Ingela Wahlberg, Textile Studies Uppsala University

Volga to Vinland: Early medieval dress & textiles 9 November, 2024

Some of the earliest finds of samite and underside couching in Sweden are three fragments from the Valsgärde burial mound dated to the beginning of the Viking age. Since the textiles are preserved only where they have been in contact with metals, we can only guess at their original appearance. One thing is certain: they were not made in the area where they were found.

Early samite-underside couching embroideries have intrigued Ingela Wahlberg for some time. She combines technical analyses of the embroideries with the broader story of the movement of luxury textiles via the silk roads as well as the development of church textiles. Both in Byzantium and the western church, we see these samite-underside couching embroideries. Can the embroidery technique be traced back to Central Asia, or was it developed along the road to the Mediterranean area? Was this archaic approach to the technique established solely on samite, or did the Byzantium and Orthodox workshops set the standard?