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 A Stitch in Time

Essays in Honour of Lise Bender Jrgensen

i
GOTHENBURG UNIVERSITY
Department of Historical Studies
GOTARC SERIES A. GOTHENBURG ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES
ISSN1403-8293

No 4. A Stitch in Time: Essays in Honour of Lise Bender Jrgensen

Red. Sophie Bergerbrant and Slvi Helene Fossy
Printing: Reprocentralen, Humanities Department, Gothenburg University, 2014
Layout: Rich Potter
Cover: Rich Potter
ISBN 978-91-85245-56-9

ii
Preface
The idea for this festschrift began with Antointte Rast-Eicher, who compiled
the list of contributors and participated in the early stages of producing the
volume. Unfortunately she was unable to contribute to the main work with
the volume due to other commitments. However, we want to thank her for her
initiative.

This book could not have been printed without the financial support from
Sparebanken Midt-Norges gavefond til Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskaplige
Universitet; Department of Historical Studies, Gothenburg University and the
Department of Historical Studies, Norwegian University of Technology and
Science. Dr Kristin Bornholdt Collins consulted on language-related issues and
assisted with proofreading and revision, and we are grateful for all her help
and language support through the various stages of producing the book. We
would also like to thank Ragnhild Berge for helping us in Trondheim; Lena
Hammarlund for consultations on terminology; Ulla Mannering for tracking
down photographs of Lise; and Karina Grmer for providing an excellent
opportunity to present the book.

There is no Tabula Gratulatore in this book; this is due to Lises vast network
of colleagues and friends within so many fields and countries. How could we
possibly reach them all, and where would the line be drawn? It therefore seemed
preferable to concentrate on the actual content, and to produce a worthy tribute
honouring Lise for decades of hard work and her important role as a pioneer in
textile research. It comes with heartfelt gratitude, admiration and best wishes
from all of her colleagues and friends, naming none but including all.

With this festschrift, the editors, authors, colleagues, friends and all the
individuals at supporting institutions wish Professor Lise Bender Jrgensen a
somewhat belated Happy 65th Birthday. The opportunity to present the book at
the 2014 NESAT conference was too good to be missed.

Gothenburg and Drammen, 2014-03-03

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 Contents
A Stitch in Time vii
Sophie Bergerbrant

The red thread xi

Lotte Hedeager

Lise Bender Jrgensen: research in textiles xv

Antoinette Rast-Eicher

Bibliography of Lise Bender Jrgensens publications xix

Antoinette Rast-Eicher and Slvi Helene Fossy

Science, Theory, Methodology and Prehistoric Textiles

Experimental soil burial studies for archaeological textile preservation and research 1
a review
Elizabeth E. Peacock

Implications of a web - considerations of a craft-oriented research perspective 23

Ulla Isabel Zagal-Mach Wolfe

Speciality fibres for special textiles 43

Antoinette Rast-Eicher

Prehistoric textile patterns: transfer with obstruction 63

Johanna Banck-Burgess

A rich seam: stitching as a means of interpreting Bronze Age textile fragments 77

Slvi Helene Fossy

Tacit knowledge and the interpretation of archaeological tablet-woven textiles 91

Lise Rder Knudsen

The holistic nature of textile knowledge: fulling cloth in the sea 111
Carol Christiansen & Lena Hammarlund

Social Aspects of Prehistoric Textiles

Out of the dark New textile finds from Hallstatt 129

Karina Grmer, Helga Rsel-Mautendorfer and Hans Reschreiter

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 Italian textiles from prehistory to Late Antique times 145
Margarita Gleba

Wool fabrics from Arditurri Roman mines, Oiartzun (Basque Country, Spain) 171
C. Alfaro Giner

A well-preserved household textile from Roman Egypt 189

Hero Granger-Taylor and Karen Finch

Through Roman eyes: cotton textiles from Early Historic India 209
John-Peter Wild and Felicity Wild

Tools of textile production in Roman Iron Age burials and settlements on Funen, 237
Denmark
Sophie Bergerbrant

Cloth, clothing and Anglo-Saxon women 253

Penelope Walton Rogers

The textile interior in the Oseberg burial chamber 281

Marianne Vedeler

An exceptional woman from Birka 301

Eva Andersson Strand and Ulla Mannering

2/2 Herringbone twill fabrics in Early Medieval Poland: Imports or local production? 317
Maria Cybulska and Jerzy Maik

