Georgia Gould, University College London

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

As the name suggests, the so-called “Migration Period” was a time of great change as people migrated, fighting and settling in different regions.  One can see this in the formation of Early Anglo-Saxon England, where styles of dress and dress accessories began to change, bringing with it a “Germanic” influence. 

Authors such as Gale Owen-Crocker and the late Penelope Walton Rogers have examined the clothing and accessories of Anglo-Saxon Britain, comparing fashions between England and Northern Europe.  This paper seeks to build upon their excellent work, using methods of textile analyses, anthropology and art history. 

I am a PhD candidate studying the impact of trade and migration on motif and weaving techniques of early medieval Northern European textiles, as well as a reenactor who sews and weaves my own garments and tablet-woven trims.  This paper seeks to bring my academic analyses of early medieval textiles alongside my reconstructions of Norwegian Migration Period and Early Anglo-Saxon dress to provide a close examination of the links between what is now modern-day Norway and England. 

This paper will analyse the dress accessories used in certain regions and their parallels. To complement this study, I will analyse types of tablet-woven bands used in both places, particularly bands woven with horsehair soumak and broken twill bands.  I will consider the sensory experience of using and wearing these bands and how the bands compare across regions.  In addition, by looking at the archaeological evidence, I will include a summary of types of twill used in the garments, demonstrating both the comparisons and contrasts. 

In summary, this paper seeks to demonstrate how experimental archaeology and anthropology can reinforce textile analyses.  This way of examining textiles can provide an insight into the networks of trade and migration within a historic period.