Kirstine Haase

This paper presents how my PhD project “An Urban Way of life – practices, networks and identities in Odense 1100-1500 AD” engages with the overall research perspectives presented in the research and public outreach project “Urban Encounters”. I will explore how urbanism in Medieval Odense can be investigated by presenting an example from my ongoing PhD work.
The example is derived from the excavations that took place in Odense from 2013 to 2015. Up to several meters of well-preserved stratigraphy were excavated applying a strictly managed contextual method, reflexive interpretation of the formation of the cultural deposits and sampling for scientific analysis. It resulted in an extensive finds assemblage and well-preserved structures such as booths, houses, byres and stables, latrines, paths, roads, fences, manure heaps and much more with a vast potential for further research.
One of the features was a large latrine from the 15th century that contained a variety of finds such as coopered beakers, seeds from plants or fruits and ceramics. The latrine does not only tell about people and practices of daily life but studied with a contextual approach and chaine operatoire as point of departure it will illustrate how towns are the meeting place for people, ideas and things. This melting pot of impressions, inspiration, innovation and practices that makes town life is a key element in defining and understanding urbanism. By the example presented in this paper I wish to disentangle the many inputs and encounters that can be see studying all details of a single feature from the archeological record.