Iconic Costumes

Ulla Mannering

• Publisher: Oxbow Books
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781785702167
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

This richly illustrated book presents a selection of the rich and varied iconographic material from the Scandinavian Late Iron Age (AD 400-1050) depicting clothed human figures, from an archaeological textile and clothing perspective. The source material consists of five object categories: gold foils, gold bracteates, helmet plaques, jewelry, and textile tapestries and comprises over 1000 different images of male and female costumes which are then systematically examined in conjunction with our present knowledge of archaeological textiles. In particular, the study explores the question of whether the selected images complement the archaeological clothing sources, through a new analytical tool which enables us to compare and contrast the object categories in regard to material, function, chronology, context and interpretation. The tool is used to record and analyze the numerous details of the iconographic costumes, and to facilitate a clear and easy description. This deliberate use of explicit costume shapes enhances our interpretation and understanding of the Late Iron Age clothing tradition. Thus, the majority of the costumes depicted are identified in the Scandinavian archaeological textile record, demonstrating that the depictions are a reliable source of research for both iconographical costume and archaeological clothing. The book contributes with new information on social, regional and chronological differences in clothing traditions from ca. AD 400 to the Viking Age.

1

Clothing and iconography

Knowledge of prehistoric clothing in Scandinavia is primarily derived from various archaeological textile sources. However, the number and quality of sources that can be used for clothing studies are highly variable, and based on these textile sources alone, it is difficult to create a clear and detailed picture of the clothing customs in prehistory which can meet the increasing demand both in academic research and among the general public to visualise the past and bring it to life. In order to compensate for the lacuna in the archaeological textile record and to obtain a deeper insight into Scandinavian prehistoric clothing, it is necessary to try new approaches, as for instance combining knowledge from the textile finds with the study of contemporary iconographical sources.

Iconography is not a new source in clothing research, but it is most often used as a single source to prove and underline a known aspect. The study of Scandinavian Late Iron Age costume iconography in a broader perspective and as a source in parallel with the archaeological textiles has not been undertaken until now. Thus, with the present study, the statement made by Scandinavian Late Iron Age costume iconography is brought into this discussion.

This study is chronologically focused on the Scandinavian Late Iron Age (AD 400–1050), which consists of three sub-periods termed the Early Germanic Iron Age (AD 400–520/40), Late Germanic Iron Age (AD 520/40–AD 800) and Viking Age (AD 800–1050) (Lund Hansen et al., 1995, 18 and Jørgensen and Jørgensen 1997a, 38) (Table 1.1), and is primarily based on finds from present-day Denmark, Sweden and Norway (Fig. 1.1). As Late Iron Age Scandinavia is considered a cohesive unit in a cultural historical and textile technological perspective, the aim of this study is to demonstrate how a group of selected depictions of costumed anthropomorphic (humanlike) figures complement already existing sources of archaeological textiles, and to what extent this provides new information on chronological, regional and social differences in clothing customs in this period. In this context, the term costume denotes both the various individual garments as well as the outfit in its entirety identified in the iconography, while the term clothing is reserved for archaeological textile finds.

Scandinavia is renowned for its wealth of archaeological artefacts, of both organic and inorganic origin that can provide information on textile technology, production and various clothing customs. The earliest depiction of costumed humanlike figures dates to the Mesolithic (Fig. 1.2). The Scandinavian Bronze Age is characterised by a rich and varied iconography depicting anthropomorphic figures (Fig 1.3) and images, and especially petroglyphs (rock carvings) have long been seen as a significant source of information on Bronze Age society. For instance the comprehensive study of ships on bronze objects has demonstrated that systematic research methods can provide new knowledge on prehistoric society, religion and cosmology (Kaul 1998 and 2004; Milstreu and Prøhl 2004). For reasons still unknown, the Scandinavian tradition of depicting anthropomorphic figures disappears with the Bronze Age culture, and it is not before the onset of the Late Iron Age, after a period of almost 1000 years, that humanlike figures and more complex depictions are reintroduced into the Scandinavian prehistoric material culture, and a local production of more intricate images with anthropomorphic figures manifests itself.

Table 1.1 Overview of the Scandinavian chronological periods relevant to this study.

Period	Date
Early Stone Age	–4000 BC
Late Stone Age	4000–1700 BC
Early Bronze Age	1700–1100 BC
Late Bronze Age	1100–500 BC
Pre-Roman Iron Age	500–1 BC
Early Roman Iron Age	AD 1–200
Late Roman Iron Age	AD 200–400
Early Germanic Iron Age	AD 400–520/40
Late Germanic Iron Age	AD 520/40–800
Viking Age	AD 800–1050
Middle Ages	AD 1050–1536

Fig. 1.1 Gold-foil figure find-spots from Scandinavia (Map: Sidsel Frisch, after Watt 1999b, 185).

