Viking Age Clothing: The Archeological Evidence A brief survey of the major finds of Viking Age clothing, with an emphasis on interpreting the finds to make reasonably accurate reproductions. Sunnifa Gunnarsdottir The Olvik Thing http://www. olvikthing.org/projects/sunnifas-projects/ Sunnifa Gunnarsdottir (Charlotte Mayhew) crmayhew@comeastnet ‘September 2011 1Table of Contents 41-45 Timeline Chart of Clothing Finds Viking Age Fabrics of Birka Men’s Garments Men’s Tunics The Mammen Costume Reconstruction and King Cnut The Thorshjerg Tunic The Viborg Shirt Three 12-13" Century Tunic Patterns (Ronbjerg, Kragelund anc Moselund Bogs) The Thorshjerg Trousers (2 pages) ‘The Thorsbjerg Trousers Pattern ‘The Damendorf Trousers ‘The Marx-Etzel Trousers and the Daetgen Trousers, Viking Age Trousers ~ The Non-Fabric Evidence Leg Wraps, Wickelbander and Winningas Cross Garters ‘Cloaks Coats (2 pages) Women’s Garments Underdresses Apron-Dresses Reconstructed Eura, Finland, Dress & Apron Dress from Birka Brooches and Straps Layers of Cloth in 2 Viking Women's Graves at Birka (2 pages) Shawls ‘The Leksand Cloak Coats Survey of Gold Foil Figures Caps and Head Scarves Hairstyles and Headcoverings For Both Men and Women Hats and Hoods Nalbinded Mittens & the Coppergate Sock Shoes and Boots (3 pages) Belts and Hardware Pouches and Wallets, Embroidery and Sewing Bil ography Sunnifa Gunnarsdottir (Charlotte Mayhew) crmayhew@comeastnet ‘September 2011Viking Age Clothing -- Timeline Pre-800 800-900 | 900-1000 1000-1100 | Post-1100 Denmark/ | Thorsbjerg Mammen tunic, | Viborg Shirt, | Ronbjerg Bog Jutland Trousers & cloak, wristlets, | (Hedeby) Kragelund Bog, ‘utlam Tunies (6%7" & hlad; & Moselund ©. Hedeby pants & Bog tunics Tollund (4" C. overdress: BC), Ribe fragments shoes England York & Lincoln | King Gnut caps, York shoes. | Liber Vitae and Coppergate | llumination sock Finland Eura dress (1000 AD) France Bayeux Tapestry ac) Germa: Damendort Trousers (Migration ra); Marx-Etzel Trousers & Daetgen Mose Trousers Greenland Herjoltines & other clothes 2"-14" G) Iceland ‘Amheidarsiacir mitten Ireland Dublin caps, Norway Evebo (2 tunies | Oseberg Skjoldehamn and | pairof | shoes & (unie, pants, pants) tapestry hood) Russia Staraja Ladoga Mitten fragment boots 8" C.) Scotland Orkney Hood (26°C) ‘Sweden Asle mitten Birka grave | Birka grave finds |Lundmitten | Leksand Cloak G4" cy finds Ih" G) Sunnifa Gunnarsdottir (Charlotte Mayhew) crmayhew@comeastnet September 20113Viking Age Fabrics of Birka ‘The Birka site contained 3,000 graves, only 1,160 of which were excavated, $51 were cremation graves, 94 ‘were chamber graves, and the rest were simple inhumations. 180 graves contained textile remains: among, these were 100 with woolen fabrics and 60 graves that contained tablet-woven bands. Agnes Geijer, in her analysis of the Birka textiles, identified four distinet groups of fabric: coarser fabric of mostly tabby weave, patterned twills of high quality, pleated fabries (mostly linen) along with other tabby weaves of fine quality, and simple twills. Geijer believed that the majority of the finely-woven fabrics were imported from Byzantium and other countries. Geijer based this belief on the consistency of the fabrics, which indicated a sophisticated textile industry at work. In addition, much of the wool used in Birka did not match that of local sheep. In 1986, Lise Bender Jorgensen divided Viking Age finds into 2 groups—1 from Birka, which is entirely Z-spun, and 1 from HesservElisenhof, which has a Z-spun warp and S-spun weft, The Birka type cloth finds have all been from Western Norwegian sites—Birka, Hedeby, and Koupang. The HesservE lisenhof type is found in eastern parts of England, in southem Germany, and in the Frisian area. Perhaps this is the real palditmn Jfresconicum or Frisian Cloth, Nonetheless, the lack of sheep bones in the Birka excavations, particularly in the Black Earth area of the town itself, along with the lack of large numbers of shearing-sized shears, point to ‘unspun wool being an import from the countryside around Birka, But the large number of textile tools found in 153 graves in the Birka excavations (spindle whorls, weaving tablets, and loom weights especially) point to a thriving wool textile industry in the city itself. Equally curious is the fact that no flax-specitic