Town Foundations in the 12th/13th Century Transformation Period and the Urbanisation Phases in Po... more Town Foundations in the 12th/13th Century Transformation Period and the Urbanisation Phases in Pomerania and Brandenburg in the Middle Ages - The article examines the emergence of legal towns in Pomerania and Brandenburg during the great upheavals of the 12th/13th centuries, set against the backdrop of their early urban predecessors from the Slavic period (7th to 12th centuries). It demonstrates that the establishment of towns represented the final stage of an urbanisation history that can be clearly divided into three phases. Firstly, maritime trading centres on the Baltic coast had taken on central functions; these emporia existed from the 8th to the 10th century. This phase was followed by the late Slavic »castle towns« (Burgstädte), which flourished in the 11th and 12th centuries. Subsequently, a number of legal towns emerged. Despite this progression, urban development was marked by major disruptions and new beginnings. The overview of urbanisation history also includes subordinate centres, merchant settlements, and villae fori, as well as towns deserted as a result of de-urbanisation processes.
Since the eighth century the economic and social complexity of the north-western area of Slavic s... more Since the eighth century the economic and social complexity of the north-western area of Slavic settlement increased rapidly: Scandinavian-Slavic coastal trading
places were established, strongholds were built, and powerful tribal rulers made their appearance in written sources. Finds of victims of violence, military equipment,
fire debris in hillforts, and other archaeological record indicate that this process was not entirely due to economic growth and peaceful development, but that it was also a
result of power struggles between the Slavic rulers as well as wars between north-western Slavs and groups from outside. At the same time significant quantities of Oriental silver coins flowed into this territory as a result of intensive trade connections between peoples of the Baltic Sea region – including north-western Slavs– and the Orient. Written sources suggest that people were an important m rchandise. This paper deals with the archaeological and historical evidence for slave hunting and slave trade – written sources, iron chains, human bones in settlement contexts, the inflow of foreign silver et cetera – and with the relationship between violence, warfare and slavery from the eighth to the eleventh/twelfth century in the northern part of the area settled by western Slavs, with a focus on modern-day north-eastern Germany. It also considers the function of the strongholds, the possible role of the coastal trading places as slave markets, and the significance of these phenomena for the economic and social development of the early medieval Slavic society.
Die Keramik umfasst 6767 Fragmente 1 von der Vorgeschichte bis in die jüngste Zeit. Den Schwerpun... more Die Keramik umfasst 6767 Fragmente 1 von der Vorgeschichte bis in die jüngste Zeit. Den Schwerpunkt bildet Material vom 12. bis zum 18./19. Jh. Den Anfang markieren der Beginn der Besiedlung und städtischen Entwicklung, das Ende die archäologisch erfassten Funde aus den jüngsten Planier-und Schuttschichten im Grabungsareal. Die lediglich zwölf prähistorischen Wandscherben -grobe Tonware mehrfach mit Rauung, einmal mit Sieblöchern -gehören wahrscheinlich in die Bronze-oder 13. Jhs. Die Phase 3 reicht vom mittleren 13. Jh. bis in die erste Hälfte -vorwiegend die ersten Jahrzehnte -des 14. Jhs., Phase 4 umfasst die zweite Hälfte des 14. und die erste Hälfte des 15. Jhs. Schließlich gehören zu Phase 5 alle neuzeitlichen Befunde bis in das 20. Jh., mit Anfängen im spätesten Mittelalter ab der zweiten Hälfte des 15. Jhs.
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Papers by Felix Biermann
places were established, strongholds were built, and powerful tribal rulers made their appearance in written sources. Finds of victims of violence, military equipment,
fire debris in hillforts, and other archaeological record indicate that this process was not entirely due to economic growth and peaceful development, but that it was also a
result of power struggles between the Slavic rulers as well as wars between north-western Slavs and groups from outside. At the same time significant quantities of Oriental silver coins flowed into this territory as a result of intensive trade connections between peoples of the Baltic Sea region – including north-western Slavs– and the Orient. Written sources suggest that people were an important m rchandise. This paper deals with the archaeological and historical evidence for slave hunting and slave trade – written sources, iron chains, human bones in settlement contexts, the inflow of foreign silver et cetera – and with the relationship between violence, warfare and slavery from the eighth to the eleventh/twelfth century in the northern part of the area settled by western Slavs, with a focus on modern-day north-eastern Germany. It also considers the function of the strongholds, the possible role of the coastal trading places as slave markets, and the significance of these phenomena for the economic and social development of the early medieval Slavic society.