Markets and horse fighting sites in southern Norway – their socioeconomic significance, origin, and demise (AD 1300‑1800)

This study presents the first comprehensive mapping of a type of assembly site in South Norway for competitions, especially horse fights and races, called a skeid (ON skeið, English ‘race, run’). The number of place names indicates that these gatherings must have been of vital importance in prehistoric society. Skeids were in use in the Middle Ages and up to the 19th century in certain parts of the country. This study compares their locations to those of medieval markets, and it discusses their socioeconomic significance and differences in terms of the geological conditions for agriculture and animal husbandry between sites. Skeids and markets do not seem to be co-located, but evidence indicates that the sites were multifunctional, hosting competitions, trade, and barter as well as social activities, such as dancing. It is argued that the sale of horses from the fjord area and outfield resources, especially iron, from the Mountain Land was important for the long continuity of markets in the mountain area. The skeids were connected to different local communities’ organisation of common areas and to festivities connected with the end of the shieling season. The skeids and markets in the mountains escaped royal and ecclesiastical regulations and remained in use for a longer period of time than their counterparts in the rest of the country. In the coastal and fjord areas, the processes of urbanisation and industrialisation were more extensive, making shieling systems less attractive and important, which in the end contributed to the demise of the skeids