CHAPTER VII. TABLET 225

CHAPTER VII TABLET WEAVING

Tablet weaving is a method of weaving bands with the help of a collection of tablets - usually of wood, but horn, bone, leather, cardboard, etc., may also be used. The shape and size of the tablets differ: the most usual type is square, and in folk tablet weaving the specimens usually measure about 6-8 cm along each side. The tablets have rounded corners, and in each corner is a hole through which the threads of the warp are threaded. Some sets of tablets are to be found in Danish local history museums, the Danish Folk Museum has also a little collection of tablet weaving but little is known about them, and their provenance is often uncertain or not known 1). The number of tablet-woven bands to sur- vive in Denmark is not large, nor do the more recent examples bear witness to a particularly highly developed technique. Their significance lies in the fact that they show that tablet weav- ing has a long tradition as a Danish folk handicraft until the present day, and has undoubtedly been carried out in this country and in the rest of Scandinavia since prehistoric times. Admittedly medieval tablet weaving is not as yet represented among archaeological finds, and we have to go back to the 10th century A.D. to find a Danish tablet. A square bone tablet with a hole in each corner was excavated in Lund in 1909. Its measurements are 4.8 x 4.8 cm, and a number of runes incised along one edge have been dated to the close of the 10th century on the basis of their shape2). Tablets from the same period have also been recovered elsewhere in Scandinavia, for example, the excavation of the Norwegian Oseberg ship-burial, usually dated to the mid-9th century, yielded several tablets: three were found in a box and a number elsewhere in the excavation, some of which still had threads in when found3). Birka in Sweden4) has also yielded a tablet. Earlier evidence of tablet weaving than this in Denmark takes us far back in time to the Dejbjerg carts5) excavated in Ringk0bing county and dated to the Celtic Iron Age (c. 200 B.C. - Anno Domini). This famous find included two wooden tablets, only one of which is com- 3 t plete, it measures 4 /4 x 5 h cm, and is 3 mm thick, the other was in fragments (Fig. 223). These tablets are not only the oldest known examples in Scandinavia, but as far as we know the oldest four-hole tablets in existence.

Technique. A brief description of how tablet weaving is carried out will be given in the fol- lowing6): The manipulation of the tablets limits the number of tablets used, and the product is there- fore always a relatively narrow band. A thread is passed through each hole. When the weaving is to take place the tablets are placed on edge with the mounted warp, as the threads are tautened they divide into two layers with a gap between, a weft thread is then passed through 226 MARGRETHE HALD: ANCIENT DANISH FROM BOGS AND BURIALS

Fig. 223. Tablets found with the Dejbjerg cart. Celtic Iron Age. 5/6. Vrevebrikker fra Keltisk jemalder fundet sam men med Dejbjergvognen. 5/6.

