We will be looking into nalbinding, a practice that appears to have been commonly used during the Viking Age. We will research archaeological sites containing evidence of nalbinding, including needles and any samples that may have been preserved. We will also research what kinds of garments may have been made, who would have worn these, and who would have produced them.
We hope to gain this information partially from academic research, but also, importantly, from our experiment itself. Our first-hand experiences working with the materials will give us a good idea of what textile working may have been like during the Viking Age.
Some research questions we hope to answer for you...
1) How effective or durable
are the different needles made of various materials, such as wood, antler, or bone? Although it is clear that wood products would decompose over
time and appear not to have existed through a glance at the archaeological
record, was this true of wooden nalbinding needles? We hope to be able to gain
some insight to this from comparison of the needles we make.
2) Which stitches and
materials were used in Viking Age nalbinding? Based on our experiments with the
different stitches, what do we think the different stitches may have been used
for in the Viking Age? We will research various techniques that appear to
have been used, and see if our finished products could be used for what they
may have used them for.
We hope that you will enjoy following us on our little adventure! If you want to take a quick peek into what nalbinding is all about, just click on the link!
Happy nalbinding!
-T, K, & J
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