Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

The operation of international trade in Iceland and Shetland (ca. 1400-1700)  (OITIS)

Outline
Around the start of the fifteenth century European merchant vessels began to push into the Atlantic. While the Spanish and Portuguese merchants began venturing westwards and southwards, English and Hanseatic vessels turned towards the North. The archaeological and historical study will examine the development, operation and impact of European trade in two key areas in the north Atlantic – Iceland and Shetland. By the early 15th century both formed part of the Danish kingdom but, with the pledging of Shetland in 1469, those islands passed to the kingdom of Scotland, which opened up the 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 marked a similar endpoint. By far the largest item of trade from both islands was stockfish which was purchased by Hanseatic merchants from local fishermen who operated in small vessels inshore. By contrast, English fishing vessels worked the offshore waters. The subject of fishing and trading sites in Iceland of the period ca. 1408-1602 has been studied by Icelandic, German and British archaeologists and historians. Less work has been carried out on trading sites in Shetland and much work still remains to be done on the detail of the operation of trade. Very little archaeological work has been conducted to elucidate the character of the sites used by foreign fishermen and merchants. Our understanding of the impact of the growth in north Atlantic commerce and fishing in the late medieval and early modern period has been limited by three factors. First, the development of European commerce is felt to belong to an imperial discourse, which privileges the visiting traders and reduces the islanders to a secondary and peripheral status. Second, scholars have rarely felt able to embrace the complexities of understanding the operation of trade in a number of different countries. There are obvious linguistic problems, and difficulties of unfamiliarity with the particular histories. Third, there is a problem of the paucity of documentary evidence in the north Atlantic islands. The traditions of record keeping and the preservation of archives has led to the survival of a very small number of sources. The account is therefore inevitably biased by the survival of more records from the European countries. To address these problems, we propose, first to focus upon the operation of trade in the main localities where it took place in the north Atlantic. Second, we have assembled a team of scholars from the European and sub-Arctic countries which participated in trade who have particular historical, archaeological and linguistic skills. Third, we will supplement the documentary evidence with archaeological survey of the trading sites in the north Atlantic islands. Field survey is the dominant activity to be undertaken during the IPY. 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.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
The project will look at a crucial moment when the economic systems of the north Atlantic communities of Iceland and Shetland were brought into close contact with those of western/central Europe. It will contribute to the understanding of foreign impact on the development of those societies, and on the interaction of peoples and incomers in the sub-Arctic situation. The project addresses the issues identified in Theme 6 on the historical processes which have contributed to the character of circumpolar societies by focussing on a critical point of cultural interaction.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
The project is a collaboration between both archaeologists and historians (scholars) from Germany, Great Britain and Iceland. The institutions who carry out the research are the Roman-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute (RGK), the Department of Archaeology at the Queen´s University Belfast (QUB) and the Icelandic Institute of Archaeology (Fornleifastofnun Íslands) (FSÍ).

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Archaeological fieldwork and surveys are carried out in the coastal areas of Iceland, mainly the Snæfellsnes peninsula and the West Fjords, and the coastal areas of the Shetland islands.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 05/08      09/08      05/09–09/09
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Fieldwork will be carried out with standard surveying and excavation equipment. Two sites in Iceland are only accessible by boat. Fieldwork in Iceland and the Shetlands requires an off-road vehicle.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The results of the project will be made available on a distributed GIS website hosted at Queen’s University Belfast which will allow others throughout the world to utilize and interrogate original survey data.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
National agency
Own support

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
n/a

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
Yes

The project is a new autonomous proposal which is seeking to build upon the results of archaeological and historical research carried out over the last 50 years.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The OITIS project is a self-managed, free-standing activity. It is managed by Dr. Mark Gardiner (QUB) and Dr. Natascha Mehler (RGK) with administrative and logistical support from the FSÍ. The historical research of medieval documents will be carried out at the relevant archives in northern Germany, Iceland and the Shetland islands, the archaeological fieldwork and surveys take place in Iceland and the Shetland islands. Regularly meetings ensure the necessary communication between all participants.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Students from Iceland, Germany and Great Britain will be trained during the fieldwork in Iceland and the Shetland islands. Training involves surveying and excavation techniques and the processing of data. The result of our work will be published in a book and presented at a number of international conferences. Details of the surveys will be made available on a distributed GIS website. In Iceland and the Shetland islands we collaborate with local communities to expand the development of sensitive cultural tourism.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The data collected during surveys and excavations will be made available on a distributed GIS website hosted by Queen’s University Belfast and freely accessible. In the long-term, we envisage that the data may be passed to the Archaeological Data Service for curation.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
The project will be funded through national funding agencies and archaeological/scientific societies of the participating countries and abroad. We benefit from a collaboration of two funding agencies in Germany and Great Britain.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
None

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Natascha Mehler
Römisch-Germanische Kommission des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Palmengartenstr. 10-12, Frankfurt


60325
Germany

Tel: 0043 1 4277 40457
Mobile: no
Fax: no
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation