The réseau opératoire of Urbanization: Craft Collaborations and Organization in an Early Medieval Workshop in Ribe, Denmark

TY - JOUR

T1 - The réseau opératoire of Urbanization

T2 - Craft Collaborations and Organization in an Early Medieval Workshop in Ribe, Denmark

AU - Croix, Sarah

AU - Neiss, Michael

AU - Sindbæk, Søren Michael

PY - 2019/5

Y1 - 2019/5

N2 - This paper proposes that the organization of crafts may be a key catalyst in the emergence of urban communities. This is argued through a reassessment of finds from a non-ferrous metal workshop from the eighth century excavated in Ribe, Denmark. We analyse 3D laser scans in order to classify previously unidentified mould fragments, which show that the workshop produced a range of metal parts for composite products like wooden chests, belts and horse harnesses. Such production required an operational network, or réseau opératoire, to combine the necessary skills and expertise of several artisanal specializations. The need for collaboration between specialized craftspeople would have been a decisive incentive for the formation of permanent communities of an urban character. These observations point to a neglected bottom-up driver for the development of early urbanization.

AB - This paper proposes that the organization of crafts may be a key catalyst in the emergence of urban communities. This is argued through a reassessment of finds from a non-ferrous metal workshop from the eighth century excavated in Ribe, Denmark. We analyse 3D laser scans in order to classify previously unidentified mould fragments, which show that the workshop produced a range of metal parts for composite products like wooden chests, belts and horse harnesses. Such production required an operational network, or réseau opératoire, to combine the necessary skills and expertise of several artisanal specializations. The need for collaboration between specialized craftspeople would have been a decisive incentive for the formation of permanent communities of an urban character. These observations point to a neglected bottom-up driver for the development of early urbanization.

KW - CITIES

KW - EMERGENCE

KW - NORTHERN

KW - ORIGINS

KW - TOWNS

KW - URBANISM

U2 - 10.1017/S0959774318000525

DO - 10.1017/S0959774318000525

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0959-7743

VL - 29

SP - 345

EP - 364

JO - Cambridge Archaeological Journal

JF - Cambridge Archaeological Journal

IS - 2

ER -