this gap, called the . In four-thread tablet weaving a fresh shed is made by giving the block of tablets a quarter turn either backwards or forwards, i.e. there are four shed openings through which to pass the weft: four wefts to a full turn of the tablets. When the tablets are turned in the same direction at once, the four threads through each tablet twist round each other, and as work proceeds they form warp cords which hide the weft entirely. I call this type tablet weaving with cording?). But the warp threads twist into cords as the tablets are rotated at the same time as they bind the weft, therefore their course is slightly oblique and pattern effects may be obtained. For example, if all the tablets are threaded in the same direction, say from the right, an even diagonal effect is produced. If, on the other hand, the threading method is alternately from the right and left through groups of tablets, the resulting ornament is zigzag. If the change is made at every other tablet, we describe it as the method where tablets are threaded alternately in pairs (Fig. 224). The result shown in Fig. 225 is if tablets I and 3 stand on their right edges and tablets 2 and 4 stand on their left edges. Another combination interplay is also possible, in that the tablets need not necessarily be turned in the same direction, i.e. by changing the twisting direction from Z-wise to S-wise an identical pattern is produced in reverse. A little groove is made across the band when the turn of the tablets changes (see Fig. 60, the Corselitze band). The advantage of this kind of change is that the threads behind the tablets, which become tangled in the course of weaving, have a chance to untwist themselves again. Tangling is otherwise quite a handicap in the long run. In the following I will use the term 4-ply tablet weaving to describe tablets threaded with four threads thus producing 4-ply cords. Not all holes need be threaded though, one or two may remain unused in which case the terms are 3-ply and 2-ply tablet weaving. This kind of weaving is very distinct from that produced by other implements because of the curious corded effect, however there is another form of tablet weaving which is more difficult to distinguish from ordinary weaving. We have seen how patterns can be made by changes in the turns of the tablets, either backwards or forwards. When the changes are made at fairly long intervals the cording is clearly visible in the band, but if in 4-ply weaving the tablets are alternately given two quarter turns forwards and two quarter turns backwards with a pick in- serted at each turn, the result is one in which the are at right-angles to each CHAPTER VII. TABLET WEAVING 227 other and there is no cording because its commencement upon the first and second turns is cancelled out at the third and fourth turns. Figs. 226 and 227 are examples of this. Tablet weaving as an auxiliary technique. Tablet weaving is not always carried out on its own; on the contrary, it has played a far greater part in conjunction with ordinary weaving and seems to have played its most important role in this respect. In any event, there are more examples among ancient Danish textiles of tablet weaving as part of a -woven , than on their own simply as a separate band.

-- - ::- - ---=~~.

Fig. 226. See text at the top of this page. Se teksten !!Iverst pi\.denne side.

Fig. 224. Diagram of four-th read tablet weaving with cording. Tablets J and 3 stand on their right edges, 2 and 4 on their left edges. The tablets are threaded alternately in pairs. Skematisk fremstilling af firtd'ldet brikvrevning med snoredannelse med parvis modstillede brikker. Brik I og 3 rejses pi\. h!!ljre kant, 2 og 4 pi\.venstre.

Fig. 225. Weave produced by the Fig. 227. See text at the top of this page. method shown in Fig. 224. Se teksten !!Iverst pi\.denne side. Produktet efter den ved Fig. 224 anviste metode med parvis modstillede brikker. 228

Figs. 228-229. Wool tablet-woven band from Mammen: a. right side, b. reverse side. (Museum no. C 136 a-b). 2(1. Brikvrevet band af uld fra Mammen: a. retside, b. vrangside. 2(1. The usual form is as a tablet-woven border along what has presumably been a starting bor- der, here it served a purely practical purpose as the basis of the whole warping arrangement. First of all a band warp is laid which corresponds to the loom width of the textile to be woven. Into this warp, usually fairly narrow, are inserted as wefts those threads which are to comprise the warp of the textile to be woven. Obviously these threads are tied to one edge of the band but the other ends are looped to the length intended for the completed fabric. An extremely interesting semi-finished product that provides conclusive proof of this technique as a starting border is among the finds from Tegle in Norway dated to the Migration Period8).

PREHISTORIC MATERIAL Detailed studies of tablet weaving products with a bearing on Danish prehistoric examples have been published by Bj¢rn Hougen9), Agnes GeijerIO), and Grace M. Crowfootll), there- fore in the present context a systematic description of all the archaeological material is super- fluous and I will confine myself to the Danish finds, referring to other sources when these are of direct interest by way of comparison with the Danish materiaJl2). 229

The Danish Iron Age finds of tablet-woven bands with cording are as follows: Br

I 2. 3 •• ~ (. "1 81 Iu II It [J~e1J~~~ z.. I_ °1 ~ 10 -II- 01 ~ E;] 3 't S- f, t;]~E;]~E;][;j 7 t 't 10 -I 1°_II_ °11°-I ~ EJ J'Vt){ Fig. 231. Diagram showing the position of the tablets for Fig. 230. Norwegian tablet-woven band weaving Fig. 230. All the tablets are turned at the same with a diagonal texture made by time and will then stand on their edges marked with a two-thread tablets with cording (after thick line. H. Dedekam, Fig. 21). Skema over brikkemes arrangement for vrevning af bl'lndet Norsk brikbl'lnd med diagonaltekstur udf\llrt Fig. 230. Aile brikker drejes i eet greb. De rejses fra den i snorevrevning med to trl'lde pl'l hver brik. strerkest optrukne kant. CHAPTER VII. TABLET WEAVING 231

