Photographic documentation and type determination of medieval and early modern potsherds from Vardø, northern Norway

• Main Author: Lahti, Martine F.
• Other Authors: UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Spangen, Marte, Simonsen, Povl, Demuth, Volker, Mehler, Natascha, Bertelsen, Reidar, Conzett, Philipp
• Format: Still Image
• Language: English; Norwegian
• Published: DataverseNO 2021
• Subjects: Arts and Humanities; Archaeology; photos; potsherds; pottery; typology; medieval; Middle Ages; Early Modern Period; Vardø; ceramics (object genre); ceramic ware (visual works); Early Medieval Period; Medieval Period; High Middle Ages; Late Medieval Period; Modern Period; Arctic; Northern Norway; Tromsø
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.18710/GTIBFK

[Data collection description:] Images taken in Spring 2021 of pottery sherds from the archaeological collection of The Arctic University Museum of Norway, Tromsø. The sherds object ID are: Ts5629 q-ee, Ts5630 d-l, Ts5631 d-l, Ts5632 c-f, Ts5633 b-f, Ts5634 b-l, Ts5636 a-kp, Ts5637 g-nn, Ts5638 a-ææ, Ts5639 a-å, Ts5640 a-åå, and Ts9583 b. This work was done in connection to my master thesis in archaeology, about Vardø in the middle ages. For this to be done I did a type determination by performing a macroscopic analysis. The main focus in my master was to study pottery from the middle ages to answer my thesis question about Vardø´s role during this time. With input and help from Volker Demuth, Reidar Bertelsen, and Natascha Mehler. This documentation data set is part of a larger collection: Martine F. Lahti, 2022, "Vardø Potsherd Collection", https://doi.org/10.18710/YRDR-5D21 , DataverseNO. [Thesis abstract:] At 70 degrees North and 31 degrees East, Vardø is the northeasternmost town in Norway. A fortress was established here already in the 13th–14th century, probably after the medieval church here was consecrated in 1307. Beneath Vardø´s city grounds cultural layers of several meters have been registered, and this has been described as Northern Norway’s only medieval urban soil. Despite these interesting archaeological factors, little excavations and research has been done, and Vardøs's status and role as a place during the Middle Ages remain uncertain. Excavations were performed in the “medieval urban soil” in 1955, 1958 and 2012. Little further research has been done on the material from the 1950s investigations, leaving lots of untouched archaeological material from this exciting town unprocessed. In this thesis I chose to examine 1587 pottery fragments from the excavations in 1955 and 1958, to investigate Vardø's role during Middle Ages. Examining the ceramics can provide answers to such issues as international contacts, status, eating habits, what types of activity that has taken place and what type of ...