Textiles of fifteenth- to seventeenth-century layers from Heidelberg and Kempten, 331

Germany
Klaus Tidow, Textilingenieur, Boostedt
1

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 An exceptional woman from Birka
Eva Andersson Strand and Ulla Mannering,
Copenhagen University

Introduction
Archaeological textile research is a constantly evolving field of research, and
in this book and present article we honour Lise Bender Jrgensen, one of
the key researchers in North European textile research. The impact of her
impressive scholarly contributions during a lifetime spent in Danish, Swedish
and Norwegian universities cannot be underestimated. Lise Bender Jrgensen
is a true pioneer. She has introduced new standards and parameters for textile
research, and in both her academic research and career has crossed the modern
geographical borders that too often restrict true interdisciplinary and cross-
cultural studies. Through the numerous excellent examples of textile analyses
and methodologies published by Lise Bender Jrgensen an entire generation
has been taught how to conduct archaeological textile research. The present
authors have collaborated with Lise Bender Jrgensen in a variety of ways,
most importantly in 2006 when Lise Bender Jrgensen was guest professor at
the Danish National Research Foundations Centre for Textile Research (CTR)
in its first year.

One of the highly crucial results that has emerged from the research conducted
at CTR since 2005 is the increased focus on how scientific analysis can widen
our perspectives of past technologies. Textile research is not merely the study
of actual textile remains but covers all aspects of manufacture from producing
the raw material of both skin and fibres to the final products, as well as
examining iconography and literary sources with the help of theoretical and
methodological perspectives. In this article we explore textiles from Viking Age
Birka, an important trading and craft production centre that is considered to
be one of Scandinavias earliest towns, in order to demonstrate the potential of
textile research when applied to a material utilizing different approaches.

Textiles and Birka

Birka is well known among textile scholars. Analyses of the approximately 4800
preserved textile fragments by Agnes Geijer and Inga Hgg yielded unique
knowledge of Viking Age costumes as well as textile raw materials, techniques
and manufacture (e.g. Geijer 1938, 1965, 1980; Hgg 1974, 1984, 1986).
The textiles from Birka are primarily found in burials like the rich chamber
graves. Although only a minor part of the preserved textiles have been hitherto
analysed, they represent an invaluable source of information about Viking Age

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Eva Andersson Strand and Ulla Mannering

textiles in Scandinavia. Thus, the analyses have demonstrated textiles made

using various techniques and in qualities ranging from very coarse to exclusive
fabrics created using complicated techniques and with many threads per
centimetre. The materials used were primarily wool and flax, but new materials
like silk, gold and silver threads were also utilized. A remarkable characteristic of
the high quality textiles that Birka is renowned for is that they have a uniform
standard in regard to material and manufacture. Until recently it was believed
among textile scholars that no organized textile production took place in Birka
(Geijer 2006; Bender Jrgensen 1986: 168). Where the textiles were produced
and imported from has been discussed on numerous occasions over the years
(e.g. Geijer 1938, 1965, 1980; Hald 1980; Hoffmann 1964; Ingstad 1980; Hgg
1974, 1984, 1986; Bender Jrgensen 1986, 1987). However, a study of the c.
2500 preserved textile tools, primarily from the settlement area (also called the
Black Earth) contradicts those assumptions. The analyses of the textile tools,
e.g. spindle whorls, loom weights and needles indicates that textile production
in Birka was extensive and varied. Although imported textiles and raw materials
also occur, the inhabitants of Birka produced many different types of textiles,
from the most exclusive cloths to coarser fabrics. This is clearly contrary to
the previous assumption that indigenous textile production in Birka comprised
only coarse wool cloth of poor quality. Thus, it is evident that the people of
Birka possessed tools for making all the types of wool and linen cloth found in
the graves (Andersson 2003; Andersson Strand 2011).

Even if the textiles from Birka are well known to textile researchers, the textiles have
rarely been placed in a wider context and discussed from a general archaeological
perspective. The graves represent a population of young and old, men and women
and together with the textiles they can provide crucial information to enhance
our knowledge of Viking Age society and also the lives of individuals at the time.

