Month: January 2024

NOW: Coppergate/York/Jorvik Sock – Small Find 13517 (Patreon sponsored)

With my sincerest thanks to my Patrons, this week’s Nalbound Object of the Week is the Coppergate Sock. On display at the Jorvik Viking Centre, this sock goes by many names; all related to its find location. Coppergate Sock, York Sock, or Jorvik Sock, but they are all the same artifact.

Photo: York Archaeology CC BY-NC 4.0
Photo: York Archaeology CC BY-NC 4.0

Object: Coppergate Sock, also known as the York Sock or the Jorvik Sock

Description: A fine wool sock that ends just below the ankle. The last row at the ankle is worked in a dyed yarn, unlike the rest of the sock, which either was meant to act as a decorative edge or could indicate a longer stocking leg in red is missing.1 However, we don’t have evidence of nalbound stockings going much past the ankle until a few centuries after this sock and even then they are not common in finds. Additionally, we do have evidence of Egyptian socks that have a single row of color at the ankle. Much of the heel is missing as well as holes near the toes and a damaged slit along the vamp. All pieces were connected, none loose. The pieces were drawn together during conservation in order to better show the original shape.2 There is evidence of patching having been sewn on the sock based on the outline of wool stitching. After conservation, the sock is 10 1/4 in. (260mm) long toe to heel (pre-conservation c. 9 1/2 in. / 0.23m). Circumference at ankle 12 7/8 in. (325mm) and at broadest part of foot 10 5/8 in. (270mm).3 Before conservation measurements are in Jean M. Glover’s, Senior Textile Conservation Officer at the North West Museum and Art Gallery Service, conservation report “Sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. The Archaeology of York, The Small Finds 17/5. Published for the York Archaeological Trust by the Council for British Archaeology. 1989. Pg. 430-431. ISBN 0 906780 79 9.

Dated to: Period 4B is dated to 930-975 CE,3 10th century4

Find location: The sock was found in the backyard of one of the wattle buildings of Period 4B5 in the excavations of 16-22 Coppergate, York, England, UK. It was found in context with several other Scandinavian style textiles which may imply that they were imported on a Scandinavian visitor/invader or that they could be simplified copies made by the local Anglians.6

Current location: On display at the Jorvik Viking Centre

Material: Stable isotope analysis of the Coppergate sock indicates that the wool came from somewhere in the Ireland-to-south Scandinavia band. It is consistent with an origin of the British Isles, but Ireland and Denmark also give similar results.8  It is a smooth and even S2Z plied wool.9 (Two S spun singles plied together with a Z twist.) The missing patch (possibly flax or other vegetable fiber that has since decayed away) was sew on with Z2S plied wool10 1.5 mm in diameter.11 Based on the pictures, this repair yarn appears thicker in diameter than the yarn used for the nalbound fabric.

Color: Dark brown (potentially related to the many years of being buried).14 The last row of the sock at the ankle is worked in a smooth dark yarn that was dyed with madder. Test results were negative for dyes on the rest of the sock.15

The original diagram of the stitch used in the Coppergate sock. There is an issue with this diagram in that the needle shows the correct connection to the previous rows of F2, but the rest of the diagram shows an F3 connection. Image was originally published in the 1980’s and has been used repeatedly in multiple publications since.

Stitch(es) used: Based on analysis of the upper edge of the sock: York, UU/OOO F2.10 The foot portion could not be analyzed due to “heavy wear and felting on the inside.”11 Further analysis is obscured by the conservation tulle covering the sock.

Construction details: Examination of the pre-conservation drawings and the photographs available of the sock show a clear round start to the toe with quite a few stitches in it. According to Penelope Walton’s analysis, there is a single loop of yarn at the toe around which a circular row of loops is worked.12 The F2 connection combined with York stitch UU/OOO means that each subsequent row overlaps the previous row by half. Penelope Walton reported a gauge of approximately 36 rounds per 100mm.13 That’s about 36.6 rows per 4 inches or just barely over 9 rows to the inch.

