Steppe nomadic armour from Birka

[Halvgrimr]

You are correct, the armor isnt from the graves, it was found inside the 'garrison'.

and after rereading the thread I see I misunderstood/misinterpreted parts of it.

My statements about things being piled up and burnt were products of a delusional mind/memory;)

sorry guys, my bad

Halv

[Mord]

Sorry... Birka's not my main line (the steppe armor is), and I don't know where the "burn pile" is in relation to the graves... are the two necessarily relevant to each other? I hadn't understood that the lamellae were from graves... a "mountain of objects" implies a separation of identity from the lovingly-buried...

Russ, the lamellae were not found the graves catalogged in Holger Arbman's book "Birka, Die Graves." I looked, three times. This catalog is of the Birka cemetery excavated, for the most part, by Stolpe (sp) in the 19th century. Stople was an entomologist (yup, a bug man) looking for insects in amber to study. Instead, he managed to excavate and take meticulous notes on some 1166 graves. His notes were published by Arbman.

But wait...there's more....

Lamelae plates were found by Arbman in the "Borg" and recently by Holmquist-Olausson in the "Garrison" or "Fortress."

Other excavations have also been conducted--notably in what has been called the "Black Earth." If I remember correctly the most notable things found there were a thor's hammer and raspberry seeds (yum! ).

There's all sorts of bibliographic material on Birka...I have it in some form at home.

Mord.

[Halvgrimr]

Lamelae plates were found by Arbman in the "Borg" and recently by Holmquist-Olausson in the "Garrison" or "Fortress."

Mord.

--Borg means fortess IIRC so we may be getting some crossover between the two

Ignore me if I am confussed again;)

Halv

[Ny Bjorn]

Yes - Borg is the hillfort on Björkö. It's one of the few hillforts in Sweden that can be securely dated to the Viking Age (a multitude of others were probably in use, but they were constructed during the Migration Period).

The "Black Earth" is the local name for the town area on Björkö. Due to ploughing etc. organic remains and charcoal from the upper cultural deposits have been mixed with the soil, making it quite dark. The latest excavation there took place between 1990 and -95. The 350 m2 that were excavated yielded a load of finds (as usual on Björkö) that are still being reported in the series "Birka Studies". The most important find was probably a bronze casters workshop with several thousand fragments of moulds for tortoise brooches (mainly types P27 & P37).

/N B

[TassilosRache]

Russ wrote: "I've always been bothered by the "no shied bosses = no shields" theory... certainly the sort of shield a footman uses in the period, with a center grip, requires a boss... but what if the shield is strapped along the forearm (by far the more likely position for cavalry, given that smacking your horse upside the head with your shield is generally considered a no-no).... in this case, does the lack of shield bosses actually tell us anything, except that they weren't heavy footmen?"

That is a valid point, to which I can only answer: Very good thinking, but we have no evidence whatsoever that there was a different type of shield used in any instance between 500 and 800 (I dare not extend that period further, as I do not know enough about it). There are no fittings of any kind associated with shields in graves without a shield boss. There is one pictorial source that shows shields with straps, but these shields are only partially visible and their center is covered by the bearers, so we cannot tell, whether there is a shield boss or not.
As long as I do not see a pic of a cavalryman with a strapped shield, or a grave find with shield fittings and no boss, I have a hard time believing, there was a different type of shield than the centergrip round...

I may well be wrong though.

[TassilosRache]

I was just photocopying something from a book when I came upon a detail I had missed till now: The Niederstotzingen lamellar armour was lying on top of a corroded shield boss - so there goes my theory...

Sorry for the confusion!

[Cap'n Atli]

As long as I do not see a pic of a cavalryman with a strapped shield, or a grave find with shield fittings and no boss, I have a hard time believing, there was a different type of shield than the centergrip round...

I may well be wrong though.

Arrrgh! I was staying out of this, but now I'll have to dig through my Anglo-Saxon grave find books looking for shield fittings without the presence of a shield boss. I think that there's one or two graves like that, but 'till I dig my way through, I'll hold my tongue. ("Ang gack's gibbiculd phor talgging.")


Russ's point is a good one, and hadn't crossed my devious mind until he brought it up. Are their any contemporary illustrations that would show bossless shields?

[Mord]

Let me begin with the lamellar.

