Burial Textiles: Textile Bits and Pieces in Central Sweden, AD 500-800

Description

Textiles have always played an important role in human prehistory. Weaving and other types of handicraft demanded logical thinking and creativity. This thesis deals with textiles found in burials in Mälardalen, east central Sweden, in 500–800 AD. It is based on three case studies focusing on the textiles, contextualized together with other grave goods such as dress accessories, weapons, helmets, regalia, food and household equipment. The textiles used in the boat-graves were mainly identified as mattress covers, cushions, pillows, horse equipment, linings and other covers and wrappings. This is in contrast to the other inhumation and cremation graves of the period, where the textiles above all belonged to the category of dress. The thesis also presents a survey of the development of textiles in Sweden, including raw materials such as wool, flax, silk, metal, leather, bulrush and down, spinning and weaving techniques, textile production, costumes and trade. It is concluded that two major changes occurred in the development of textiles: the introduction of new weaving techniques around AD 550 and the appearance of new materials such as silk, together with silver passementeries, around AD 800. Abbreviations x Notes to the reader x Preface xi 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Archaeological textiles 1 1.2 Definitions of Swedish prehistoric periods 3 1.3 Costumes, needed or wanted, and differing in function and status 3 1.4 History of Scandinavian textile research 4 2. AT Materials and techniques 7 2.1 Textile raw materials 7 2.2 Thread and textile techniques 14 2.3 Preservation 28 3. Early archaeological textiles 32 3.1 The first traces of archaeological textiles 32 3.2 Early AT in Europe prior to the Merovingian Period 37 3.3 Main types of costumes in Scandinavia prior to the Merovingian Period 48 3.4 Burial customs and AT 59 4. Analytical methods 64 4.1 Documentation 64 4.2 Preparatory methods 64 4.3 Analyses 65 5. Sites studied 69 5.1 Introduction 69 5.2 Vendel 70 5.3 Valsgärde 72 5.4 Old Uppsala 74 5.5 Birka 74 6. Earlier textile investigations 76 6.1 Vendel 76 6.2 Valsgärde 76 6.3 Old Uppsala 76 6.4 Birka 76 6.5 Comparative AT from elsewhere in Uppland 77 6.6 Comparative AT from various Swedish sites outside Uppland 81 6.7 Comparative AT from areas outside Sweden 81 7. Vendel XII, Vendel XIV and Valsgärde 8 83 7.1 Introduction 83 7.2 Vendel XII 83 7.3 Vendel XIV 86 7.4 Valsgärde 8 86 7.5 Material 87 7.6 Results 90 7.7 What had the AT in Vendel XII been used for 105 7.8 Dressed or undressed? 106 7.9 Does a change in society mean a change in grave AT? 107 7.10 Boat-grave textile fashions 112 7.11 Conclusions 114 8. The grave under the hillfort rampart at Birka 116 8.1 Introduction 116 8.2 Material 118 8.3 Results 119 8.4 The fabrics 126 8.5 Garments and dress 130 8.6 A pagan or a Christian burial? 133 8.7 Conclusions 135 9. Valsgärde 13 136 9.1 Introduction 136 9.2 AT material 138 9.3 Results 138 9.4 Comparable Swedish AT 153 9.5 Valsgärde 13 in perspective 168 9.6 Conclusions 169 10. Discussion 172 10.1 Textile values – valued textiles 172 10.2 Facts and fiction 176 10.3 The cultural setting 182 10.4 Early AT 187 10.5 Sixth-century AT in Sweden 188 10.6 Seventh–eighth century AT in Sweden 189 10.7 Boat-grave AT in Uppland 189 10.8 Elite burial AT in the Mälaren Valley 193 11. Final conclusions 196 12. Sammanfattning 198 13. References 200