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Multi-Ethnicity and Material Exchanges in Late Medieval Tallinn

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Magdalena Naum
Magdalena Naum*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University, Sweden
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Abstract

This article examines the cultural and social dynamics of a multi-ethnic medieval town. Taking the lower town of Tallinn as a case study, this paper identifies the major urban ethnic groups living in the town and discusses their co-existence, self-definition, and processes of categorization. It explores ambiguities arising from daily interactions in the shared physical landscape of the town, such as material exchanges, and the development of new technological solutions, and the simultaneous insistence on maintenance of sharp inter-group boundaries. As material culture plays a significant role in the negotiation of identities and in visualizing sameness and difference, emphasis is placed on the ways objects were used in the daily lives of Tallinn's multi-ethnic communities.

Dans cet article nous examinons les dynamiques culturelles et sociales d'une ville médiévale multiethnique. En prenant comme étude de cas la ville basse de Tallinn, nous identifions ici les principaux groupes ethniques urbains vivant en ville et discutons leur coexistence, leur auto-définition et les processus de catégorisation. On étudie les ambiguités émanant des interactions quotidiens dans le paysage physique commun de la ville comme par exemple les échanges matériels; le développement de nouvelles solutions technologiques et l'insistance simultanée du maintien de frontières nettes entre les groupes. Comme la culture matérielle joue un rôle significatif dans la négotiation d'identités et dans la visualisation des similitudes et des différences, on accorde une grande importance aux manières dont les objets étaient utilisés dans le quotidien des communautés multiethniques de Tallinn. Translation by Isabelle Gerges

Zusammenfassung

Zusammenfassung

Dieser Beitrag untersucht die kulturelle und soziale Dynamik einer multi-ethnischen mittelalterlichen Stadt. Anhand der Unterstadt von Talinn als Fallbeispiel identifiziert diese Studie die wichtigsten urbanen ethnischen Gruppen, die in der Stadt lebten und diskutiert deren Koexistenz, Selbstdefinition und Prozesse der Kategorisierung. Sie untersucht Mehrdeutigkeiten, die aus den täglichen Interaktionen in der gemeinsamen physischen Landschaft der Stadt herrührten, wie z. B. materielle Austauschprozesse, die Entwicklung neuer technischer Lösungen und das gleichzeitige Beharren auf der Aufrechterhaltung scharfer Gruppengrenzen. Da die materielle Kultur bei der Herausstellung von Identitäten sowie bei der Visualisierung von Gleichheit und Unterschieden eine signifikante Rolle spielt, wird besonderes Augenmerk auf die Art und Weise gelegt, in der die Objekte im Alltag der multi-ethnischen Gemeinschaften Talinns genutzt wurden. Translation by Heiner Schwarzberg

Keywords

Late Middle AgesTallinnthe Hansemulti-ethnic townmigrationmaterial cultureHaut Moyen-ÂgeTallinnla Hanseville multiethniquemigrationculture matérielleSpätmittelalterTallinnHansemulti-ethnische StadtMigrationmaterielle Kultur
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , 2014 , pp. 656 - 677
Copyright
Copyright © European Association of Archaeologists 2014 

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