Food and tension: feasting as means to alleviate social tension in the fourteenth–fifteenth century trading places of the Bothnian Bay region

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper examines three medieval trading places in the Bothnian Bay region in northern Fennoscandia. As these sites were meeting places between overseas and local traders, they were sites of cross-cultural encounters, social tension and potential danger. By examining the archaeological evidence of the sites, it is suggested that in order to facilitate safe and predictable trading relations, feasting was used to lessen tensions and avoid potentially dangerous situations.