Pomerania During The Early Middle Ages - Scandinavian Settlements and Emporia

Scandinavian Settlements and Emporia

Viking Age Scandinavian settlements were set up along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, primarily for trade purposes. Their appearance coincides with the settlement and consolidation of the Slavic tribes in the respective areas. Scandinavians had contacts to the Slavs since their very immigration, these first contacts were soon followed by both the construction of Scandinavian emporia and Slavic burghs in their vicinity.

The Scandinavian settlements were larger than the early Slavic ones, their craftsmen had a considerably higher productivity, and in contrast to the early Slavs, the Scandinavians were capable of seafaring. It is not known whether or not the emporia were somehow integrated into the emerging tribal organizations of the Slavs, yet it is taken for certain that they were very important centers of power.

Their importance for trade with the Slavic world however was limited to the coastal regions and their hinterlands - while imported goods associated with Scandinavian trade have been found in the areas between Baltic coast, Mecklenburg Lake District and Pomeranian lake chain, evidence for contacts to distant Slavic areas further south is missing.

Scandinavian settlements at the Pomeranian coast include Wollin (on the isle of Wollin), Ralswiek (on the isle of Rügen), Altes Lager Menzlin (at the lower Peene river), and Bardy-Świelubie near modern Kołobrzeg. Menzlin was set up in the mid-8th century. In Wollin, seaside foritifications have been dated back to the beginning 10th century, yet remnants of older fortifications were also found, probably pointing to an earlier burgh with an adjacent open settlement. Wollin and Ralswiek began to prosper in the course of the 9th century.

Bardy-Świelubie differs from other emporia: The location is rather far from the coastline, and Bardy was built before 800, making it one of the earliest Slavic burghs in the coastal area. Archaeological findings indicate participation in Carolingian trade, but evidence of non-Slavic presence is missing. In the 9th century, Scandinavians (men and women) settled the site, as is evident from the adjacent Hügelgrab grave field in Świelubie. The exact site of the settlement, whether inside or close to the burgh, is not yet determined. A Slavic burgh as a predecessor for a Scandinavian settlement is not observed elsewhere, with the possible, but not yet evident exception of Wollin.

A merchants' settlement has also been suggested near Arkona, but no archeological evidence supports this theory. Reric, formerly located at Rerik on the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula in Western Pomerania, has recently been identified as Groß Strömkendorf on the eastern coast of Wismar Bay in Mecklenburg. Reric was set up around the year 700, but following later warfare between Obodrites and Danes, the merchants were resettled to Haithabu.

The exact ethnic composition of the settlements cannot be determined, it is thought that they had a multi-ethnic character - besides Scandinavians, a Slavic and Frisian presence has been suggested. Scandinavian presence is evident in artefacts, burial rites, and the type of houses.

Early emporia like Menzlin and Dierkow (just west of the Pomeranian border, near Rostock) reached their peak already in the 9th century, no imported goods are found from the 10th century. Bardy-Świelubie was vacated in the late 9th century, when the Slavic settlement of Kołobrzeg became the new center of the region. Ralswiek made it into the new millennium, but at the time when written chronicles reported the site in the 12th century it had lost all its importance. Wollin was destroyed by the Danes in the 12th century.

Scandinavian arrowheads from the 8th and 9th centuries were found between the coast and the lake chains in the Mecklenburgian and Pomeranian hinterlands, pointing at periods of warfare between the Scandinavians and Slavs.