Textiles and Textile production in Viking Age Scandinavia

Come to hear Eva Andersson Strand of The Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. In Viking Age society there has been a need for a wide variety of textiles; textiles for clothing, sails etc. There is no doubt that textiles and production had an important economic and social impact on society which also can be confirmed via archaeological studies. However, which textiles were considered as valuable? Who was the producer and how was the production organized? In this presentation, textile production in two Scandinavian ports of trade, Birka and Hedeby, will be discussed. Sponsored by the Friends of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology.
Photo credit: Model of Birka © Ambrosiani and Eriksson 1992