Children in Medieval Bergen: An Archaeological Analysis of Child-Related Artefacts

118 Pages·2007·8.924 MB·English

by  Sigrid Samset Mygland

THE BRYGGEN PAPERS
Main Series No 7
CHILDREN IN MEDIEVAL BERGEN
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
OF CHILD-RELATED ARTEFACTS
Sigrid Samset Mygland

THE BRYGGEN PAPERS
Main Series No 7
THE BRYGGEN PAPERS
give a scholarly presentation of the archaeological finds from the excavations at Bryggen and other
medieval and early modern sites in Bergen.
The papers consist of two series, the Main Series and the Supplementary Series.
Editorial board appointed by the University of Bergen:
Professor Ingvild Øye
Senior Executive Officer Ann Christensson
Professor Else Mundal
Senior advisor Anne Ågotnes
Ingvild Øye acts as Chief Editor for both series.
Published in the Main Series
Vol 1 (1984) Asbjørn E. Herteig: The Archaeological Excavations at Bryggen. ‘The German Wharf’
in Bergen 1955-68. Arne Emil Christensen: Boat Finds from Bryggen.
Vol 2 (1988) Ingvild Øye: Textile Equipment and its Working Environment, Bryggen in Bergen
c 1150-1500.
Vol 3 Part 1 (1990) Asbjørn E. Herteig: The Buildings at Bryggen, their Topograhical and Chrono-
logical Development.
Vol 3 Part 2 (1991) Asbjørn E. Herteig: The Buildings at Bryggen, their Topographical and Chrono-
logical Development.
Vol 4 (1992) Arne J. Larsen: Footwear from the Gullskoen Area of Bryggen.
Vol 5 (2004) Ole Mikal Olsen and Helge Sørheim: Medieval Fishing Tackle from Bergen and
Borgund.
Vol 6 (2005) Gitte Hansen: Bergen c 800 – c 1170. The Emergence of a Town.
Published in the Supplementary Series
No 1 ( 1984) Studies on the earliest farm settlement, the first built-up area along the shore, animal
hair products, coins, and seal jugs
No 2 (1988) Presentation of runic inscriptions found at Bryggen
No 3 (1988) Brewing, cordage products, sound tolls and music
No 4 (1989) The Bryggen Pottery 1
No 5 (1994) The Bryggen Pottery 2
No 6 (1998) Medieval Fires in Bergen – Revisited
No 7 (2000) Ships and Commodities
THE BRYGGEN PAPERS
Main Series
No 7
CHILDREN IN MEDIEVAL BERGEN
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
OF CHILD-RELATED ARTEFACTS
Sigrid Samset Mygland
© 2007 by
Fagbokforlaget Vigmostad & Bjørke AS
All Rights Reserved
Graphic production: John Grieg AS, Bergen
ISBN 978-82-450-0712-1
Published with grants from Skolebestyrer B.E. Bendixens legat
and The Faculty of Humanities, University of Bergen
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Fagbokforlaget Vigmostad & Bjørke AS
Layout: Communication and Media Centre, University of Bergen
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FOREWORD
The subject of this volume of the Bryggen Papers is children and how child-related objects from
archaeological contexts can illuminate children’s presence and everyday life in medieval Bergen – al-
together a comprehensive material of more than 2,500 objects, primarily toys and shoes. By analys-
ing these physical remains, the author has been able to provide new information and shed new light
on the everyday life of children in an urban medieval community, and thereby indirectly also on its
demographic and social organisation. The study also relates to the wider discussion of how childhood
was perceived in the Middle Ages and how children at different stages of childhood were treated. It
demonstrates that the archaeological material clearly has a potential to throw light on such questions,
not least since the contemporary written evidence is sparse.
The present publication started out as a master thesis in archaeology, submitted in 2003 at the
University of Bergen, and has been partly revised and updated for publication in this seventh volume
of the Main Series. The publication has been financed by grants from Skolebestyrer B. E. Bendixen’s
legate and the Faculty of Humanities, University of Bergen.
The editorial board responsible for the publication of the series consists of Senior Executive Officer
Ann Christensson, Directorate for Cultural Heritage, District Office West, Bergen, Professor Else
Mundal, Centre of Medieval Studies, University of Bergen, Senior advisor Anne Ågotnes, Bryggens
Museum/ Bergen Bymuseum, and Professor Ingvild Øye, Department of Archaeology, History, Cul-
tural Studies and Religions, University of Bergen.
Bergen, October 2007
Ingvild Øye
Chief Editor
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CONTENTS
FOREWORD 5
1 INTRODUCTION 9
Approaches .................................................................11
The source material and area of research ...........................................12
State of research .............................................................15
2 THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES 19
Children and childhood in time and space – the child as a social construct .................19
Methodological approaches .....................................................20
Identification .....................................................................20
Classification .....................................................................22
Dating of the artefacts ..............................................................23
Spatial analysis ....................................................................24
Representativity ...................................................................24
3 TOYS – IDENTIFICATION AND DATING 27
Musical objects or noisemakers ..................................................27
Bone buzzers .....................................................................27
Ocarinas .........................................................................28
Rattles ..........................................................................28
Toys reflecting role-playing games ................................................29
Dolls ...........................................................................29
Other human figures ...............................................................31
Tools and domestic utensils ..........................................................32
Toy weapons .....................................................................33
Boats ...........................................................................36
Animal figures ....................................................................38
Toys related to board games and sports/physical activities ..............................41
Skates ...........................................................................41
Balls ............................................................................41
Humming tops ...................................................................42
Yo-yos ..........................................................................43
Marbles .........................................................................43
Toys – summary .............................................................44
Chronology of the toys ........................................................44
General chronology ................................................................45
Dating the musical objects or noisemakers ...............................................47
Dating the toys reflecting role-playing games .............................................48
Dating the toys related to board games and sports/physical activities ...........................49
Temporal representation .............................................................49
Types of games – gender and age ......................................................52
Medieval toys from Bergen – an evaluation .........................................54
4 CHILDREN’S SHOES 57
Limitations .................................................................57
Shoes and physiology .........................................................58
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Classifications ...............................................................59
Ordinary sole types from the Gullskoen area .............................................61
Atypical sole from the Gullskoen area ..................................................63
Sole types from the Gullskoen area–summary ............................................65
Distribution of sole types ............................................................65
Male or female shoes? ...............................................................69
Soles from the Gullskoen area – tendencies ..............................................69
The presence and perception of children ................................................70
All children’s soles from Bergen ..................................................70
Chronology .................................................................71
Chronology of the soles from the Gullskoen area ..........................................71
Chronology of all soles from Bergen ....................................................76
Children’s soles – an evaluation ..................................................79
5 TRACES OF CHILDREN 81
Holmen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
Bryggen ....................................................................81
The Bryggen excavation (BRM 0) .....................................................82
Other excavations at Bryggen .........................................................92
The Bryggen area – an overall evaluation ................................................96
Øvregaten/Stretet (BRM 11 and BRM 94) .........................................96
Vågsbotn (BRM 20, BRM 25, BRM 106, BRM 200, BRM 245,
BRM 274, BRM 333, BRM 346, BRM 462 and BRM 544) ...........................97
Strandsiden (BRM 7) .........................................................97
Child-related artefacts in Bergen – an overall evaluation ...............................98
Bryggen .........................................................................98
Bergen in general .................................................................100
6 CONCLUSIONS 101
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 104
BIBLIOGRAPHY 105
LIST OF FIGURES 111
LIST OF TABLES 113
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