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The réseau opératoire of Urbanization: Craft Collaborations and Organization in an Early Medieval Workshop in Ribe, Denmark

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2019

Sarah Croix ,
Michael Neiß  and
Søren M. Sindbæk
Sarah Croix
Affiliation:
School of Culture and SocietyAarhus UniversityMoesgård allé 20 8270 HøjbjergDenmark Email: [email protected]
Michael Neiß
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Ancient HistoryUppsala UniversityThunbergsvägen 3 752 38 UppsalaSweden Email: [email protected]
Søren M. Sindbæk
Affiliation:
School of Culture and SocietyAarhus UniversityMoesgård allé 20 8270 HøjbjergDenmark Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This paper proposes that the organization of crafts may be a key catalyst in the emergence of urban communities. This is argued through a reassessment of finds from a non-ferrous metal workshop from the eighth century excavated in Ribe, Denmark. We analyse 3D laser scans in order to classify previously unidentified mould fragments, which show that the workshop produced a range of metal parts for composite products like wooden chests, belts and horse harnesses. Such production required an operational network, or réseau opératoire, to combine the necessary skills and expertise of several artisanal specializations. The need for collaboration between specialized craftspeople would have been a decisive incentive for the formation of permanent communities of an urban character. These observations point to a neglected bottom-up driver for the development of early urbanization.

Type
Research Article
Information
Cambridge Archaeological Journal , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , May 2019 , pp. 345 - 364
Copyright
Copyright © McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research 2019 

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