North Sea Archaeologies: A Maritime Biography, 10,000 BC - AD 1500

297 Pages·2011·3.98 MB·English

by  Robert Van de Noort

NORTH SEA ARCHAEOLOGIES
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North Sea Archaeologies:
A Maritime Biography,
10,000 BC to AD 1500
ROBERT VAN DE NOORT
1
3
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxfordox26dp
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Preface
The aim of this book is to explore how an archaeological study that is
focused on a fluid maritime landscape differs from one based on a solid
terrestrial landscape, and what we—as archaeologists who overwhelmingly
liveandworkonland—canlearnfromsuchastudy.Fromtheoutset,itneeds
emphasizingthatthisstudydoesnotpresumethatlandandseaweremutually
exclusive realms, or represent genuine or metaphorical opposites in the past
orpresent.Theseaitselfistoodynamic,itsedgesaretooblurred,andpeople’s
knowledge of the sea has always been far too great for such a concept to be
given muchvalidity. Nevertheless, thesea is different from theland in many
different aspects: the sea is active and dynamic, often unpredictable and
unreliable;itcontinuestobeaco-constructoroflandscapes;itoffersadeviant
placewheretheestablishmentfounditdifficulttoexerciseitspowers;anditis
a place where special skills and knowledge are required, not held by those
unfamiliar withthe sea.In thesesenses,the seaisan alternativespacewhere
onecanexplorewaysinwhichpeopleinthepastengagedwiththeworldthey
inhabited.
TheselectionoftheNorthSeaasthefocusforthisstudyrelatesdirectlyto
my own background. Over the past three decades, I have worked as an
archaeologist on the opposite sides of the North Sea. As a student, and in
myearlycareer,IparticipatedinanumberofexcavationsontheDutchcoast
andthecoastalhinterland.Later,throughtheworkoftheHumberWetlands
Project,IbecamefamiliarwithEngland’seast-coastarchaeology.Thediscov-
ery of a fragment of a Bronze Age sewn-plank boat on a beach in East
YorkshirebyRichardMiddletonin1997,andmyinvolvementinthepublica-
tionofwhatwecalledthe‘Kilnseaboat’,drewmyattentiontotheNorthSea
proper. Researching theliterature on Bronze Ageboats, I realized the wealth
oftheresourceofferedbythesecraftandhowlittleendeavourhadbeenmade
toplacetheseintobroaderarchaeologicalcontexts.This,inturn,ledtoideas
onthetransformativepowersoftheNorthSea.
Some of the arguments presented here have been aired at conferences and
presentations around the North Sea basin, and the debates that ensued from
these are recognized for having helped to shape this book. I also wish to
acknowledgetheparticipantsoftheEnglishHeritageMarineResearchFrame-
workprojectfortheirknowledgeandwisdom.Iamparticularlygratefultothe
following who read and commented on draft chapters: Bryony Coles, Alan
Outram,HansPeeters,JasonRogers,StephenRippon,FraserSturt,andChrister
Westerdahl. As always, I am indebted to Jess Collins for improving on my
EnglishandtoMichaelRouillardforproducingtheline-drawingsandmaps.
vi Preface
IwishtothankAmyBallandAndrewMackayattheCravenMuseumand
Gallery,Skipton,foraccesstothetwosmallaxesfromtheDoggerBank,and
David Field (English Heritage) for drawing my attention to these. Others,
including David Campbelland Toby Heppel,Ithankfor making meexplain
things simply. Finally, I wish to thank my sons, Will and Michael, for their
companionship on the trips to the Oslofjord, the (cid:2)stfold and Bohusla¨n in
2006, the east coast of Jutland in 2007 and the Shetland and Orkney archi-
pelagosin2009thatcompletedmyresearcharoundtheNorthSea.
Contents
Listoffigures ix
Listofabbreviations xi
Notetothereader xiii
1. Introduction:theseais‘goodtothink’ 1
2. Anarchaeologicaltheoryofthesea 21
3. Theseaasadynamicandhybridlandscape 44
4. Fish:exploringtheseaasataskscape 72
5. Socializingcoastallandscapes 98
6. Archipelagosandislands 125
7. MovingacrosstheNorthSea 146
8. Thedaily practiceofseafaring:theshipasheterotopia
parexcellence 178
9. Theculturalbiographiesofboats 201
10. Conclusions:amaritimebiography 228
Bibliography 241
Index 271
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List of figures
1. TheNorthSea:theFrisians’view 5
2. Placesandregionsmentionedinchapter1 6
3. FirstimpressionsoftheNorthSea 8
4. AtopographicandbathymetricmapoftheNorthSearegion. 10
5. TheculturalbiographyofaboatI 39
6. TheculturalbiographyofaboatII 40
7. Placesandregionsmentionedinchapter3 45
8. Thereconstructeddevelopmentof‘Doggerland’ 46
9. RedrawnversionofClementReid’smapoftheNorthSeawith
thecoastline‘attheperiodofthelowestsubmergedforest’ 48
10. VariantsonHolocenesea-levelchange 50
11. ThereconstructeddevelopmentoftheNorthSea 52–3
12. ArchaeologicalfindsfromViking-Bergen,StoreFiskebank,and
theLemanandOwerBank 56
13. ArchaeologicalfindsfromtheBrownBank 58
14. TwosmallaxesfromDoggerBank(heldinCraven
Museum,Skipton) 59
15. Placesandregionsmentionedinchapter4 74
16. ThedistributionofmiddensintheNorthSeabasin 76
17. Reproducedimageoftherockengravingoffishermenat
Kville,Bohusla¨n 81
18. JulianThomas’s(1999)graphoftheMesolithic/Neolithic
transition 90
19. Placesandregionsmentionedinchapter5 99
20. RubjergKundelighthouse,Jutland 100
21. Reconstructionof‘Seahenge’ 106
22. ReconstructiondrawingofFlagFen,Phase3,middlestage 107
23. FeddersenWierdePhase4 111
24. FeddersenWierde—layoutofahouseinPhase5 112
25. Schematicmodelillustratingtherangeofpotentialstrategiesfor
theexploitation,modificationandtransformationofanarea
ofcoastalsaltmarsh 117
26. Placesandregionsmentionedinchapter6 127
27. TheOrkneyandShetlandIsles 128