CHAPTER TWELVE

VIKING AGE TEXTILES

Annika Larsson

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extiles are perishable commodities and are not preserved over long periods unless
special conditions are present. Animal fibres (wool and silk) nevertheless survive
better than vegetable fibres (linen, nettle, hemp and cotton). An absence of air, constant
moisture or direct contact with certain metals can all improve the survival chances of
textile remains. These conditions are met in many high-status graves from the Viking
period.
Rich textile finds of wool and silk have, for example, been preserved in the ship-
burial from Oseberg in Norway, partly because the burial mound was constructed with
an airtight turf layer and partly due to a deposit of damp and watertight blue clay that
was pressed into the burial from below, due to the weight of the ship. A considerable
quantity of textiles also survives from the graves at the Swedish site of Birka. Here, the
presence of metal objects in the burials has been decisive in the preservation of the
textiles, in that women’s brooches and men’s swords have both been in direct contact
with the dress of the deceased. It is primarily cloth of wool and silk that has survived,
but the metal salts exuded by bronze oval brooches have also conserved linen. In Viking
dress it is not unusual to find work in silver thread, which in the same way has tended to
preserve the cloth on which it was fastened.
If we look further east to the Russian, Mongolian and Chinese areas, we find rich
textile preservation due to permafrost or permanent aridity in some areas. This makes it
possible to analyse and compare finds from different regions, in order to understand how
cultural traits have spread through trade and other contacts. Early literary sources and
imagery can help us to confirm our hypotheses, and to explore the circumstances under
which the raw materials of textile production, techniques and finished products were
transmitted. We can also study equipment and even the design of textiles, as well as
living craft traditions much later in time. The very terminology of textiles can also assist
us in our interpretations.
The textiles of the Viking Age reflect long-distance trading networks. In the Birka
graves are genuine Chinese silks from the Tang dynasty, but also rich finds of silk
from Syria and Arabia. Exotic silks are also found at Oseberg. We often read of silk from
Christian Byzantium as being typical of Viking Age graves, but we should exercise
caution here as the trade with the empire first took off in the mid-tenth century. In the