Unique Viking textile found in a woman's grave

The discovery of embroidered textiles from the period of the Vikings is a rarity. A relatively large piece was recently found by archaeologists in a woman's grave in the Norwegian town of Hestnes. According to experts, the textile is over a thousand years old.

The archaeologists discovered a piece of cloth about eleven centimetres long. It was wrapped around a turtle-shaped brooch. "The discovery of an embroidered fabric from the period of the Vikings is really so unusual that we still can't believe we found something like this," said archaeologist Ruth Iren Øien from the NTNU University Museum.
At first glance, the fabric looks ugly, dingy, brown and dull. But according to the archaeologists, it is really something special. "Those of us who work with textiles are delighted when we find an inch of ancient fabric. In the grave at Hestnes we found an eleven centimetre piece," the archaeologist confirmed.

She could hardly believe what she saw under the microscope. "Embroidered textiles from the Viking Age are something we only know from a few rich graves like those at Oseberg and Mammengraven in Denmark," she recalled. The brooch with the textile was found in a woman's grave at Hestnes in southern Trøndelag during excavations last year, but archaeologists have only now reported on it. The grave is dated to approximately between 850 and 950 AD.

The woman was buried in a long wooden chamber, which is quite unusual for central Norway. "Such graves are widespread mainly in Birke in Sweden and in Denmark, including Scania. Also in the south-eastern part of Norway and Hedeby in Germany," revealed Raymond Sauvage, archaeologist and project manager of the excavation. Other objects found in the grave are also very unusual. The woman was buried with a three-lobed brooch, a relatively rare find in Norway. It is typical especially for the Old Norse areas. She was also laid to rest with several hundred miniature pearls. Archaeologists know of only a few Norwegian graves of this type.

"The deceased woman had pearls stacked over her right shoulder. It may have originally been a necklace, but over time it disintegrated. In Hedeby, pearl embroidery was found in this way, which we cannot rule out in the case of the grave at Hestnes either," Sauvag added.

Archaeologists believe they found the remains of eight different textiles in the grave - six pieces of wool and two pieces of linen. The fabrics vary in quality, texture and appearance.

Sources: https://norwegianscitechnews.com/, www.ancient-origins.net