Also shown are three areas of shorter row wedges in the heel. The first 7 rows deep coming off the mid-foot. The second, 3 or 4 rows are still remaining. The ankle has apparently 4 rows going around the entire ankle, cut only by the slit on the vamp. In the back of the heel are quite a few rows going parallel to the rows around the ankle. There was difficulty in this area for the conservators as they tried to draw the damaged areas together, because the rows were not as obvious in their orientation in this region.18 This is where the confusion regarding type of heel comes in, because if those were a third wedge in the style of the Egyptian or Swiss socks/stockings (which tended to have two at most), then one would expect longer rows followed by shorter rows with the ankle rows covering the ends. It is possible that the third wedge is worked in reverse, short to longer rows, to cup the back of the heel and give a more upright angle to the ankle opening (wedge heels tending towards a 45 degree rather than 90 degree angle between foot and leg). Figure 142a on page 344 of Textiles, Cordage and Raw Fibre from 16-22 Coppergate shows a drawing of how Penelope Walton thought the heel might have been reconstructed. It is important to note that she suggests the construction may be closer to the double wedges of one of the slightly later Swiss socks from Délémont/Delsberg than the spiral construction of the Uppsala heel or the rectangular heel flap and cup combination of the earlier Roman Egyptian socks. She does not appear to have known of the compound nalbound socks out of Egypt (only the cross-knit looping variety) that almost all have wedge heels, a few with two wedges, (the only exception being one that has a heel flap and cup style like the Cross-knit Looping style socks).

Inventory number: Small Find 13517. Catalogue Number 1309.

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://www.collections.yorkarchaeologicaltrust.co.uk/s/collections/item/124898#lg=1&slide=0

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Glover, Jean M., Senior Textile Conservation Officer at the North West Museum and Art Gallery Service, Blackburn. “Sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. The Archaeology of York, The Small Finds 17/5. Published for the York Archaeological Trust by the Council for British Archaeology. 1989. Pg. 430-431. ISBN 0 906780 79 9.

von Holstein, Isabella Christina Charlottie. “A light stable isotope (C, N, H, O) approach to identifying movement of medieval textiles in North West Europe.” PhD Thesis, University of York, 2012. Pgs. 268–70.

von Holstein, Isabella C. C. & Walton Rogers, Penelope & Craig, Oliver & Penkman, Kirsty & Newton, Jason & Collins, Matthew. Provenancing Archaeological Wool Textiles from Medieval Northern Europe by Light Stable Isotope Analysis (δ13C, δ15N, δ2H). PLOS ONE: 2016 11. 10.1371/journal.pone.0162330.

Walton, Penelope. ‘Needlework from Jorvik’ Embroidery 36/4 (Winter 1985), pp 130-131.

Walton, Penelope. “Production at Coppergate, York: Anglo-Saxon or Viking?” in Textiles in Northern Archaeology, Textile Symposium in York, North European Symposium for Archaeological Textiles Monograph 3, NESAT III, ed. by Penelope Walton and John Peter Wild. London: Archetype Publications, 1990. ISBN 1-873132-05-0.

Walton, Penelope. Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. The Archaeology of York, The Small Finds 17/5. Published for the York Archaeological Trust by the Council for British Archaeology. 1989. Pgs. 341-345. ISBN 0 906780 79 9.

Walton Rogers, Penelope. “Chapter 5. Textile networks in Viking-Age towns of Britain and Ireland” in Crafts and Social Networks in Viking Towns ed. by STEVEN P. ASHBY and SØREN M. SINDBÆK. Oxbow Books, 2019. Paperback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78925-160-9. Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78925-161-6 (ePub) https://www.academia.edu/99573338/Chapter_5_Textile_networks_in_Viking_Age_towns_of_Britain_and_Ireland

Walton Rogers, Penelope. Textile Production at 16-22 Coppergate. The Archaeology of York, The Small Finds 17/11 ed. by P.V. Addymann. Published for the York Archaeological Trust by the Council for British Archaeology. 1997. ISBN 1 872414 76 1.

Photographs:

Regia Anglorum was the first place to publish anything online regarding nalbinding that I can remember and they included Penelope Walton’s diagram and drawing of the Coppergate sock: https://regia.org/research/life/naalbind.htm

Astrid Bryde shared photos of the Coppergate sock from her visit to the Jorvik Viking Centre in 2018. The photo taken of the back of the heel is particularly interesting as it shows angled rows as if from a wedge style heel.

The article “York’s Viking Sock Becomes Part of ‘A History of the North in 100 Objects’” by the Jorvik Viking Center published August 6, 2018 has a close enough view you can see the conservation tulle.
Read more at https://www.jorvikvikingcentre.co.uk/press/yorks-viking-sock-becomes-part-history-north-100-objects/#6aq4FWa8UDvMoPYH.99

The Coppergate sock made BBC’s A History of the World: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/fvO4ZPlnTKyGE0dWyuOdBQ

The Coopergate sock is included as one of the artifacts in the Jorvik Artefact Gallery. Scroll to right several times to see a nice photo that you can click on to enlarge. https://www.jorvikvikingcentre.co.uk/about/jorvik-artefact-gallery/

On May 7, 2019, Hacking Civilization published the following embedded YouTube video showing the Coppergate sock as it is currently displayed.

I recently ran across this video published by The JORVIK Group on Jun 6, 2016 also showing the Coppergate/York sock.