Sternja's article documents some 720 lamellar plates or fragments, and of these, 267 have been analyized. This is the basis for the typology presented, which presents useful technical information (size, hole-patterns of plates, etc) The plate are comparable to other lamellar of "Turkic" origin. A reproduction is presented (in drawing). We have not idea how the plates were held together.

Holmquist-Olausson's article states that Lamelar plates, maile, shieldbosses, swords, spears, axes and arrowheads were found in The Garrison. The Garrison seems to have accomodated 30-40 people. The Garrison also seems to have attacked with fire a few times. The last attack seemingly in the mid- to late 10th Century.

Given all this, I would say that considering 720 plates have been found, we are probably talking about multiple suits, unless a suit was made for a very large person. Also, I conclude that the garrsion was very well to do, very well supported, and very rich. The presence of multiple locks found at Garrison supports that the warriors (soldiers?) were protecting somethings of value. Whether these "things" were personal or royal property or both is something that I can not answer.

Questions:

What kind of swords, spears, shields, and other armor was found in the Garrison with the lamellar? Is the arms and armor recognizable and has any of it been typed?

Was any jewelry found?

Was any horse equipment found?

Were any human bones found?

Were any other bones found?

What was the position of the finds?

Gotta go! More later!

Mord.

[Halvgrimr]

Given all this, I would say that considering 720 plates have been found, we are probably talking about multiple suits, unless a suit was made for a very large person. Mord.

--I favor the single suit theory myself, but then again I am a big guy;)

None of the remains found were much over an inch wide, considering the amount of overlap I have seen in some reconstructions, I don’t think 700 is all that many for a big fellow.


I mean look at this reconstruction (near bottom of page)

http://www.ask-vikingekampgruppe.dk/english17.html

That fellow isn’t what Id call portly and it took 552 of the Visby plates (which i believe are comparable in size but not exact shape) to do his vest.

Of course I have no proof that it was one suit but since it is an oddity Id like to think that it is;)

Halv

[Mord]

Halvgrim, okay that really was my next question--

How many lamellar plates does it take to construct a suit for a well-fed, presumably male, average warrior?

If your answer is 550 or so, then I concede I think your right. We're talking, based upon these fact, about only one suit.

Opps! phone call. Gotta Go.

Mord.

[Halvgrimr]

Mord

Don’t get me wrong I believe the multiple suits is a valid theory too.

The only reason that I am not 100% convinced that the Birka remains are one suit is the varying sized/shaped lamellae.

But as I believe T-bob's experiments show a single suit may have varying sized/shaped lamellae's in it to accommodate flexibility/fitting issues.


So as you can see, while Id like to think the remains are of a single suit, I am open to the idea of other possibilities.

Halv

[Halvgrimr]

Hey InsaneIrish

If your looking at this do you remember how many of the plates I bought from you to do that suit I wound up selling to Snorri?

Halv

[Russ Mitchell]

I don't know of any *contemporary* images of bossless shields. I do know of many turkic depictions showing shields that are obviously textured rawhide and the like from later down the road (being used with the same armor) in different settings, thus my hesitation to sign up on the boss theory (which is commonly extrapolated to 10th-century Hungary, late enough that I have real trouble with it).

[Templar Bob/De Tyre]

How many lamellar plates does it take to construct a suit for a well-fed, presumably male, average warrior?

If your answer is 550 or so, then I concede I think your right. We're talking, based upon these fact, about only one suit.

Mord

Don’t get me wrong I believe the multiple suits is a valid theory too.

The only reason that I am not 100% convinced that the Birka remains are one suit is the varying sized/shaped lamellae.

But as I believe T-bob's experiments show a single suit may have varying sized/shaped lamellae's in it to accommodate flexibility/fitting issues.


So as you can see, while Id like to think the remains are of a single suit, I am open to the idea of other possibilities.

Halv

My first suit of metal lamellar (which was made of all "12-hole Tibetan Willowleaf" lamellae) took 628 lamellae, fitted me to the waist, and had very flexible sleeveflaps.

The second suit of metal lamellar (utilizing the 9-hole "Etsin-Gol" lamellae, coupled with 7 or 8 hole "International" lamellae and 12-hole "Tibetan Willowleaf" lamellae") took 1,006 lamellae, had skirts just past the knees and very flexible sleeve flaps.

