Handicraft production in Estonian villages in the 12th–14th centuries

The article examines the types of crafts practised in Estonian villages during the 12th–14th centuries and whether village crafts were affected by the conquest and Christianisation of Estonia by German and Danish crusaders in the first half of the 13th century. The study is based on craft­related finds (tools, semi­finished products, and production waste) collected from twelve village sites dating to the period in question. In order to place these village finds into a broader context, they are compared with corresponding material recovered from four contemporaneous strongholds, as well as from the occupational layers of Tallinn, Tartu, and Viljandi towns dating to the 13th–14th centuries. More than ten times as many craft­related finds were retrieved from strongholds of the 12th century and the first half of the 13th century than from village sites of the 12th–14th centuries. The assemblages from the strongholds are also more diverse than those from the villages. Likewise, the finds from urban contexts contain a markedly greater quantity and variety of craft­related material than those from rural settlements. Finds from village sites in Estonia dating between 1100 and 1400 indicate that villages functioned primarily as units of agricultural production. The archaeological evidence points only to household­level craft production intended for self­sufficiency. Prior to the conquest, strongholds served as the principal centres of craft production in the Estonian territory, while following the conquest the bulk of craft output was produced in towns.