According to Ann-Sofie Grslund Ideology can be explained as a conscious,

coherent view of life and society whereas mentality could be explained as a set
of unconscious, or perhaps conscious but unarticulated attitudes and values
common for a society or a group of people (Grslund 2001:142). Furthermore,
she considers ideology to be relatively connected to class identity while
mentalities concern everybody (Grslund 2001: 11). Additionally, a burial
custom can be characterized as part of a grave language and significant for the
persona of the dead but also an activator of norms and values, memories and
traditions, networking and regeneration, as well as religion and mentality in
everyday life (Jennbert 1988, 2006). Material culture always contains a meaning
and the grave is a kind of montage of lifestyle attributes and a ritualization of the
dead within the landscape of the nearby farms and villages. These aspects will
be considered below where the woman buried in Birka grave 943 is considered.
In order to discover more about her we will combine knowledge from context
analyses obtained from the study of the preserved textiles and information
gleaned from the other objects from this special and rich grave.

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 An exceptional woman from Birka

The Viking Age town of Birka

Birka is known not only from extensive archaeological investigations but also
written sources, e.g. Rimberts Book of Anskar (Fig. 1) (Ambrosiani & Erikson
1996: 37-43; Zachrisson 2011: 477). The town is situated on Bjrk, a small
island in Lake Mlaren in the eastern part of Sweden. The settlement covered
an area of around 7 hectares (Fig. 2). According to excavation results, and on
the basis of finds from both graves and the settlement area, the main period
of Birkas habitation is dated to a time span of c. 225 years, AD 750-975 (early
Birka period AD 750-900 and late Birka period AD 900-975) (Ambrosiani
2013).

It is plausible that Birka was originally founded to cover a regional need for
production and trade of exclusive goods, a place that the Svea-king and the
chieftains in the Mlar Valley could control. Analyses of the archaeological
material and written sources also indicate that the inhabitants were open to
religions other than pagan beliefs, and that Christianity was accepted by at
least some of the population here by the ninth century. During this period,
Birkas networks are characterized by contacts from around the Baltic Sea, e.g.
Starja Ladoga and Wolin, but also with Viking towns like Hedeby and Ribe.

Fig. 1 Map of Scandinavia ( Eva Andersson Strand).

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Eva Andersson Strand and Ulla Mannering

Fig. 2 Map of Bjrk and Birka (After Ambrosiani & Erikson 1992).

Raw materials, such as salt and amber were imported while iron and fur were
exported. In the later phase, it is evident that Birkas structure and role had
undergone change. The network became more extensive and trading expeditions
reached far to the East, for example, to Kiev and Constantinople, and trade
with silver, slaves and prestige items grew in prominence (Ambrosiani 2005).
This extensive organization must have required a structure that included rich
and powerful traders and their families with contact with to other traders in
contemporary towns. Even if the kings and chieftains continued to be influential
in the Mlar Valley, it has been suggested that in fact it was the trading families
who possessed real power in the town, and it is likely that Birka became more
autonomous in the late phase (Hedenstierna-Jonson 2012: 214-215).

The Birka settlement consisted of different types of buildings, e.g. longhouses,

but more commonly smaller houses (8x5 m) with, in general, two rooms. The
larger room was used as living quarters with a fireplace while the smaller room
was often used as a workshop or a booth. Plots were laid out throughout the
town and these houses were adjusted to this plan (Ambrosiani 2012: 16). In the
tenth century, around AD 950, the town had expanded to such an extent that
a new rampart was built outside an older one. There was a fort and a garrison

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 An exceptional woman from Birka

area alongside the settlement area (Fig. 2). This area was also surrounded
with a rampart and had several building phases (Holmquist Olausson 2001;
Zachrisson 2011, 2012). Evidence for textile production comes from the entire
settlement area, including the garrison, and in all periods, although no direct
evidence for textile workshops has hitherto been found (Andersson 2003).

