From Apollon Research Magazine
The University of Oslo
By Yngve Vogt
PublishedNov 1, 2013 09:42 AM - Last modified Nov 5, 2013 12:40 PM
The Vikings did not only go West to pillage and plunder. Most of the silk
found in the Oseberg ship may have been purchased by honest means from
Persia.
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PERSIAN PATTERNS: Silk textiles from the Persian region were found in the
Oseberg ship. Among the motifs,
we can see parts of special birds associated
with Persian mythology, combined with clover-leaf axes, a Zoroastrian
symbol
taken from the Zodiac. The textiles have been cut into thin strips and used for
adornment on clothing.
Similar strips have also been found in other Viking Age
burial sites. Photo: KHM- UiO |
The Norwegian Vikings were more oriented towards the East than we have
previously assumed, says
Marianne Vedeler, Associate Professor at the
Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo in Norway. After four years of
in-depth investigation of the silk trade of the Viking Age, she may change our
perceptions of the history of the Norwegian Vikings. The silk trade was far more
comprehensive than we have hitherto assumed.
The Norwegian Vikings maintained trade connections with Persia and the
Byzantine Empire. A network of traders from a variety of places and cultures
brought the silk to the Nordic countries. Her details are presented in the book
“Silk for the Vikings”, to be published by Oxbow publishers this
winter, but in this article you can glimpse some of her key findings.
In the Oseberg ship, which was excavated nearly a hundred years ago, more
than one hundred small silk fragments were found. This is the oldest find of
Viking Age silk in Norway.
At the time when the Oseberg silk was discovered, nobody conceived that it
could have been imported from Persia. It was generally believed that most of it
had been looted from churches and monasteries in England and Ireland.
Lots of Viking silk
Since the Oseberg excavation, silk from the Viking Age has been found in
several locations in the Nordic countries. The last finding was made two years
ago at Ness in Hamarøy municipality, Nordland county. Other Norwegian findings
of silk from the Viking Age include Gokstad in Vestfold county, Sandanger in the
Sunnmøre district and Nedre Haugen in Østfold county.
The highest number of burial sites containing silk from the Viking Age have
been found at Birka in the Uppland region, a few miles west of Stockholm.
– Even though Birka has the highest number of burial sites containing silk,
there are no other places where so much and such varied silk has been found in a
single burial site as in Oseberg, says Marianne Vedeler to the research magazine
Apollon.
In Oseberg alone, silk from fifteen different textiles, as well as
embroideries and tablet-woven silk and wool bands were discovered. Many of the
silk pieces had been cut into thin strips and used for articles of clothing. The
textiles had been imported, while the tablet-woven bands most likely were made
locally from imported silk thread.
Marianne Vedeler has collected information on silk and its trade in the
Nordic countries. She has also studied manuscripts on silk production and trade
along the Russian rivers as well as in Byzantium and Persia.
– When seeing it all in its totality, it’s more logical to assume that most
of the silk was purchased in the East, rather than being looted from the British
Isles.
Waterways
Vedeler believes that in the Viking Age, silk was imported from two main
areas. One was Byzantium, meaning in and around Constantinople, or Miklagard
which was the Vikings’ name for present-day Istanbul. The other large core area
was Persia.
The silk may have been brought northwards along different routes.
– One possibility is from the South through Central Europe and onwards to
Norway, but I believe that most of the silk came by way of the Russian rivers
Dnepr and Volga.
The Dnepr was the main route to Constantinople, while the Volga leads to the
Caspian Sea. The river trade routes were extremely dangerous and difficult. One
of the sources describes the laborious journey along the Dnepr to
Constantinople:
– A band of traders joined up in Kiev. Along the river they were attacked
by dangerous tribesmen. They needed to pass through rapids and cataracts. Then,
slaves had to carry their boat.
Persian patterns
On the basis of the silk that has been found, there are indications that more
silk came to Norway from Persia than from Constantinople.
– Large amounts of the Oseberg silk have patterns from the Persian Empire.
This silk is woven using a technique called
samitum, a sophisticated
Oriental weaving method. Many of the silk motifs can be linked to religious
motifs from Central Asia.
Another pattern depicts a
shahrokh, a bird that has a very specific
meaning in Persian mythology; it represents a royal blessing. In the Persian
myth, the
shahrokh bird is the messenger that brings the blessing to a
selected prince. In a dream, the bird visits the prince holding a tiara, a tall
head adornment, in its beak. The prince then wakes up and knows that he is the
chosen one. The image of the imperial bird was popular not only in silk weaving,
but also in other art forms in Persia. The motif gained widespread popularity in
Persian art.
– It’s an amusing paradox that silk textiles with such religious and
mythological images were highly prized and used in heathen burial sites in the
Nordic countries as well as in European churches.
Exclusive
In the Orient, silk was essential for symbolizing power and strength. There
was an entire hierarchy of different silk qualities and patterns reserved for
civil servants and royalty.
Even though silk was a prominent status symbol for the Vikings, they failed
to get their hands on the best silk.
– Most likely, the bulk of the silk imported to Scandinavia was of medium or
below-medium quality.
In Byzantium, major restrictions were imposed on the sale of silk to foreign
lands. The punishment for illegal sale of silk was draconian. The Persian lands
also imposed strict restrictions on the sale and production of silk.
In Byzantium, it was illegal to buy more silk than what could be bought for
the price of a horse. A foreign trader was allowed to buy silk for ten
numismata, while the price of a horse was twelve numismata.
– However, several trade agreements that have been preserved show that
traders from the North nevertheless had special trade privileges in
Byzantium.
Silk was not only a trade commodity. Certain types of silk were reserved for
diplomatic gifts to foreign countries, as described in Byzantine as well as
Persian sources. In Europe, silk became especially popular for wrapping sacred
relics in churches.
– Some of the silk found in Norway may be gifts or spoils of war, but
archaeological as well as written sources indicate that silk was traded in the
Nordic countries.
– So the Vikings were more honest than has been assumed?
– We may safely assume that the Vikings engaged in trade, plunder, exchange
of gifts and diplomatic relations in equal measure.
A possible example of loot found in the Oseberg ship is a piece of silk with
an image of a cross.
– This was long before the introduction of Christianity. The silk piece may
have been sewn locally, but it is also highly likely that it was purloined from
an Irish church.
Possibly China
At Gokstad, thin strips of hammered gold wrapped around silk threads were
among the findings.
– These threads are highly exclusive. We do not know their origin, but we
suspect that they may have come from even further east, in the direction of
China, says Vedeler, who will now travel to China to find out more.
As yet, Vedeler must draw conclusions regarding the origin of the silk by
investigating weaving technologies and patterns. With time, she wishes to make
use of a new method which is being developed at the University of Copenhagen and
which will be able to reveal the geographic origin of artefacts.
Sidebar:
Viking silk trade
• The Viking Age silk trade was far more extensive than has
been previously assumed.
• Norwegian Vikings maintained trade connections with Persia
and the Byzantine Empire.
• Most of the silk has come to Norway by way of the Russian
rivers Dnepr and Volga.
• A large proportion of the silk in the Oseberg ship has
patterns from the Persian Empire.
• Most likely, the bulk of the silk imported to Scandinavia was
of medium or below-medium quality.
• At Oseberg, silk from fifteen different textiles was found,
as were embroideries and tablet-woven bands of silk and wool.
