Interior Textiles in the Viking Age (Hardcover)

Eva Andersson Strand

ISBN 10: 1836245130 / ISBN 13: 9781836245131

Edité par Liverpool University Press, Liverpool, 2026

A propos de cet article

Hardcover. When Viking Age house interiors are reconstructed, the focus is usually on the fireplace and the placement of tables, benches and beds. These features help us understand how people lived. However, we often forget that textiles, such as blankets, sheets, tablecloths and wall hangings, were also important in everyday life. Textiles were used for comfort, cleaning and decoration, and they helped tell stories as well as signal a persons or familys social status. Most Viking Age textiles that have survived are found in graves. These include not only clothing but also bedding, pillows and fabrics used to wrap objects. A burial can be seen as a kind of room for the dead, filled with items that reflect how people lived and what they valued. Because of this, grave finds are important when discussing the interior textiles used in Viking Age houses. Wall hangings are mentioned as status symbols in the Icelandic sagas, and examples from the late Viking Age and early medieval period have been found and preserved in churches, giving us insight into their use and value. Old Norse texts also mention soft furnishings such as tablecloths and handcloths, and the use of interior textiles can be seen on the Bayeux embroidery. Other types of iconography, such as on rune stones and picture stones, help us understand how interior textiles may have been used. By combining information from textiles, written sources and iconography, and by applying different approaches, the chapters in this book offer various perspectives on how interior textiles were used in the Viking Age, why they were needed and how valuable they were. By combining information from textiles, written sources and iconography, and by applying different approaches, the chapters in this book offer various perspectives on how interior textiles were used in the Viking Age, why they were needed and how valuable they were. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

N° de réf. du vendeur 9781836245131

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Interior Textiles in the Viking Age (Hardcover)
• Éditeur: Liverpool University Press, Liverpool
• Date de parution: 2026
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 1836245130
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9781836245131
• Reliure: Hardcover
• État de l'article: new

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

When Viking Age houses are reconstructed, the focus is often on the hearth and arrangements for tables, benches and sleeping places. This is all of great importance in understanding how people organized their lives, nevertheless, we often forget that various forms of textiles are natural and necessary parts of almost all the functions of the house. When examining Viking Age houses, it is essential to understand the functionality of textiles in bedding, linens, tablecloths, blankets, pillows, wall hangings, and cleaning rags. Moreover, textiles played a significant role as media for collective storytelling and in the ongoing negotiation of social status. Most of the preserved textiles from the Viking Age have been found in graves. However, analyses show that burial textiles included not only clothing but also bedding, pillows, and wrappings for objects. A burial chamber can be viewed as a room for the deceased, furnished with objects that reflect social practices and customs. The interior of the burial chamber therefore offers the best available archaeological source for household textiles. By adopting a holistic approach that combines different methods and sources, and by treating textiles based on the contexts in which they appear, the Viking Age interior textiles become visible, highlighting their use, needs, and value. The chapters in this volume present different categories of interior textiles and their contexts, how they have been used, their spatiality and the relationships they have with other materials. The textiles are also considered in relation to the three-dimensional space a house constitutes. How was the room furnished and how was it perceived by the people who moved within it? This is a kind of spatial archaeology that is often lost when interpreting houses based on postholes and hearths.

À propos des auteurs

Eva Andersson Strand is Professor in Archaeology, University of Copenhagen. Her research lies in 35 years of experience in recording and combining ancient textile crafts and production processes combined with comprehensive context analysis and experimental and digital archaeology.

Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson is Associate Professor in Archaeology, Uppsala University. She has a long-time engagement in the archaeology and research of Viking town Birka, focusing on martial society, cultural interactions, and contacts between Scandinavia, eastern Europe and Eurasia.

Ulla Mannering is Research Professor in Textile Archaeology, National Museum of Denmark. She is responsible for the prehistoric textile and clothing collections at the National Museum of Denmark and has over 25 years of experience in textile analyses and the development and adaption of scientific analyses for textile research.

Marianne Vedeler is Professor in Archaeology, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo. She has more than 30 years of experience in museum collection management and textile analysis. Her research focus is on dress and accessories, textile trade and distribution and on food culture.