Magdalena Naum

Isotopic investigation of human provenience at the eleventh century cemetery of Ndr. Grødbygård, Bornholm, Denmark

Bornholm is a Danish island almost in the center of the southern Baltic Sea. The strategic location of the island, its rich archeology, and its complex geology make it an intriguing location for the isotopic study of past human mobility. The focus of this study is on the large cemetery of Ndr. Grødbygård in the southern part of the island, which dates to the eleventh century AD and contains 553 individuals in 516 graves. The majority of the burials were in a supine position oriented west–east, with the heads to the west, following the tradition of that time. In contrast to the Christian traditions, however, the graves at Grødbygård were richly equipped by Scandinavian standards and some of the burial practices more closely resembled those from the Western Slavic region of the south (present day northeastern Germany and Poland). We have used isotopic analyses to examine the external relations and potential places of origin of the inhabitants of the cemetery. Strontium and oxygen isotope ratios in human tooth enamel provide a signature of place of origin and can be compared to the ratios of the place of burial to determine local or non-local origins. In the case of Bornholm, the local geology is quite complex, with a variety of rocks of different age and composition, resulting in a wide range of strontium isotope sources on the island, complicating the issue of identifying migrants. At the same time, Grødbygård provides an important example of the application of such methods in less than ideal conditions.

Introduction: Situating Scandinavian Colonialism

In this introductory chapter we chart colonial aspirations and projects of early modern Scandinavian kingdoms and discuss political and economic thinking that fuelled and justified these projects. We situate Danish and Swedish colonial venture, ideology and economic concerns that stood behind the global expansion in the context of contemporary European thinking and politics.

Ambiguous pots: Everyday practice, migration and materiality. The case of medieval Baltic ware on the island of Bornholm (Denmark)

Archaeologists routinely deal with the remains of everyday life. Yet the significance and dimensions of daily practices are rarely reflected upon. Merging Bourdieu’s theory of practice, recent theories of everyday life and the materiality approach in archaeology, this study addresses the potential importance of daily practices and mundane objects in dealing with a rupture caused by migration. As a case study I use an example of medieval (eleventh century) Western Slavic migration to the island of Bornholm (Denmark) and production and daily handling of ceramic pots, the so-called Baltic ware. I explore the possible background to the introduction of the new pottery style, its significance for the local population of the island and above all the meanings these types of ceramics could have had for the immigrant Slavs.

Multi-Ethnicity and Material Exchanges in Late Medieval Tallinn

This article examines the cultural and social dynamics of a multi-ethnic medieval town. Taking the lower town of Tallinn as a case study, this paper identifies the major urban ethnic groups living in the town and discusses their co-existence, self-definition, and processes of categorization. It explores ambiguities arising from daily interactions in the shared physical landscape of the town, such as material exchanges, and the development of new technological solutions, and the simultaneous insistence on maintenance of sharp inter-group boundaries. As material culture plays a significant role in the negotiation of identities and in visualizing sameness and difference, emphasis is placed on the ways objects were used in the daily lives of Tallinns multi-ethnic communities.

Difficult middles, hybridity and ambivalence of a medieval frontier: the cultural landscape of Lolland and Falster (Denmark)

This article focuses on the cultural and political landscape of the Danish islands of Lolland and Falster in the Middle Ages. The close economic and dynastic relationships between medieval Denmark and the Slavic area south of the Baltic Sea, as well as Slavic settlement on the islands, contributed to the emergence of complex realities and attitudes, as well as a particular ‘in-betweenness’ of the islanders. By analysing archaeological and historical sources as well as borrowing concepts from postcolonial scholarship, the processes that developed in this borderland geography are explored. The paper highlights hybridity in material culture, pays attention to the ambivalence towards ‘national’ projects and underlines the complex and multi-positional identities of the islanders.

Sweden in the Delaware Valley: Everyday Life and Material Culture in New Sweden

In 1637 the Swedish Crown, encouraged by Dutch merchants, developed a plan to establish a colonial outpost in America to tap into profitable tobacco and beaver pelt trade. The same year the first cargo ships left Sweden and sailed westwards to claim their piece of America along the Delaware River. Although in many ways unsuccessful and short-lived (the colony collapsed in 1656), New Sweden became a home for generations of colonists. This chapter focuses on the different aspects of their daily life: their longing and desperation, practices of homemaking and domesticating the landscape, their perception and interactions with the neighbouring Native American groups. It discusses the ways material culture was used, exchanged and appropriated by the colonists and the local Lenape and Susquehannock in the processes of meeting, negotiations and daily coexistence. (Less)

The Malady of Emigrants: Homesickness and Longing in the Colony of New Sweden (1638-1655)

This chapter explores homesickness of the Swedish colonial employees in the settlement of New Sweden and pays attention to the potential role of material culture in instigating feelings of longing. In the seventeenth century, in the age of wars fought far from home, colonial expansion and transoceanic resettlements, homesickness became a considerable social problem. In 1688, Johannes Hofer, a Swiss student of medicine described it as a psycho-somatic condition caused by inability to adjust to the life after relocation. Homesickness, or nostalgia, was to him “the sad mood originating from the desire for return to one’s native land”. Homesickness was a common malady in colonial America and one of the causes of return migration. It did not spare those employed in the colony of New Sweden, including Johan Printz, one of its governors. The governor’s letters and reports sent to Sweden provide insights into dissatisfaction with the life in the colony and desperate longing to return home. In case of governor Printz and his employees, nostalgic feelings might have been instigated by the interactions with objects brought from home. Already Hofer observed that those feeling homesick “are moved by small external objects and nothing creates a stronger impression than the desire recalling the homeland”. These connections between fantasies about home and materials that bring them about are explored and theorized about in this chapter. (Less)