"Small Things Forgotten": Locks and Keys & Board Games

'The Bryggen Papers' present results based on the archaeological material from the excavations at Bryggen and other medieval and early sites in the town of Bergen. Being an Episcopal see and regional royal administrative and residential centre, Bergen developed in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries into the first truly international trading centre of Scandinavia and one of the most important ports of northern Europe, at the same time becoming the first capital of the Norwegian kingdom. The Hanseatic League established one of its four main trading stations, or 'Kontore', in Bergen around 1360, lasting into the latter part of the eighteenth century. This ninth volume of The Supplementary Series of the Bryggen Papers deals with two artefact groups - locks and keys and remains of board games from the medieval town of Bergen. The artefacts analysed represent the largest assemblages of these categories in Scandinavia. Drawing scholarly attention to these remains, the authors show how these these small and long forgotten things are able to throw light on daily life in the medieval town and also connect to the broader cultural processes in an expanding international trading centre - shifting social and cultural conditions, lifestyle, economy and security.