Gautavik - a trading site in Iceland re-examined
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31265/ams-skrifter.v0i27.278Keywords:
Gautavik, trade, harbour, Bremen, Hamburg, ceramics, train oilAbstract
Gautavík is a well-known archaeological site on the east coast of Iceland. It was partially excavated in 1979 and interpreted as a seasonal occupied trading site, abandoned shortly after c. 1500. However, recent archaeological research on the excavated ceramics, which hitherto had not been studied in detail, raised doubts about the interpretation regarding the dating and function of the site. New research was then initiated that included an investigation of written documents in the archives of Bremen, Hamburg, and Copenhagen, pertaining to the trade with Iceland during the sixteenth century. On the basis of the new results presented here we now interpret Gautavík to have been a trading harbour that also included a farm, at least periodically, occupied from the late twelfth century, at the latest, until shortly before 1600. Gautavík was a place of supra-regional importance, being the main port of entry in Berufjörður during the medieval period. In the sixteenth century, however, Gautavík lost its importance. This was a period of intensive trade of German merchants with Iceland, and after Bremen and Hamburg merchants established Djúpivogur and Fýluvogur at the entrance of the fjord c. 1570, both gradually superseded Gautavík, such that shortly before 1600 trade was no longer conducted there.
References
RAK – Rigsarkivet, København
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Hrafns saga Sveinbjarnarsonar, ed. by A. Hasle. Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series B, 25. Copenhagen 1967.
Íslendinga sögur og þættir III, ed. by B. Halldórsson, J. Torfason, S. Tómasson and Ö. Thorsson. Reykjavík: Svart á hvítu, 1987.
Njáls saga, Íslenzk fornrit VII, ed. by E. Ó. Sveinsson. Reykjavík: Hið íslenska fornritafélag, 1954.
Bei der Wieden, H. 1994. Lübeckische Islandfahrt vom 15. bis 17. Jahrhundert. Zeitschrift des Vereins für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde 74, 9–30.
Bertelsen, T. 2010. Teglstensformater og forbandter i danmarks middelalder og renæssance, in K. H. Clausen and T. A. Vestergaard (eds), Flensborgsten – om murstensformater, teglhandel og arkitektur, 58–65. Haderslev: Museum Sønderjylland.
Bischop, D. 2014. Die Ausgrabungen im Bremer Stephaniviertel beim Neubau von Radio Bremen 2004 bis 2005, in A. Falk, U. Müller and M. Schneider (eds), Lübeck und der Hanseraum. Festschrift für Manfred Gläser, 245–255. Lübeck: Schmidt-Römhild.
Bruun, D. 1928. Fortidsminder og nutidshjem paa Island. Copenhagen: Gyldendalske boghandel.
Capelle, T. 1982. Untersuchungen auf dem mittelalterlichen Handelsplatz Gautavík, Island. Köln: Rheinland-Verlag.
Edvardsson, R. 2018. Underwater survey at the medieval trading site in Gautavík. Preliminary Report. Bolungarvík: Rannsóknasetur Háskóla Íslands á Vestfjörðum.
Edvardsson, R. and Egilsson, A. Þ. 2011. Archaeological assessement of selected submerged sites in Vestfirðir. Archaeologica Islandica 9, 9–28.
Edvardsson, R. and Rafnsson, M. 2011. Hvalveiðar útlendinga á 17. öld. Fornleifar á Strákatanga 2005–2010. Árbók hins íslenzka fornleifafélags 2011, 145–166.
Gardiner, M. and Mehler, N. 2007. English and Hanseatic trading and fishing sites in medieval Iceland: report on initial fieldwork. Germania 85, 385–427.
Georgsson, Á. Ó. 1990. Fornleifaskrá. Skrá um friðlýstar fornleifar. Reykjavík: Þjóðminjasafn Íslands.
Grabowski, M. 2007. Backhäuser und Backöfen in Lübeck. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Archäologie des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit 19, 129–136.
Helgason, Þ. 2018. The Corsair´s Longest Voyage. The Turkish Raid in Iceland 1627. Leiden: Brill.
Hofmeister, A. 2000. Hansische Kaufleute auf Island im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert, in A. E. Hofmeister and A. Löhr (eds), Kirche – Kaufmann – Kabeljau. 1000 Jahre Bremer Islandfahrt, 33-46. Bremen: Staatsarchiv.
