The Nalbound Object of the Week this week is a small fragment of vegetal fiber found in Chile. The fragment has two types of Loop & Twist, both Z-crossed.
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This week I get to share with you the excitement of finding out about a rare find in a church I once visited. Some regions have preserved many finds, but textiles in Ireland are relatively rare and nalbound ones more so. Thus this week’s Nalbound Object of the Week is the second known nalbound artifact from Ireland. The fragments were found in the 12th century occupational debris. Photos have been published this year in Textiles of Ireland: Archaeology, Craft, Art by Elizabeth Wincott Heckett if you would like to see them. There’s also a nice diagram in 2006 Archeological Monograph on the excavations.
St Audoen’s Church & Visitor center when we visited on April 27, 2014. Photo credit: Anne Marie Decker
Object: Two main fragments. Usage unknown, but possibly a sock or cap.
Description: The larger fragment is 30 cm long by 8 cm high1 showing the remains of 6 rows. The smaller fragment is 6 cm long by 5 cm high2 with remains of 3+ rows. The thickness of both is c. 2mm.3 Original use as a mitten was ruled out as the length of the larger fragment would exceed the circumference appropriate for a mitten and is more suitable for a sock or a piece of a cap.4 There is no evidence of either intentional or wear fulling.5
Find location: Found in the 12th century occupation debris associated with timber structures during excavation of St. Audoen’s church, Cornmarket, Dublin, Ireland.7
Material: A dark brown, naturally colored, coarse, perhaps kemp-like, wool. No dye detected. The yarn has been combed and worsted spun in a medium to loose Z spin then two-plied with an S twist. The yarn is 1.5 mm in diameter.8
Stitch(es) used: uo o/u uoo F1 based on analysis of one of the outermost rows of loops.9 (Korgen)
Inventory number: E497:2428.325
Current location: Still tracking that down. The detailed catalog was lodged with the excavation archive in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Some of the items excavated at St Audoen’s remain there on display in their Visitor’s Centre.
Link to museum catalog or other data: none known
Some sources in which more information can be found:
Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. “Textiles” in the Archaeological Finds chapter of St Audoen’s Church, Cornmarket, Dublin: Archaeology and Architecture by Mary McMahon. Dublin: The Stationary Office, Government of Ireland, 2006. ISBN 0-7557-7315-2
Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. Textiles of Ireland: Archaeology, Craft, Art. Edited by Mary Ann Williams. Cork: Cork University Press, 2025. ISBN 9781782055716
There is also an archeological drawing contained the the archeological monograph, St Audoen’s Church, Cornmarket, Dublin: Archaeology and Architecture, by Mary McMahon: Fig. 6.9 on page 74.
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300 x 80mm. Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. “Textiles” in the Archaeological Finds chapter of St Audoen’s Church, Cornmarket, Dublin: Archaeology and Architecture by Mary McMahon. Dublin: The Stationary Office, Government of Ireland, 2006. ISBN 0-7557-7315-2 page 74 and republished in Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. Textiles of Ireland: Archaeology, Craft, Art. Edited by Mary Ann Williams. Cork: Cork University Press, 2025. ISBN 9781782055716. pg. 230 ↩︎
60 x 50mm. Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. “Textiles” in the Archaeological Finds chapter of St Audoen’s Church, Cornmarket, Dublin: Archaeology and Architecture by Mary McMahon. Dublin: The Stationary Office, Government of Ireland, 2006. ISBN 0-7557-7315-2 page 74 and republished in Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. Textiles of Ireland: Archaeology, Craft, Art. Edited by Mary Ann Williams. Cork: Cork University Press, 2025. ISBN 9781782055716. pg. 230 ↩︎
Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. “Textiles” in the Archaeological Finds chapter of St Audoen’s Church, Cornmarket, Dublin: Archaeology and Architecture by Mary McMahon. Dublin: The Stationary Office, Government of Ireland, 2006. ISBN 0-7557-7315-2 page 75 and republished in Wincott Heckett, Elizabeth. Textiles of Ireland: Archaeology, Craft, Art. Edited by Mary Ann Williams. Cork: Cork University Press, 2025. ISBN 9781782055716. pg. 232 ↩︎
Today’s Nalbound Object of the Week is the Dublin fragment E190:7430. It is a purple nalbound fragment that is not large enough to give any indication of its original size, form, or function. It was found outside a house dated to the 10th century in the excavations of Viking Age Dublin carried out by the National Museum of Ireland from 1962 to 1981. Frances Pritchard had the opportunity to examine the textiles found and published an article in 1992 entitled “Aspects of the Wool Textiles from Viking Age Dublin” which includes most of what is known about this fragment (including the only published photograph). 1
Image of a portion of the Dublin fragment with one row of stitches highlighted in a rainbow progression by Anne Marie Decker. Base photo provided by Frances Pritchard is a slightly tighter image than that published in her article “Aspects of the Wool Textiles from Viking Age Dublin” taken by Jon Bailey, Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England.
