Early Medieval Horn and Bone Combs

Sko, kammer og klær. En nedenfra-studie av bergensernes økonomiske evne på 1100-tallet
Shoes, combs and clothes. A bottom-up study of the economic capacity of 12th century townspeople in Bergen, western Norway
According to earlier synthesizing studies, the first generations of townspeople in Bergen, in Western Norway, may have been landowning magnates or their representatives. The article presents a bottom-up study of 12th century Bergen, with the aim of providing some details and substance to the general picture of the economic capability of the early townspeople that has been generated by synthesizing studies to date. Three types of personal accessories – shoes, combs, and clothes – are studied in groups according to their relative value, and the implications of the share of low-value accessories versus high-value accessories within the 12th century town are discussed. The author concludes that in all likelihood a large number of the townspeople were quite resourceful. Those considered well off can be subdivided further into a rather substantial group that was relatively very well off, a large group that was fairly well off, and a group that probably did not belong to society’s most affluent but could still acquire silk-embroidered shoes, combs, and fancy garments in a suitable style but that were not the most expensive types. Finally, the article highlights some of the challenges met in a study with a bottom-up perspective and approach.

The subject of the article are interesting combs discovered in the stronghold in Pasym, NE Poland. For the older phases of the early Middle Ages, combs are unique finds, especially in the area of the West Balts. Results of the analysis show that combs from Pasym should be dated at the end of the 7th – the beginning of the 9th century AD. Numerous traces of bone and antler processing have been found in the stronghold in Pasym, however, no semi-products or waste left by comb manufac-ture were found, therefore, the existance of a local comb making workshop should be excluded. Combs of the types found in Pasym come from the Frisian areas, but there is no reason to treat these specimens as Frisian imports. The combs from Pasym bear the greatest resemblance to the artefacts from some of the early Slavic sites from the Polish Lowlands (Żukowice, Kałdus, Miszewko Strzałkowskie, Wyszogród) and Janów Pomorski as well as to a single find from Tumiany.

Hair combs of bone and antler were commonly used personal items during the Viking Age (AD 800-1000). However, many specifics regarding their production and distribution are still unclear, and the discussion of local production or itinerancy has not been closed. In this paper, I argue that a combination of raw material analysis and emperical study of
decoration can lead to new insights regarding local fashions and regional manufacturing. As a case study, an empirical analysis of comb material from three major Viking Age central places (York, Dorestad and Birka) is presented. The study suggests that although many decoration types occur on combs from all three sites, regional patterns can be distinguished that can be interpreted as indicators for local fashions as well as for itenerant comb makers.

This thesis explores the significance of the deposition of bone and antler combs in mortuary contexts across early medieval England from the 5th to 7th centuries AD. In order to understand their function in the creation of Anglo-­‐Saxon identities, bone and antler comb data recovered in previous archaeological projects was collated and assessed for their contextual circumstances. The combs were analysed in relation to burial attributes including the sex, gender and age of the individual, the burial rite concerned, grave goods commonly associated with combs and their spatial placement within the burial structure.

The results have shown that correlations between combs, burial spaces and bodies changed over time to reflect a shift in the significance of combs from one of conspicuous identity to a private, protected symbolism of personhood and the ‘lifecourse’ in the 6th and 7th centuries.

Bone and antler combs are one of the most commonly recovered artefacts in burials from the late Roman to later medieval period in Britain. They are one of very few objects to be associated with individuals of both sexes, all ages and every level of society. Unusual treatment of combs, including what appears to be deliberate breakage and selective burning, can be identified in many archaeological assemblages. Additionally, combs are frequently included into the design schemes of ceramics and stone carvings from the period, and references to their use and importance often appear in literary sources. They continue to feature in burials from the 5th century through to the 7th century, despite significant social, economic, political and ideological change taking place but, despite all of these compelling characteristics pointing to a powerful social symbolism, exploration of their role in embodying and signifying identity in this period has been somewhat limited. The research presented here explores the manner of their deposition in burials across early medieval England in order to understand their function in the creation of Anglo-Saxon personhood. To do this, combs recovered in previous archaeological excavations were analysed in relation to various burial attributes, such as sex, gender, age, burial rite, type, associated grave goods and their spatial placement to reveal correlations between combs, burial spaces and bodies. The results show that their deposition changed over time to reflect a shift in the significance of combs from one of conspicuous identity to a private, protected symbolism of personhood and the ‘lifecourse’ in the 6th and 7th centuries.

Most of the all too uncommon studies of prehistoric bone industries appears as simple, formal descriptions of materials, sometimes as catalogues, with little emphasis on technical, functional aspects and ultimately social.
The aim of this paper is to show the study of a selected bone, red deer antler and ivory assemblage featured by the presence of clear curation evidences on their extremely worn surfaces. Based on the microscopic analysis of their surfaces we have gone further than both technical and functional interpretations, focusing on the social and simbolic role these artifacts may have had in the past. All of them display clear evidences of curation, even more than once, to keep them ready-­‐to-­‐ use.

