Finds of Cloth and Skin from Bogs Fund Af T0j Og Skind Fra Moser

Q FINDS OF CLOTH AND SKIN FROM BOGS FUND AF T0J OG SKIND FRA MOSER Huldremose Group. Corselitze group . Huldremosegruppe. II Corselitzegruppe. Spinning technique of Huldremose type. Probably Corselitze group. 0• Spindekombination som Huidremoseglllppe. [] Formodet Corselitzegruppe. Finds of skin without cloth. Middle Ages . Fund af skind uden t0j. ~ Middelaldel'. • Spinning technique of Bronze Age type. Probably Middle Ages. + Spindekombination som i Bronzealdel'. A Formodet Middelaldel'. Finds of uncertain type. Lost finds . • Ubestemmelige fund. • Tabte fund. CHAPTER I. TEXTILES AND SKINS FROM PEAT BOGS 15 "In bogs are concealed the relics of bygone ages which reveal to us our past and capture the attention of us all." The Almanac 1837. CHAPTER I TEXTILES AND SKINS FROM PEAT BOGS The map on P. 14 gives the distribution in Denmark of the finds of textiles and skins in peat bogs as these are numbered in the present chapter. A key to the map denotes the groups to which the numbered finds belong. In the text the locality of the numbered find is given in the following order: finding place (mose = peat bog), parish, herred (approx. = judicial district). 1. Krogens MJ}lleMose, Torslev parish, Dronninglund herred. In 1878some skin was found at a depth of about 1ftl) when digging in a little bog belonging to Krogens M~lle. When an attempt was made to pull the skin out of the peat some human bones also came into view, but not all of these could be recovered as a certain amount fell back into the waters of the bog. The skeletal remains sent to the National Museum in Copenhagen were described as quite slight which led to the conclusion that the bones were those of a woman. The body was assumed to have lain horizontally with head to the west. According to the museum's register of acquisitions the find comprised the following items2): Hooded cape of fairly thick, dark brown sheepskin with pile inwards3). The pattern of the hood is given in Fig. 380 (Ch. X. on Costume), the different pieces are sewn together in hem- stitch and running stitch with strips of skin, possibly also gut, used as thread. The hood is care- fully made; a doubled over piece of skin round the edge of the face-opening is almost decora- tive, making a soft edge to the hood should it brush the face. Skin fragments possibly of a cape but now virtually unidentifiable. Leather ring4). About 47 cm in circumference, agood 1cm thick,joined by a knot. A cord of plaited leather thongs possibly belongs to it, diagram of method in Fig. 237a-e. The braiding technique is the same as that of shepherds' whip cords nowadays which are made without tools, and the same as the braided cords with which peasant women trimmed their dresses. Pieces of cloth. In the same cardboard box as the skin finds was a collection of woven pieces not mentioned in the register, and presumably considered unimportant5). A. clothfragment, an irregularly torn off strip 40 X 32 cm. Woven in tabby, the yarn is fairly finely spun sheep's wool. There are 94 warp threads and 67 weft threads to 10 x 10 cm. The weft is determined with the help of the crossing wefts (Figs. 139, 140), two threads meeting in the same shed. The ground is dark brown, and the cloth has a checkered pattern in a blackish shade made in one direction by three narrow close-set stripes, and in the other direction by one broad stripe. B. small cloth fragment, 35 x 32 cm, clearly part of the same textile as the above. It has 82 and 78 threads to 10 x 10 cm. 16 MARGRETHE HALD: ANCIENT DANISH TEXTILES FROM BOGS AND BURIALS C. several layers of woven pieces sewn together from the same textile as the above but un- suitable for examination. A - C are in all likelihood part of the same textile. The yarn of both warp and weft is in each case S-spun. D. - H.five very torn fragments , evidently part of the same textile woven in 2/2 twill as follows: D. bag, a very damaged piece which appears originally to have been a bag. It measures 84 x 43 cm, the latter measurement is the bag's width. The yarn of the warp and the weft is S-spun. There are 98 warps and 83 wefts to 10 x 10 cm. The cloth is now dark brown with a hint of checks. Sheep's wool yarn. E.fragment 44 x 39 cm. F.fragment 30 x 27 cm. G.fragment 50 x 40 cm. H.fragment 16x 10 cm. I. - M. jIve fragments of coarse 2/2 twill, all of wool now brown as follows: I. one piece measuring 