SEMINAR

The Sailing Stones. Stone Trade in Waterscapes: The Adriatic Basin in Comparative Perspective. International Conference, Archaeological Museum of Istria in Pula, 26-27 June, 2026

This paper explores the movement of building stones via the Copenhagen seascape during the period of the absolute monarchy of Denmark (1665-1849). Through an analysis of royal quarry records and duty registers of the Øresund strait – the main connection between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea – a complex stone ecology emerges between mercantilist policy, royal patronage, and the heterogeneous glacial geology of the Nordic regions.

The paper was given at the conference, The Sailing Stones. Stone Trade in Waterscapes: The Adriatic Basin in Comparative Perspective, organised by Ca Foscari University, Venice, Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage.

Image: EoS and Carte Géologique de L’Europe, Andre Dumont (1875)