Interior Textiles in the Viking Age
Pillows, Bedding and Wall Hangings: Beðr, ver og húsbúnaðr

Edited by Marianne Vedeler,Ulla Mannering,Eva Andersson Strand,Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson

ISBN13: 9781836245131

Imprint: Liverpool University Press

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Format: Hardback

Published: 28/01/2026

Availability: Not yet available

Description
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.
Introduction: Interior Textiles in the Viking Age 1. Houses, Homes and Textiles in the Viking Age. A Perspective from Assemblage Theory Anna S. Beck Techniques, Textiles, and Texts - Interior Textiles from Birka with a few other Examples from Scandinavian Viking and Early Middle Ages Eva Andersson Strand Textile Materials Found in the Valsgärde Boat Graves in Sweden Marie Bengtsson Bedding Equipment in Scandinavian Viking Age Burials Charlotte Rimstad The Embroidered Textile from the Viking Age Burial of Bjerringhøj Ulla Mannering and Charlotte Rimstad Tapestries in Visual and Oral Storytelling. The Oseberg Example Marianne Vedeler The Imagery of the Gotland: Picture Stones Compared to the Tapestries from Oseberg And Överhogdal Laila Kitzler Åhfeldt Textiles in a Martial Context: Evidence of Production and Use in the Garrison at Birka, Sweden Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson Early Medieval textiles from a House in Sigtuna Amica Sundström
  • Archaeology by period / region
  • Archaeological science, methodology & techniques
  • Professional & Vocational
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