IN DANISH COLLECTIONS (DTC)
ctr.hum.ku.dk/research/textile_and_costume/dtc_full_description_website.doc
Introduction
The research program Textile and Costume from Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Danish Collections is conducted by archaeologist and textile specialist Ulla Mannering and Margarita Gleba. Other team members for the moment are archaeologist and textile specialist Susan Möller Wiering from Germany, handweaver Lena Hammarlund from Sweden, handweaver Anne Nørgård from Denmark and conservator Lise Ræder-Knudsen from Denmark. We are working in close collaboration with conservators Irene Skals, Anette Hjelm Petersen and Anne Lisbeth Schmidt at the National Museum in Brede. Pia Bennike and Niels Lynnerup from the Anthropological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen are studying the human remains. Lise Bender Jørgensen of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology is affiliated to this program as an External Expert.
Background
In an archaeological context, textiles occur in Scandinavia in all periods from the Bronze Age onwards. Costumes are rare finds, but Denmark possesses a unique collection of prehistoric garments recovered from bogs and burials. In their totality, they provide an outstanding contribution to our understanding of Scandinavian prehistoric textile and costume development. The majority of these Danish prehistoric costumes have been dated to the Bronze Age (1800-500 BC) and Early Iron Age (500 BC-400 AD). In the 1930s and 1940s, the Danish scholar Margrethe Hald wrote her two famous books about these finds: Costumes of the Bronze Age in Denmark (1935) and Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials (1950). These books are still used worldwide as the primary references for these finds. They contain detailed information on specific finds and on textile technology in general but are, however, out of date and out of print. Since their publication, our knowledge of prehistoric Scandinavian textile technology has increased dramatically. Now, more than half a century later, it is time to integrate these accumulated insights and knowledge and apply them in their proper archaeological context.
The vast majority of the above-mentioned finds belong to the collections of the National Museum, and the museum is the primary partner in this program. Over the years, the staff at the textile conservation department in Brede have undertaken detailed but scattered analyses. This information will be incorporated into the program and will be carried forward, systematised and further developed.
Material
The corpus of Bronze Age material consists mainly of finds from the oak coffins. This is a unique body of material due to the fact that not only complete garments but entire costume sets have been preserved. We will also consider the Late Bronze Age finds from Danish bogs.
The Early Iron Age material, comprising both pre-Roman and Roman Iron Age, includes finds from three distinct contexts: bogs, weapon deposits and burials. We will focus on the finds from the bogs and weapon deposits. Susan Möller-Wiering, Schloss Gottorp in Germany, will carry out analyses of textiles from the Illerup, Vimose, Nydam and Thorsberg weapon deposits in bogs. This project is connected to the international research program The Iron Age in Northern Europe headed by Jørgen Ilkjær of Moesgård Museum, Denmark and Zwischen Thorsberg und Bornstein headed by Claus von Carnap-Bornheim of Archäeologisches Landesmuseum Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen Schloss Gottorf, Germany.
Textiles from grave contexts, many of which have already been studied and published, will be used as comparative material for the bog finds and textiles from the weapon deposits from all periods.
Mission
The immediate mission of the program is to examine the costumes from Bronze and Early Iron Age using modern scientific methods, and to create new international reference standards for these items. The long-term aim is to set new textile research standards, and to explore and communicate the new knowledge acquired during the process.
Methodology
In the course of this research program, we will analyse, discuss and contextualize two important textile corpi:
1. The Early Iron Age costumes (2006-2007)
2. The Bronze Age costumes (2007-2008).
Both source groups will be worked on in a similar manner, encompassing three stages:
a. Technical textile studies. Earlier and more recent analyses will be coordinated and supplemented with new techniques of fibre identification and fabric quality and use, costume details and wear. We will be specifically looking for material in the storerooms of the National Museum which have not been included in previous publications, and at details connected with textile function. It is also important to create documentation, which will secure and/or prolong the preservation of these textiles (drawings, patterns and photos, which can be transferred to digital media).
b. Cultural historical analysis. This program stage will concentrate on presenting the results and integrating them into broader Scandinavian cultural historical and archaeological context, thereby creating a new and easily accessible textile and costume history, establishing a new dialogue with researchers within parallel archaeological disciplines.
c. Cross-cultural and diachronic study. This part will concentrate on placing the results of stages A and B in an international cultural historical and textile archaeological perspective. Collaboration with colleagues throughout Europe will allow for comparisons with archaeological textiles from other contemporary European areas. This collective knowledge will be gathered in a publication, which will present an overview of textile technology and use in various regions of Europe.
Results and publications
The wide-ranging international collaboration will result in three books:
1) A complete description of Danish Bronze Age textiles and costumes, mainly from burials but also including bog finds, presented in a well-illustrated catalogue (planned 2009).
2) A complete description of Danish Early Iron Age textiles and costumes, mainly from bogs but also including burial finds, presented in a well-illustrated catalogue (planned 2008).
Both volumes will include sections on the stages of development of the textile technology, the cultural and historical significance of the textiles, and the perspectives offered by contemporary Scandinavian and European textile finds.
3) A third volume will place Danish finds in broader context and will encompass overviews of contemporary material from most European areas (planned 2009).
Auch hier fröhliches Suchen nach den genannten MitarbeiterInnen und ihren Veröffentlichungen. 2008 und ?09 scheinen teure Jahre zu werden
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) sowie einigen parallel laufenden und vergleichbaren Projekten.
