‘Local’ Characteristics of the Medieval Livonian Town

Abstract

Although the medieval town is considered an imported phenomenon in Livonia, there is also clear evidence that the towns were multi-ethnic, and a significant role both in their formation and later development was played by ethnic groups of native background. However, the material traces related to indigenous populations in towns may be rather ambiguous. The contribution reviews several archaeologically investigated features, namely stove types of local origin, the persistence of local building traditions in the urban environment, and the distribution of local item types among the archaeological finds. The discussion includes information on food, personal decorations such as brooches, as well as ‘ethnic’ living areas in the Livonian towns in the eastern Baltic, with several cases highlighted from Tartu. The reasons for such local features may be both practical, such as the availability of certain materials, or local tradition and identity-based, the latter intimating a certain role of ‘local’ identity in the developing urban setting. As the rural population maintained a large number of features from the local background, it is equally important to consider later influences from the countryside in interpreting archaeological finds from urban areas. Only by combining all these sources can we reach a more complex understanding of the role of local influences in the urban scene.