Fig. 1.2 Auroch bone from Ryemarksgård in Denmark with incision of five clothed human figures. The bone is dated to c. 8000 BC (National Museum of Denmark).

Fig. 1.3 Bronze female figure from Fårdal in Denmark wearing a corded skirt. The figure is dated to the Scandinavian Late Bronze Age (1100–500 BC) (National Museum of Denmark).

Wooden anthropomorphic idols are certainly an exception, and these are found throughout Northern Europe from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages, although in Scandinavia, they reach their apogee at the turn of the 1st millennium, i.e. in the Pre-Roman and Early Roman Iron Ages (Sanden and Capelle 2001, 11). From a clothing perspective, the wooden figures have regrettably not much to offer, as they are either naked or the costume details are difficult to discern (Fig. 1.4). The wooden figures, however, demonstrate a continuity and experience in depicting the human body that cannot be documented in any other object group. It is still unclear as to what caused the stagnation of the image production in the Early Iron Age (500 BC–AD 400), but it is most likely the influence of the Roman Empire that again gave impetus to the production of anthropomorphic figures in Scandinavia. Sources of inspiration could have been, for instance circus glass (Fig. 1.5), metal drinking cups (Fig. 1.6), small bronze statuettes (Fig. 1.7), coins and bejewelled weaponry which occur in quite large numbers in Scandinavia in the first centuries AD (Werner 1966). Scandinavian copies of Roman bronze figures demonstrate that copying took place, but an independent Scandinavian production of anthropomorphic figures had not yet materialised (Kjærum and Olsen 1990). It is first with the production of bracteates that Scandinavian iconography starts flourishing again, and thereby the study of Scandinavian costume from an iconographical perspective becomes possible. This is probably also the reason why iconography in Scandinavian Iron Age research has long played a secondary role, and is primarily used as individual examples to illustrate or underline a specific issue. Another explanation for this situation could be that a large part of the Scandinavian Late Iron Age iconography is found on high-status metal objects, where the economic and aesthetic values rather than the iconographic statement have been in focus. This fact has transformed most iconography into objects of art (see, for example Holmqvist 1955; 1977; Kolstrup 1995) rather than a coded message loaded with social, religious and cultural meanings (for exceptions see, for example Hedeager 1999; Høilund Nielsen 1998; 2002c; Göransson 1999; Pesch 2005; Danielsson 2007; and Helmbrecht 2011).

The object categories selected for the study

Depictions of costumed anthropomorphic figures are found on many object categories, such as bracteates, gold-foil figures (guldgubber), jewellery, weaponry, helmet plates, tapestries, picture stones, rune-stones as well as a large number of single objects of various provenance and function. Five of the above-mentioned sources: gold-foil figures, bracteates, decorative bronze helmet plates, jewellery and tapestries, were selected for further analysis, as they supplement one another in terms of the choice of material, composition, function and chronology (Fig. 1.8).

Fig. 1.4 Wooden male figure from Rude Eskilstrup in Denmark. The figure is dated to c. AD 500 (National Museum of Denmark).

Gold-foil figures constitute the primary and the largest of the five selected object categories. These are small depictions of anthropomorphic figures, and, in rare cases, also zoomorphic figures. Despite this object category containing the smallest (in physical size) pictorial representations, it is surprising how much information the gold-foil figures contain. Undoubtedly they are the most detail-rich object category in this study. Gold-foil figures contain depictions of clothed, unclothed and clearly naked anthropomorphic figures, of which the first group is the most pertinent here. Geographically, gold-foil figures are found throughout most of Scandinavia, primarily in settlements or central places with settlement continuity. For the same reason, gold-foil figures also have a wide chronological frame ranging from the middle of the Early Germanic Iron Age to the Viking Age (Fig. 1.8).

Fig. 1.5 Circus glass from Nordrup in Denmark. The glass is dated to the 3rd century AD (National Museum of Denmark).

Fig. 1.6 Silver cups from Hoby in Denmark. The cups are dated to the 1st century AD (National Museum of Denmark).

Bracteates are primarily found as stray finds or as votive deposits, and, to a lesser extent, as burial finds. Within bracteate research, a great deal of effort has been devoted to developing an accurate chronological classification, which is, however, hampered by the often large differences in production and deposition dates (Fig. 1.8). Although bracteates constitute the second largest group of selected objects, only a small part of the material can be used for costume studies. However, they are included in the analysis, as they constitute the earliest independent Scandinavian iconography in the period under study. Bracteates are generally dated t...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of illustrations
• List of tables
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. Clothing and iconography
• 2. Gold-foil figures
• 3. Bracteates
• 4. Helmet plates
• 5. Jewellery
• 6. Tapestries
• 7. Clothing and costume
• 8. Conclusion
• Bibliography