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Rannamaee Valk Some Spatial and Temporal Aspects of Animal

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Rannamaee Valk Some Spatial and Temporal Aspects of Animal SOM E SPATIAL AND TEM PORAL ASPECTS OF ANIM AL U TILISATION IN VILJANDI, M EDIEVAL LIVONIA EVE RANNAMÄE, HEIKI VALK 20 BALTICA Abstract Viljandi (Fellin), a small town in medieval Livonia, was founded in the second quarter of the 13th century, soon after the Estonian Crusades. The Estonians’ prehistoric hill-fort was replaced by a castle of the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order, ARCHAEOLOGIA the prehistoric settlement was abandoned, and the location for the new town was chosen on the site of a former field more suitable for fortification. In this paper, zooarchaeological material from three sites, the prehistoric settlement, the Order’s castle and the early medieval town, will be discussed. Despite the presumed changes in Estonian society associated with the Crusades, the analyses reveal no profound differences in meat consumption in the transitional period from prehistory to the Middle Ages. Key words: zooarchaeology, Late Iron Age, Middle Ages, Teutonic Order’s castle, medieval town, meat consumption. I DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/ab.v20i0.807 LIFE AT THE FRON- TIER:THE navigable in prehistoric, and also partly in medieval, ECOLOGICAL Introduction S IGNATU RES times, connected the Baltic Sea with Lake Võrtsjärv, OF HUMAN The transition from the Late Iron Age to the Middle C OLONISATION and further on with Lake Peipsi. Beside that, one of IN THE NORTH Ages brought changes to the whole of society in the the three main overland routes that connected southern area of medieval Livonia. The aim of this paper is to Estonia with the northern part of the country passed determine if and how these changes are reflected in the Viljandi. The crossing of these two important commu- zooarchaeological material from different time periods nication routes, and the presence of favourable natural in the area of the modern town of Viljandi (Fellin in conditions for constructing a hill-fort on the high shore German) in southern Estonia. This article discusses of the lake valley, were the main reasons for the emer- from a comparative perspective the animal bone ma- gence of Viljandi in the Viking Age. It is only from this terial from the late prehistoric occupation layers, the period that the archaeological material provides evi- area of the early town, and the newly constructed cas- dence of the formation of an important centre. The hill- tle of Viljandi. The main research questions are: What fort of Viljandi was the strongest of the strongholds in changes occurred in animal consumption during the the late prehistoric Saccala district, and the siege of it transition to the Middle Ages? And does the zooar- is described in some detail in the Chronicle of Henry of chaeological material from these assemblages reveal Livonia, even twice, in 1211 and 1223 (HCL XIV: 11; differences in animal consumption that could be linked XXVII: 2). Henry of Livonia mentions the presence of to the social background? Although the nature of the German merchants in the Viljandi stronghold as early zooarchaeological material is hardly clear-cut, there as 1223 (HCL XXVI: 5). During the Crusades, the late are aspects which should be more characteristic of dif- prehistoric hill-fort was gradually replaced by the cas- ferent cultural and social spaces, and therefore allow us tle of the Order of the Sword Brothers. When the Sword to tackle these issues. Brothers were defeated at the Battle of Saulė by Lithu- anian troops in 1236, their remnants were merged with and its possessions were given to the Teutonic Order Context and background: in 1237. Viljandi was the strongest and most important Viljandi and the excavation areas castle of the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order in Viljandi is located in the northern part of southwest the southern part of Estonia. Soon after the conquest, a Estonia (Fig. 1). The central meaning of the place is medieval town was founded in front of the castle. greatly caused by natural conditions: it was founded The archaeological source material for this paper close to the intersection of important land and water comes from three different parts of Viljandi: from the routes. The waterway that passed Viljandi, and was southern part of the medieval town area, from the Or- 47 Spatial and Temporal aspects of Animal Utilisation in 48 EVE Zooarchaeological Material: RANNAMÄE, Preliminary Data from HEIKI VALK Viljandi, Medieval Livonia Fig. 1. Location of Viljandi and 3-D landscape model with investigation areas (prepared by authors). der’s castle, and from the hills 100 to 140 metres south Crusades, that is, in the German period (from 1215). of the castle, where the remains of occupation layers The top of hill C (Rammo et al. 2004; Rammo, Veldi from the time preceding the Crusades have been found 2005) was covered by a fill of soil over three metres (Figs. 1, 2). thick. This soil was mainly of natural origin, and con- tained relatively few artefacts and bone finds. Below the fill, however, a probable section of a stone circle The hills was found, presumably part of a structure of a ritual character. 