Fig. 232. Analysis ofa tablet-woven band with a diagonal texture made by four-thread tablets and changing turns (after H. Dedekam). Fig. 233. Wrist-band woven in gold and silk. The Analyse til bAnd med diagonaltekstur, udf9Jrt med Mammen find, Viking Period. (Mus. no. C 138). fire trAde pA hver brik og skiftende drejeretninger. ArmbAnd vrevet i guld og silke fra Mammen. Vikingetid.

Thorsbjerg find is a coat or kirtle with sleeves trimmed with a band which R. Stettiner23) described in 1911 as the most intricate example of prehistoric tablet weaving yet known. The band has thin broken diagonal lines, said to be executed with four-thread tablets but clearer details of the method are not yet known. [n 1940 Irmingard Fuhrmann24) published a paper on a tablet-woven band from a royal burial in a barrow dated to the 3rd-4th centuries A.D. at Pilgramsdorf in South-East Prussia. Only a scrap of the band has survived but enough to reveal variations of tablet weaving which are evidently related to the group under discussion. [rmingard Fuhrmann also points out that fragments of tablet-woven bands with a diagonal texture have been found among the textiles recovered from the royal burials in Sacrau25); these are dated to the 4th century and like the Norwegian examples, they are somewhat older than the Mammen textiles. In Finland, too, tablet-woven bands have been excavated which are woven in diagonal texture and with a pat- tern of two interchanging colours on each side26). Agnes Geijer mentions a tablet-woven band from Birka which appears to have been produced by individually rotated tablets, unfor- tunately the textile is too decayed for a detailed analysis to be made27). To date, though, the most intricate example of the technique is a band with gold brocade preserved in the shrine of St. Cuthbert at Durham Cathedral in Eng[and. The band is tablet- woven in two shades of red silk, and Grace M. Crowfoot28) has established that the basic weave is the same as that of the Norwegian bands: a four-thread diagonal weave with cording but embellished with a demanding brocading in which the gold threads on the right side of the band make a pattern which is repeated on the reverse side alternately between the two red shades of the basic weave. Other tablet-woven bands from the shrine are of interest, too, and we will return to them later. Gold brocaded bands. Danish tablet-woven bands with gold brocade are best represented by the three pieces from Mammen because of their good condition. The tablet-woven borders of the wrist-bands (C 138, Fig. 233) and the fragments (C 136 b, Fig. 234) are possibly the same piece of tablet weaving, whereas the borders of the pennants (Figs. 101 and 346) are not as wide and have another pattern. In principle, though, the technique for making them is the same. The arrangement of the warp is as follows: the tablets at each side are threaded with four 232 MARGRETHE HALD: ANCIENT DANISH TEXTILES FROM BOGS AND BURIALS

f

Fig. 234. Reverse side of tablet-woven band of gold and silk from Mammen. Viking Period. (Mus. no. 136b). 2/1. Vrangside af brikb~nd i guld og silke [ra Mammen. Vikingetid. (C. 136b). 2/ •.

threads while those in the middle are threaded with two threads through diagonal holes. The tablets are turned so that the empty holes always lie beside the threaded holes of the adjacent tablets. The threads are also threaded alternately from the right and left sides of the tablets (Fig. 235). Two kinds of thread are used for the weft: a fine silk background thread inserted at every quarter turn runs through the normal shed across the width of the warp, and a gold brocading thread lying in long picks on the surface, only attached here and there to the warp threads as needed to make the required pattern (Fig. 236a). The brocade thread is used in the centre of the band only for as far as the pattern extends, it then turns in loops although the turns do not appear to be systematic29). Yet another brocade thread of silk is used in the bands (Figs. 233,234 and 236a), a coarse thread. It is used to make a fine diagonal line, and now and again a little motif which shows up on the gold surface (the dark lines Fig. 236a). This is tablet weaving with a weft pattern as opposed to the usual form of tablet weaving with the warp threads causing the pattern and completely concealing the weft. Obviously these bands of rich materials and carefully executed patterns are purely decora- tive products carried out in a complicated technjque: not only with three different weft threads but with partly a two-thread and partly a four-thread corded warp. However, the basic weave is carried out in fairly simple tablet weaving with cording and the shed changed regularly at every quarter turn. The time-consuming and elaborate part is that the pattern picks have to be

