Theme:
4. Polis, Empire, League and Beyond – Living in Interconnected Societies
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Above and around 60 Degrees North: Movement of Ideas, Practices, Materials and People AD 300-1300
Content:
Recent archaeological studies have drawn attention to the regions above and around 60 degrees North, repeatedly perceived as peripheral and dependent on southern innovations as a driver for change. However, when looking beyond traditional presumptions it becomes clear that northern regions are equally dynamic, and often act as central players in the developments of past infrastructure and the economic as well as social processes that stimulated it. There is an increasing number of examples demonstrating the centrality of the North; from the importance of forested outlands in Sweden within the context of an over-regional economy already starting from the Migration Period, to the nodal role of northern coastal regions in long-distance interactions well beyond Viking Age; from the rise of distant settlement districts in Norway focussing on interregional trade, to indigenous agency in Norse diaspora settlement frontiers. Despite this, the awareness of the impact of the North is far from being properly explored. In this session we want to discuss the dynamics of interaction and movement within the far northern hemisphere - within and across borders, specifically focusing on the time period of AD 300-1300. We would like to investigate the northern areas as important venues for, and instigators of, the movement of ideas, practices, materials and people. We also aim to explore dynamics of identity creation at the intersection of difference and sameness within these environmentally marginal areas.
Keywords:
North, Iron Age, Early Medieval, Periphery, Interaction, Exchange
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Charlotta Hillerdal (United Kingdom) 1
Co-organisers:
Kristin Ilves (Finland) 2
Affiliations:
1. University of Aberdeen
2. University of Helsinki
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