In the early phase the population of Birka has been estimated to a couple of
hundred, while more than 1000 individuals lived there in the later phase. The
social structure of the Birka population has also been discussed by several
scholars (e.g. Grslund 1980; Hgg 1984; Hedenstierna-Jonson 2012) and
according to Rimberts statement there were chieftains, rich merchants,
craftspeople, ordinary people and slaves in Birka. Grslund sums up her analysis
of the graves by observing that, The other chamber graves demonstrate by their
construction that the deceased belonged to a high social stratum. It is likely that
all these were burials of chieftains and their families as well as merchants, either
local or from other Scandinavian areas or from countries outside Scandinavia
(Grslund 1980:86).

The number of graves outside the settlement area have been estimated to
between 2300 (Grslund 1980:4) to 3000 (Ambrosiani & Clarke 1992:73).
Furthermore, several of the burials are double graves containing more than one
person. Around 1160 graves have been excavated, comprising 556 cremation
graves and 119 chamber graves, with the rest being inhumation graves (Grslund
1980:27, 50). The grave goods in several burials attest to great wealth. The
identification of gender is difficult due to the lack of human remains and only
in 416 graves has the gender of the deceased been archaeologically identified.
Of these, 58% of the inhumation graves and 61% of the cremation graves were
female (Grslund 1980:82).

Grave 943
Grave 943 was a large chamber grave, 2.15 x 1.6 m, located in the largest grave
field, Hemlanden, on Bjrk (Arbman 1943) (Fig. 3). The majority of the graves
were situated outside the rampart. However, some graves were found under
the rampart (dated to a period before the rampart was built) while others were
placed inside the rampart. Among the latter is a group of chamber graves dated
to Birkas late phase. Regrettably, it is not known where grave 943 was situated
because the grave is not marked on nineteenth-century excavation plans,
but it has been suggested that it might have been located inside the rampart
(Kyhlberg 1980).

The chamber was oriented W. + 5 - S. + E. +5 N and the grave has been

archaeologically dated to the tenth century. The grave was excavated by Hjalmar
Stolpe in the second half of the nineteenth century, and according to his notes,
there were no visible marks above ground at the time of the excavation. Nothing

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Eva Andersson Strand and Ulla Mannering

Fig. 3 Plan of Grave 943 (After Arbman 1943, Abb. 318).

of the skeleton was preserved at the time of excavation and it is therefore not
possible to identify its gender. However, the type of objects in the grave, especially
the jewellery, e.g. the oval brooches and necklace, indicate that it is a female burial
and we have therefore decided to refer to the deceased as a woman.

Some of her jewellery has a practical function for use in dress while other pieces
are more decorative (Table 1). One noteworthy example is the necklace with
19 beads and several pendants. The different types of beads are all of excellent
quality and made of materials such as glass, amber, silver and gold foil. Five
pendants made of two coins and three oriental mounts were also parts of the
necklace. During the Viking Age, it was not unusual for coins to be transformed
from monetary objects into ornaments such as pendants, and the coins
from this grave indicate both eastern and western contacts (Arbman 1943;
Arwidsson 1989). Other possible items from the grave are a wooden bowl with
silver mounts and a small chest and four spurs.

Different types of crafts are represented through the objects in the grave. The
knife is a multifunctional tool used in everyday life, while the scissors and the
needle box indicate some kind of textile production. It is not likely that the
pair of scissors, since it is quite small, was used for shearing sheep, but it could
have been used for cutting fabrics. The fine needles that could have been kept

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 An exceptional woman from Birka

1. Two oval brooches, double shell, bronze gilded with gold and silver (3.1).
2. Two disc brooches bronze, gilded with gold and decorated with zoomorphic ornaments
(3.2 and 3.3).
3. Several small pendants (318.4): two Scandinavian coins (a Birka coin and a Hedeby half-brac-
teate), a piece of glass from a beaker wrapped in silver wire and 3 heart-shaped oriental
mounts that have been reshaped into pendants.
4. 19 beads made of e.g. glass, gold foil, silver foil and amber (3.5).
5. Two oriental silver mounts gilded with gold.
6. Two round silver pendants gilded with gold decorated with filigree and granulation.
7. A fragment of a wooden bowl with a silver mount (3.7).
8. A possible leather or textile bag (only fragments of bronze mount are preserved) with amber
pendants shaped as a Thors hammer, a schist pendant, amber beads, raw amber stones, iron
awl and a small iron ring.
9. A pair of iron scissors (3.9).
10. A penannular brooch.
11. A (fragmented) leather purse with silver mounts with a of a Samanid dirham struck by
Ahmad ibn Ismail II dated to 907/8-911/12 (295-299 n.), a western European silver coin (?),
a glass bead.
12. Four weights, two of iron and two of bronze of which one has a cubo-octahedral shape.
13. A needle box of bronze (3.15).
14. A whetstone (3.18).
15. Two iron knives (3.19 and 3.22), one with fragments of a leather case.
16. Two iron lock mountings (3.12) with a small part of preserved wood.
17. A glass bead (318.13).
18. Four iron spurs (318.20).
19. An iron fragment (318.21).

