This book has been several years in the making. The majority of the papers published here were originally presented at an exploratory workshop entitled ‘Actors and Affordable Crafts: Social and Economic Networks in Medieval Northern Europe’. This workshop, held in Bergen, Norway in February 2011, was organized by Gitte Hansen, Steven P. Ashby and Irene Baug. Twenty-four material-culture researchers from Northern Europe came together to enter into a dialogue about ‘actors’ engaged in ‘affordable crafts’. The participants were invited in Spring 2009, a considerable time before the workshop was due to take place, in order to ensure ample time for intellectual preparation ahead of the meeting. In the invitation, we challenged the participants to revisit their traditional fields of research and ‘find the actors’: the individuals behind the production, trade, and use of our various crafts. Pre-papers, distributed prior to the meeting, ensured that everyone was able to participate in a well-informed manner, and the result was an inspiring and productive meeting. It was agreed that we would publish a volume, and here it is! We would like to thank Clare Litt and the staff of Oxbow books for their support in seeing this volume through from start to finish.
Gitte Hansen, Steven P. Ashby and Irene Baug
Bergen and York
March 2014