ltinerant craftsmen, permanent smithies and the archbishop's mint: the character and context of metalworking in medieval Trondheim
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Abstract
Recent excavations in the medieval town of Trondheim, Norway, have produced a varied range of archaeometallurgical evidence which is closely locatable in time and space. This paper presents and discusses this evidence in the context of the town 's development - from the 10th-century kaupang to the early 15th-century precinct of the Archbishop's Palace - charting the character of metalworking practices and their organization within a dynamic socio-economic environment. The earliest urban metalworking principally took the form of intermittent srnall-scale casting of prestige products within the urban core. During the 12th century a dramatic technological and organizational transformation took place with the establishment of an extensive metalworking quarter on
the urban periphery. Permanent iron-smithing and nonferrous metalworking were conducted here on an unprecedented scale until the mid 14th century, at which time this centralized plant ceased production. During the early lS00's a small community of specialist craftsmen, including moneyers and weapon manufacturers, was established in the precinct of the Archbishop's Palace.
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