MHald Fig. 235. Arrangement of tablets for weaving the Mammen wrist-band (C 138). Tablets stand on right edge. Opstilling af brikkerne til vrevning af armb~nd [ra Mammen. (C 138). Pladerne rejses [ra h~jre kant. CHAPTER VII. TABLET WEAVING 233 inserted at certain points to produce the pattern, and that the fabric is of such fine texture. Both these factors have made heavy demands on the attention and skill of the person weaving. The tablet-woven bands from Hvileh0j are closely related to the Mammen bands, although it is not possible to determine how the basic weave was accomplished as the warp has decom- posed in places and the general condition of the fabric is very poor. The Siotsbjergby find has a little scrap of tablet-woven band with gold brocade 2 cm wide. The origin of tablet-woven bands. The usual forms of band and border on fabrics recovered among archaeological finds in Denmark are generally considered to be of native origin, but the costly and highly sophisticated products of gold and silk are less clearly attributable and the question of their origin has understandably aroused a certain amount of interest. The patterns give no important clue, as the swastika motif was widespread both in time and place, but the raw material is undoubtedly of foreign origin. We will now turn to the scholars who have studied these textiles. J. J. A. Worsaae wrote about the Mammen textiles in 18693°): "As sure- ly as the gold brocaded silk fabric has once been imported from a foreign country, just as surely is the embroidery on the cape, perhaps also the textile and the silver inlaid axe, of Danish or Scandinavian origin". C. Engelhardt31) remarked about the Hvileh0j find in 1881: "The ornament on the undoubtedly foreign fabrics corresponds in style to the ornament on the Mammen textiles, and both rest on classical tradition. We know that in the 11th and 12th cen- turies similar rich textiles spread throughout Europe from workshops in Byzantium and Sicily. " And more recently, Agnes Geijer and Grace M. Crowfoot32), each in her own way, have endeavoured to throw light on the matter on the basis of the Swedish and English material respectively. A comparison between the Danish tablet-woven bands and those from Birka, Sweden, is interesting. Agnes Geijer has published a considerable number, most of which comprise one group that at first glance seems very similar to the Danish material, although certain differences are to be found. Firstly, the Swedish bands are woven with a warp offour- ply cords as the basic technique, while the Danish examples (which could be examined) proved to have two-ply cords with four sheds in the middle zone, and ordinary four-ply cords at each edge. Secondly, the Swedish bands with silver or gold brocade have with a few excep- tions pattern picks in double threads of drawn metal, while the Danish examples are of spun single thread. The latter, too, seem to be offiner quality. It is wasted effort to compare the two kinds of band by counting number of tablet threads to a cord as we know that the numbers differ. The best point of departure is to study the number of weft picks. The Danish bands all have about 30 pattern picks per cm, whereas none of the Birka bands have such a high number. Two with the greatest number are B. 22 and B. 25 with respectively 20-25 and 23 picks per cm - otherwise the number varies between 12 and 1833). There is more harmony between the Swedish and Danish material as far as the ornamental motifs are concerned, viz. swastikas, diagonal lines, meanders etc., although the Swedish material also has examples of plait motifs, stars and the like, but this is not surprising as the group of finds is larger and more variations are likely to occur34). Agnes Geijer, an acknowledged expert on the history of silk textiles, has carried out a detailed study of the archaeological material as well as the literary sources, and weighs the advantages and disadvantages of these in the context of the Birka tablet-woven bands' origin. She points out that the Imperial Court of Byzantium35) had a workshop which exclusively wove the golden bands trimming formal Court costumes. However, on the basis of existing Scandinavian material, she demonstrates that the technical skill in our part of the 234 MARGRETHE HALD: ANCIENT DANISH TEXTILES FROM BOGS AND BURIALS

