Looms in Ireland/Dublin around 1000AD

[Andrea L Redden]

I read somewhere, and I can't remember where at the moment which is VERY frustrating, that there were no loom weights found in the Dublin excavations. What evidence is there regarding what type of loom may have been in use in Hiberno-Norse Dublin around 100AD? I'd been thinking of making myself a warp-weighted loom but if NO loom weights have been found their use is unlikely and perhaps I should go for a vertical loom instead.

Thanks,

Andrea

[vlasta]

Hi. It isn't actually true, that there are no fidnds of loom weights from Viking Age Dublin. in Director's Finds. Temple Bar West by Linzi Simpson they are mentioned few times, for example "To the west, the large post-and-wattle structure was replaced by what was clearly a small domestic house; the finds from the floor included a belt-buckle, a loom weight , a gaming piece, amber fragments, a comb and a beautiful walrus ivory pin". Moreover, warp weighted looms were known to native Irish, as stated by Nancy Edwards in The Archaeology in Early Medieval Ireland "Stone loom weights with an hourglass-shaped hole in the centre have sometimes been identified suggesting the use of vertical warp-weighted loom".
On the other hand, there is an evidence of use of two-beamed vertical looms in Late Saxon England (Who Produced the Textiles? Changing Gender Roles in Late Saxon Textile Production by Philippa A.Henry in Northern Archaeological Textiles NESAT VII by Frances Pritchard and John Peter Wild), so it is possible, that at least some of Dublin textile manufacturers could have been using that type of loom.
As for horizontal treadle loom, the first archaeological evidence from northern Europe comes from in the early eleventh century from Hedeby, so in my opinion it wouldn't be really popular in domestic production of cloth in early Viking Age, but if you'd like to reenact late Viking Age professional weaver, why not?
Greetings
Vlasta

[Andrea L Redden]

OK I'm having trouble posting a reply at the moment. The LH.ie system seems to be replacing random groups of 3 characters with little squares and I don't know why. It starts about 1/4 of the way through so I'll try this in 3 parts.

Hi. It isn't actually true, that there are no finds of loom weights from Viking Age Dublin. in Director's Finds. Temple Bar West by Linzi Simpson they are mentioned few times, for example "To the west, the large post-and-wattle structure was replaced by what was clearly a small domestic house; the finds from the floor included a belt-buckle, a loom weight , a gaming piece, amber fragments, a comb and a beautiful walrus ivory pin".

Hello Vlasta!
Could you tell me when this structure is dated to? I understood that the TBW stuff is very early; i.e. 9thC. Our group does Dublin in 1008AD and if it’s from the original longphort phase then It's not part of a continuous tradition in the area.
Thanks again,

Andrea

[Andrea L Redden]

Well, that worked.

Moreover, warp weighted looms were known to native Irish, as stated by Nancy Edwards in The Archaeology in Early Medieval Ireland "Stone loom weights with an hourglass-shaped hole in the centre have sometimes been identified suggesting the use of vertical warp-weighted loom".

That’s very interesting. If the native Irish used them too then that probably IS part of a continuous tradition. I obviously need a copy of this book. It's my birthday next Monday so I'd better start doing some hint, Hint, HINTing in case I end up with something boring like clothes or shoes.

Thanks again,

Andrea

[Andrea L Redden]

On the other hand, there is an evidence of use of two-beamed vertical looms in Late Saxon England (Who Produced the Textiles? Changing Gender Roles in Late Saxon Textile Production by Philippa A.Henry in Northern Archaeological Textiles NESAT VII by Frances Pritchard and John Peter Wild), so it is possible, that at least some of Dublin textile manufacturers could have been using that type of loom.

My friend Cherilyn has a copy of that so I’ll email her to photocopy the article for me.

You wouldn’t�ppe�o know whether there’s a� �den�from native Irish or 10/11thC Dublin sites for pin beaters, would you?

Thanks again,

Andrea

[vlasta]

I'm not sure about cigar-shaped pin-beaters, like in Anglo-Saxon finds, but to be honest, I never looked for them really. One, quite similar, is mentioned in Nancy Edwars book click.I know for sure there are wooden weaving swords from Dublin and other sites - good description of them you can find in "Viking-Age Decorated Wood" by James T. Lang.
And speaking of loom weights, if I got it right, the CF structure I mentioned before, is dated to mid-late ninth century.
Some info about loom-weights can be found also in brochure "Crafts" in "Aspects of Viking Dublin" series by Pat Wallace: "Direct evidence for looms is disappointing, although small stone cylinders which are commonly found are thought to be loom-weights."
I'm off on Wednesday, so I think i'll go and check the Viking exhibition in Dublin museum, maybe there are some weaving implements I missed.

BTW, I had the same problem with little squares as well

[vlasta]

And as we're talking about looms - I found an image of stone from Kirriemuir, Scottland, and it seems, that there is a weaving loom depicted. (well,at least it is recognized as a weaving-loom by autor of this article).


And maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't the horizontal item in the upper part of the presumed loom look a bit like a weaving-sword?

[Andrea L Redden]

Reply ready but little squares are swamping it. AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! How'd you get your post done without them?

Andrea

[vlasta]

I re-wrote it several times

[Dave Mooney]

Ref little square things.

I had these show up on several web pages I frequent a few weeks back. They seemed to go away. I think it's something to do you a browser up-date.
Up-date your browser and it might go away.

Also, try typing your posts in a Word processor first and then 'Copy and Paste' it over. If that still gives you issues dump it into a Note Pad doc to turn it into ASCII and then copy and paste that over.