In the NE part of the grave at a depth of 0.3 m, some objects were found: a pair of iron scissors, an
iron nail and three iron fragments.

Table 1 The objects from Grave 943 (Arbman 1940, 1943).

in the needle box must have been used for sewing fine fabrics. Thus, these
tools are primarily related to production of garments rather than production
of textiles. The items from a small bag, such as amber pendants, raw amber
stones and iron awls indicate knowledge of amber carving. The amber may have
been imported or brought to Birka by the woman herself. Perhaps she herself
worked with amber and produced pendants and beads, although they could
also represent something else, for example trade. However, the combination
of objects clearly indicates production and not just a connection to trade or
exchange. It is certainly plausible that the woman also actively participated in
trade during the Viking Age (Stalsberg 1991:79). The weights, and perhaps also
the fragment of a Dirham coin, support this interpretation, and it is likely that
the woman in grave 943 was a trader or held a powerful position in one of the
trading houses/families based in Birka.

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Eva Andersson Strand and Ulla Mannering

The textiles
Information on the textiles from Birka Grave 943 can be extracted from a
variety of sources. The most complete descriptions are found in Geijer (1938),
where the textiles are recorded and grouped in types, while details related to
the construction of the Birka female costume can be found in Hgg (1974). In
addition, in the course of preparing the present article, the textiles from Grave
943 were studied at the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm (Fig. 4).

A first glance at the textiles shows that the costume indicates great wealth.
The grave contains a set of jewellery which has been used to define the type of
costume preserved in the grave. This constitutes a pair of oval brooches, a large
and small disc brooch and a penannular brooch. The first three items were found
on the chest and the latter on the pelvis of the buried woman, and each played a
role in the construction and use of the costume (Arbman 1943:366-368). Based
on the jewellery it has been deduced that the woman was buried in a costume
consisting of several layers in a style that is well represented in Birka (Hgg
1974, 1986; Bau 1982; Andersson 2003; Larsson 2007), and many other Late
Germanic Iron Age and Viking Age graves in Scandinavia (Mannering 1997).

Fig. 4 The authors studying the material from Birka Grave 943 ( Photo: Karin Margarita Frei, CTR).

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 An exceptional woman from Birka

The grave contains textile fragments from at least four different textiles in
different weaves and materials, as well as a variety of tablet-woven bands and
other decorative elements. Three of the recorded weaves are different tabby
textiles; one in linen, another in wool and a third combining both materials
(Table 2). The first two are balanced weaves with different thread counts and
thread thicknesses, and are thus easy to distinguish. The third is a wool rep
weave with a clear imbalance in the thread count. This weave is also unusual as
it has a pattern of parallel diagonal lines applied with a yarn in a contrasting
light colour. This yarn is thicker than the one used for the ground weave and
has previously been identified as being of flax. The pattern has most likely been
inserted after the weaving of the ground weave, probably with the help of a
needle, as it is only visible on one side of the textile. Both tabbies were located
on top of the large circular brooch, which was placed on the chest below the
oval brooches, indicating that they belonged to outer garments or top covers
in the grave (Hgg 1974:6, 83). The fine linen tabby was identified by Hgg as
belonging to a pleated undergarment, which is a typical element in the tenth-
century Birka costume tradition (Hgg 1974:16-17). The weave is present in
a mineralized stage on the oval brooches and in several lose lumps of textiles.
Further, it is present on the small disc brooch which was placed between the
oval brooches. This kind of brooch is traditionally interpreted as being utilized
to close a front opening in an undergarment.

