Woven into the Earth
Else Østergard
Hier werden die Textilfunde von Herjolfsnaes auf Grönland
vorgestellt und analysiert. Durch die Lagerung der Leichen im
Permafrost und aufgrund des Holzmangels meist ohne Särge, erklärt
sich die besonders gute Erhaltung dieser mittelalterlichen
Textilien, die denen des europäischen Festlandes sehr ähnlich
sind.
One of the century's most spectacular archaeological finds occurred
in 1921 when Poul Nørlund recovered dozens of garments from a
graveyard in the Norse settlement of Herjolfsnæs, Greenland.
Preserved intact for centuries by the permafrost, these mediaeval
garments display remarkable similarities to western European
costumes of the time. Previously, such costumes were known only
from contemporary illustrations, and the Greenland finds provided
the world with a close look at how ordinary Europeans dressed in
the Middle Ages.
Fortunately for Nørlund's team, wood has always been extremely
scarce in Greenland, and instead of caskets, many of the bodies
were found swaddled in multiple layers of cast-off clothing.
Eighty years of technical advances and subsequent excavations have
greatly added to our understanding of the Herjolfsnæs
discoveries.
In Woven into the Earth Else Østergård recounts the dramatic story
of Nørlund's excavation in the context of other Norse textile finds
in Greenland. She describes what the finds tell us about the
materials and methods used in making the clothes.
The weaving and sewing techniques detailed here are surprisingly
sophisticated, and one can only admire the talent of the women who
employed them, especially considering the harsh conditions they
worked under.
DIN A4, Hardcover, 296 Seiten, sehr viele Fotos und Zeichnungen,
engl. Text
Best.-Nr. Au003