A 37-es számú főút bővítése kapcsán Onga település mellett feltárt lelőhelyen 163 régészeti jelenség került elő, melyek nagy része egy kora népvándorlás kori településhez tartozott. A kisebb, sekély gödrök mellett 5 félig földbe mélyített, változatos szerkezetű, cölöpszerkezetes épület is napvilágra került, melyek kettesével helyezkedtek el, egymástól 50-60 m-re. A három épületcsoport közt két földfelszíni, cölöpszerkezetes építmény volt megfigyelhető. A telep erodáltsága miatt kevés leletanyag került elő, ezek nagy része kerámia: gyorskorongolt, besimított díszítésű tálak, korsók és szemcsés soványítású, korongolt fazekak. A leletanyag egyes jellemzői alapján a késő császárkori hagyomány továbbélésével számolhatunk, a település szerkezete, a házak kialakítása és a kerámia funkcionális összetétele viszont a gepida telepekkel mutat hasonlóságot. A teleprészlet a Kr. u. 5. századra keltezhető.

The Lundströms Square in the western part of Jönköping is today one of the most frequented junctions of the region. Here, on the Västra Storgatan (Western Main Street) city buses as well as long-distance communications have their stopovers. Thousands of passengers change line or hastily make their way through Juneporten down to the railway station each day. But very few of these travelers know that travelling has a continuity going back several centuries on this site, where a discreet marker in the pavement shows the location and direction of one of the most important medieval roads in Sweden – The Eriksgatan. Between the foundation of Jönköping in the early 13th century and the final devastation of the medieval town during the Kalmar War of 1612 this street was lined with workshops where the craftsmen were busy doing advanced smithery. During the late Middle Ages casting of bronze cauldrons became an important occupation. And all the time travelers passed outside the houses and workshops along the main street that was also part of the highway connecting the important provinces of Öster- and Västergötland.

This report describes the excavation undertaken in Lundströms Plats during the summer of 2010. The focus of research was on the street and its predecessors, the road along the southern shore of the large Lake Vättern. That people had moved to and stayed in the area long before the foundation of Jönköping was shown by finds of hearths and postholes dating from the late Germanic and Viking Ages. Way back then the road was probably like a path or eroded to a hollow way, but things changed with the coming of sedentary habitation in the form of a medieval town. The Eriksgatan Street never had any stone pavement. The surface was instead improved by adding gravel and pebbles, sometimes slag from the smithies nearby when needed. During the excavation ruts were still visible, tracks left by carts and wagons with a track gauge of just about one meter.


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Lundströms plats på Väster i Jönköping är idag en av länets mest utnyttjade trafikplatser. Här, på Västra Storgatan intill Filmstaden, stannar både stadsbussar och många regionala turer. Passagerare i tusental byter linje eller hastar genom Juneporten ner mot järnvägen. Men få känner till att resandet har en månghundraårig kontinuitet på denna plats där den diskreta markeringen i torgets stenläggning visar sträckningen för en av Sveriges viktigaste vägsträckningar – Eriksgatan! Mellan Jönköpings tillblivelse på 1200-talet och den slutgiltiga öde-läggelsen i samband med Kalmarkriget sommaren 1612 kantades Storgatans västra sträckning av gårdar där man ägnade sig åt avance-rat järnsmide. Under senmedeltiden tillkom bronsgjutning av framför allt grytor som en viktig verksamhet. Och hela tiden passerade resenärer utefter huvudgatan som också var en del av landsvägen mellan Öster-och Västergötland. Rapporten beskriver den utgrävning som genomfördes sommaren 2010. Fokus kom att ligga på själva gatan och dess föregångare, vägen längs strandbrinken söder om Vättern. Att människor rört sig i området långt före stadens tillblivelse visar fynd av härdar och stolphål från vendel- och vikingatid. Då var vägen mest som en omtrampad stig, men från och med stadens tillkomst skedde en förändring. Det var aldrig tal om någon riktig stenläggning; vägbanan bättrades på med småsten och slagg från de närbelägna smedjorna när så behövdes. Vid utgrävningen framträdde de medeltida hjulspåren fortfarande tydligt, märken som lämnats av vagnar med en spårvidd strax över metern. I vägens lera och vattensamlingar har föremål tappats genom årens lopp. Utslitna, brustna hästskor av medeltida typ som lossnat från hästarnas hovar och blivit kvar i marken. Men även delar av bultlås, en trasig sporre, knivar, en pilspets avsedd för en långbåge samt söljor i olika dimensioner ingår i fyndmaterialet. Tillsammans med sågat benavfall från ett närbeläget kammakeri och de växtrester från djurfoder som den arkeobotaniska analysen identifierade ger fynden liv åt en medeltida gata som råkade ingå i en av rikets mest betydelsefulla vägar.