Holterman, B. 2018a. The Fish Lands. German trade with Iceland, Shetland and the Faroes in the late 15th and 16th century. Unpublished PhD thesis, Hamburg University.
Holterman, B. 2018b. German merchants at the trading station of Básendar, Iceland. Blog entry, Fish and Ships. https://fishandships.dsm.museum/?p=614
Jónsson, F. 1908. Hinn forni kaupstaður 'at Gásum'. Árbók hins íslenzka fornleifafélags 1908, 3–8.
Köbler, G. 2014. Mittelniederdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd edition. Online at https://www.koeblergerhard.de/mndwbhin.html
Kristjánsson, L. 1983. Íslenskir sjávarhættir, vol. 3. Reykjavík: Bókaútgáfa meningarsjóðs.
Mehler, N. 2000. Die mittelalterliche Keramik Islands. Unpublished Magister thesis, Bamberg University.
Mehler, N. 2004. Die mittelalterliche Importkeramik Islands, in G. Guðmundsson (ed.), Current Issues in Nordic Archaeology. Proceedings of the 21st Conference of Nordic Archaeologists, 6–9 August 2001, Akureyri, Iceland, 167–171. Reykjavík: Mál og mennig.
Mehler, N. 2007. Viking age and medieval craft in Iceland: Adaptation to extraordinary living conditions on the edge of the Old World, in J. Klapste and P. Sommer (eds), Medieval Craft in Rural Landscapes. Ruralia VI, 227–244. Turnhout: Brepols.
Mehler, N. 2015. The sulphur trade of Iceland from the Viking Age to the end of the Hanseatic period, in I. Baug, J. Larsen and S. Samset Mygland (eds), Nordic Middle Ages – Artefacts, Landscapes and Society. Essays in Honor of Ingvild Øye on her 70th Birthday. University of Bergen Archaeological Series 8, 193–212. Bergen: Bergen University Press.
Mehler, N., Kristjánsdóttir, S. and Kluttig-Altmann, R. 2018. The sound of silence – a ceramic horn and its role in monasticism in late medieval Iceland. Early Music 46/4, 551–560.
Möller, G. 2008. Stralsunds mittelalterliches Erbe. Schriftenreihe Stralsunder Denkmale 3, 8–17.
Ólafsson, G. 1980. Fornleifarannsóknir í Gautavík. Ljóri, 1, 24–26.
Ólafsson, G. 1982. Der Ostkomplex, in T. Capelle, Untersuchungen auf dem mittelalterlichen Handelsplatz Gautavík, Island, 60–68. Köln: Rheinland-Verlag.
Ólafsson, G. 2005. Verslunarstaðurinn í Gautavík. Rannsókn á rúst I. Reykjavík: Þjóðminjasafn Íslands.
Olavius, O. 1964. Ferðabók, vol. 1. Reykjavík: Bókfellsútgáfan.
Paulsen, C., Rafnsson, M. and Edvardsson, R. 2008. Foreign Whaling in Iceland. Archaeological Excavations at Strákatangi í Hveravík, Kaldrananeshreppi 2007. Unpublished Data Structure Report. Bolungarvík: Náttúrustofa Vestfjarða.
Rech, M. 2004. Gefundene Vergangenheit. Archäologie des Mittelalters in Bremen, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung von Riga. Bonn: Habelt-Verlag.
Roberts, H. M. 2002. Fornleifarannsókn á Gásum/Archaeological Research at Gásir 2001. An Interim Report/Framvinduskýrsla. Unpublished excavation report nr. FS163-01071. Reykjavík: Fornleifastofnun Íslands.
Roberts, H. M. 2003. Gásir 2002. An Interim Report. Unpublished excavation report nr. FS194-01073. Reykjavík: Fornleifastofnun Íslands.
Roberts, H. M. 2005. Excavations at Gásir 2004. An Interim Report. Unpublished excavation report nr. FS280-01076. Reykjavík: Fornleifastofnun Íslands.
Sigurðsson, H. 1978. Kortasaga Íslands frá lokum 16. aldar til 1848. Reykjavík: Bókaútgáfa Menningarsjóðs og Þjóðvinafélagsins.
Suchowa, K.-P. 2002. Entwicklungsstufen in der Backofentechnologie. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Archäologie des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit 13, 49–50.