t. ~~II"\IIIIII~II~~w'~11~{j!]II[!!!1~] ~]~~m~!!f1] ~!!ll[I~~~~~ll~~II ~~ll~ll~r 17~ "\ 111111%41f4~~ ~~II[;.,-'::::: [~~IIII~~Iw~~11r~~~:ttll~::::::R II~~ 1~II~1 II', 1111::::::11::::::11:::::: :::::: ~ -:::- ~ I< ~ II ~ " ~ '" ~ '" ] \ '" II~II 'if ~ '" '" '" I~' it ~ , /':::::]~~I'I[~] [\\\JI[1111~1'lli~~~~tr~]-:-"::::::]~'T~1~t'"'f1]~/ ~fJ> ~ :::::l~ll"" f u/~~'" II~Jh~~*~1i<;h, ~~ i 11111~1:;'~']R~[Il"'~~> II~"IllllI~111111 "lflllllllllm" 1IIIIIh~llllll1N!jfJhil~IIIIILilllllll"ttlill[IIILIf" IIIIII?'"II {ji~•• Fig. 236a. Diagram of wrist-band from Mammen (C 138). The basic weave is shown at the of lower edge to the right with the brocade thread above it. The dark diagonal stitches are of thick silk thread. Analyse til armbflnd fra Mammen (C 138). Nederst til hliljre ses bundvrevet, derover brocheringstrflden. De mlilrke sting efter diagonalen bestflr af svrer silketrfld. world is of such excellence that there is good reason to suppose raw materials - gold and silk- were imported and the tablet weaving performed here. It is a hypothesis amply borne out for example, by the highly accomplished woollen bands known from Eveb~ and Snartemo in Norway, and the woollen bands from Mammen. Tablet-woven bands in England which have a bearing on those discussed in the present chapter have been found in two coffins supposed to contain the remains of King William Rufus and St. Cuthbert, the former in Winchester Cathedral and the latter in Durham Cathedral.

According to some records from 1592 King Rufus36) is reputed to have died as the result ofa hunting accident on 2nd August 1100 in t~e thirteenth year of his reign; he was buried in Winchester Cathedral and a marble slab marked the grave. Whether this is sufficient evidence on which to date the tablet-woven bands cannot be decided here, unfortunately we are not giv- en any detailed description of the textiles recovered from the coffin, but from the illustrations reproduced in Archaeologia they appear to bear a close resemblance to our Mammen bands, both in size, colour, material and motifs. Due as far as I know, to the absence of a technical analysis no firmer conclusion can as yet be drawn. The tablet-woven bands from St. Cuthbert's coffin, on the other hand, are a more satisfac- tory source of information due to the thorough study carried out by Grace M. Crowfoot. The fact that they are thought to be fairly accurately dated to the period between 909 and 916 is especially significant in the present context when dealing with Danish 10th century textiles. Seven of St. Cuthbert's bands proved to be woven in ordinary four-thread tablet weaving, i.e. 4-ply cords, as the basic technique, with the addition of brocading in single spun gold thread. In other words, they are similar to the Swedish bands in technique but materialwise they more closely resemble the Mammen bands. That two of the tablet-woven bands were used as wrist- bands like two of our Mammen examples is another significant similarity37). When the coffin of St. Cuthbert was opened, one of the bands still lay in position round the wrist, still in the shape of a cuff too, but the other wrist-band had unrolled. CHAPTER VII. TABLET WEAVING 235

Fig. 236b. Tablet-woven bands and fringes, experiments carried out by the author. Brikvrevede bAnd og frynser udf~rt af forfatteren. 236 MARGRETHE HALD: ANCIENT DANISH TEXTILES FROM BOGS AND BURIALS

