Production of urban space and state formation in Oulu, Northern Finland, during the late medieval and early modern period

Summary

This paper discusses urban space in the northern Swedish town of Oulu during the 17th and 18th centuries and its role in Sweden’s state formation. Oulu, a former medieval trading place, was founded in 1605. Oulu was one of the first towns Sweden founded in the northern coastal area of the Gulf of Bothnia after a new border line was drawn between Sweden and Russia in 1595. Oulu’s landscape was at first formed in a medieval style along a main street, but in the middle of the 17th century the town plan was made more regular with straight streets and blocks. Sources including archaeological material culture, cartography, and written documents reveal the changes, and these sources reveal how the urban space was conceived and actually used by different kind audiences such as the Crown and the town residents.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• State formation in the Circumpolar North since the 15th century

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-34,02