Should I do an additional suit, it will incorporate the full wraparound sleeves I've seen photos of from the Tower Armouries. I estimate that this klibanion will encompass over 1,300 lamellae in all, and will include a tooled, painted leather border at the base of the skirts, similar to the Tibetan suits I've seen photos of.

Granted, I'll probably need Carpal Tunnel surgery when I'm done punching the tens of thousands of holes in the lamellae and lacing all of the plates...but it'd make a great A & S project!

[Karl]

Outstanding article, thank you Halvgrim. Personally I have always believed in the position that this type of armour was exceptional, if not unique, at Birka.

Best,
Karl

[Mord]

Okay, here's some more. Part of the answer to the one suit or multiple suits question can probably be found in the contact of the find(s). Were the plates found in one "clump" or were they scattered over an area? The answer to these questions (and the others) are probably in, "Krigarnas hus. Arkeologisk Undersokning av ett hallhus i Birkas Garnison" by Holmquist-Olausson and Kitzler. Unfortunately, this book (work? report?) is not available (as far as I can tell) in the US. Nothing comes up on OCLC (world cat). The only place where I could find the book is the University of Lund, and I know I can't ILL from there (too expensive--shipping charges--these thing make my boss cringe).

As for representations of shields, you might try the Gotland Picture Stones and the Oseberg Tapestry. "Gotlandes Bildsteine" by Sune Lindqvist is the best work I've found. However, I am sure Halvgimr has something is his vast and useful archive.

Btw, some would also use representations carved into a stave church (Sigurd slaving the dragon, etc.), but these representations are dated to the 12th century--so I am loath to use it.

Finally, the use of horses and calvary (sp) armor. Horses and horse equipment (strupps, bits, etc.) have certainly been found on Birka. The real question is what were horses use for? Why would you want to have calvary on an island?

Mord.

[Ny Bjorn]

Mord:

Q&A's:

"What kind of swords, spears, shields, and other armor was found in the Garrison with the lamellar? Is the arms and armor recognizable and has any of it been typed?"

-Two Sword pommels (types Petersen A & H ) were found in a deposit in one of the Hall's post holes - no complete swords have been found at the Garrison though. The Spear heads found are of several types, from light javelins to heavy lances. I can't really remember how many shield bosses that have been found right now (I might check it later) but I'd say around 7 or 8. They are of the type with a "waste" (as in Birka 1 taf 16). One copper alloy mount for a shield handle has also been found (of the trilobed fashion depicted in Birka 1 taf 19) along with parts of a scabbard for a weapon knife (similar to the mounts in Birka 1 taf 6:1a)
Various patches of ring weave have been found all over the Garrison - nothing more can be said about it though (it's severely corroded, we tried making metallographic grinds on 4 of them last year - but they were all rusted trough).

"Was any jewelry found? "

Yes, for example a ring for a ringed pin, several brooches and pieces of some kind of gilded Byzantine cornet with doves on it (not yet published - but pretty!) aso.

"Was any horse equipment found? "

Nothing that can be connected to equestrian equipment straight away, no.

"Were any human bones found?"

Two cremation burials have been found in the Garrison area, one of them - probably female due to the finds - was found under the forge.
But please remember that Björkö is an enormous cemetery - there are bones everywhere. Right by the Garrison lays one of the richer cemeteries on the Island (no 2).

"Were any other bones found? "

Yepp - mainly cattle and sheep

"What was the position of the finds?"

The animal bones? Mainly in middens here and the outside the Hall.

"Horses on Björkö"

I'd say display of wealth - show-off. Just remember that the horses are found in the graves - during Scandinavian (and indeed other culture's) pre-history graves often reflect an idealized view of life rather than how it was lead by the living.

(Sorry for the short answers - I’m in a hurry right now)

/N B

[Mord]

Ny Bjorn, many thanks.

I'm not surprised that one of the is type H (Petersen)--it's the predominent type found on Birka (check out my short article on the subject at barhus.org. Look under "Mord's Stuff". "

The shieldbosses sound like Rygh's type 562 (Norske Oldsager). I'd have to check, but this is not surprising either.

Were the brooches typical "Tortoise Shell?" If so, this would indicate the presence of women.

