Invisible Handicrafts

The General Picture of Textile and Skin Crafts in Scandinavian Surveys

Abstract

Textile production and fur and skin preparation are seldom put into an archaeological context and discussed. An often-heard argument is that finds of textiles are few and that we know nothing about skin preparation. Textile finds are few compared to, say, iron fragments, flints and potsherds but there are many implements such as needles, spindle whorls, and loom weights.

What significance is ascribed to these handicrafts in prehistoric sociery? To see how these crafts are presented, I have examined eight surveys from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

The examination reveals several interesting differences between, on the one hand, textiles and skin crafts and, on the other hand, other kinds of craft. Textile production and skin preparation are seldom discussed under headings about handicraft. Imported textiles are mentioned in passing but with no proper discussion. None of the authors has totally omitted to describe costumes from the Bronze Age and Iron Age, but one often gets the impression that dresses only are a complement to brooches and other ornaments.

Textile and skin crafts should be discussed on the same premises as other crafts and should be put into context. We must see the needs and possibilities of prehistoric people, not transfer our own values to them. We do not have to presume that the status of a crafts in prehistoric time depends on the number of archaeological finds we have today.