The fine texture of the English bands relates most closely with the Danish material but from the point of view of ornament they are a distinct group. The motifs of birds, dragons, vases, acanthus foliage, etc., are all ornaments which must have been difficult to incorporate in such a narrow loom width, namely from 4 mm to 2 cmwide. Yet these motifs give little indication of the origins of the bands, although we are well acquainted with them in oriental and classical art. Grace Crowfoot demonstrates that the motifs could well be inspired by the illuminated manuscripts written in England at the same period, although she adds that a link with the Con· tinent is also discernible38). She also points out that the materials of the bands - gold and silk- are identical with the embroidery on St. Cuthbert's vestments, and the manner in which the gold brocade on the bands is executed corresponds to the gold thread embroidery on his robe. Grace Crowfoot maintains that the tablet-woven bands and the embroidery are contemporary with each other. All English experts consider the robe to be a native product, writes Grace Crowfoot, and concludes from this that the bands are English. Their close kinship to Scandi- navian textiles is easily explained as the period is one when Vikings and Anglo-Saxons had much contact with each other. All in all, Grace Crowfoot emphasises even more strongly than Agnes Geijer the viewpoint that this fine textured tablet weaving in gold and silk should be considered products of the region from which they have been recovered. To me the question of where these tablet-woven bands were made is not only difficult to answer, it is also hampered by the need for more evidence. The very fact, however, that the brocaded bands from Sweden, England and Denmark have - in spite of some differences - so many features in common indicates that their place of origin is presumably the same. If they were separately made in each of the three countries, we would expect them to have greater local- or national- characteristics. The straightforward explanation by Agnes Geijer that the craftsmanship may well be Scandinavian but with imported materials is feasible; conversely, it would be equally feasible to maintain that woollen cloth could well be imported even though wool was readily available in the countries in question, for example the fine woollen textiles from Birka, and the similar Danish example from the Lousgaard find, as well as the patterned cloth from Hvileh¢j. As we have seen, the woollen tablet-woven bands from Mammen are closely related to the Norwegian ones with a diagonal texture, and that all these bands both in technique and mate- rial fall into one group. Nevertheless, the geographical distribution of the group must be treat- ed with caution: A. Stein's excavations in East Turkestan have yielded a wool tablet-woven band (dated to the 8th-9th centuries) which also bears a distinct technical resemblance to the 39 Scandinavian examples, even with an animal motif like the woollen Norwegian bands ). Aureil Stein has demonstrated the relationship between the ornament of this textile with Per- sian, Greek and Cretan decorative art. In any event, its discovery serves as a warning not solely to consider the woollen diagonally textured bands a Scandinavian phenomenon. Hans Dedekam endeavours to answer the question through a stylistic study of the animal motifs in a number of archaeological finds which are more or less contemporary with the Nor- wegian tablet-woven bands from Eveb¢ and Snartemo. He concludes his remarks upon the Eveb¢ band as follows: "Our woven animal border appears to belong to this group of Ger- manic animal motif"40). It seems to me that Dedekam has in this context produced the most significant piece of evidence to support the hypothesis that our diagonally textured tablet- woven bands of wool are of North European craftmanship. The silken tablet-woven bands also make up a group. Grace Crowfoot has shown that one of St. Cuthbert's bands with gold brocade has the same basic weave as the woollen Norwegian CHAPTER VII. TABLET WEAVING 237 bands with four-thread tablets and diagonal cording. I have also pointed out that all the silk Mammen tablet-woven bands in the two-thread technique are likewise closely related with these. In fact the technical dividing line between the two groups is extremely fluid, but as far as the gold brocade bands are concerned, it is difficult to deny that they appear standardised - just the characteristic noted by Agnes Geijer in regard to the fine woollen cloth from Birka. This marked uniformity of production would seem to mark routine work - even factory work, and it goes without saying that exceptional dext~rity with fine has been called for in order to produce the complicated patterns: skill which is difficult to attribute to amateurs. I feel that it indicates one or other "industrial centre", wherever this may have been. Unfor- tunately, whereas the Scandinavian and Baltic countries, as well as North Germany and Eng- land have relatively rich collections of tablet-woven textiles, we lack similar archaeological material from other regions, even Egypt - otherwise the source of many ancient textiles - to some extent fails us. The very controversial belt of Ramesis41) has been copied by Grace

