Beads - Gotland Archaeological Field School

Beads from excavations at Paviken in 1969-­‐71 and 2013 In archaeological terms beads can give us a small glimpse of Viking Age daily life, as jewellery for the women and men alike were worn and the different style and ornamentation can be signs of taste and style at the time (Graham-­‐Campbell 2001). They can also be important indicators of trade networks reaching far off lands, as well as telling the archaeologist about the Vikings knowledge of production techniques and level of skill on those matters. Something so small can in the right context provide information otherwise overlooked. In this paper I will comment upon the topic of beads in regards to Paviken. The data used in the paper is taken from Per Lundström’s finds database and the findings from the current project, but as the methods of excavation has changed a lot since the 1970’s (time of Lundström’s excavation) I have chosen to at times separate the evidence (noticeably for the dispersal maps). This is done as I partook in the current project and can therefore reduce the chance of human errors in the data by having direct knowledge of the excavation, whereas there is a higher chance of error in Lundström’s data, as I have no direct way of confirming what’s written down. Raw material If familiar with other finds from the island of Gotland, some might jump to the assumptions that there would be largely silver beads found at the site of Paviken. The high numbers of silver hoards, counting more than hundred thousand silver coins and several thousand silver objects including some silver jewellery might be the reason for that assumption, but Lundström’s excavation found only one single silver bead (find nr. 33184, found in square 35:86). There was found 125 coins, the majority of which are presumed to be silver/silver covered. However, considering that the Spillings Hoard contained 67 kg of silver, 125 coins are not a considerable amount. Although the bigger finds are few and far between, does the lack of silver, combined with the lack of work tools support the theory that Paviken was abandoned in favour of a different settlement site (Vastergarn being the biggest contender)? It is likely that a shift in settlements would see its settlers keeping their tools and material as both things are considered of value. When considering that the current excavation project revealed fairly scattered material remaining, one might draw the conclusion that these findings were dropped, forgotten or lost when the change of settlement happened. As these are mere musings, further investigations of both Paviken and possible nearby settlement sites would have to be undertaken in order to get a better understanding. Figure 1 glass beads compared to other material So if not silver, what material was the majority of the beads made of? As illustrated by figure 1, there is a clear majority of glass beads in comparison to the other materials used. Fig. 2: Other materials Amber!
Bronze!
As for the beads made of other material, figure 2 shows that as with silver, only a Limestone!
single rock crystal bead was found (The data used for the chart does not differentiate Silver !
between fragments and complete beads and Bone!
the numbers are from Lundström’s project only). The material is used for bead making Rock Crystal!
and the famous Visby lenses. These have been found in Viking graves and are lens-­‐
shaped, manufactured objects, with evidence from the excavation at Fröjel suggest that they were possibly made by the Vikings themselves. Further, the most common material from this group is amber, but do note that the numbers of amber beads found are nowhere near the number of those made of glass. In addition there was a single bead presumed made from fossil found in the excavation from the current project. Dispersal on site There are beads found across the site. Interestingly, when assembling the data for finds of half-­‐precious metal and glass from the same excavation, there is a correlation between where the beads in the material and the raw, non-­‐processed material is found (see maps in appendix). Similar to the beads, there were a number of glass fragments, mosaic pieces and glass splinters found including some pieces of glass that had been melted. However, the glass finds are easily outnumbered by the half-­‐precious metals, with there having been found more than 276 pieces of garnet and 183 pieces of amber. Amber beads are commonly found on Gotland, with large quantities of both beads and raw material found at Fröjel Viking Port of Trade. Although the material is more than likely imported, there is some naturally occurring on the island, but the general consensus is that the Vikings sourced it from the Baltic area. In the current excavation, there was found a correlation between where Lundström found the most garnit and amber and where the current excavation found it. Discussion The ornamentation on the beads found in the most recent excavation are typical patterns, many of which can be seen in the evidence from Ribe and Fröjel, as well as other Viking trade port sites. However, when combining the evidence from bead dispersal and raw material found on site, the most obvious question that comes to mind is production. The known Viking trade networks were extensive, reaching far east and south, but did they also produce beads as part of their settlement? P. Lundström made the connection between bead making and tesserae, which was found in notable quantities at Paviken (Lundström, 1976:5), the same notion that was made for the site of Ribe, Denmark, thought to have been a production site (Sobe 2003). The sites outside of Scandinavia also lack tesserae, perhaps explained by difference in manufacturing techniques. There are also non-­‐complete, seemingly melted beads found from the current excavation, whose presence might be explained by their unsuccessful nature having caused them to be discarded. Further supporting plausible local manufacturing is the evidence that the beads found in Lundström’s excavations are seemingly quite uniform in shape; the majority seems to have been so-­‐called barrel shaped. Perhaps somewhat far-­‐fetched, one theory could be that there was bead production, but with more limited knowledge than for instance in the site of Ribe, where there is a greater variation in shape and types of the beads found. It is already evident that the current project found most of the beads to be barrel shaped, and research from Kaupang claims that these beads were mass-­‐
produced (Wiker, 2003), making it plausible that Paviken had a focus on mass-­‐
production rather than unique, single beads. This theory does rely on the notes of Lundström and could be validated by using the evidence from the current project for comparison, as well as a re-­‐evaluation of Per Lundström’s finds. A more plausible theory is that since there are other shapes/types present, these might have been traded rather than made locally. It would be very interesting as the current excavation progresses to do analysis of the chemical composition of the glass found; both the possible raw material and the beads, to see if the composition of the glass match. The evidence from such an analysis could then be utilised to support the theory of local glass production in Paviken, Gotland. Another interesting aspect of the topic of beads is how it can provide information about its surrounding society. Trade routes and where the raw material is sourced are obvious questions, but when zooming in on the actual people that dealt with the beads originally is when things get really interesting. By contrast and compare methods one can see how trends differ in the numerous Viking settlements. An example Bead from current excavation is that at Kaupang, the far most common colour of beads is blue, followed by yellow and white (Wiker, 2003), which is very similar to the finds of Paviken. From the current exacavation, the majorirty of the beads have decorations or ornamentation of some sorts; straigt, curved, patterned lines or inlayed elements. Again, this is similar to both Ribe and Kaupang. As the current excavation progress it will be very interesting to follow the dispersal of beads across the site, and perhaps some more tools connected Bead from current excavation to bead making will be unearthed. Along with the evidence from Lundström’s excavation and further analysis I will be surprised if it turns out that Paviken did not have its own workshop for making beads. Bibliography Lundström, A. (1976). Bead Making in Scandinavia in the Early Middle Ages. K. V. H. o. A. akademien. Motala, Borgströms tryckeri AB. Graham-­‐Campbell, J. (2001) The Viking World. Frances Lincoln Ltd, London Östergren, M. (1989). Bosättningsmönstret på Gotland under stenåldern: En analys av fysisk miljö, ekonomi och social struktur. Stockholm: Institute of Archaeology at the University of Stockholm. Sobe, T. (2003) The glass bead material from Ribe, Denmark. Viking Heritage Magazine. 3: 17-­‐20
Wiker, G. (2003) Beads from an Early Urban Settlement at Kaupang, Vestfold, in Norway. Viking Heritage Magazine 3:24-­‐27. In addition, Per Lundström’s finds database and notes have been used.