Fragments of a tablet woven band were found in the grave of a woman, ACQ in Køstrup, Fyn, Denmark, which are dated to the 10th century. The tablet woven band was not stitched or fastened to the dress itself, but fastened to the front shoulder straps between the tortoise brooches with overcast stitches.
The warp of the ground weave is believed to have been dark blue wool in a pebble weave technique, possibly with a weft of linen. The pattern is brocaded and made in wool in various colors that appear to be yellowish, red and brown.
The original. Photo: Odense Bys Museer and Hilde Thunem (Used on this site with permission, don’t reuse without contacting Hilde Thunem.)
Both looking at the band itself as well as studying the pattern drawn in the publiction of Rasmussen & Lønborg (1993), I have interpreted the symbols of the pattern to look like this:
Please note that the colors of the pattern are not the ones found at the band itself.
References
- Rasmussen, Lisa og Lønborg, Bjarne (1993) «Dragtresteri grav ACQ, Køstrup» Fyndske minder, Odense Bys Museer, Årbog 1993, ISBN 87 87162 49 0, s. 175-181.
- Hilde Thunem (2012) «The aprondress from Køstrup (grave ACQ)» urd.priv.no/viking/kostrup.html
- Hilde Thunem (2012) «Viking women: Apron dress» urd.priv.no/viking/smokkr.html