Another fabric encountered among the textile fragments from Grave 943 is
a very fine 2/2 wool diamond twill (Table 2), which Hgg also mentions but
does not describe further (Hgg 1974:79-80). Although this kind of weave is
the most frequent type used for overgarments like the strap dress, Hgg does
not record it as belonging to this type of garment. This is probably due to the
lack of any remains of the diamond weave on the back of the oval brooches, the
jewellery that traditionally is known to have fastened the dress. Instead, this
weave is linked to Hggs group of other possible costume items, such as tunics
and jackets. Furthermore, Hgg suggests that the diamond twill could have
been sewn to a silk textile also recorded in the grave (Hgg 1974:80) (Table 2).
Textile Thread Thread Twist Fibre type Geijers (1938) Hggs (1974)
Binding count/cm diameter/ direction based on classification classification
mm warp/weft Geijer 1938
Tabby 16/20 0.3/0.5 z/z Linen Not recorded Under garment
Tabby 7/4 1.0/1.5 z/s Wool W3 (Taf. 7,4) Blanket
Rep tabby 24/7 0.5/0.8 z/s Wool with M7 (Taf. 11,7)
with pattern linen threads
2/2 diamond 16/~38 0.3/0.3 z/z Wool Not recorded Tunic (W10)
twill

The fibre identifications are based on Geijer 1938 and a visual identification, as fibre samples
could not been taken.
Table 2 Technical description of the different weaves in Grave 943.

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Eva Andersson Strand and Ulla Mannering

During the re-examination of the textile fragments from Grave 943, no seams
joining the two different textiles were identified, but certainly this interpretation
cannot be excluded before all textile pieces have been thoroughly examined.
Thus, according to Hggs interpretation, the diamond twill represents a tunic
worn over the linen undergarment. Compared to the other Birka graves, the
tunic would have been worn under the dress (Hgg 1974:80, 93). Remains of
the diamond weave found on the pair of scissors placed on the pelvis suggests
that this costume item reached at least to the hips.

The silk weave is one of the textiles which is mentioned but not precisely described
in any of the previous analyses. The weave can be classified as a samite, which covers
the technical term weft-faced compound twill (Geijer 1938:62-63). It has weft floats
over three warps, and a more thorough examination of the weave would possibly
reveal the existence of texture or colour patterns. The warp consists of two parallel
z-twisted threads and the weft of thicker non-twisted single yarns. According to
Hgg this textile could have been part of a decoration placed on the front of the
tunic as it occurs in several other Birka graves (Hgg 1974:80).

Both the diamond twill and the silk weave are connected to at least two different
kinds of tablet-woven silk bands with woven-in silver threads (Arbman
1943:366; Geijer 1938:86, 88). The first is found underneath the largest of the
disc brooches on the chest of the deceased (Geijer 1938:170; Hgg 1974:79-
80). It is not known how long this silk tablet-woven band was when it was
recovered, but today it is broken into several pieces. The largest piece is 1.3 cm
wide and made of approximately 27 tablets, all Z-twisted in the same direction.
The silver thread pattern is very dense and lies only on one side of the band.

A second type of tablet-woven band in silk with silver threads was also located
on the chest in close contact with the large disc brooch. The band has a slightly
different pattern with decorative side panels. It measures 0.9 cm in width
and has both Z- and S-twisted tablets. According to drawings and Geijers
description (Arbman 1943:366, fig. 318; Geijer 1938:170), a long tablet-woven
band possibly more than 20 cm long was recorded on the pelvis close to the
scissors where the diamond twill was recorded. This band is not recorded by
Geijer or Hgg, and it is uncertain whether it was subsequently lost, or it can
still be located among the textile fragments from Grave 943. Only further
analyses can solve this problem.

Finally, a third kind of tablet-woven band was found at the head of the deceased.
It is 1.0 cm wide and preserved at a length of c. 25 cm. It is made of 17 tablets all
Z-twisted and has 18 wefts per cm. The material is silk with a woven-in pattern
in silver thread. Geijer describes that this band was sewn onto a silk fabric, but
today the textile is barely visible under the band and therefore further details
could not be extracted. It is most likely that the band belonged to a kind of silk
head covering or veil (Geijer 1938: 88; Hgg 1974:79).