Sveinbjarnardóttir, G. 1996. Leirker á Íslandi. Pottery found in excavations in Iceland. Reykjavík: Íslenzka fornleifafélags.
Thompson, M. and Walsh, J. N. 1989. A Handbook of Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometry. New York: Springer.
Þór, J. Þ. 2002. Fornar hafnir á Suðvesturlandi. Reykjavík: Fræðslurit Ferðafélags Íslands.
Þorkelsson, M. 2004. Í Hvalfirði: Miðaldahöfn og hlutverk hennar. Unpublished MA thesis, Háskóli Íslands.
Þorsteinsson, B. and Grímsdóttir, G. Á. 1989. Norska öldin, in S. Líndal (ed.), Saga Íslands IV, 61–258. Reykjavík: Sögufélag.
Þorsteinsson, B. and Grímsdóttir, G. Á. 1990. Enska öldin, in S. Líndal (ed.), Saga Íslands V, 3–216. Reykjavík:
Sögufélag.
Þorsteinsson, B. and Jónsson, B. 1991. Saga Íslands til okkar daga. Reykjavík: Sögufélag.
Traustadóttir, R. and Bolender, D. 2002. Kolkuós í Skagafirði. Forkönnun og rannsóknaráætlun. Hólarannsóknin 2002 – framvinduskýrsla nr. 2. Unpublished excavation report.
Traustadóttir, R. and Einebrant Svenson, J. 2011. Kolkuós í Skagafirði. Framvinduskýrsla 2011. Unpublished report. Hólarannsóknin.
Traustadóttir, R. and Einebrant Svenson, J. 2012. Kolkuós í Skagafirði. Preliminary Excavation Report. Kolkuós 2012. Unpublished report. Hólarannsóknin.
Trigg, H. B., Bolender, D. J., Johnson, K. M., Patalano, M. D. and Steinberg, J. M. 2009. Note on barley found in dung in the lowest levels of the farm mound at Reynistaður, Skagafjörður Iceland. Archaeologia Islandica 7, 64–72.
van der Venne, A. 2008. Poken en stoken, brouwen en koken. Archeologie en geschiedenis van 100 ambachtelijke ovens. Amsterdam: Archeologische Werkgemeenschap voor Nederland.
Vésteinsson, O. 2013. What is in a Booth? Material Symbolism at Icelandic Assembly Sites, in A. Sanmark, S. Semple, N. Mehler and F. Iversen (eds), Debating the Thing in the North I: The Assembly Project, Journal of the North Atlantic, Special Volume 5, 111–124.
Ann. Isl. – Annales Islandici Posteriorum Saeculorum, vol. 1.3. ('Seiluannáll.') and vol. 1.4. ('Vallaannáll.'). Reykjavík: Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag, 1924.
Hrafns saga Sveinbjarnarsonar, ed. by A. Hasle. Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series B, 25. Copenhagen 1967.
Íslendinga sögur og þættir III, ed. by B. Halldórsson, J. Torfason, S. Tómasson and Ö. Thorsson. Reykjavík: Svart á hvítu, 1987.
Njáls saga, Íslenzk fornrit VII, ed. by E. Ó. Sveinsson. Reykjavík: Hið íslenska fornritafélag, 1954.
Bei der Wieden, H. 1994. Lübeckische Islandfahrt vom 15. bis 17. Jahrhundert. Zeitschrift des Vereins für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde 74, 9–30.
Bertelsen, T. 2010. Teglstensformater og forbandter i danmarks middelalder og renæssance, in K. H. Clausen and T. A. Vestergaard (eds), Flensborgsten – om murstensformater, teglhandel og arkitektur, 58–65. Haderslev: Museum Sønderjylland.
Bischop, D. 2014. Die Ausgrabungen im Bremer Stephaniviertel beim Neubau von Radio Bremen 2004 bis 2005, in A. Falk, U. Müller and M. Schneider (eds), Lübeck und der Hanseraum. Festschrift für Manfred Gläser, 245–255. Lübeck: Schmidt-Römhild.
Bruun, D. 1928. Fortidsminder og nutidshjem paa Island. Copenhagen: Gyldendalske boghandel.
Capelle, T. 1982. Untersuchungen auf dem mittelalterlichen Handelsplatz Gautavík, Island. Köln: Rheinland-Verlag.
