Introducton Groß Strömkendorf s stuated approxmately 7 km north Both the tradng ste and the cemetery at Groß of Wsmar n Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, on the shores Strömkendorf are dated to the 8th and early part of the of the Baltc Sea. The topography of the area s more or 9th century. Hence, Groß Strömkendorf can be classfied less flat and the vllage les close to W smar Bay, n the as an Early Medeval ste. Accordng to the d ansh and shadow of the sland of Poel (Fig. 1). The area around Swedsh chronologcal systems, the ste was founded dur- the vllage conceals a very long hstory, contanng ar- ng the Vendel Perod or the Germanc Iron Age and was chaeologcal finds from almost all prehstorc phases to abandoned durng the Early Vkng Age. The ste of Groß the Early Medeval perod. Strömkendorf s, lke Rbe and Brka, of great relevance Archaeologcal excavatons durng the 1980s and for the frequent dscussons about the datng of the begn- 1990s showed that, durng the Early Medeval perod, nng of the Vkng Age (Feveil e / Jensen 2000, 19; Am- near today’s vllage, there was a tradng ste wth wde- br osiani / Cl ar ke 1998; summng up Svanber g 2003). spread connectons n the Baltc area. The archaeolog- cal evdence clearly ndcates that the tradng ste was settled durng the 8th and early 9th century. d urng ths Pottery as an archaeological source perod, the area was part of the terrtory of the Slavonc Obodrtes, who have been n control of the whole west- Pottery s often regarded as the most common archaeo- ern part of Mecklenburg. Accordng to the find mate- logcal artefact category from excavatons. It s often ral, the ste had been n close contact wth Scandnava, “classfied” as a mass materal, whch means t takes tme the Saxon and Frsan regons n today’s lower Saxony to scrutnse t. On the other hand, pottery as an archaeo- and Schleswg-Holsten, as well as the Rhneland (Jöns logcal artefact contans a lot of mportant nformaton. 2000, 403). Several aspects of the archaeologcal arte- Ceramc materal can be used to create a pcture of the facts and remans suggest that ths ste s dentcal wth socety and ther contacts, and of course to put t nto a the emporium reric, mentoned n the Franksh annals chronologcal framework. Pottery was most lkely used of the early 9th century (id. 1998a, 131, wth further every day n the household for cookng, storage and other references). purposes. It can also be consdered as an tem that appears The finds and features dscovered durng the excava- n all socal structures of a socety. Ths s n contrast to tons show that the ste was most lkely part of some type other artefact categores, e.g., gold or slver. These finds of tradng network. The mportance of the ste and ts may only reflect one part of the populaton or some spe- poston n Northern Europe can be examned through cal events. studyng dfferent aspects of the excavatons, e.g., the d fferent pottery types wth unque base and rm structures, metal finds, bones, glass, ceramcs, botancal shapes were most lkely well desgned for ther functon. remans etc. Vessels wth round bases were perhaps made for cookng d etaled analyses and studes on the glass finds by A. on a hearth, such as a hangng vessel or “Kugeltopf”. Ves- Pöche (2005) and the anmal bones by u . Schmöl cke sels wth flatbases were perhaps ntended for storng pur- (2004) have already been publshed as monographs as poses. The same apples for the shape of the rm. Some the first two volumes of the Groß Strömkendorf-seres types are better suted for cookng whle others are better n “Beträge zur u r- und Frühgeschchte Mecklenburg- for storage. Vorpommerns”. Further analyses, .e., on the settlement In all lkelhood, people were accustomed to the var- structure, the graveyard, the amber finds, on the geolog- ous functons related to dfferent vessels. Moreover, the cal and envronmental development have already been shape and decoraton and ther mportance as dentty completed and are gong to be publshed n the present markers are another aspect that has to be consdered. seres, “Frühmttelalterlche Archäologe zwschen Ost- Ther sgnficance when choosng one vessel over the see und Mttelmeer”. So, ths study on the pottery from other should not be underestmated. Is t the type of ware Groß Strömkendorf has been a part of an nterdscpl- or the shape and decoraton that determnes whch vessel nary research project. to use? For nstance, there are col-bult vessel types from - 3 - Hstorcal background and archaeologcal evdence at Groß Strömkendorf Historical background southern Baltc regon and about the Slavonc and Scan- dnavan peoples lvng there. Most of these documents TheRoyal