Tools for Textile Production from Birka and Hedeby: Excavations in the Black Earth 1990-1995

166 Pages·2003·68.14 MB·English

by  Eva Andersson

B I R K A S T U D I E S
f 8 ]
Excavations in the Black Earth
1990 1995
—
Tools for Textile
Production
from
Birka and Hedeby
by
EVA ANDERSSON
General Editor: Björn Ambrosiani
STOCKHOLM 2003

CONTENTS
List of illustrations ................................................................................................................7
Foreword.......................................................................................................................................9
Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................11
Introduction.............................................................................................................................13
Material, aims, and method...........................................................................................14
Chapter 1: Textile work in the Viking Age........................................................17
Raw material and textile techniques..................................................................................17
Raw material.....................................................................................................................17
Dyeing...............................................................................................................................21
Tools and tool manufacture..........................................................................................22
Spindles and spinning....................................................................................................22
L27ooOmtsh earn tde wchenaivqiunegs. .a..n..d.. .t.o..o..l.s............................................................................................................ ..........................................................3..0..
Source criticism...................................................................................................................
34
Textiles and functions......................................................................................................33
Textile finds from Birka..................................................................... 35
Textile finds from Hedeby.............................................................................................41
Birka and Hedeby, a brief account........................................ 44
Sailcloth.............................................. 45
Chapter 2: Texhle production in theory and practice.....................................46
The never-ending work with woof Hypothetical estimates of time
on the basis of present-day knowledge...................................... 46
Yarn......................................................................................... ........................................4..6..
Costume
47
Sails
49
Household and professional manufacture
50
Subsistence goods or wealth?
50
Aworking hypothesis..........................................................................................................55
The method for registering textile tools.................................................. 56
The registration of the different settlements.............................................................61
Source criticism...............................................................................................................61
62
Textile tools in Birka
Chapter 3: Textile tools in Scandinavia.............................. 6682
ThTe hMeä Blairrkena erxecgaiovnat, ioBnirska, and the hinterland........................................ 62
The Mälaren region......................................................................................................6..8..
Methods of documentation and registration
71
Spindle whorls
73
Loom weights.................................................................................. 80
Bone needles..................................................................................................................83
Needle boxes....................................................................................................................87
Metal needles....................................................................................................................88
Other textile tools...........................................................................................................89
The dating of textile tools............................................................................................91
The spatial distribution of the finds ...........................................................................96
Textile production in Birka, a summary....................................................................99
A hinterland study with the focus on textile production...............................................101
The investigations.........................................................................................................101
Säby 4:1, Barva parish, Södermanland......................................................................102
Pollista, Övergran parish, Uppland................... 104
Sanda, Fresta parish, Uppland.....................................................................................105
Valsta and Säby, Norrsunda parish, Uppland............................................. 106
Viby, Sollentuna parish, Uppland.............................................................................109
Textile tools and textile production in the Mälaren region.................................110
Textile production in the Mälaren region - a hypothetical
interpretation....................................................................................................................112
Hedeby..................................................................................................................................114
A brief presentation......................................................................................................114
Textile production in Hedeby......................................................................................117
Spindle whorls................................................................................................................118