Edvardsson, R. 2018. Underwater survey at the medieval trading site in Gautavík. Preliminary Report. Bolungarvík: Rannsóknasetur Háskóla Íslands á Vestfjörðum.
Edvardsson, R. and Egilsson, A. Þ. 2011. Archaeological assessement of selected submerged sites in Vestfirðir. Archaeologica Islandica 9, 9–28.
Edvardsson, R. and Rafnsson, M. 2011. Hvalveiðar útlendinga á 17. öld. Fornleifar á Strákatanga 2005–2010. Árbók hins íslenzka fornleifafélags 2011, 145–166.
Gardiner, M. and Mehler, N. 2007. English and Hanseatic trading and fishing sites in medieval Iceland: report on initial fieldwork. Germania 85, 385–427.
Georgsson, Á. Ó. 1990. Fornleifaskrá. Skrá um friðlýstar fornleifar. Reykjavík: Þjóðminjasafn Íslands.
Grabowski, M. 2007. Backhäuser und Backöfen in Lübeck. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Archäologie des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit 19, 129–136.
Helgason, Þ. 2018. The Corsair´s Longest Voyage. The Turkish Raid in Iceland 1627. Leiden: Brill.
Hofmeister, A. 2000. Hansische Kaufleute auf Island im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert, in A. E. Hofmeister and A. Löhr (eds), Kirche – Kaufmann – Kabeljau. 1000 Jahre Bremer Islandfahrt, 33-46. Bremen: Staatsarchiv.
Holterman, B. 2018a. The Fish Lands. German trade with Iceland, Shetland and the Faroes in the late 15th and 16th century. Unpublished PhD thesis, Hamburg University.
Holterman, B. 2018b. German merchants at the trading station of Básendar, Iceland. Blog entry, Fish and Ships. https://fishandships.dsm.museum/?p=614
Jónsson, F. 1908. Hinn forni kaupstaður 'at Gásum'. Árbók hins íslenzka fornleifafélags 1908, 3–8.
Köbler, G. 2014. Mittelniederdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd edition. Online at https://www.koeblergerhard.de/mndwbhin.html
Kristjánsson, L. 1983. Íslenskir sjávarhættir, vol. 3. Reykjavík: Bókaútgáfa meningarsjóðs.
Mehler, N. 2000. Die mittelalterliche Keramik Islands. Unpublished Magister thesis, Bamberg University.
Mehler, N. 2004. Die mittelalterliche Importkeramik Islands, in G. Guðmundsson (ed.), Current Issues in Nordic Archaeology. Proceedings of the 21st Conference of Nordic Archaeologists, 6–9 August 2001, Akureyri, Iceland, 167–171. Reykjavík: Mál og mennig.
Mehler, N. 2007. Viking age and medieval craft in Iceland: Adaptation to extraordinary living conditions on the edge of the Old World, in J. Klapste and P. Sommer (eds), Medieval Craft in Rural Landscapes. Ruralia VI, 227–244. Turnhout: Brepols.
Mehler, N. 2015. The sulphur trade of Iceland from the Viking Age to the end of the Hanseatic period, in I. Baug, J. Larsen and S. Samset Mygland (eds), Nordic Middle Ages – Artefacts, Landscapes and Society. Essays in Honor of Ingvild Øye on her 70th Birthday. University of Bergen Archaeological Series 8, 193–212. Bergen: Bergen University Press.
Mehler, N., Kristjánsdóttir, S. and Kluttig-Altmann, R. 2018. The sound of silence – a ceramic horn and its role in monasticism in late medieval Iceland. Early Music 46/4, 551–560.
Möller, G. 2008. Stralsunds mittelalterliches Erbe. Schriftenreihe Stralsunder Denkmale 3, 8–17.
Ólafsson, G. 1980. Fornleifarannsóknir í Gautavík. Ljóri, 1, 24–26.
Ólafsson, G. 1982. Der Ostkomplex, in T. Capelle, Untersuchungen auf dem mittelalterlichen Handelsplatz Gautavík, Island, 60–68. Köln: Rheinland-Verlag.
Ólafsson, G. 2005. Verslunarstaðurinn í Gautavík. Rannsókn á rúst I. Reykjavík: Þjóðminjasafn Íslands.
Olavius, O. 1964. Ferðabók, vol. 1. Reykjavík: Bókfellsútgáfan.
