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Leather in Late Iron Age Scandinavia from Elk-Traps to Cheese-Glue

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Leather in Late Iron Age Scandinavia from Elk-Traps to Cheese-Glue Department of archaeology and ancient history Leather in Late Iron Age Scandinavia From elk-traps to cheese-glue Stella Carlson BA thesis 15 credits in Archaeology Spring semester 2021 Supervisor: John Ljungkvist Campus Gotland Abstract Carlson, S. 2021. Leather in Late Iron Age Scandinavia – From elk-traps to cheese-glue. Carlson, S. 2021. Läder i den sena järnålderns Skandinavien – Från älgfällor till ostlim Leather is a material that throughout history has been very important for humankind. Up until recently is has often however, together with other organic materials, not been given the attention it might deserve. This essay investigates how leather from the Late Iron Age in Scandinavia can be studied, if specialisation within leather related crafts can be identified and what this can tell us about how crafting skills were spread in a society. First a broader analysis is made of related crafts in the Late Iron Age, which is then put into relation to three chosen Vendel Age graves from the Valsgärde burial ground. Both leather production through hunting and tanning, and item production techniques like for example sewing and scabbard making are reviewed. Problems with preservation are discussed and possible alternative ways to study the subject are explored. The essay concludes that leather crafting included many techniques spread in society, practiced by common people. Still, several explicit specialisations also existed, which created high-quality leather products. Finally, suggestions for future research are made. Keywords: Valsgärde, Vendel Period, leather, tanning, Late Iron Age, organic materials Läder har som material varit mycket viktigt genom hela den mänskliga historien. Fram tills nyligen har det, tillsammans med andra organiska material, dock ofta inte fått den uppmärksamhet det kanske förtjänar. Den här uppsatsen undersöker hur läder från den sena järnålderns Skandinavien kan studeras, om specialisering inom läderhantverk kan identifieras och vad detta kan berätta för oss om hur hantverkskompetens var spritt i ett samhälle. Först görs en bredare analys av relaterade hantverk under den sena järnåldern, vilket sedan sätts i relation till tre vendeltida gravar från gravfältet i Valsgärde. Både produktion av läder genom jakt och garvning, och tekniker för produktion av föremål såsom sömnad och tillverkning av svärdsskidor granskas. Problematik med bevarandeförhållanden diskuteras och alternativa sätt att studera ämnet utforskas. Slutsatserna av uppsatsen är att läderhantverk inkluderade många olika hantverkstekniker, som var spridda i hela samhället och praktiserades av vanligt folk. Flertalet explicita specialiseringar existerade dock också, vilket gav upphov till högkvalitativa läderprodukter. Slutligen ges förslag till framtida forskning. Nyckelord: Valsgärde, Vendeltid, läder, garvning, sen järnålder, organiska material Kandidatuppsats i Arkeologi 15hp. Handledare: John Ljungkvist. Ventilerad och godkänd 2021-06-15. © Stella Carlson Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia, Uppsala universitet, Campus Gotland, Cramérgatan 3, 621 67 Visby, Sweden Cover photo: Detail of the sword scabbard from Valsgärde 8. Photo by Stella Carlson. Special thanks I want to begin by thanking my supervisor John Ljungkvist, for both feedback and good advice during the writing process, but above all for inspiring conversations about everything between oak bark and how to make seal oil. Thank you, curator John Worley, for help in the search for leather between swords and mummies in the archives at Museum Gustavianum. I also want to thank Matt Bunker. You reminded me that history is full of exciting surprises and inspiration for new crafting experiments. Last, but far from least, thank you Micaela Janatuinen. Without you this essay would not have happened. Content 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Purpose and research questions ............................................................................................... 1 1.2. Material and demarcations ....................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Method and theory ................................................................................................................... 2 2. Earlier research .................................................................................................................................. 4 3. Trade, crafts, and crafting techniques in leatherworking .................................................................. 5 3.1 Tanning .................................................................................................................................... 5 3.2 Common crafting techniques .................................................................................................. 7 3.3 Crafts and specialised crafts people ......................................................................................... 8 3.4 Trade ........................................................................................................................................ 9 5. The Valsgärde boat graves .............................................................................................................. 11 5.1 Valsgärde 8 ............................................................................................................................. 11 5.2 Valsgärde 7 ............................................................................................................................. 14 5.3 Valsgärde 5 ............................................................................................................................. 16 6. Discussion – Interpreting archaeological leather ............................................................................ 19 6.1 What is left? ............................................................................................................................ 19 6.2 The graves at Valsgärde ......................................................................................................... 19 6.3 Who was the leather worker and where can they be traced? ................................................ 21 6.4 Future research ...................................................................................................................... 22 7. Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 23 8. Bibliography .................................................................................................................................... 24 9. Illustrations ...................................................................................................................................... 28 Appendix 1: Artefacts with preserved leather from Valsgärde 8 according to the published report. .. 29 Appendix 2: Artefacts with preserved leather from Valsgärde 7 according to the published report. .. 30 Appendix 3: Artefacts with preserved leather from Valsgärde 5 according to the unpublished report. ......................................................................................................................................................... 31 1. Introduction Hides and leather have been of great importance for as long as humanity has had a material history. A great variety of objects have been made from these materials, from clothes to equipment and decoration. As materials they are both strong and flexible. The earliest uses were likely raw hide objects of different kinds, like shoes and stiff fells to keep warm. But step by step humans learned to cure and tan leather. Raw hide becomes very hard when it dries, but through a tanning process leather can be made into incredibly soft items resistant to water, wind, and decay. Apart from being such a versatile material it is also readily available wherever there are animals. This study is based upon material from the Valsgärde burial ground. It is one of the most interesting archaeological sites in Sweden. Not only because of what the rich high statues burials tell us about the Late Iron Age society, but also because of an unusually high quantity of preserved organic material. Leather, wood, and textile are often not preserved in archaeological context simply because of the natural decomposition process. Objects made from inorganic materials such as stone, metal, and glass survive the touch of time in a completely different way and have therefore received more attention in the earlier archaeological research. This leaves a gap in our understanding of the past. Another perhaps even more important aspect is that undisturbed inhumation graves are rare for most parts of the entire Iron Age. Cremation burial was the standard practice, and among the relatively few inhumation burials, many have been plundered, particularly in the Migration Period. Intact, well documented inhumation burials, such as those at Valsgärde, are few and therefore very important for our understanding of the material culture, especially concerning organic material. The period that will be discussed in this essay, the Late Iron Age, and particularly the Vendel Period (ca. 550–750/800 CE) has been given its name from what has been previously regarded as its most defining material, iron. But in reality, perishable materials like fabrics, wood and why not leather dominated the material
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