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 An exceptional woman from Birka

The costume
The textiles and the costume made from them seem to be commensurate
with the established knowledge of the Birka costume tradition (Fig. 5). Most
likely, the outfit consisted of an undergarment in linen, possibly pleated with
a front opening which was closed with the small disc brooch, and one or two
overgarments in diamond twill, a tunic decorated on the front with tablet-
woven bands in silver and silk and/or a strap dress. There are many textile
details that support the presence of a tunic, while the oval brooches indicate
the presence of a strap dress. It may certainly be questioned whether, in spite
of the presence of the oval brooches, there was ever a dress in the grave, and if
it were indeed absent the brooches would have only had a decorative function
and a symbolic connotation. Furthermore, it is likely that the womans hair
was covered by a headdress lined by tablet-woven bands, and that the grave
also contained a kind of cloak and/or a blanket as indicated by the coarse tabby
textiles (Hgg 1974:6) and the penannular brooch.

Whatever interpretation is the most plausible, the costume must have been
exceptionally beautiful with its use of a variety of textiles in different weaves
and materials and the prestigious decorations. Flax, wool, silk and metal threads
are all found in the textiles. Decorative bands in silk and metal threads are a
common feature in garments from Birka, but occur only rarely in contemporary
Viking Age graves elsewhere (Bender Jrgensen 1986), representing a distinctive

Fig. 5 Possible Viking Age female outfits ( Eva Andersson Strand).

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Eva Andersson Strand and Ulla Mannering

local fashion. On the other hand, the use of oval brooches in connection with a
possible strap dress seems to have been a quite old-fashioned style at this stage.
The new fashion trend in the Late Viking Age period would have comprised a long,
tailored and close-fitting two layered dress without the use of brooches, as seen
among the costume fragments from Hedeby, or in several high status graves from
Denmark (Elsner 1989; Hedeager Krag & Rder Knudsen 1999; Pentz et al. 2009).

The woman
The grave language in grave 943 demonstrates a wealthy and influential woman
with a large network outside Birka and Bjrk. She was dressed in a costume
made of various, exclusive fabrics that are likely to have been rather costly.
However, the design of the outfit in which she was buried is based on a quite
old costume tradition which at this time was undergoing a process of gradual
change. Was it a deliberate choice by her or her family to be buried in this
traditional and possibly old-fashioned outfit? Was this the elite costume that
stated her position in society, and was this an everyday outfit?

The needle box and scissors could indicate that she produced the garment
herself but on the other hand, these items could also be seen as markers for
general female virtues and responsibilities. Collectively, the jewellery deposited
in the grave demonstrates a large network, from the Caliphate in the East to
the far West. The combination of craft and trade activities is crucial as is the
discussion of whether these activities represent the woman or her family. Was
she an amber carver who travelled around and traded her products or do the
items indicate that she was a member of a wealthy and important trading house
that was involved in both craft production and trade? These questions will not
be answered in the present article and further studies and comparison with
other materials are necessary for future discussions. Moreover, there are no
clear attributes in the grave indicating a specific religion or belief. According to
Grslund, the east-west orientation of the grave is not evidence for a Christian
burial tradition (Grslund 1980). One of the small amber pendants which is
shaped as a Thors hammer indicates a pagan inclination, but it is uncertain
whether this represents a personal belief or is solely connected to the amber
carving craft represented in the grave. Nor do we know if the woman buried
in Grave 943 was native to Birka or from another region, but it was certainly a
very richly equipped grave, and provides important insights into the ideology
of how the elite should be buried (Price 2012).

According to our interpretation, there is no doubt that this woman was of

significance in her society, and the equipment in the grave, including the
textiles, enhances our knowledge of Birkas society, ideology and mentality. The
grave thus reveals a woman with multiple duties and responsibilities in Viking
Age society. She must have been exceptional in her time and she continues to
be exceptional in our eyes.

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Acknowledgments
The authors kindly thank Bjrn Ambrosiani for useful and constructive
comments, and Cherine Munkholt for proofreading. We also thank Mari-Louise
Franzn and Charlotte Heidenstierna-Jonson for access to the Birka collection
at the Swedish History Museum, Stockholm. This article was written with
support from the Danish National Research Foundations Centre for Textile
Research, DNRF64.

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