preparation tools were found. Linen smoothing stones and smoothing boards were found, however, leading researchers to conclude that flax was likely processed in the surrounding countryside and brought in, possibly as finished garments or just cloth. Percentage Material Designation No.of fragments Wool, tabby and twill Ww 1075 224 Linen/hemp (tabby and twill) FH 800 167 Silk twill S4 750 15.6 Passementerie and borders P 650 135 Tablet-woven bands with silver SB 600 25 | weft Pattern weaves, brocades, or M 280 58 rapestry-like weaves | Embroidery with gold and St 140 29 silver thread Plaiting and sprang D 125 26 ablet-woven bands with gold eB 100 1 weft Down T 24 Pur T 19 Taffeta silk S13 09 Unidentified textile fragments 15 100 Total no. of fragments Chart of textiles found at Birka, based on the work of Agnes Geijer and Inga Hage (Andersson, p. 36). Sunnifa Gunnarsdottir (Charlotte Mayhew) crmayhew@comeastinct September 20114Men’s Tunies Viking Age tunics are open to a great deal of interpretation as the most complete find from the period, the 11 century Viborg shirt, is unique unto itself. The fragments discovered at Mammen more closely match the evidence from other grave digs, manuscripts, gold foil figures, picture stones, carvings and tapestries. While no in-depth reports in English on the clothing excavated at Hedeby from the 9"-10" century are readily available, the tunics shared common features—rounded neck ines, rounded armholes for tapered set-in sleeves, and separate front and back panels with shoulder seams. There were two distinct body styles in the Hedeby tunics. The first had a narrow cut, like the Thorsbjerg tunic, with side slits to allow for movement. The second type had gores added to create fullness in the skirt part of the tunic, like the tunies seen in Anglo-Saxon illumination manuscripts. Mast tunics were made of wool ancl many were dyed. ‘The 1,000 or so graves that have been examined at the former trading port of Birka yielded a number of fragments of men’s tunics from the 9"-10" century. With so few items yet examined, we can only make ‘educated guesses about what they looked like. Generally speaking, some keyhole necklines were found, the front and back panels were cut in one piece, and set-in sleeves were the norm, ‘There is some evidence, especially in Birka, that Vikings wore fur linings in their outer winter garments, such as cloaks and riding coats (which were specific to Birka). Bengt Wigh, writing “Animal Bones from the Viking Town of Bitka, Sweden” in Leather and Fur states that beaver seems to be the preferred fur, as that is the most commonly found fur in graves. The graves yielded hairs/furs from the following: pine marten, red squirrel, brown bear, lynx, red fox, and beaver. In the Black Earth area, they also found far from wolverine, wolf, badger, otter, ermine, polecat, mountain hare, seal, goat and "hides". He concludes Birka was a fur processing center, and likely a producer of fur garments, "The most prized (or available) furs were of fox, marten and squirrel" (p, 86-89). This panel from the Bayeux Tapestry shows several types of tunic styles typical for the late 10"-carly-|"" century—the tunics fall to the Gold foil figures from Sweden | | knee, they are fairly full-skirted, and the arms are close-fitting. The Gieele and MacDonald, p. 89). | | necklines appear to be of contrasting fabric and are keyhole-shaped. Note that the man’s tunic is ‘The two men on the right might be wearing split skirted tunies for belted and falls to his knees. nding. Sunnifa Gunnarsdottir (Charlotte Mayhew) crmayhew(@comeastnet September 2011SThe Mammen Costume Reconstruction ‘The Mammen chieftain’s grave dates from 970-971 AD. The reconstruction of the Mammen grave find, clothing by the Danish National Museum (Margeson, p. 29) was derived from the Thorsbjergz and Bocksten bog finds (for pattern details) and based on the illustration to the right, Not enough of the tunic itself remained to make accurate guesses as to its cutting pattem. Note the square decorated neckline that the reconstruction shares with the illustration, as well as the closely-fitting wrists. The reconstruction is somewhat shorter, and the skirt is less full. The embroideries on the cloak and the tunic are from the Mammen bog find, as are the padded silk bracelets with tablet-woven