Crowfoot42) without using tablets. Moreover, to judge from the material I have seen, Egyptian tablet-woven bands dating from the beginning of our era onwards are not particularly skilfully made. Although it should be mentioned that some late classical Egyptian tunics published by Wulff and Volbach43) are trimmed with bands which appear to be tablet-woven with a brocad- ed surface. It would be interesting in this context to know what a detailed analysis of these decorative bands would reveal, because recent material from Asia has produced the closest parallels to the Danish gold and silver brocade bands of the Viking Period. Margrethe Lehmann-Filhes illustrates several examples of the same type in her book, for example, a Persian belt in green silk with a secondary pattern of diagonal lines in silver thread44), and a band of violet silk with squares and diagonal lines on a silver surface45). These two tablet- woven bands were bought in Cairo. Another band from Jerusalem but bought in what was then

Constantinople, is likewise of silk with silver brocade46), and finally a belt from Baghdad - a fine specimen of the same type47). In reality there is no reason why these tablet-woven bands should not have ancient lineages; they may well be descended from the products woven in antiquity in ancient cultural centres but we lack the evidence to prove it.

Fig. 238. Bobbins from Als in Denmark used for making long cords similar to those shown in Fig. 237. Slyngestokke fra Als. Benyttes ved fremstilling af lrengere snore af sam me art som Fig. 237. 238 MARGRETHE HALD: ANCIENT DANISH TEXTILES FROM BOGS AND BURIALS

Notes

1) As far as it is known no-one in Denmark today has learnt tablet weaving via oral tradition, but at the close of the 19th century the tradition was still alive. For example, Mrs. Christine Hvass from Randrup near Aalborg mounted a tablet weaving loom with an old North Jutland folk pattern for an exhibition in Copen- hagen in 1888. According to K. Moszynski, the area of distribution of tablet weaving has extended, apart from North and East Europe, to the Middle East and South Asia, China and Japan, as well as North Africa. Slavernas Folkkultur, (Swedish translation), 1936, P. 175. 2) E. Olsen: Benplatte med runinskrift, Forvannen 1908. 3) Sigurd Grieg: Osebergfundet II. Fig. 126. 4) Birka III, PI. 39. 5) Henry Petersen: Vognfundene i Dejbjerg Pnestegaards Mose, 1888, P. 18. 6) Margrethe Hald: Brikvrevning. 1932. A detailed description in Danish of tablet weaving. 7) K. Moszynski mentions that in some countries, for example Letland, a single tablet with four holes is used to ply threads. Siavernas Folkkultur. II, P. 175. Cf. U. T. Sirelius: Finlands folkliga kultur II. P. 51. 8) Hans Dedekam: Et tekstilfund i myr, Figs. 4-5. 9) Hougen: Snartemofunnene. Pp. 92-95. 10) Birka III. P. 76 ff. II) Grace M. Crowfoot: The Tablet-Woven Braids from the Vestments of St. Cuthbert of Durham. The Anti- quaries Journal, XIX, 1939, Pp. 72-75. 12) For the technique of tablet-weaving and the geographical distribution of this kind of weaving cf. the pion- eer work by Margrethe Lehmann-Filhes: Uber Brettchenweberei, 1901. 13) Stettiner: Brettchenwebereien, P. 26. 14) Stettiner: Brettchenwebereien, P. 41, Table I. 15) Hans Dedekam: To tekstilfund fra folkevandringstiden. Pp. 42-45, Table Figs. 21 and 22, and PI. VII, 2. 16) Hougen: Snartemofunnene. P. 68 and PI. XI, 1. 17) Hans Dedekam: To tekstilfund fra folkevandringstiden. Eveb\il No. u3bl, Figs. 2-3, P. 8. Snartemo No. 282a, Fig. 20, Pp. 38-40, PI. VI and VII. 18) Hans Dedekam: op. cit. P. 9, Fig. 5. 19) Dedekam: op. cit., P. 17, PI. II. 20) Hougen: Snartemofunnene. P. 66 PI. X, 6. 21) Hougen: Snartemofunnene. 0vre Berge. P. 77-79, PI. XVIII, I and 2. 22) Hougen: Snartemofunnene. P. 75 and PI. XIV and XV. 23) Stettiner: Op. cit., P. 50, P. IX. 24) Irmingard Fuhrmann: Der Gewebefund von Pilgramsdorf. Praehistorische Zeitschrift. XXX-XXXI, 1939-40, nos 3-4, P. 308. 25) Gertrud Sage: Die Gewebereste aus den Furstengrabern von Sacrau unter besonderer Berilcksichtigung der Brettchenweberei. Altschlesien. 5, 1934, P. 272. 26) Appelgren Kivalo: Finnische Trachten aus der jungeren Eisenzeit, PI. VII, VIII and XII. 27) Birka III. P. 81, PI. 18 and 202• Cf. the weaving method B 27, PI. 19 which seems to be a special one. 28) Grace M. Crowfoot: The Tablet-Woven Braids from the Vestments of St. Cuthbert at Durham. The Anti- quaries Journal, XIX, PI. XIX, 1939. 29) In the borders of the wrist-bands the impression is that in some places the gold threads turn as shown in the diagram in Fig. 236a. But because of the fineness and firmness of the fabric this point is difficult to examine entirely satisfactorily. 30) J. J. A. Worsaae: Mammenfundet. Aarb\ilger 1869, P. 210. CHAPTER VII. TABLET WEAVING 239

