Session: #313

Regular session

The marketplace is among the most iconic features of the medieval town; nevertheless, due to their specific biographies they are rarely considered or studied in medieval archaeology.
Urban planning and redevelopment measures in the last 20–30 years have led to a significant increase of marketplace excavations. The results of these excavations, however, were most often not subjected to scientific research, so that we are still unsure how marketplaces developed, how they were designed and when, and how they functioned in detail. And, what is the sense of place regarding ‘markets’, or, what does it mean to ‘hold a market’ from a material habitus perspective?
In this session, we want to address questions relating to the origins of the concept of market places and what it meant to hold a market in the earlier centuries of the Middle Ages, where the picture is rather blurry. Written sources mention street markets, beach markets, markets at harbours and more often market rights. But what is their archaeological reality? Can we indeed transport the market concept from the later medieval period to the phase of portus towns and wics?
By the 13th century at the latest, almost every European town had at least one central market square. We will discuss how, and why, this successful model that changed the topography of many towns appeared almost everywhere.
We also want to address how different markets functioned, i.e. what practices were undertaken and which actors were present. This calls for new methods that have the potential to reveal yet unknown actions and voiceless actors.
The aim of the session is to gather concepts, approaches, methods and significant case studies on the field, to establish an Archaeology of Medieval Markets.

marketplace, trade and exchange, urbanisation, infrastructure, methodology, medieval archaeology

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Felix Rösch (Germany) ¹

Dries Tys (Belgium) ²
Sven Kalmring (Germany) ³