Paulsen, C., Rafnsson, M. and Edvardsson, R. 2008. Foreign Whaling in Iceland. Archaeological Excavations at Strákatangi í Hveravík, Kaldrananeshreppi 2007. Unpublished Data Structure Report. Bolungarvík: Náttúrustofa Vestfjarða.
Rech, M. 2004. Gefundene Vergangenheit. Archäologie des Mittelalters in Bremen, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung von Riga. Bonn: Habelt-Verlag.
Roberts, H. M. 2002. Fornleifarannsókn á Gásum/Archaeological Research at Gásir 2001. An Interim Report/Framvinduskýrsla. Unpublished excavation report nr. FS163-01071. Reykjavík: Fornleifastofnun Íslands.
Roberts, H. M. 2003. Gásir 2002. An Interim Report. Unpublished excavation report nr. FS194-01073. Reykjavík: Fornleifastofnun Íslands.
Roberts, H. M. 2005. Excavations at Gásir 2004. An Interim Report. Unpublished excavation report nr. FS280-01076. Reykjavík: Fornleifastofnun Íslands.
Sigurðsson, H. 1978. Kortasaga Íslands frá lokum 16. aldar til 1848. Reykjavík: Bókaútgáfa Menningarsjóðs og Þjóðvinafélagsins.
Suchowa, K.-P. 2002. Entwicklungsstufen in der Backofentechnologie. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Archäologie des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit 13, 49–50.
Sveinbjarnardóttir, G. 1996. Leirker á Íslandi. Pottery found in excavations in Iceland. Reykjavík: Íslenzka fornleifafélags.
Thompson, M. and Walsh, J. N. 1989. A Handbook of Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometry. New York: Springer.
Þór, J. Þ. 2002. Fornar hafnir á Suðvesturlandi. Reykjavík: Fræðslurit Ferðafélags Íslands.
Þorkelsson, M. 2004. Í Hvalfirði: Miðaldahöfn og hlutverk hennar. Unpublished MA thesis, Háskóli Íslands.
Þorsteinsson, B. and Grímsdóttir, G. Á. 1989. Norska öldin, in S. Líndal (ed.), Saga Íslands IV, 61–258. Reykjavík: Sögufélag.
Þorsteinsson, B. and Grímsdóttir, G. Á. 1990. Enska öldin, in S. Líndal (ed.), Saga Íslands V, 3–216. Reykjavík:
Sögufélag.
Þorsteinsson, B. and Jónsson, B. 1991. Saga Íslands til okkar daga. Reykjavík: Sögufélag.
Traustadóttir, R. and Bolender, D. 2002. Kolkuós í Skagafirði. Forkönnun og rannsóknaráætlun. Hólarannsóknin 2002 – framvinduskýrsla nr. 2. Unpublished excavation report.
Traustadóttir, R. and Einebrant Svenson, J. 2011. Kolkuós í Skagafirði. Framvinduskýrsla 2011. Unpublished report. Hólarannsóknin.
Traustadóttir, R. and Einebrant Svenson, J. 2012. Kolkuós í Skagafirði. Preliminary Excavation Report. Kolkuós 2012. Unpublished report. Hólarannsóknin.
Trigg, H. B., Bolender, D. J., Johnson, K. M., Patalano, M. D. and Steinberg, J. M. 2009. Note on barley found in dung in the lowest levels of the farm mound at Reynistaður, Skagafjörður Iceland. Archaeologia Islandica 7, 64–72.
van der Venne, A. 2008. Poken en stoken, brouwen en koken. Archeologie en geschiedenis van 100 ambachtelijke ovens. Amsterdam: Archeologische Werkgemeenschap voor Nederland.
Vésteinsson, O. 2013. What is in a Booth? Material Symbolism at Icelandic Assembly Sites, in A. Sanmark, S. Semple, N. Mehler and F. Iversen (eds), Debating the Thing in the North I: The Assembly Project, Journal of the North Atlantic, Special Volume 5, 111–124.
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Published
2020-01-06
How to Cite
Mehler, N., Ólafsson, G., Holterman, B., Coolen, J., Edvardsson, R., & Brorsson, T. (2020). Gautavik - a trading site in Iceland re-examined. AmS-Skrifter, (27), 259–275. https://doi.org/10.31265/ams-skrifter.v0i27.278
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Part IV: Case studies