ABSTRACT

Based on an exploratory analysis of the tonnage estimates of trade through the Danish Sound, this chapter reviews the long-term development of imports and exports through the Danish Sound. It addresses the changing roles of ports of departure and destination and identifies the main carriers of trade through the Danish Sound from the mid-seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century. This chapter reviews statistical evidence of commodity flows entering and leaving the Baltic Sea region. Based on this evidence, research questions and hypotheses are formulated, and the need for a novel concept for the long-term study of trade through the Danish Sound is made clear.