Weaving Textiles

Viking, 2021

Textile research has demonstrated that new types of textiles were introduced to Scandinavia in the latter part of the Scandinavian Iron Age (AD 700–900). The archaeology of the period displays an increased number of textile tools, and large concentrations of pit houses dedicated to textile production. This era also saw the introduction of sails to Scandinavia, which is one of the obvious reasons for textiles and textile production becoming such an important part of Viking Age society. However, hitherto the value of the textiles has mostly been ignored, and its impact rarely discussed in research. This article will attempt to remedy this and poses important questions, such as: what was the economic value of the textiles needed for travel and warfare, and what was the value of the textiles used on a journey? In the article, the 10th century Ladby ship from Fyn in Denmark, is used to exemplify the demands and economic value of all textiles of one single ship, on one journey. I will use...

Wool, yarn and textiles stand out as trademarks and special properties of the North Atlantic area – a legacy that dates back to the Viking period. Throughout this area, vaðmál was also a standard economic measure: commodity ‘money’, used for taxation and exchange in the Middle Ages. This system is best documented and lasted longest in Iceland, where production was also the greatest. During recent decades, several disciplines – archaeology, history, zoo-archaeology and environmental archaeology – have significantly contributed to knowledge about textile production in the Viking Age and Middle Ages. Based on archaeological and other types of evidence, together with the results of multidisciplinary projects, this paper discusses the scale and degree of standardisation in textile production in this area from the Viking Age into the Middle Ages. When did it start and how did it develop?

Over the past several decades, the research and analysis of archaeological textiles has become of ever increasing importance in gender, trade and production studies. When analyzing archaeological textiles, researchers must take into consideration the tools that were required to create textiles and how those tools influenced the quality and quantity of fiber that was needed to create multiple forms of textiles used to clothe a population. In past publications, researchers have focused on the analysis and interpretation of the remains of textiles found on the island of Gotland, but have not included in their studies the tools for the production of these textiles. Some of the tools that will be examined in this thesis include spindle whorls, weaving tablets, needles and needle cases. By examining the tools, found in the Viking Age grave sites excavated on Gotland and collecting data in the form of dimensions, weights and quantity of tools found, an interpretation can be made as to what type of textiles could have been created with these tools. By conducting analysis on the textiles and mineralized impressions, we can compare these to data from the tools and extrapolate whether the tools present could have created the fibers found alongside them in the burials. The analysis of this data can give insight into the various types and quality of textiles produced by the tools from the grave sites and to determine whether textiles could have been produced locally or were traded in. In this thesis, I will examine and analyze the textile tools found in approximately 200 Viking age graves located throughout Gotland in an effort to determine whether the production of textiles is feasible with the tools assembled and the types of textiles that could be produced. Not only can this give us insight into the production and trade of textiles during the Viking age on Gotland, but also how the production and/or trade of textiles influenced the daily lives of the inhabitants and how they affected trade and gender in an ever expanding economy. Key words: textiles, textile tools, Gotland, gender, trade, production, archaeology, fiber, Viking age.

Hardback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-647-9 Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-648-6 Published in the United Kingdom in 2015 by OXBOW BOOKS 10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EW and in the United States by OXBOW BOOKS 908 Darby Road, Havertown, PA 19083 © Oxbow Books and the individual contributors 2015 Hardback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-647-9 Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-648-6

The paper explores the logistical consequences of the introduction of sails to Scandinavia on the threshold to the Viking Age. Calculations stating that the sails of the Viking fleet comprised 1 million square meters of sailcloth form the starting point. Data from experimental archaeology, ethnology, history, and textile science are used to calculate the demand for raw materials and labour caused by the need for sailcloth, and for additional textiles needed for seafaring such as sailor's clothing and blankets. For a cargo ship of the knar type, this amounts to well over 200 kg wool and some 10 years of labour; for a warship with a crew of 65-70 men, more than 1,5 tonnes of wool and 50-60 years of labour. Further data from botany and life sciences are employed to estimate the relationship between land and the increased demand for fiber -wool, flax or hemp. It is argued that the introduction of sails to Scandinavia must have caused changes in agrarian production and how farmers disposed of their lands.

Arkæologi i Slesvig / Archäologie in Schleswig Sonderband „Det 61. Internationale Sachsensymposion 2010“, Haderslev, Danmark, 2011

Textiles have an enormous potential in archaeological research as it enables knowledge about both social and cultural aspects of ancient societies, as well as giv­ing us a unique opportunity to come close to the prehistoric individual. A textile is not simply a binary system of spun, plied or spliced fibres, but first and foremost a result of complex interactions between re­sources, technology and society. The cata­lysts for this interaction are the need, de­sire and demand of the society in question, which in turn influence the exploitation of resources and technological development. Conversely, the availability of resources and the state of technology condition the societal choices and developments. The totality of these interactions is expressed through textile production.

At the edge of the western world, Iceland in the early medieval period was no less engaged in international trade than other northern European centres of the time. Settled in AD 874, Icelanders had created an independent republic by AD 930, through the integration of its scattered chieftainships under one general assembly, the Althing. The period AD 930-1262 is known as the Commonwealth period, and while short lived, it witnessed the proliferation of a body of medieval literature and documents from which much of our knowledge about Viking Age Scandinavian culture, and early medieval Icelandic society, comes from.

Crafts and Social Networks in Viking Towns, 2020

This chapter reviews the role of women in textile production, and the networks they formed as they moved from a rural to an urban environment. Much of the earliest evidence from towns appears to replicate that of the rural industry, but during the course of the 10th century there was an increasing distinction, in tools and products, between Anglo-Saxon towns and their hinterlands. In a separate development, in Viking Dublin, Norse technology appeared alongside that of the native Irish. Overall, this was a period when urban cloth-makers were drawing on a local supply network, mainly for household consumption, but there were also some signs of the beginnings of trade. Essentially, this can be regarded as a transitional phase which laid the foundations for the urban craft gilds and the export trade of the late medieval period.