This paper presents a comparison of archaeobotanical data with information about useful plants from the oldest (14th-15th century) written sources that have survived in the archives of Gdańsk, northern Poland. The main information on plant products, available in medieval documents from Gdańsk, concerns taxa traded by merchants as well as those used by the Teutonic Knights or the city council of Gdańsk. In these sources, as well as from many records about cereals, numerous spices and vegetables are listed which do not have counterparts in the archaeobotanical remains which have been found. On the other hand, the archaeobotanical data complement our knowledge on the use of common plants, both cultivated and collected in the wild, which written sources do not mention. This situation is most apparent in the case of local fruits like plums, cherries or berries, of which numerous remains are proof of their considerable popularity in Gdańsk. This would be impossible to conclude on the basis of historical documents only, whose attention is focused on the more expensive and imported plant products.
For 13th‑century Gdańsk, as for other cities of medieval Europe, it was important to create a community identity, which was expressed in the symbolism of seals and later also heraldic colours and coats of arms. In Gdańsk a seal of 78 mm in diameter, which survives on a document dating from 1299 (hence from pre‑Teutonic times), depicts an unmanned cog borne along by the waves. In late medieval Gdańsk, as in other Hanseatic towns, power belonged to elite families, who formed a ruling group. During 1454–1525 families such as the Falckes, Bischofs, Bocks, Ferbers, Scheweckes, Suchtens, and Zimmermanns each had two members who served as mayors. Maritime contacts played one of the most vital roles in the social and economic life of late medieval Gdańsk, and these included trade links with the English –competitors of the Hanse who could not be taken lightly.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.