Who were they?: Steps towards an archaeological understanding of newcomers and settlers in early medieval Trondheim, Norway

Where did they come from, the people who, in the late 10th century, settled on the spot located in central Norway that Snorre called the ‘Kaupangr á Nidarnes’ and the ‘Kaupangen ved Nidelven’, which means the trading place on the Nidar peninsula/by the River Nid? (Figure 1). From where did they come, those who established and gradually developed an urban community where there once were sandy tidal flats and sprawling sea-buckthorn shrub vegetation? From where did they come, the priests and the monks who filled the 18 churches and 5 monasteries? From where did the house owners, the craftsmen, the