Carolngan Annals, wrtten n l atn at the be- were wrtten by people affilated wth the Carolngans or gnnng of the 9th century, say: others and not by people lvng n the regon. “Year 808 AD. On Godfred’s side stood during this d ue to these sources, we know that the poltcal campaign also the Slavonic people that is called the Wilzi, map of Northern Europe was complex when Reric was and in due of old hostility to their neighbours the Obodrites, abandoned at the begnnng of the 9th century. The area they now peacefully had joined Godfred’s armies: When he where Reric most lkely was stuated bordered on three returned to his own kingdom, the Wilzi also went home dfferent cultural areas: the Slavonc, the Carolngan and together with the plundered goods they had taken from the the Scandnavan (Fig. 3). TheCarol ngans, havng ruled Obodriten people. But before Godfred returned he destroyed large parts of Western Europe for nearly 100 years, were a trading place located next to the sea, the trading place was then alled to a Slavonc trbe, the Obodrtes. On the oth- by the Danes called Reric. It was a place that had revealed er sde stood the d ansh kng Godfred, the Saxons, and a great deal of taxes to his kingdom. He brought the trading the Slavonc trbe of the Wlz. The conflcts n Northern people with him, let his ships set anchor and came together Europe reached ther clmax durng the regn of Charle- with his people to Sliasthorp” (after Skovgaar d-Pet er sen magne, between 768 and 814 (Bra ther 2001, 65). 1981, 29). From the Franksh Annals of 809 we know All avalable nformaton about the Baltc area wth n addton that the Obodrte duke d ražko was klled specal focus on the Slavonc trbes has been compled at Reric. After that event, Reric was not mentoned agan and nterpreted by several archaeologsts and hstorans. n any contemporaneous wrtten sources, so t lkely was Some mportant studes are “d e Slawen n d eutschland” abandoned sometme at the begnnng of the 9th cen- (Herrmann 1970), “The Early Slavs” (Bar for d 2001), tury. “TheAnc ent Slavs: settlement & socety” (Gojda 1991), Thelocat on of Reric has been dscussed by hstorans “Archäologe der westlchen Slawen” (Bra ther 2001) and and archaeologsts for a long tme. Frst archaeologcal “d e Welt der Wknger” (Sawyer / S awyer 2002). excavatons, whch amed at locatng Reric, were conduct- Scandnavan hstorcal research had a specal fo- ed n 1937 at a Slavonc hll fort at former Alt-Gaarz, cus on Vkngs travellng westward and eastward. Ther about 14 km north of Groß Strömkendorf (summng conquests and tradng ventures took place from the late up Jantz en / Schirr en 1998, 71). These excavatons 8th century to the 11th century. The Swedsh Vkngs were poltcally motvated because the natonal socalsts (“Svear”) from the l ake Mälaren regon travelled east- wanted to change the town’s name to Reric. Although the ward to present-day Russa and the Baltc countres. archaeologcal materal from ths excavaton dates manly They followed the Russan rvers to the Byzantne Em- from the 10th century – so t s extremely unlkely that Alt- pre. Archaeologcal research and wrtten sources sug- Gaarz was the same place as Reric – Alt Gaarz changed ts gest that the Vkngs played an mportant role n the name to Rerk n 1938. foundaton of the Russan state (Oxenst ier na 1998; In addton, t has been suggested by dfferent schol- Brorsson 2001). Ths eastern expanson resulted n the ars that Reric could have been dentcal wth the Slavonc foundaton of East-Slavonc domnons. Staraja l adoga hll forts of Mecklenburg or Stargard/Oldenburg, or that and Ruyrkovo Gorodshche/Novgorod, n present-day t was stuated near l übeck (summng up Bar for d 2001, Russa, were among the most mportant centres. The 168) (Fig. 2). expedtons to the east seem to have been more or less There are several wrtten documents from the 8th and frendly and peaceful. 9th century dealng wth the poltcal, economcal and re- The d ansh Vkngs were of vtal mportance for lgous status of the dfferent parts of Northern Europe. the poltcal structure n northwestern Europe. The rad Most of these wrtten sources are concerned wth the on the monastery of l ndesfarne n Northumberland expanson of the Carolngan Empre. However, there s n 793 s the first documented Vkng attack ever that also some nformaton about the poltcal system n the was followed by a great expanson by d ansh Vkngs. In - 5 - Historical background and archaeological evidence without any remains of a vessel or other grave goods. In It is important to record the clearest attributes of the addition, six boat graves and several animal graves were vessel, such as decoration or rim shape.