Not surprising to find animal bones in the middens.

I agree with you on the use of horses as not for fighting, but for prestigious show. Some of the bits found in the graves were certainly showy. Also, the stirrups inlaid with silver were pretty spiffy. On the other hand, many a weapon was highly decorated with copper and silver.

Again, many thanks

Mord.

[Halvgrimr]

[quote="Ny Bjorn"]

Two cremation burials have been found in the Garrison area, one of them - probably female due to the finds - was found under the forge.

[q/uote]

I wonder if this placement was intentional (ie this burial had some religious signifigance) or accidental

any idea?

Halv

[Ny Bjorn]

My guess - nota bene GUESS - is that the cremation graves predate the Garrison's last and largest phase. The close proximity to Cemetery 2 does suggest this. Some time during the 10th century the Garrison area was expanded out over the closest graves of Cemetery 2. Such a practise is not unheard of; at Fröjel, Gotland, burials from the 9th century had been over layered by a later settlement deposit even though it must have been quite clear to the locals that the graves were there (stone settings etc.).

Photos of the finds from the female Garrison burial can be found in Susan Larsson's thesis on it (English Abstract) here, for instance on the front page (needle-case, needle, spinning whorl, knife, key, glass beads, shears a.s.o.).

/N B

[Ny Bjorn]

Mord:
Two of the shield bosses (found in 1997 and published in "Rapport från utgrävningen av Garnisonen på Björkö 1997"/"Report from the excavation of the Garrison at Björkö in 1997" by Laila Kitzler, Stockholm, 1998) were classified as Rygh 564 and Rygh 565. Several others have been found since then but they are not classified in the latest report.

/N B

[TassilosRache]

To the question of different sets of lamellar:

At least in the finds from the 5th-7th cent suits, we can be sure of the usage of different sizes/shapes of plates for single suits of lamellar armour. The Niederstotzingen suit has at least 4, maybe 5 differnt shapes of plates; the Kertsch armour has at least 5 shapes; Dillingen has 5 or 6 shapes, etc.

This is the reason, btw., why I haven't started to buid a reconstruction myself, as my calculations say that I would need about 1000-1200 plates of various sizes/shapes for a complete suit and that is just too much right now...

An experiment in support of the "lamellar armour was rare and expensive" theory was conducted in Russia some years ago, when a suit of Scythian armour was reconstructed, using authentic methods. It ended up taking 1 man a whole year of 10 hour days to make a warriors equipment.

[Caithlinn]

Sir Mord,

Here is some information about the publication you mentioned before (and I assumed you were looking for ....):

Title Krigarnas hus : arkeologisk undersökning av ett hallhus i Birkas Garnison : RAÄ 35, Björkö, Adelsö sn, Uppland 1998-2000
Authors Holmquist Olausson, Lena (1953-) ; Kitzler Ã…hfeldt, Laila (1969-)
Stockholms universitet Arkeologiska forskningslaboratoriet
Publisher Stockholm : Arkeologiska forskningslaboratoriet, Stockholms universitet
Year 2002
176 s. : ill., kartor, diagr., tab.
Series Borgar och befästningsverk i Mellansverige 400-1100 e. Kr., 4

No ISBN, I'm afraid.....

Their publications can be bought online (at least some) and they don't seem to be too expensive (one report is 80SEK, roughly US$10). The website is http://www.archaeology.su.se/arklab/borgar.htm, maybe you can drop them a line and see if they can help you....

Hope this helps......

Caithlinn

[Ny Bjorn]

...and start practicing your Swedish - as I said above it's entirely in Swedish in a photo-copy style with very few figures, most of them drawings of cultural deposits aso.

/N B

[Josh W]

I remember once that someone posted a few Saga passages that make reference to "spangabrynja", whose description sounded very much like lamellar (or some semi-rigid armour) to me. Could someone repeat those for me? While I know that the sagas were written down in the 12th-13th centuries or something like that, is there any reason to believe that these references are later additions?

I often repeat Geraldus Cambrensis' passage about the Danes who attacked Ireland in 1171 wearing armour of "laminis ferreis arte consutis" in these discussions on Scandinavian use of lamellar. With the more or less contemporary allusions to it in a Saga or two, I'd say it's pretty safe to assume that lamellar, if not exactly common, was at least known to, and used by some Scandinavians by the late 12th century. What evidence do we have that it was not known and used somewhat earlier?

