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International Trade in Outland Resources: the Mining and Export of Lead in Early Medieval England in Light of New Isotope Data From York

2023; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 67; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00766097.2023.2262880

1745-817X

Jane Kershaw, Stephen W. Merkel,

Historical and Archaeological Studies

THE PROCUREMENT AND TRADE OF VALUABLE 'outland' resources was fundamental to the early medieval economy, linking upland, forested and coastal regions with emerging urban markets. Recent research has detailed the increased exploitation and production of raw materials, including tar, soapstone, iron and antler, in the centuries prior to and during the Viking Age, primarily within Scandinavia. Here, it is argued from new isotope data relating to lead from 9th- to 11th-century York that there was an additional, international trade in a valuable but non-precious outland resource. Lead mined from the North Pennines was exported across the North Sea on a significant scale, connecting the remote uplands of northern England with urban nodes including York, Kaupang (Norway) and Hedeby (Germany; historically Denmark). We argue that North Pennines lead was part of a wider early medieval English lead export industry that operated from at least the mid-8th century ad.