And more recently they’ve also posted:

This Facebook group, Nålbinding, is a closed group. If you join it and search for the Coppergate sock, you will find several interesting posts by a variety of people of photos taken of the sock on display.

Hilde Thunem’s article, Viking Clothing: hose and socks, includes several additional photos of the Coppergate sock on display. It also puts the sock in perspective noting that while there are multiple finds of socks/hose from the period and region, only the one is nalbound. Most are of cut and sewn woven cloth.

Acknowledgements: This extended Nalbound Object of the Week is brought to you by the generosity of my Patrons on Patreon. Your continued support helps to fund more detailed research and articles as well as longer blog posts.

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. Walton, Penelope. “The sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 343. ↩︎
  2. Glover, Jean M. “Sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 431. ↩︎
  3. Glover, Jean M. “Sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 430. ↩︎
  4. Walton, Penelope. Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 418. ↩︎
  5. Walton, Penelope. “The sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 341. ↩︎
  6. Walton, Penelope. “The sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 341. ↩︎
  7. Walton, Penelope. Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 418. ↩︎
  8. von Holstein, Isabella Christina Charlottie. “A light stable isotope (C, N, H, O) approach to identifying movement of medieval textiles in North West Europe.” PhD Thesis, University of York, 2012. Pgs. 268–70. Also cited by Walton Rogers, Penelope. “Chapter 5. Textile networks in Viking-Age towns of Britain and Ireland” in Crafts and Social Networks in Viking Towns. Pg. 105. and von Holstein, Isabella C. C. & Walton Rogers, Penelope & Craig, Oliver & Penkman, Kirsty & Newton, Jason & Collins, Matthew. Provenancing Archaeological Wool Textiles from Medieval Northern Europe by Light Stable Isotope Analysis (δ13C, δ15N, δ2H). PLOS ONE: 2016 11. 10.1371/journal.pone.0162330. Pg. 20. ↩︎
  9. Walton, Penelope. “The sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 342. and Glover, Jean M. “Sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 430. ↩︎
  10. Walton, Penelope. “The sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 341. ↩︎
  11. Walton, Penelope. “Catalogue” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 435. ↩︎
  12. Glover, Jean M. “Sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 430. ↩︎
  13. Walton, Penelope. “The sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 342. and Glover, Jean M. “Sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 430. ↩︎
  14. Walton, Penelope. “The sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 342. Diagram on page 343. ↩︎
  15. Walton, Penelope. “The sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 342. and Glover, Jean M. “Sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 430. ↩︎
  16. Walton, Penelope. “The sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 342. ↩︎
  17. Walton, Penelope. “The sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 342. ↩︎
  18. Glover, Jean M. “Sock in nålebinding, 1309” in Textiles, Cordage and Raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate. Pg. 431. ↩︎

NOW: Tarim Beret

Anne Marie Decker with the Tarim beret as it was taken out of the display case for her to examine in order to determine the stitch used. 21 June 2000.

The Tarim Beret is a beautifully fine example of what kinds of designs are possible using even the simplest variants of nalbinding. This hat was on display in 2000.

Object: Tarim Beret

Description: A finely nalbound brown wool beret stretched over a felt roll. The stitch patterning leaves a visual impression of four striped quarters, but it is worked in the round.

Dated to: ca. 1000 BC (wood of the tomb calibrated C14 results date to 2960 ±115 years Before Present* (published 1999))

Find location: Zaghunluq Cemetery, Chärchän/Qiemo County, Tarim Basin (central southern edge thereof), Xinjiang, China

Material: Wool

Stitch(es) used: Space patterned Z-crossed Simple Looping, F1 O (as determined by Anne Marie Decker 2000)

Current location: 新疆维吾尔自治区博物馆 Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Museum, 581 Xibei Rd, Saybag District, Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China, 830000

Sources in which more information can be found: https://nalbound.com/2019/06/03/urumchi-and-the-tarim-hats/

*王炳华 = Wang, Binghua. 新疆古尸 : 古代新疆居民及其文化 = Xinjiang gu shi: gu dai Xinjiang ju min ji qi wen hua = The ancient corpses of Xinjiang : the peoples of ancient Xinjiang and their cvlture [i.e. culture]. Wulumuqi-shi: Xinjiang ren min chu ban she, 2001. ISBN 7-228-05161-0

NOW: Vasa mitten 21116

This week’s Nalbound Object of the Week is the Vasa Mitten on display in the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. The wool mitten was found in a barrel with a pair of leather outer mittens in the remains of the ship Vasa which sank in 1628 CE.1 It is not the only mitten found on shipwrecks around this timeframe, nor is it the only nalbinding that was found on the Vasa. Simply the nalbound item on display; the rest are kept in the museum inventory.2

Anne Marie Decker as she finds the Vasa mitten and its outer casing on display in the Vasa Museum.

