In the early middle ages an enormous amount of goods were being traded across Europe. From Sweden to Byzantium, everybody wanted to have the latest fashion, weapons but also (and mainly) the basic commodities like iron, copper, tin, zinc and lead, salt, furs, wood and wheat. Since these products were seldom available in one area together, a network of long distance trade was set up. Trading goods over great distances was not easy, the best method of transport was via water. Sea routes were by definition dangerous, and it was hard, if not impossible to navigate over open water not within the sight of land. Most transport, therefore, took place on the safer, inland, river routes. When you had to change from one river to the next, preferably via the shortest distance overland, settlements could grow into transhipment centres. The same was true for those cities on bifurcations of rivers, or at the end of sea routes. This led to the rise of the great Scandinavian emporia like Birka, Kaupang, Hedeby and Ribe, as well as the Saxon-English towns like Jorvik (York), Sutton, Hamwic and Ludenwic (London). All these towns were at the end of (coastal) sea routes with relatively safe inland Ports of Europe. For the trade routes into the central European markets the recently formed Zuiderzee in the Netherlands offered a safe passage from the Northern and Eastern North Sea and Baltic coastal routes to the Rhine river system. The English and French coastal routes could access this central European river system via the Meuse-Lek estuary. The Meuse also formed the link, via the Rhone, with the Mediterranean Markets, while the Rhine-Danube system gave access to Germany and the Black Sea. Where all these routes met was, therefore, the ideal place for a huge, Pan-European, transhipment centre. The Geographia Ravennatis, a description of the places of the World, compiled around AD700 by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna, reports of such a town, “between the Franks, the Saxons and the Normans, in the area of the Frisians”, known as “Derostates” or “Dorestatus”.

The location of Dorestad on a high natural level along a relatively stable navigable branch of the Rhine in the central Rhine delta was perfect for trade. The high level gave protection from the annual river floods. Although this branch of the Rhine was fairly stable in the heydays of Dorestad, the meanders near Dorestad slowly migrated. Excavations at Dorestad show that the harbour works of Dorestad were constantly adapted to this migration, thereby following the meander on which they were located. Ships could reach the port from the sea through at least three navigable Rhine branches: the Lek, the Old Rhine and the Vecht rivers. Dorestad was thus easily accessible and yet far enough from the coast to be safe from storm floods – connections with the Flemish, French and German hinterland were perfect. Other delta branches ensured safe connections to the Zeeland delta and the open Flemish coast, all the way to Dover Straight to the South and to the open Frisian coast all the way to present Southern Denmark in the North. The dangerously closed coast of Holland without any safe shelter places for storms could thus be avoided by ships coming in both from the South and from the North. This interdisciplinary approach not only gave insight in the changing river activity, but also in the reasons why Dorestad could rise to its glory, and the possible reason for its demise as important Rhine branches silted up, while new branches developed into navigable waterways. The demise of Dorestad gave room for later river towns such as Tiel, Dordrecht and the cities along the IJssel.

This importance is even clearer by the fact that Dorestad had its own mint. From the seventh century AD the town had the right to produce its own coinage, the earliest by the master Madelinus. Until circa AD690 gold coins were minted, after that mainly silver “sceattas”. Later, in the Carolingian period, coins were minted with the names of Pepin the Short and Louis the Pious. The early Merovingian Madelinus coins have been found all over France, Northern Italy and as far as Russia. Dorestad clearly was an important Economic Centre. Archaeological evidence can be found in the amount of imported pottery, glass, grindstones from the Eifel region and Baltic amber. But there also was trade in Scandinavian whetstones, furs, textiles, pigments, salt, food and even slaves and hounds.

Dorestads regional trade importance is underlined by recent research on wood provenance. Results indicate that Dorestad was part of a trade network along the North Sea Coast that included agricultural settlements at Leeuwarden, Castricum, Katwijk, and Oegstgeest (NL), as well as Bruges (BE). The analysis of the common signal in growth patterns of oak stave and planks (mainly re-used wine barrels) excavated at these locations shows that this network had strong ties to the German Rhineland and probably were all dispersed through Dorestad. Local wood was also traded in Dorestad. Analyses showed a second timber group consisting of oak from the levees of the lower river Rhine, originating from agricultural settlements in and near the towns of Dordrecht, Katwijk, Leiderdorp, and Utrecht, proving the central role of Dorestad in both regional as supra-regional timber trade. But Dorestad not only was a town of (long distance) traders: recent research shows that several of the premises were in use as workshops. A multitude of craftsmen produced articles like beads, combs, jewellery and bronze objects. Most of this production went into the international trade. The richly bejewelled golden fibula that was found during the excavations might, therefore, be locally produced. Its style and appearance link it to other well-known treasures like those from Sutton Hill or Staffordshire. It even bears some resemblance to the Casket of Theuderic. The Dorestad craftsmen certainly knew their technique and height of fashion.