In this third volume deriving from the 2000-2003 excavations of the
Viking town of Kaupang, a range of artefacts is presented along
with a discussion of the town's inhabitants: their origins,
activities, and trading connections. The main categories of
artefact are metal jewellery and ornaments, gemstones, vessel
glass, pottery, finds of soapstone, whetstones, and
textile-production equipment. The artefacts are described and
dated, and their areas of origin discussed. The volume is lavishly
illustrated. An exceptional wealth and diversity of artefacts
distinguishes sites such as Kaupang from all other types of site in
the Viking World. Above all, they reflect the fact that a large
population of some 400-600 people lived closely together in the
town, engaged in a comprehensive range of production and trade. The
stratigraphically distinct layers from the first half of the 9th
century allow us to put precise dates to the finds, and to the
buildings and evidence of activities associated with them. The
finds and structural remains make it possible to identify the
activities that took place within the six buildings excavated. We
can distinguish between some buildings that were only temporarily
in use and others that were permanently occupied. Several of the
temporary buildings were used by a variety of craftsmen while those
under permanent occupation were houses, and only to a secondary
degree, workshops. Throughout the life of the town from c. AD
800-930, trade links with southern Scandinavia, the Baltic, and the
Irish Sea would appear to have been strong. In the earliest phases
of the town there was considerable trade with the Frisian regions,
probably with Dorestad, but this link faded markedly in the second
half of the 9th century, probably because of the abandonment of
Dorestad. Within what is now Norway, Kaupang seems to have been
supplied with goods from the interior of eastern Norway. Goods from
around the western coasts of Norway, however, are practically
invisible. Finds of personal equipment show that the inhabitants of
the town were of diverse origins. Many of them were from southern
and western Scandinavia, but there were also Frisians there. One
house can be identified as that of a Frisian household engaged in
trade. There were also Slavs in Kaupang, although it is not clear
whether they were long-term residents.
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