Stemshaug 1980, 198; Dalberg and S0rensen 1979, 177–9). Some of these may have been trading places but most probably served one or more neighbouring farms. Such names are, therefore, little help in locating early markets.
By combining the various strands of evidence, it is possible to show that there were many places throughout Scandinavia where annual fairs were held at which native inhabitants could exchange their produce. Some of them, especially in Norway and Sweden, were held in winter when travel was easier than at other times of the year. The main other season for annual fairs was the autumn, when the summer produce could be exchanged (Kulturhistorisk Leksikon, xi, cols 445–53; Staf 1933). Most of these fairs continued to be held in or near later towns that owed their existence, in part, to the fairs. Many towns probably developed on, or very close to, the site of an earlier assembly and its fair, but some apparently took over fairs that had been held some distance away.
For example, Lund began to develop c. 990, the date of its earliest church and churchyard. However, there are reasons to think that it was in some respects the successor of an Iron-Age centre at Uppakra, five kilometres to the south, where abundant evidence has been found of trading and workshops until the mid tenth century (Hardh 2000). Traces of three burial mounds that were surrounded by relatively undisturbed areas suggest that these had some religious significance. As one of the fairs later held in Lund was called the ‘Three Mounds Fair’ it appears that it had been transferred from Uppakra (Andren 1998). There is no doubt that many fairs had ancient roots. Some were held in places with names showing that they had been pagan cult centres, for example, the name of the Danish episcopal city of Viborg meant ‘hill(s) by a vi ‘, that is, a temple or place of worship. Viborg not only had an important fair in January but was also the place in which Jutlanders chose, or recognized kings (Jørgensen 1982, L42). Similarly, the cathedral city of Odense on the Danish island of Fyn first appeared in 988 in the Latinized form Othenesuuigensem meaning ‘Odin’s vi’ (Hald 1963).
These fairs were originally held in connection with assemblies in which local communities regulated their own affairs. These assemblies had religious, political and legal functions, as well as providing opportunities for people to buy and sell. Some fairs were held in connection with festivals celebrated at cult sites that were not linked with such assemblies. A well-documented Swedish example was held at a spring at Svinegarn, near Enkoping in Uppland. Before the Reformation, votive offerings were made at the spring and to the nearby church by people of both high and low status (Ahnlund 1922). In Denmark over thirty similar fairs were held at springs, and some of them survived until quite recently (Christensen 1933, 186–7).
After the acceptance of Christianity most of these assemblies and fairs were ‘converted’ and linked with Christian festivals. One exception was the winter fair held at Uppsala, called Distingen ‘the ting of the Diser [goddesses]’. Throughout the Middle Ages it was held when the first new moon after midwinter was full (Kulturhistorisk Leksikon, iii, cols 112–5). Its date could therefore be worked out by all who attended it, including non-Christian trappers and traders from the far north who would know from experience when to set out. At least two others were based on the lunar calendar. Winter fairs held in Strangnas in eastern Sweden and in Oslo were not linked with Christian festivals, but were held in the first week of Lent when, as with Distingen, the moon was growing (Kulturhistorisk Leksikon, xv, cols 25–7; Koht i921, 25–8). It was also in the winter that the Saami brought their furs, skins, feathers and other produce to landing places on the Norwegian coast in or near their winter camps to render as tribute, of the kind received by Ohthere, or to exchange for metalwork and other produce supplied by the Scandinavians.
There were many other places in which the produce of different regions was exchanged. Some were inland. A good example is a site in the valley of Setesdal in south Norway which received imports from all directions in the Viking period. It seems likely that there were seasonal fairs then much like those reported in the nineteenth century, when men travelled to Setesdal from the coast to exchange salt, cloth, leather and fish for hides and skins (Larsen 1980). Many more were on coasts. In Gotland, for example, where many farms had their own landing places, there were at least six harbours that seem to have served several farms, and where trade was done and at which craftsmen worked throughout the Viking Age (Carlsson 1991). Such a concentration was exceptional, but there is no doubt that there were many along all Scandinavian coasts. Some are shown to have been operating even before the ninth century by the fact that, thanks to the land uplift since the Ice Age, the traces left by traders and craftsmen have been found several metres above the present sea level. The town of Bergen was established in the eleventh century close to a site of this kind, which was soon covered by the expanding settlement (Helle 1985, 8–9).
