The Virumaa province in northeast Estonia is the area with the biggest concentration of ‘Hanseatic bowl’ finds in Europe. The finds originate mostly from deposits, often consisting of sets of numerous items. This article suggests a connection between these finds and the Danish crusade to Estonia in 1219, interpreting the bowls as the king’s gift to new subjects for their loyalty, also looking at a possible broader context, and drawing hypothetical parallels with the Danish crusade to Samland and Prussia in 1210.
Journal:Archaeologia Baltica
Volumes 21-22 (2015): Horizons of Archival Archaeology, pp. 40–57
Abstract
The author discusses a few examples of artefacts that testify to the contacts between the Balts living in Samland (the Sambian Peninsula) and in the Memelkultur area during the Roman Iron Age. This data was collected from notes and drawings made by Herbert Jankuhn, Marta Schmiedehelm and Kurt Voigtmann. Archival data gives us a chance to interpret similarities in the fashion of wearing of necklaces of similar composition, or rings with similar nodular decoration during the Early Roman Period. The Memelkultur-style brooches found in Samland, and similar status symbols, such as snake-head rings, testify to the strong relations between the two Balt coastal areas during the Late Roman Period.
In the 12th century, the Curonians dwelt in the east Baltic region between the Rīga area in the north and Klaipėda in the south. They reached the peak of their economic, political and cultural achievements in the 11th century and the first half of the 12th century. The roots of piracy as a phenomenon have a social character. The most active period of the Curonian Vikings begins in around the mid-tenth century, and lasts until the arrival of the Germans in the 13th century. The well-organised piracy of the Curonians became dangerous to navigation on an important maritime trading route along the east Baltic coast. The Curonians attacked traders’ boats, robbed coastal churches, devastated Danish and Swedish coastal areas, and even stayed for a while. In the times of the Teutonic Order, in periods of diplomatic and military conflict or trading competition, even officials did not avoid robbery at sea. The Palanga coastal population used to plunder shipwrecked boats, and went marauding in coastal waters until the middle of the 18th century.