Experts found 11 centimeters of hand-embroidered fabric in the grave of a woman who worked as a weaver and had a high social status in the Viking era.
Scientists discovered embroidered fabric clinging to a turtle-shaped brooch in the tomb of a Viking-era woman, Ancient Origins reported on June 15. The tomb existed from 850 - 950 in Hestnes, County Trondelag, Norway, and was excavated in 2020.
"Fabricists like us will be delighted even if we find a viking jersey piece of fabric one centimeter long. In this case, we have almost 11 centimeters of fabric. Unearthing embroidered fabric is also extremely rare. Embroidery items The Viking age has only been found in a few opulent tombs, such as Oseberg and Mammengraven in Denmark," said Ruth Iren Oien, an archaeologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
In addition to embroidered cloth
the Viking woman's grave also contained weaving tools, a brooch and several hundred small pearls. Based on the evidence in the grave, the team of experts believe that this is a weaver. The fact that the woman was buried with many layers of textiles showed that she was an important figure in the tribe and had a higher social status than most people.
At this time, clothes were still not able to be mass-produced by machines. Making clothes by hand with basic tools is extremely laborious and complicated. The value of the cloth in the grave may be higher than any other items buried with this weaver.
The new discovery also helps the team of scientists to understand more about Viking women's costumes because most previous studies have only focused on Viking warrior costumes and embroidery.
"We envisioned that the woman was wearing a camisole and fastening with turtle pins. Under the skirt, she might be wearing a shirt made of fine linen or wool. Over her shoulder, she wears a jacket. the cape is embroidered with decorative embroidery. The cape appears to be lined with a fine wool and along the edge we can see traces of the braided hem. This border can help strengthen the edge, at the same time has a decorative effect," said Oien.
It is difficult to reproduc
the colors of Viking embroidery fabrics because they are dyed with day of the dead plant-based dyes, without the use of any chemicals. Most of the colors visible to the naked eye have already seeped into the ground. However, modern technology will help scientists recreate things that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
The embroidery in the tomb at Hestnes is very well preserved. Therefore, the team hopes to find the origin of the wool fibers through isotope analysis. This can help them determine if they were obtained from local sheep or imported from elsewhere.