Norse Whetstones in Slavic Areas—Indicators of Long-Distance Networks During the Viking Age and the Middle Ages.

SCANDINAVIAN ARTEFACTS FROM THE VIKING AGE ONWARDS are found in Slavic areas, suggesting interactions between Slavs and Scandinavians. In this paper, whetstones from present-day Norway are regarded as a proxy for this contact, and three different locations within the Oder estuary district in present-day north-western Poland are investigated, the Viking-Age town of Wolin, Szczecin Castle Hill and Lubin Stronghold. Geological characterisation and analysis of whetstones indicate that from the 9th/10th to the 13th centuries, whetstones at these sites were largely imported from quarries in present-day Norway, from Mostadmarka in Trøndelag and Eidsborg in Telemark. A reliance on distantly sourced products among Slavic people is demonstrated, and despite cultural and linguistic differences there seem to have been long-lasting networks between Norse and Slavic areas through the centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]