Object: Vasa Mitten

Description: A left mitten liner made of grey wool; loosely spun.3 The thumb is no longer attached to the mitten though it is placed in position for display. The fabric shows heavy fulling, although it is unknown if that was original or simply developed from wear and/or find circumstances.

Dated to: 10 August 1628 CE4 (no more recent than)

Find location: Vasa shipwreck, starboard side of the lower battery deck between beams 2 and 3 about 5.3 to 6.77 meters from the bow,5 Stockholm archipelago, Sweden

Material: single ply S-spun wool6

Stitch(es) used: Pending results of examination.
Stitch count 40 stitches/10 cm and 12 rounds/10 cm.7

Inventory number: 21116

Current location: The Vasa Museum https://www.vasamuseet.se/en

Link to museum catalog or other data: https://digitaltmuseum.se/011024785035/vante

Only one of several beautiful and detailed photographs available on the digitaltmuseum.se link. Scroll past the photos of the leather mittens to find them.
Photo: Vasa Museum CC BY 4.0

The 1983 edition of Berit Westman’s Nålbindning: 12 varianter contained the first image of the Vasa mitten that I had seen. It was lovely to see it in person again in May of 2023; when I also got the chance to examine the other nalbinding found on the ship.

Some sources in which more information can be found:

Looström, Anne and Birgitta Stapf. “Tre Tusen Textilfragment : Från Wasan Söndagen Den 10 Augusti 1628.” Dissertation. 1983. [Note: I have not read this yet. It was recommended.]

Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog.
Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.

  1. Other Information: https://digitaltmuseum.se/011024785035/vante ↩︎
  2. See Identifier 09184 https://digitaltmuseum.se/021026380762/pung and 27908IX https://digitaltmuseum.se/021026380969/textil ↩︎
  3. About: https://digitaltmuseum.se/011024785035/vante ↩︎
  4. Rising, Catrin ed. The Story of Vasa. The Swedish National Maritime Museums. Pg. 5. ISBN 978-91-984713-3-5. ↩︎
  5. Find Place: https://digitaltmuseum.se/011024785035/vante ↩︎
  6. Techniques: https://digitaltmuseum.se/011024785035/vante ↩︎
  7. Techniques: https://digitaltmuseum.se/011024785035/vante ↩︎

Nalbound Object of the Week (NOW) – Introduction

As I attempt to get back into writing after some significant health issues, I would like to introduce a new series of posts on the Nalbound Object of the Week.

I’ve found that there are lots of questions about what kinds of nalbound artifacts do we find in any location or time. What kinds of stitches, if known, etc. And while I am, slowly, working on a comprehensive catalog incorporating all published data as well as details from my own examinations, that will take significant amounts of time to enter just the information I have already collected. Thus, the NOW project; to energize my writing process, to get basic details out and available, and to draw attention to nalbinding from around the world.

Not all information will be available for every object, but I’d like to include:

Object name:

Description:

Dated to:

Find location (Continent, current country, original culture):

Material:

Stitch(es) used:

Inventory number:

Current location:

Link to museum catalog or other data:

Sources in which more information can be found:

Photographs (if permissions allow):

So how can you help? I plan to begin with artifacts that are currently on display, so that you can visit them if you wish (thank you Jennifer Blaikie for the suggestion). After that, I could use suggestions as to what most interests you. Do you have a particular area of timeframe that interests you? Are you looking for more examples of socks or hats or…? Is there a particular stitch or colorwork pattern you are intrigued by? My Patrons on Patreon will get first option as they are actively supporting my research, but all suggestions are welcome and will be accommodated as best I can.

Kuwaiti nalbound camel muzzles

Four years ago, I first wrote about the nalbound camel muzzles of the Arabian peninsula. Today, just one day shy, I am bouncing with excitement as I hold two examples in my own hands.

Anne Marie Decker holding two Kuwaiti nalbound camel muzzles. (Camels not included.) One is deep blue and deep rose in color. The other is tangerine orange and deep pink.

I have had tendrils out various locations across the Arabian peninsula trying to get one to examine for years, but they had all come back empty. Apparently, camel accoutrement sellers are not on the normal tourist tracks; or even that of city office workers. And yet, the quest has proved amusing enough that people are willing to keep an eye out and now one of those tendrils has returned successful.

Both muzzles have an F2 UOO/UUOO structure corresponding to the nalbinding stitch variant commonly called Mammen. This matches the predominant stitch I could see in those photos that were close enough to see evaluate as reported in More Camel Muzzles.

Thank you to everyone who has listened to me babble on with excitement about this particular continuing tradition of nalbinding; especially to those that have been willing to join the quest. I look forward to being able to examine them closely.