The 16th-19th Century Soundtoll Registers Online: Uncovering Traded Plant Diversity between the North and the Baltic Seas

Abstract

Studies of European trade have largely focused on bulk commodities, ignoring minor products. The Danish Soundtoll Registers Online (STRO) document the North-Baltic Seas maritime trade from the 16th century to the 19th. They are an untapped resource to understand the trade of plant products. Here, we present an overview of plants recorded in the STRO from 1497–1857, based on thousands of handwritten vernacular plant name variations in Danish. We found 264 plant products corresponding to 140 botanical taxa. We confirm previous findings regarding bulk goods, such as wood, wine, and (sub)tropical spices, but also uncover trade of wild food plants and herbal medicines. Notably dodder (Cuscuta spp.) and purging cassia (Cassia fistula L.) were traded as frequently as currently well-known plant-based commodities such as tea (Camellia sinensis [L.] Kuntze) and rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum L.). This indicates their former importance. Through the botanically identified dataset we present here, the STRO reveal the diversity of historical plant trade. We discuss what this overview adds to the understanding of historic plant trade in Europe and outline suggestions for future research that can be addressed using these data.