trim, SARS OA King Cnut, from the New Minster Liber Vitae, 11 ‘century (Backhouse et. al, pp. 77-78). King Cnut wears a knee-length tunic pouched over the belt, which is not seen (no dangling end), The tunic has extra long sleeves that fit closely at the wrists. Also note the trim at the wrists; whether this is a depiction of separate bracelets or decoration on the cuffs of the tunic is not clear. The neckline is a squared keyhole and appears to be of a contrasting fabric, like the bottom hem. The skirt of the tunic is full and, though belted, hangs to the knee. The cloak ties are similar in shape to the nalbinding found in the Mammen grave, though that might have been a had or fillet worn around the head. ‘Sunnifa Gunnarsdottir (Charlotte Mayhew) crmayhew@comeast.net September 2011 6‘The Tho! erg Tunic A ssketch of the reconstructed Migration Era tunic found in the Thorsbjere Bog, Denmark (Hald, pp. 339-340). This tunic, dated to the 6"-7" century, is made of wool, though the set-in sleeves of broken lozenge twill are a different cloth than the body of ‘the tunic. The tunic is made of only 4 pieces—2 rectangles for the front and back (the back one is slightly longer) and 2 rectangles for the sleeves. ‘The sleeves are taken in below the elbow so they are close-fitting atthe wrists. The last few inches ‘of the sloove scams were left open. The side seams are also left open inthe portion below the hip, for ‘ease of movement. The tunic laces up the sides. Decorative tablet-woven bands acorn the wrists, ‘The neck opening is formed by leaving a portion of the top shoulder seam unsewn, ‘The 5 century Migration Era find in Evebo, Norway, yielded the remains of ? tunics. The red wool undertunic reached to the knees. Like the ‘Thonbjerg tunic, ithad decorated wristbands. The tablet-woven bands of the Evebo tunic were further embellished with bronze wrist clasps; there was tablet-weaving at the neck and also at the ‘hem, The wool overtunic also had tablet-weaving adoming its neck, though little else remains of it Detail of a 12" century manuscript depicting Viking raiders walking down the oars of their ships to attack (Owen, p. |). Note that the tunics as drawn are nearly knee-length and full-skirted:; the sleeves are long and fit closely at the wrist. A tunic found in Bernuthsfeld Mose, Denmark, ‘has a chest measurement of only 60 em. The straight-seamed sleeves, spanning 17Scm wrist to ‘wrist, need the length to bend at the elbow. Sunnifa Gunnarsdottir (Charlotte Mayhew) crmayhew@comeast.net September 2011 7‘Sunnifa Gunnarsdottir (Charlotte Mayhew) ‘This linoleum cut by Thomas G. Andersson shows the Viborg short as it would have been worm by its Danish owner in the 11" century (Fentz, p. 8). ‘enoars wel 236cm front lining 95cm As you can see from the cutting pattem (Fenty, p. 12), the Viborg shirt is a fairly complicated piece of clothing, The upper half is Lined as well as quilted, though the backs and fronts are one piece. ‘The sleeves are pieced and tapered at the wrists ‘The neckline has a drawstring tie to pull it snug crmayhew@comeast.net September 2011 8‘The tunic originally called the Ronbjerg Bog tunic Hai, p. 342). Note the full cut and’ multiple gores. Ostergind’s 2004 book identifies this fiegmentary tunic as alate 1200s textile find from Heriolfanes that was mis-labelled (0, 184. Three 12-13" Century Tunic ‘The 12" century kirtle (or shirt) from Kragelundl Bog, Denmark (pattern by Hald, p. 342). Note the front and back are made from one piece, while the tunic has multiple gores and tapered, pieced arms. ‘The unusual slit neck resembles a poncho neck. ‘This kirtle is only 65cm wide across the shoulders. The 12" century man’s kirtle from Moselund Bog, Denmark (Hald, p. 341). The Moselund tunic was made of a fulled woolen 2/1 twill fabric. It was a very long and full tunic with a riding slit eut into the front and back gores. The multiple piecing and thinner fabrie pieces indicate the use of a horizontal loom, whieh gradually supplanted the ‘warp-weighted loom in Scandinavia from the 11" century onward. The Moselund tunic bears some resemblance to the Herjolfines, Greenland tunis, which date to the 2™ half of the 14" century. ‘Those tunics also have shaped arms and sloped shoulders. ‘Sunnifa Gunnarsdottir (Charlotte Mayhew) crmayhew@comeast.net September 201 1 9