ABSTRACT
This chapter gives a brief presentation of the distribution patterns in Northern Europe of soapstone vessels and quernstones from Norway. The distribution of these products and transactions involving them seem to have been integrated into major economic systems, involving large parts of Northern Europe. The chapter discusses in relation to shifting societal conditions during the Viking Age and the Middle Ages. In north-west mainland Europe, soapstone outcrops are only found in certain parts of Scandinavia: mainly in Norway, but also in south-western Sweden. The chapter focuses mainly on the vessels, as the other artefact types to a large degree represent secondary products made from broken vessels. From the beginning of the ninth century, soapstone vessels were distributed southwards to Denmark and westwards to the North Atlantic islands – Iceland, Shetland and the Faroe Islands. The oldest and one of the largest production sites for quernstones is located at Hyllestad by the fjord Åfjorden in Sogn og Fjordane County.