Loom weights.................................................................................................................121
Textile tools of wood....................................................................................................124
Smoothing stones..........................................................................................................127
Bone needles....................................................................................................................127
Tool types not discovered.............................................................................................130
Textile production in Hedeby, a summary................................................................130
Textile tool's in Kaupang.....................................................................................................132
Chapter 4: Textile production in Scandinavia...................................................134
Birka and the hinterland...............................................................................................134
Two different hinterlands - a comparison of settlements in
the Mälaren region and Scania.....................................................................................136
Kaupang..........................................................................................................................138
Birka, Hedeby,, Åhus: a comparison of Viking Age trading sites .....................138
Birka and Hedeby, Summary........................................................................................148
Åhus in comparison with Birka and Hedeby, Summary..........................................149
Closing discussion............................................................................................................ 149
Manufacture for household requirements................................................................150
Production of valuables................................................................................................151
Summing up...................................................................................................................133
References.................................................................................................................................155
Unpublished sources......................................................................................................155
Published sources...................................... 155
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Frontispiece Tools for textile production in Birka
1 Combing wool
2 Flax clubs from Oseberg, Norway
3 Underweighted spindles with rod and whorl, and a spinning hook
4 A closed and a non-closed thread
3 Reel
6 Different types of weave
7 Warp-weighted loom
8 Loom with tapestry after the Oseberg find
9 Schematic picture of tablet weaving
10 Schematic pictures of sprang and diagonal plaiting
11 Costumes documented in Hedeby
12 Textiles found in graves at Hedeby and Birka
13 The different shapes used for the registration of spindle whorls
14 Measurements for the registration of loom weights
15 Measurements for the registration of bone needles
16 The registered shapes of needle heads
17 Measurements for the registration of needle boxes
18 Measurements for registration of wool-comb teeth
19 The location of hinterland settlements in the Mälaren region
20 Model of economic spheres and exchange systems in Birka
21 The sites of the excavations of 1969—71 and 1990-95
22 Björkö, Birka, and the Black Earth, along with cemeteries, the fort, and the
garrison
23 Spindle whorls from Birka
24 Spindle whorls from Birka
25 Spindle whorls from Stolpes excavations of 1871-74 and 1878, material
26 Spindle whorls from the excavations of 1969-71 and 1990—95, material
27 Spindle whorls from Stolpes rediscovered trench
2 8 Spindle whorls, shape/material
2 9 Spindle whorls, weight
3 0 Spindle whorls, weight and material
31 Spindle whorls, diameter/material
32 Spindle whorls, weight/diameter
3 3 Spindle whorls, maximum height/material
3 4 Spindle whorls, hole diameter/material
3 5 Loom weights, weight/diameter
3 6 Loom weights, maximum height/diameter
3 7 Loom weights, weight/maximum height
3 8 Bone needles, length/width of the body
3 9 Bone needles, head width/body width
40 Bone needles, the shape of the head
41 Bone needles, eye diameter/body shape
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42 Bone needles from Birka
43 Needle boxes, length and material
44 All the registered and dated spindle whorls
45 All the registered and dated spindle whorls, material
46 All the registered dated and undated spindle whorls, weight
47 All the registered and dated spindle whorls, weight
4 8 All the dated loom weights
49 All the dated bone needles
5 0 All the dated textile tools
51 Plan of the excavations and surface surveys of Hedeby, 1990-1939,1962-
1969
5 2 Spindle whorls from Hedeby
5 3 Spindle whorls from Hedeby, material and form
5 4 Spindle whorls from Hedeby, weight and material
5 5 Spindle whorls from Hedeby, weight and diameter
5 6 Ceramic spindle whorls from Hedeby, weight and diameter
5 7 Loom weights from Hedeby
5 8 Loom weights from Hedeby, weight/diameter
5 9 Loom weights from Hedeby, weight/maximum thickness
60 Loom weights from Hedeby, weight/undecorated and decorated
61 Spindle rod from Hedeby
62 Spindle rod from Hedeby
63A Scutching knife from Hedeby
63B Distaff from Hedeby
64 Bone needles from Hedeby
6 5 Bone needles from Hedeby, the length in relation to the width of the
body
66 Bone needles from Hedeby, the diameter of the eye in relation to the
shape of the body
67 Bone needles from Hedeby, the width of the head in relation to the
width of the body
68 Spindle whorls from the Scanian settlement sites included in the
study, weight
69 Spindle whorls from Birka and Hedeby, material
70 Spindle whorls from Birka and Hedeby, weight
71 Spindle whorls <5—>35 g from Birka and Hedeby, weight classes as a
percentage of the total number
72 Spindle whorls from Birka, Hedeby, and Åhus, weight classes as a
percentage of the total number
7 3 Bone needles from Birka and Hedeby, length
74 Bone needles from Birka and Hedeby, the shape of the head
7 5 Bone needles from Birka and Hedeby, the diameter of the eye