Parent Project Details | |
Parent Project Title: | OITIS |
Sub Projects: |
Survey of archaeological remains at Svínanes, Iceland Survey of medieval harbours at Shetland |
Project Details | |
Title: | The Operation of International Trade in Iceland and Shetland c. 1400-1700 |
Permalink: | https://www.nabohome.org/cgi-bin/explore.pl?seq=12 |
Abstract: | The project will examine the development, operation and impact of European trade in two areas in the north Atlantic - Iceland and Shetland. In the early 15th century both were part of the Danish kingdom but, with the pledging of Shetland in 1469, it passed to the kingdom of Scotland, and led to the opening of trade to Hanse merchants. The lifting of Danish restrictions on Icelandic trade in 1490 had a similar effect. The period of trade extended in Shetland until ca. 1700, while in Iceland the restriction of trade to licensed Danish vessels in 1602 marks a similar endpoint. By far the largest item of trade from both islands was stockfish which was purchased from local fishermen who operated in small vessels inshore. English fishing vessels worked the offshore waters.
Our aim is to examine selected places of trade between merchants from the south and the sub-Arctic populations to elucidate the method of operation of commerce. The objective will be to survey and classify trading sites in Iceland and Shetland during the period ca. 1400-1700. Sites will be identified using historical sources and place-names, and located in the field using the normal archaeological techniques of aerial photography and field inspection of earthworks. The survey will be undertaken using differential GPS to map the sites in relationship to the local topography with the further objective of identifying sites for future investigation by excavation. |
Keywords: | Hanseatic League,trade,fish,Middle Ages,post-medieval |
Sponsors/Funders: | Roman Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute |
Queen´s University Belfast | |
German Research Foundation | |
Country: | Iceland |
Project Start Year: | 2006 |
Account Owner | |
Contact: | Natascha Mehler |
Institution: | Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum |
Postal Address: | Leibniz-Institut für deutsche Schifffahrtsgeschichte Hans-Scharoun-Platz 1 27568 Bremerhaven |
Website: | http://www.dsm.museum/ueber-uns/team/mehler.5801.de.html |
Email: | Mehler@dsm.museum |
Project Collaborators | |
Name: | Adolf Fridriksson |
Institution: | FSI The Institute of Archaeology Iceland |
Address: | Barugarta 3, Reykjavik |
Postcode: | 101 |
Country: | Iceland |
Website: | http://www.instarch.is |
Name: | Brian Smith |
Institution: | Shetland Archive |
Report on the survey at Papa Stour, Shetland |
german website describing the project |
North East Coordinates: 67.60922°N, .58203°E
South West Coordinates: 59.53432°N, 26.2793°W