Towns had to have markets in which the inhabitants could buy provisions, clothing and tools. From the thirteenth century, and probably earlier, efforts were made to protect these urban markets from the competition of traditional rural markets nearby. By the twelfth century, the network of towns with markets covered most of the Danish kingdom, but in other parts of Scandinavia there were few towns, and large areas had no easy access to urban markets. It is therefore unsurprising that in many parts of Scandinavia unlicensed rural markets continued to flourish despite repeated prohibitions. They clearly served a useful purpose and efforts to abolish or transfer them elsewhere met with resistance: as late as 1775 there were at least 150 such rural fairs throughout Sweden (Staf 1933).
Some of these rural markets were associated with churches. In 1488, illegal markets held at the Cistercian nunnery of Skokloster and at a church called Ness were ordered to close (Sawyer 1986, 69). Christian church
es that had replaced pagan cult centres continued to provide opportunities for buying and selling, although there is little direct evidence of Sunday trading in Scandinavia as there is in England. Swedish market charters beginning in the late thirteenth century are concerned only with weekday markets (Kulturhistorisk Leksikon, xviii, col. 480), but the thirteenth century law of Gotland provided for the sale on Sundays of cheese, butter, fish, fowls and meat, but not flour, seeds or other goods (Sawyer, 1986, 71). In 1531 Gustav Vasa complained that illegal fairs were becoming so frequent that there would soon be one held at every church festival (ibid.). We may suspect that fairs were often held on church patronal festivals and that unlicensed markets were commonly held on Sundays long before the sixteenth century.
Certainly, Medieval coins found in Scandinavian churches support the idea that they were places in which trading took place. Excluding hoards that were deliberately concealed, larger concentrations of Medieval coins have been found in the excavation of churches than in farms, castles or even town sites. In some churches very large numbers of coins have been found. The Cistercian monastery of Alvastra in Östergotland is the extreme case, with 1,380 coins of the sixteenth century or earlier scattered in the church itself, in the chapter house and in other abbey buildings and grounds (Malmer 1981). Large numbers of Medieval coins have also been found in other monasteries, for example Vreta and Varnhem (both Cistercian), and in Birgitta’s foundation, Vadstena, as well as in the cathedral church of Linkoping. Smaller concentrations have been found in many less important churches. The Swedish evidence has been systematically studied by Henrik Klackenberg (1992), who has analysed some 7,000 Medieval coins that have been found in 200 rural churches in Sweden. In 1986 I suggested that although some may have come from disturbed graves the most natural explanation for these coin finds is that churches were used for buying and selling as well as for worship. Churches not only offered the best opportunities for regular meetings, they also provided sheltered space that was badly needed for much of the year (Sawyer 1986, 71). Klackenberg objected that as most coins have been found at the east end of churches, around the altars, they are more likely to have been lost when offerings were made. In many churches, however, coins have been found away from the altar. Svanhild Sortlind, of the Archaeological Institute in Trondheim, has drawn my attention to the excavation of Msre church, at the head of Trondheim Fjord, where 575 coins from the eleventh to the nineteenth centuries have been found; 313 of them were in the nave. The interpretation of such evidence is complicated by the fact that there were many burials in the nave from the earliest phase of the church (Liden 1970). She has also pointed out that the churches in Trondheim have yielded remarkably few coins. That may be, in part, because they had better paving than most rural churches, but it may also be because in towns there were other opportunities to buy and sell than in the countryside.