Object: Dublin fragment
Description: Original size unknown. Current size unknown, but the photo published in Frances Pritchard’s article is scaled 2:1.2 That published photo does not show the complete fragment, so the complete dimensions cannot be calculated. It is the only nalbound example found amongst the hundreds of wool textiles and a good number of silk textiles found during the excavations.3
Color: Dye analysis by Penelope Walton indicates it was dyed with lichen purple4
Dated to: The excavations date to Viking Age Dublin, c. 917 to 1169 CE.
Material: Two-ply Z/S-ply7 wool yarn.8 Diameter calculates to approximately 1-1.5 mm based on the photograph and scale.
Gauge: Row height calculates to roughly 0.75 cm and there are approximately 3.5-4 stitches to the cm based on the photograph and scale. It’s a fairly open worked binding.
Stitch(es) used: The stitch used has not been formally determined by examination as the fragment is currently inaccessible.9 My examination of the photo available leads me to believe that it is the stitch colloquially referred to as half-York, but could better be called Dublin stitch: F2 U/OO.
Further research is indicated. At the time of Frances Pritchard’s article, it was thought that nalbinding was only usual in Scandinavian and Baltic countries of the time and thus probable it was made by a Scandinavian settler, much like the Coppergate Sock found in York.10 Of the other known Viking Era finds in Scandinavia, none use York family style intralacing. The York family style intralacing is found in similar stitches in Egypt, France, Spain, and Greece so far. Thus the nalbound artifacts in the Isles may have more in common with the nalbinding of Southern Europe/North Africa than of Scandinavia.
Link to museum catalog or other data: The National Museum of Ireland does not have online catalog information for this artifact.
Some sources in which more information can be found:
Pritchard, Frances. “Aspects of the Wool Textiles from Viking Age Dublin” in Archaeological Textiles in Northern Europe Report from the 4th NESAT Symposium 1. – 5. May 1990 Copenhagen, edited by Lise Bender Jorgensen & Elisabeth Munksgaard, Tidens Tand, Nr. 5, 1992, pages 93-104. Copenhagen: Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi, 1992. ISBN 87-89730-04-6.
Wallace, Patrick F. Viking Dublin: The Wood Quay Excavations. Irish Academic Press, 2016. ISBN 978-07165-3314-6. (A brief mention of the fragment is found on page 263.)
Photographs: There are no photos in the National Museum of Ireland’s Image Library for this reference or reg number.12 The only known image is the partial one published in Frances Pritchard’s article.
Documenting attempts to determine the stitch variant used:
In 2016, Katherine Walsh, posted to the Nalbinding Facebook group asking if anyone knew which stitch was used to make this fragment.13 Her initial thought was maybe Oslo, but she wasn’t sure. At the time, I suggested Loop & Twist with a carried thread and connecting around the post instead of in between stitches as the fragment shows a very distinctly vertical wale, not the diagonal more commonly found in Loop & Twist. Not long after this, I realized that it was not Loop & Twist, but U/OO F2 instead.
Katherine provided several samples testing out the theory which she later appears to have developed into a small handout entitled “Nalbinding in Fishamble Street.”14
In April 2019, Kathrine posted in the Léine Medieval Crafters Facebook Group showing some further experimentation including the back side of her theoretical construction which clearly shows the “purl” effect of the F2B connection.15 This type of connection to the previous row is sometimes referred to as encircled.16
The Loop & Twist theory unfortunately does not seem to have quite the correct angles to match the image of the Dublin fragment.
Further experimentation led me to believe that the Dublin fragment is most likely U/OO F2. It’s the F2 connection that causes the vertical stacking on the intraconnections. If it is U/OO F2, that is actually quite interesting as it is very similar to the York17 stitch (UU/OOO F2), only off by one loop, which is, in and of itself, and as a family style of intralacing, unusual in the Scandinavian corpus.
