Introduction: Early Modern Urban Periphery in Europe, the New Lödöse Project
Introduction: Early Modern Urban Periphery in Europe, the New L?d?se Project
Per Cornell 0 1
Christina Ros?n 0 1
0 Arkeologerna, Statens Historiska Museum , Stockholm , Sweden
1 Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg , Gothenburg , Sweden
The Nya L?d?se Project focused on one particular urban site, a Swedish town founded in 1473 and finally abandoned in 1624. The use of the town virtually abandoned on several occasions related to large - scale wars. A large scale rescue archaeology project initiated in 2013 focused on this urban site, situated in today's Gothenburg, Sweden. Combining a set of disciplines proved productive. Historical sources were revisited and scrutinized, and new archaeological evidence retrieved. Various specialists contributed with knowledge on digital field methodology, osteology, archaeobotany and ICP analysis, just to quote some examples. The Nya L?d?se Project has produced a wealth of information of one particular location from the sixteenth century, a town of relatively short duration, and thus with a good time/space relation. This introduction briefly discusses the articles of this IJHA volume, entirely dedicated to the Nya L?d?se project. The Nordic area had a slow urban development in the medieval and early modern periods. While a town like Paris had between 40,000 and 60,000 inhabitants in 1500, an urban site with more than 1000 inhabitants could be considered large in the Nordic area at this time. Urban developments in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries has attracted much archaeological attention in the Nordic area, and the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries during the last decades has been studied in a series of projects, but the sixteenth century remains relatively little known in archaeological terms. Thus, it was a rare opportunity when extensive infrastructural transformations in Gothenburg offered the possibility for a large scale rescue archaeology project on an urban site which
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existed from 1473 to 1624, though there were decade - long periods of virtual
abandonment related to large - scale wars. The site is located in the so-called Old
Town district of Gothenburg. Despite the name, there are no visible remains above
ground of the sixteenth century town today in this district. Below ground, however,
there were substantial materials, remains of wooden floors, streets, and cemeteries. The
project had a large budget for this region of Sweden, and showed several particular
characteristics. It was an interdisciplinary project, in collaboration with historians and
several specialists, such as osteology and archaeobotany. The project also worked
intensively with the local community. In terms of organization, the project was financed
by government authorities, mainly the municipality, in relation to a large
infrastructural project. Several contract archaeology companies collaborated,
and had simultaneously an articulation to the University of Gothenburg and
the Early Modern Town Project, financed by the Science Council of Sweden. In
this volume Ros?n, Gainsford, ?brink, Carlstein, Alfsdotter, and Thoreld
discuss the project and its various components.
Certain written sources relate to the New L?d?se town, particularly its later periods,
but data is not abundant. Archaeology thus plays an important role in getting closer to
this socioeconomic and political setting. This volume of the IJHA touches on several
aspects of the town, and has been produced by several scholars involved in the project.
Cornell, Nilsson, Palm, and Ros?n try to place the town in a wider context, and briefly
discuss its hinterland and its economic characteristics. Large parts of the historical data
come from recent historical research with primary sources, which are published for the
first time in this journal. Ros?n and Larsson combine archaeological and historical data
to give a general idea of the place. They stress the deep economic inequality at the
location, which is evident in written sources, and also visible in the archaeological
material. The archaeological analysis takes the individual plots as the point of
departure. There are general similarities in size and general distribution of functions within
these plots, though there are marked differences in details. The wealthy and the poor
seem to have been present in all parts of the town, but there are indications of certain
differences between areas in this regard. ?brink, Williams, and Nilsen address the
layout of town and the plots in greater detail. The buildings were wooden, and the only
archaeologically known exception thus far was the church. There is clear evidence of
the city's foundation, visible in the clearance of the area and the creation of plots of
similar size. There is evidence for two kinds of streets. One type was shared general
streets, administered by the town council. But there were also smaller streets managed
by the inhabitants. There is also evidence that individual plot owners and users worke (...truncated)