50 x 40 cm with 43 warps and 38 wefts to 10 x 10 cm. The weft and warp can be determined because of a little piece of selvedge with plaited loops. The parallel threads of the loops are the weft, also indicated by crossing weft threads. Two pieces offiner cloth are sewn to it with rough stitches, one piece is tabby, and the other is 2/2 twill with 35 x 34 threads to 5 x 5 cm. J. an irregular strip with a tubular-woven selvedge 50 x 60 cm with 44 warps and 34 wefts to 10x 10cm. Some of the loose ends are tied together in a knot (apparently done in antiquity). K. a piece of cloth 40 x 36 cm (Fig. I) with 46 warps and 36 wefts to 10x 10cm. A corner is preserved, and a tubular-woven selvedge is discernible. Along the transverse border the protruding warp loops are turned down and pulled over each other to make a plaited border. The yarn of the warp and weft is S-spun sheep's wool. L. small remnant 20 x 18 cm with crossing in the weft. M.fragment of the same textile as the four preceding specimens, virtually only a scrap of torn, plaited border to which is sewn a fragment of finer 2/2 twill which appears to be of the same textile as pieces D. - H. I. - M. were once part of the same fabric, only the added fragments sewn to them are different in origin. N. - R.four fragments of cloth undoubtedly from the same textile and comprising a com- plete length of fabric. They are of uniform quality, and two of the pieces have well preserved transverse edges with loops intact (Fig. 2). The diagram (Fig. 3) shows the pieces spread out and put together in what was probably their original position. This gives a length measuring c. 3.68 m. But if the outer torn edges were joined this measurement would be somewhat less, as the flaps can be inserted into each other. The cloth is dark brown and the weave is 2/2 twill, both the warp and weft threads are S-spun. One 10x 10cm square has 113warps and 82 wefts, a second 10 x 10 cm square in the middle of the cloth has 90 warps and 72 wefts. As indicated by the figures in the diagram, the thread count varies. Crossing in the weft shows that two or more threads were used in the same shed (Fig. 139). The selvedges are tubular-woven but of poor quality and loose in many places (Fig. 4). The two edges A. and B. are sewn together with fairly large stitches with an S-spun 4-ply thread. In the transverse edge A. the uneven warps belong together, e.g. nos. I and 3, but in B. it is the adjacent threads. This point is dealt with in detail in the section on warping in which I discuss the structure of textiles. The holes along the selvedge (Fig. 4) are evenly spaced, but it is uncertain whether they are caused by some arrangement when the textile was in the loom, or whether they are connected with the wearing of the fabric. The cloth may have been part of a costume, worn with a cord or narrow leather thong, like the checkered skirt from Huldremose (Fig. 30). The yarn is sheep's wool. CHAPTER I. TEXTILES AND SKINS FROM PEAT BOGS 17 Fig. I. Krogens M\illle Mose. Plaited border of piece of cloth (D 1310 K). Slightly magnified. Krogens Mjillle Mose. Flettekant pl't tjiljstykke (0 1310 K). Lidt forstjilrret. ;: I'V' (', \ " I ~ •• L. Fig. 2. Krogens M\illleMose. Piece of cloth (1310 N-R). Detail of plaited borders A-B, cf. Figs. 3 and 180. 'It. Krogens Mjillle Mose. Tjiljstykke (0 1310 N-R). Oetaille af tlettekanterne A-B, sm!. fig. 3 og 180. 1/•. 18 MARGRETHE HALD: ANCIENT DANISH TEXTILES FROM BOGS AND BURIALS 2. Stidsholt Mose, Torslev parish, Dronninglund herred. According to the National Museum's register of acquisitions6) the severed head of a woman was found in 1859in Stidsholt Mose. "A knotted band" 29 ins. long and 21/4 ins. wide is also recorded, the fringes were far longer at one end than the other. But the piece is not preserved, neither are any textiles or garments mentioned. 3. Skrerum parish, Horns herred. In 1913when cutting peat in a bog near Skcerum Church, a human foot, shin-bone, the remains of a thigh-bone, and a skull were recovered?). The sinews and skin of the foot and leg were preserved. Apart from this were found the remains of a boot or leg wrapper of sheepskin, another remnant of sheepskin, and a piece of cowhide. The scraps of skin were probably part of the same garment, most likely a cape, but all we can now establish is that the seams are in running stitch sewn with skin thread.

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