The Archaeology of Slavery in Early Medieval Northern Europe

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Introduction: An ‘Invisible Commodity’?

   • Marek Jankowiak, Felix Biermann

   Pages 1-5

3. Comparative Perspectives

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 7-7

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   2. The Arrogation of Slavery: Prehistory, Archaeology, and Pre-theoretical Commitments Concerning People as Property

      • Timothy Taylor

      Pages 9-21

   3. Recent Approaches to the Archaeological Investigation of Slavery in Africa

      • Paul J. Lane

      Pages 23-39

4. The British Isles

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 41-41

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   2. To Tread the Paths, and Traverse the Moors: Investigating Slavery in Early Medieval Western Britain

      • Katie A. Hemer

      Pages 43-52

   3. The Archaeology of Slave Trading in Viking-Age Britain and Ireland: A Methodological Approach

      • Janel M. Fontaine

      Pages 53-63

5. Scandinavia

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 65-65

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   2. The Norm and the Subaltern: Identifying Slaves in an Early Medieval Scandinavian Society

      • Anna Kjellström

      Pages 67-79

   3. Legacy of the Disowned. Finding ambátts in High Medieval Scania and Östergötland Through Ceramic Production

      • Mats Roslund

      Pages 81-98

   4. Bonded People: Making Thralls Visible in Viking-Age and Early Medieval Sweden

      • Torun Zachrisson

      Pages 99-110

6. Central Europe

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 111-111

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   2. Slave Trade in Great Moravia: Reality or Fiction?

      • Jiří Macháček

      Pages 113-126

   3. Slavery and Slave Trade in Early Medieval Bohemia: Archaeology of Slavery or Slavery of Archaeology?

      • Ivo Štefan

      Pages 127-140

   4. Archaeological Evidence for Slavery Among the Early Medieval North-Western Slavs

      • Felix Biermann

      Pages 141-160

   5. Tracing the Saqaliba: Slave Trade and the Archaeology of the Slavic Lands in the Tenth Century

      • Marek Jankowiak

      Pages 161-181

7. Back Matter

   Pages 183-191

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This volume is the first comprehensive study of the material imprint of slavery in early medieval Europe. While written sources attest to the ubiquity of slavery and slave trade in early medieval British Isles, Scandinavia and Slavic lands, it is still difficult to find material traces of this reality, other than the hundreds of thousands of Islamic coins paid in exchange for the northern European slaves. This volume offers the first structured reflection on how to bridge this gap. It reviews the types of material evidence that can be associated with the institution of slavery and the slave trade in early medieval northern Europe, from individual objects (such as e.g. shackles) to more comprehensive landscape approaches.

The book is divided into four sections. The first presents the analytical tools developed in Africa and prehistoric Europe to identify and describe social phenomena associated with slavery and the slave trade. The following three section reviewthe three main cultural zones of early medieval northern Europe: the British Isles, Scandinavia, and Slavic central Europe. The contributions offer methodological reflections on the concept of the archaeology of slavery. They emphasize that the material record, by its nature, admits multiple interpretations. More broadly, this book comes at a time when the history of slavery is being integrated into academic syllabi in most western countries. The collection of studies contributes to a more nuanced perspective on this important and controversial topic. This volume appeals to multiple audiences interested in comparative and global studies of slavery, and will constitute the point of reference for future debates.

• Ambátts in High Medieval Scania and Östergötland
• Archaeological Investigation of Slavery in Africa
• Archaeology of Slavery
• Archaeology of Slave Trading in Viking Age Britain and Ireland
• Arrogation of Slavery
• Bonded People
• Comparative Slavery
• Dirham Hoards
• Early Medieval Economy
• Early Medieval Europe
• Identifying Slaves in an Early Medieval Scandinavian Society
• Medieval Long-distance Trade
• Medieval Slavery
• People as Property
• Slavery and Slave Trade in Early Medieval Czech Duchy
• Slavery in Early Medieval Western Britain
• Slave Trade and the Archaeology of Tenth-Century Northern Europe
• Slave Trade in Great Moravia
• Thralls in Viking-Age and Early Medieval Sweden
• Viking Slavery

“In this thought-provoking volume, Felix Biermann and Marek Jankowiak bring together contributions from a number of scholars who are currently engaged in the study of early-medieval slaving practices. … the volume’s contributions represent a valuable resource … . The volume will surely be of key interest to a range of scholars, and essential reading for medievalists and other researchers seeking to explore slavery in both regional and global contexts.” (Ben Raffield, Medieval Archaeology, Vol. 66 (2), December, 2022)

• Institute of History, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland

  Felix Biermann

• Associate Professor at the University of Oxford, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, UK

  Marek Jankowiak

Felix Biermann is an Associate Professor of early medieval archaeology at the University of Szczecin, Poland. His research interests include the archaeology and history of the Baltic Sea area, Middle and Eastern Europe from c. 500-1500, with special emphasis on social and economic structures, interregional contacts and the archaeology of fortified settlements.

Marek Jankowiak is an Associate Professor of Byzantine history at the University of Oxford. In addition to his interests in Byzantine social and economic history, he works on the slave trade system that connected the Islamic world and northern Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries. He was the co-investigator of the AHRC project “Dirhams for Slaves” and co-edited “Viking-Age Trade: Silver, Slaves and Gotland” (2020).

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