Abstract

In this lecture, Assistant Professor Luise Ørsted Brandt will give insight into her three-year Carlsberg- and Urbnet-funded project Fur and skin trade in Viking and medieval Denmark and the results generated through this.

The project has aimed at exploring the animal resources for Viking and medieval skin products using biomolecular and morphological methods in order to discuss choices of materials and the thoughts behind these.

The lecture introduces the biomolecular method ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry), which has been the preferred identification method for the study. ZooMS is a peptide fingerprinting technique based on the protein collagen, which is the most common protein in materials such as bone, antler, teeth and skin. The advantages and disadvantages of ZooMS as a high-definition methodology are discussed, and results of a study comparing ZooMS identifications to the morphological identifications of skin by grain pattern analysis are presented.

Examples of ZooMS identifications of skin products from shoes, horsegear and shields are presented. New results from shoes from Viking and medieval Ribe, Odense and Viborg demonstrate that all identified materials come from domesticated animals, and that choices of materials seem to be based on the functionality and point to a specialised production.

A collaborative study using ZooMS on medieval combs revealed the long-distance trade of medieval Odense and the use of urban and available resources compared to a higher reliance on imported antler in the Viking Age.

The current results of identifications of skin and fur from some of the most prominent garments of the Viking Age, Hvilehøj and Mammen, will be presented as well as the future perspectives of this study.

The lecture will also contain personal reflections of the project and the three lovely years spent at Urbnet.

The lecture will be followed by a wine reception.