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The Maritime Middle Ages—Past, Present, and Future. Some Ideas from a Scandinavian Horizon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Christer Westerdahl
Christer Westerdahl*
Affiliation:
Department of Historical Studies, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
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Abstract

This paper was conceived as a keynote lecture for the Medieval Europe Research Congress (MERC) 2012 in Helsinki. The author himself has gone a long way from the more or less exclusively ship-functionalist perspective he presented at the first conference of this kind, Medieval Europe in 1992 in York. The intention here is to inspire other maritime archaeologists who may be stuck in studying ship technologies to apply their knowledge in contextual and cross-disciplinary approaches to ships, landscapes, and the human mind of the Middle Ages. A few examples of possible ways are discussed, albeit admittedly incompletely. These include a number of examples from the author's own research, which were strongly under the influence of a functionalist and techno-practical perspective in the 1990s.

Cet article fut rédigé comme conférence principale du Medieval Europe Research Congress (MERC) 2012 à Helsinki. L'auteur a parcouru un long chemin depuis la première conférence de ce genre, Medieval Europe à York en 1992, où il avait présenté une perspective navale plus ou moins exclusivement fonctionnaliste. Cette contribution-ci devrait inspirer d'autres archéologues maritimes qui sont peut-être bloqués dans l'étude des technologies navales, afin qu'ils appliquent leur savoir en concevant des approches contextuelles et transdisciplinaires des bateaux, paysages et de l'esprit humain médiévaux. On examine, bien que de façon incomplète, différents exemples d'approches possibles, y compris quelques-uns provenant de la recherche de l'auteur même, fortement influencé par la perspective fonctionnaliste et technico-pratique des années 1990. Translation by Isabelle Gerges.

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Dieser Beitrag war ursprünglich als Hauptvortrag für den Medieval Europe Research Congress (MERC) 2012 in Helsinki geplant. Der Verfasser ist selbst einen langen Weg von einer Perspektive, die sich mehr oder weniger ausschließlich auf funktionale Aspekte von Schiffen fokussierte und die er auf der ersten Tagung dieser Art, Medieval Europe, 1992 in York präsentiert hat, gegangen. Die Absicht ist hier, andere Meeresarchäologen, die im reinen Studium technischer Fragen des Schiffsbaus stecken geblieben sind, zu inspirieren, ihr Wissen in kontextuellen und fachübergreifenden Ansätzen zu Schiffen, Landschaften und dem menschlichen Geist des Mittelalters anzuwenden. Einige Beispiele möglicher Wege werden—wenngleich zugegebenermaßen unvollständig—diskutiert. Diese umfassen exemplarisch eine Anzahl von eigenen Forschungen des Verfassers, die stark durch eine funktionalistische und techno-praktische Perspektive der 1990er Jahre beeinflusst wurden. Translation by Heiner Schwarzberg.

Keywords

maritimeshipsMedievalMiddle AgesVikingmazeschurchlandscapemaritimebateauxmédiévalMoyen-ÂgeVikingslabyrintheséglisepaysagemaritimSchiffemittelalterlichMittelalterWikingerLabyrintheKircheLandschaft
Type
Special Section – MERC
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , 2014 , pp. 120 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © European Association of Archaeologists 2014 

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