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Call: Oseberg tapestry
What it is: Pieces of a woven, patterned fabric
Where it is from: Tønsberg, Norway
When it was made: Around 834
Related: Hatnefer’s heart scarab: An elegant ancient Egyptian gold locket engraved with the Book of the Dead
What it informs us about the past:
More than a century earlier, archaeologists excavated a Viking ship buried in the ground at the Oseberg farm in Tønsberg, Norway. Inside the abnormally unspoiled sculpted oak vessel were the skeletons of 2 ladies who had actually been highly buried with clothing, farm devices, domestic animals and a comprehensive tapestry that portrays among the just recognized examples of a horned Viking helmet.
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Tree-ring dating of woods from the severe positioned the Oseberg ship burial at around A.D. 834. Inside the primary burial chamber, excavators found pieces of a tapestry that, when rebuilded, determined 6.3 by 9 inches (16 by 23 centimeters). Made from wool, silk and flax, it consists of representations of human beings, animals and wheeled automobiles. Pieces of just one part of the complete tapestry have actually endured, and specialists are not sure of the initial size.
The fabric appears brown and beige today, it was initially made with yarn colored with a series of natural dyesResidues of the initial red can be seen, for instance, in the rough diamond shape in the middle of this piece and in the concentric circles listed below that.
Offered the bad condition of the fabric, professionals are not sure of the specific scene it illustrates. The mix of individuals, animals, wagons and homes recommends a possible funeral procession headed towards a big tree that might represent Yggdrasill, the Norse tree of lifeOther human figures– both male and woman– hold weapons and use routine clothes. Stylistically, the Oseberg fabric resembles the Bayeux tapestrywhich was made over 2 centuries later on in what is now France, as both reveal a story in direct style comparable to a cartoon.
MORE ASTONISHING ARTIFACTS
One factor the Oseberg tapestry is popular is its special representation of a horned helmet. Horned Viking helmets have actually long recorded the creativity of the modern-day world, however they are likely a 19th-century misconceptionThe fragmentary metal Viking helmets that have actually been found do not have hornsthe representation of a warrior– potentially a berserker– using a horned helmet on the Oseberg fabric exposes the possibility that some Vikings did certainly own horned helmets, maybe for unique events.
The Oseberg tapestry remains in the collection of the Museum of the Viking Age in Oslo. Specialists continue to study the various pieces in an effort to practically sew the tapestry back together sooner or later.
Kristina Killgrove is a personnel author at Live Science with a concentrate on archaeology and paleoanthropology news. Her short articles have actually likewise appeared in places such as Forbes, Smithsonian, and Mental Floss. Killgrove holds postgraduate degrees in sociology and classical archaeology and was previously a university teacher and scientist. She has actually gotten awards from the Society for American Archaeology and the American Anthropological Association for her science composing.
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