If sherds could tell. Imported ceramics from the Hanseatic hinterland in Bergen, Norway. Producers, traders and consumers: who were they, and how were they connected?

Abstract

The urban archaeology of medieval Norway is in one respect similar to that of other medieval European towns; pottery forms by far the largest amount of finds. However, unlike the situation in any other European country (other than Iceland, which was always closely connected to Norway during the Viking and Middle Ages), no pottery was produced in Norway prior to the 17th century. Thus, pottery found in a medieval deposit anywhere in Norway could only have reached its findspot after having passed hrough a complicated network of diverse actors. This network is likely to have been of a largely maritime nature, as medieval pottery in Norway is almost exclusively found in coastal settlements. The dominant actor in the North Sea and Baltic region in the 14th and 15th centuries was the Hanseatic League.