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Birka Embroideries (Sweden)

Braiding that was applied to textiles. From one of the graves excavated at Birka, Sweden, 10th century AD. Braiding that was applied to textiles. From one of the graves excavated at Birka, Sweden, 10th century AD.

Birka is an archaeological site in Sweden, located on the island of Bjørkø, some 30 km west of Stockholm. It was an important maritime centre during the Viking age. It has been an UNESCO World Heritage site since 1993.

The site is particularly known for the finger ring that was found in one of the Viking-age graves, which bears an Arabic inscription. The settlement was founded in the eighth century, and lost its importance in the late tenth century. To date, some 3000 graves have been found on the island dating back to the Viking age.

Various graves from the island have yielded embroidered textiles, most of them worked in stem stitch. All date to the tenth century. They include wool floss on wool fabric, silk floss on silk fabric, and gold thread on a now-decayed ground material.

One particular fragment has silk floss used to apply a decorative silk samite strip over a linen ground; another textile used wool stem stitches to strengthen two layers of wool in some sort of garment edging. Also recorded are examples of corded or braided thread appliqué, applied over the seams of the garments.

Sources:

  • GEIJER, Agnes (1938). Die Textilfunde aus den Gräbern. Birka: Undersuchungen und Studien III. Uppsala: Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akadamien.
  • HÄGG, Inga (1986). 'Die Tracht' Chapter 8 of Systematische Analysen der Gräberfunde, ed. Greta Arwidsson. Birka: Untersuchungen und Studien, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 51-72.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 29 October 2016).

WV

Last modified on Saturday, 29 October 2016 16:49