Hushåll och handelsplats - En studie av textilproduktionens omfattning och funktion på Birka

Sammanfattning

At the island of Birka the occurrence of trade, craft and exchange networks have long been central topics within Viking Age research. However, textile studies have often been marginal to these discussions. This study addresses this gap by examining textiles as commodities integral to the economic organisation and daily subsistence of Birkas’s inhabitants. Particular attention is given to the functions of textiles, their provenance, and the organisational modes underlying their production. The study synthesise previous analyses of textile remains from the Hemlanden grave field at Birka, alongside evidence from textile tools recovered in the surrounding areas, primarily the black Earth deposits. Existing interpretations of this material are critically reviewed to assess the extent and character of local textile production. Given the inherently static nature of archaeological textile evidence, the theoretical framework of Small World Systems theory and the analytical perspective constructed by Skre (2012) is applied to move beyond what can be directly demonstrated archaeologically and toward what can be considered economically and socially probable.