Debbie Bradley Lauf seems to have independently come to a similar conclusion. She has noted that a scarf she finished looks similar to the structure of the Dublin fragment. I think the resemblance would be greatly enhanced by working with a two-ply yarn and working in the round instead of flat, but you can see her scarf here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/644499622267562/permalink/3444789742238522/ Sept. 1, 2020.
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.
Page 102 of Frances Pritchard’s “Aspects of the Wool Textiles from Viking Age Dublin” in Archaeological Textiles in Northern Europe Report from the 4th NESAT Symposium 1. – 5. May 1990 Copenhagen, edited by Lise Bender Jorgensen & Elisabeth Munksgaard, Tidens Tand, Nr. 5, 1992, pages 93-104. Copenhagen: Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi, 1992. ISBN 87-89730-04-6 contains the photo attributed to Jon Bailey, Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England. ↩︎
Pritchard “Aspects of the Wool Textiles from Viking Age Dublin” Pg. 102 ↩︎
Frances Pritchard in personal correspondence in September of 2020. ↩︎
Pritchard “Aspects of the Wool Textiles from Viking Age Dublin” Pg. 102 ↩︎
Frances Pritchard in personal correspondence in September of 2020. ↩︎
Pritchard “Aspects of the Wool Textiles from Viking Age Dublin” Pg. 102 ↩︎
Pritchard “Aspects of the Wool Textiles from Viking Age Dublin” Pg. 93 ↩︎
Frances Pritchard in personal correspondence in September of 2020. ↩︎
Pritchard “Aspects of the Wool Textiles from Viking Age Dublin” Pg. 102 ↩︎
In August of 2019, Emma Boast commented, on another Facebook post inquiring about the Dublin fragment, that she had reached out to the National Museum of Ireland and was “was told they don’t currently know where it is within the collections.” [Emma Boast writing as Bruni Bear at the time, in the comments of: https://www.facebook.com/groups/644499622267562/posts/2583805478336957/]. Confirmed with Frances Pritchard in personal correspondence in September of 2020. ↩︎
Personal correspondence with the Image Library Officer dated 18 March 2024. ↩︎
Primarily demonstrated with Cross-knit Looping, see Looping: 9. Encircled Looping on pages 17 & 18 of Seiler-Baldinger, Annemarie. Textiles A Classification of Techniques. Washington: Smithsonian Inst, 1994. ISBN 1-56098-509-7, Encircled isn’t a stitch per se, but a method of connection to the adjacent row. ↩︎
Sometimes I know very little about an object. This week’s Nalbound Object of the Week appeared in news articles about شهر سوخته Shahr-e-Sookhteh, Iran’s “Burnt City” published in January of 2022. I also discovered that in 2018 there was a multidisciplinary project run by the Iranian Archaeological team during which there was conservation and micro analysis of the textile collection in Shahr i Sokhta. I’d be very interested in learning about the results of those examinations. Periodically I do another search on these fragments to see if more information pops up. Last July a new article turned up on the web with some very interesting references to try to track down.
Object: Fragment from شهر سوخته Shahr-e-Sookhteh
Description: There are apparently several fragments of Simple Looping with large multi-row bands of alternating color, light (cream) and dark (brown). The third & fourth articles linked below show the one fragment that first brought my attention to this artifact. The first and second links, one from the multidisciplinary project, include a photo that looks to be different fragments and a larger section of the same textile. These are some of around 47 fabrics (techniques unspecified but clearly including more than just the nalbound fragments), consisting of 265 fragments, that were found in Shahr-e-Sookhteh.1
Dated to: Shahr-e-Sookhteh was occupied between 3200-1700 BCE (early articles indicated the city was abandoned in 2100 BCE2, but later articles indicate the city was last occupied in 1700 BCE3)
Find location: شهر سوخته Shahr-e-Sookhteh, Iran’s “Burnt City.” شهر سوخته is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.4
Material: unspecified
Stitch(es) used: Z-crossed Simple Looping (analysis based on photograph by AnneMarieDecker), F1 O
Inventory number: unspecified
Current location: likely at the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) multi-disciplinary Base at Shahr-i Sokhta
Link to museum catalog or other data: unknown
Some sources in which more information can be found:
1. https://amordadnews.com/172355 This is the most recent article released and it lists several references that look to be very interesting.
The web pages on which the earlier news articles were published are no longer live. The Internet Archive did save copies as part of their Wayback Machine project.
Photographs: There are a couple of interesting photos that were published, but as I don’t have contacts to request permissions, you’ll need to explore the links above to see them.
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.