20 BALTICA The earliest traces of an open settlement in Viljandi are located south of the hill-fort and the main castle site, between it and the deep valley of the Valuoja creek. The castle There, in the present-day green area, hills of different shapes and sizes rise above the flat plateau of the lake’s The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia mentions the joint valley. The landscape is quite complicated, for the pla- occupation of the Estonian hill-fort by the Germans and ARCHAEOLOGIA teau is cross-cut by deep valleys, evidently of glacial Estonians between 1215 and 1223. After defeating the origin, and probably significantly deepened in medi- Estonian uprising, Henry notes that the Order of Sword eval times to form part of the moat system. The hills Brothers began to fortify the site very strongly (HCL rising above the plateau of the lake valley’s bank, des- XXVIII: 9; XXIX: 3). This is the only written data con- ignated as A, B, C and D (Figs. 1, 2), are of man-made cerning the early history of the castle, which took on origin, consisting of heaped-up disturbed soil and oc- its later basic form probably in the early 14th century, I cupation layers to make platforms for siege engines, when the large convent was constructed (Alttoa 2003). the trebuchets mentioned by Henry in the description Extensive archaeological excavations in the castle LIFE AT THE FRON- of the siege of the hill-fort in 1223 (HCL XXVII: 2). area took place in the late 1870s (Kodar 1998), when TIER:THE Excavations on hills A and B, initiated by the discovery fallen debris, caused by damage from the wars of the ECOLOGICAL S IGNATU RES of stray finds on the surface of the ground, were car- 16th and 17th centuries, and the demolition of most of OF HUMAN C OLONISATION ried out in 1999, 2002, 2005–2007 (Valk 2000; Valk the walls in the early 19th century, was removed from IN THE NORTH 2003; Valk 2006; Juurik et al. 2007; Smirnova et al. the ruins. In the course of this work, the cellars of the 2008), and 1999–2001 (Valk 2000; Valk 2001; Vaba, convent house and other buildings were cleaned down Valk 2002) respectively. The zooarchaeological data to the medieval floor levels; also, the courtyard pave- analysed in the current study derives from the excava- ments were partly cleaned, with soil and debris being tions in 1999 (hills A and B), 2001 (hill B), and 2002 removed. Within the framework of the ruin’s conserva- (hill A) (Fig. 2). The disturbed soil on hill A contained tion projects, several small trial pits and trenches were a large number of finds and bones. In addition, on that opened close to the walls of the south, east and north hill, foundation logs from two buildings which were wings of the convent between 1998 and 2007.1 In the destroyed by fire were discovered. The fire can be di- course of these works, it appeared that in most cases the rectly connected with the Crusades, thanks to a cross- late prehistoric and 13th-century occupation layers had bow bolt which had landed in the interior wall of the been totally removed when constructing the convent burning house. The charred logs were preserved, as house. In the very bottom of the trial pits were partial they were covered by soil carried to the hill to form the fragments of the original pre-stronghold soil; in some trebuchet platforms. The added soil partly originated, pits there were also the remains of the Viking Age oc- as in the case of hill B, from disturbed settlement lay- cupation layer, where hand-thrown pottery was found. ers. Below the added soil, there was a thin occupation These layers had a very clearly truncated upper sur- layer, no more than four centimetres thick, which had face, and they were covered by a 50 to 60-centimetre- been deposited on the spot, and which belonged to thick layer of disturbed loam that evidently originated the same period as the houses destroyed by fire. This from the cellars of the convent. Obviously, the earli- layer was also extremely rich in finds and bone frag- er occupation layers were cleaned out from the area ments. The occupation layers on hill B were especially and levelled before the extensive construction works concentrated and rich in different finds and animal began. Only in the excavation trench of 2003 (Haak bones. Judging by the finds and the presence of both 2004), which was extended in 2004 (Haak 2005), out- hand-thrown and wheel-thrown pottery, the disturbed 1 The works were directed in 1998 by Andres Tvauri, in settlement layers, used for constructing the trebuchet 1999–2006 by Arvi Haak, and in 2007 by Riina Juurik platforms, originate from the Late Iron Age, that is, and Anti Lillak.
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