chapter 6 West Goes East: Viking Age Long-distance Communication and the Eastern Baltic 850-ca. 1000
The period 950–1000 witnessed a boom in Baltic eastern trade, when a mas- sive amount of silver originating from faraway oriental countries flowed to the areas around the Baltic Sea. Trading centres that had appeared on the scene before the 9th century flourished in this favourable situation. Birka, Staraya Ladoga, Hedeby, Truso, and Wolin stood out in this context, while there were a great number of smaller or sometimes even only hypothetically known trade centres, e.g. Åhus and Kaup. Hill-forts and adjacent settlements along the East- ern Baltic coast, most of them established in the previous period as well, con- tinued their existence in the same manner. Most modern researchers agree that the abundant Viking Age dirhams found in the areas around the Baltic Sea were a result of mercantile connections, al- though some have also argued for plundering raids and accompanying tribute- paying (see Section 1.3.2.).1 It is striking that some selected regions in the Baltic Rim were marked by extraordinarily abundant finds of Kufic coins, while oth- ers were almost empty of them. As for the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, the number of dirhams was remarkably high in the area of present-day Estonia, about half as common in present-day Latvia and quite modest, compared with these areas, in mainland Finland and the rest of the Baltic States. When one fol- lows the topography of the region, it is obvious that the distribution of dirhams marked the most relevant communication routes of international trade. The stream of dirhams to the countries around the Baltic Sea stopped comparatively abruptly in the 970s, although the last ones reached Russia and the Eastern Baltic even as late as the first half of the 11th century. The period around the year 1000 ad was dramatic in many other aspects as well, indicated by changes in social structures and cultural landscapes of areas around the Baltic. A number of old centres were abandoned and new ones appeared, sometimes in the same locality. Power was consolidated and early states ap- peared in areas along the southern and western coasts of the sea, as well as in Russia, and deepening social stratification has normally been highlighted in the Eastern Baltic societies as well. In some areas, including present-day
1 Sawyer 1985.
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Estonia, the alterations can, however, be assumed to have been primarily due to the end of the boom in the eastern trade. In the Eastern Baltic region, particularly the northern part of it, the whole period around 1000 ad was a revolutionary time with a number of changes. Most of them cannot be dated more precisely. This chapter therefore takes into consideration phenomena that existed approximately until the beginning of the 11th century and were mainly connected with the 9th–10th centuries. Phe- nomena that essentially belonged to the 11th century will be looked at more closely in the last chapter.
6.1 Viking Age Centres Connected with International Trade Routes in the Eastern Baltic
The previous chapters of this book demonstrated that a great part of com- munication in the northern half of the Eastern Baltic was presumably defined by contracts, close mutual relationships, and a shared culture in the martial sphere (Figure 3.2.). The routes along the north Estonian and Saaremaa coasts were marked by several complexes consisting of a hill-fort and an adjacent settlement, normally located a few kilometres upstream on some smaller river. These places were probably connected with trade, and most of them started as early as the last centuries before the Viking Age. The presence of hill-forts and settlements clearly distinguished the north Estonian coast from the southern Finnish one, where little Viking Age evidence has been detected so far and, ac- cordingly, the area can be considered only sparsely inhabited during the peri- od.2 Most sea vessels, especially cargo ships, presumably chose to sail along the northern Estonian coast, also because it was somewhat easier topographically. Most of the present-day Latvian coast was empty of Viking Age hill-forts, but there were abundant hill-forts along the biggest flow of water through the Eastern Baltic – the Daugava River. A great proportion of these hill-forts presumably also functioned as trade centres. Still, the much smaller number of Kufic silver coins along the Daugava River, compared, for instance, to north Estonian coastal areas, seems to indicate that Viking Age communication there was more local or regional. Hill-forts can be assumed to have functioned not only as trading posts, but mainly as administrative centres connected with agricultural hinterlands. Hill-forts with intensive Viking Age layers in Couronia (except for Grobiņa) seem to have been generally located at least about 20 km from the coast.
2 See also Hirviluoto 1978.