31) C. Engelhardt: Jernalderens Gravskikke i Jylland, Aarb9Jger 1881, Pp. 140-144. 32) The Tablet-Woven Braids from the Vestment of St. Cuthbert at Durham. The Antiquaries Journal, XIX, 1939, P. 57. 33) Birka III, Pp. 85-90.

34) Among the Baltic peoples tablet-woven bands are found with motifs which correspond closely with those from the Viking period discussed in the present chapter. See: "IIIustrierte Yolkerkunde" II, P. 29, Fig. 3 in M. Haberlandt's section. 35) Birka III, P. 91. Cf. Sophus Larsen: Kvindeligt Haandarbejde i Middelalderen, Aarb9Jger 1915, P. 59. 36) J. G. Joyce: On the Opening and Removal of a Tomb in Winchester Cathedral, reputed to be that of King William Rufus. Archaeologia 42, II, P. 315, PI. 17. 37) Agnes Geijer mentions (Birka III, P. 142)that 2 pieces of band lay near the spot where the hands and hips of the body would be expected - a wrist-band? 38) Note how closely Grace Crowfoot's remarks agree with mine (P. 199) concerning the motifs of the embroidery from the Mammen burial and made on the basis of J. Br9Jndsted' s study of English ornament. Nordisk og fremmed Ornamentik i Vikingetiden. Aarb9Jger 1920, P. 228 ff. 39) Yivi Sylwan: Brickbandet som kulturobjekt. Fornvannen 1926, P. 231. 40) Hans Dedekam: To tekstilfund fra folkevandringstiden, P. 16. 41) Johl: Altagyptische Webestiihle. P. 61. 42) Grace M. Crowfoot and H. Ling Roth: Were the Ancient Egyptians Conversant with Tablet-Weaving? Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology. X, Nos. I and II, P. 7. 43) O. Wulff und W. F. Yolbach: Spatantike und koptische Stoff, 1926. Mus. No. 14243. P. 136 and PI. 121-l22.No.14232,P. 136, PI. 123.No. 14231,P. 137, PI. 125. The tunic reproduced here (Fig. 412)inthe collections of the Staatl. Mus. in Berlin (No. 9935) has tablet-woven borders, and likewise the tunic No. 9922 s. St. The borders are sewn onto the tunic and considered to be Persian inspired. All date to the 6th-7th century. 44) Margrethe Lehmann-Filhes: Ober Brettchenweberei, P. 44, Fig. 64. 45) Op. cit., P. 44, Fig. 66. 46) Op. cit., P. 44, Fig. 67. 47) Op. cit., P. 46, Fig. 69.