[Halvgrimr]

Josh

Again I mention that I am not ruling out the possibility that the 'Vikings' new about or even used lamellar, my arguement is that it wasnt common.

What I am trying to avoid is the perception that Vikes in lamellar is an everyday occurance.

If this were the case (IMO) there would be alot more of it found, it isnt like we have a shortage of viking warrior graves;)

Halv

[Mord]

Josh

Again I mention that I am not ruling out the possibility that the 'Vikings' new about or even used lamellar, my arguement is that it wasnt common.

What I am trying to avoid is the perception that Vikes in lamellar is an everyday occurance.

If this were the case (IMO) there would be alot more of it found, it isnt like we have a shortage of viking warrior graves;)

Halv

Halvgirm. I agree with you. BTW, I mailed the rest of what I thought the "pertinent" articles from "Maritime Warfare."

Ny Bjorn. As ever thanks for the information. Nice to that somebody else is familiar with Oluf Rugh (found him waaaayyyyy in the bowels of UPENN's archaeological library--a fun place, but you need serious patience).

The URL that was provided (http://www.archaeology.su.se/arklab/borgar.htm) I couldn't connect from here. I will attempt another method. Not to worry, I'll get to it somehow. Thanks for the info.

I'll repost a little later.

Mord.

[anteau]

gents I would be more than interested in getting any english language articles on this subject as well. anteau@upc.nl
thankx in advance

[Mord]

Hit there! After some time and hassels trying to get on archaeology.su.se/arklab, I found lots of interesting things (oy), but no real way to get the info I want .

I have emailed Lena Holmquist-Olausson with a few questions. Unfortunately I botched the title of the book (kringarnas hus)--DUH !!!!. Hopefully I will correct my mistake if she emails me back.

Mord.

[Dan Howard]

I remember once that someone posted a few Saga passages that make reference to "spangabrynja", whose description sounded very much like lamellar (or some semi-rigid armour) to me. Could someone repeat those for me? While I know that the sagas were written down in the 12th-13th centuries or something like that, is there any reason to believe that these references are later additions?

This deserves following up.

I often repeat Geraldus Cambrensis' passage about the Danes who attacked Ireland in 1171 wearing armour of "laminis ferreis arte consutis" in these discussions on Scandinavian use of lamellar. With the more or less contemporary allusions to it in a Saga or two, I'd say it's pretty safe to assume that lamellar, if not exactly common, was at least known to, and used by some Scandinavians by the late 12th century.

This passage is extremely ambiguous and could mean anything from scale to lamellar to a COP. Even if it was evidence of Danish lamellar it does not date to the so-called viking period.

What evidence do we have that it was not known and used somewhat earlier?

It is a logical impossibility to provide evidence to prove a negative. It is up to the proponents of viking lamellar to prove its existence, which they have so far failed to do.

[Josh W]

Unless my Latin is incorrect, "laminis ferreis arte consutis" translates to "lames of iron skilfully sewn (together)". I do not see what else this could refer to, if not lamellar. I can't see how scale or coats of plates could be so described. The description is so specific: what other armour type consists of metal strips laced (sewn) to each other? I'm not a fan of Geraldus Cambrensis, but can I see no ambiguity in this passage.

[Dan Howard]

There is nothing in that passage indicating that it could not be COP or scale armour. As I said, even if it is describing lamellar it doesn't date to the viking period.

[Russ Mitchell]

Dan:

Yet, it is *most* plausible to interpret it this way, as lamellar... and historically, it is also quite plausible. If you consider, say, the career of Haraldr Hardrada... the Rus, Byzantine, and Scandinavian worlds were closely tied... you can also err if you put the bar of plausibility *too* high.

[Felix Wang]

About the word "laminis" (with apologies, I am not a Latin scholar):

The most obvious equivalent of this word might be "lame". However, this word can be used for any flat, layer-type structure, i.e. laminar flow of luids in physics. I do know that medieval Latin usage was flexible and imprecise - consistency was not a well recognized virtue. For example, the word "miles" in Roman usage meant soldier, and by default a foot soldier. The medieval usage in "miles" for man-at-arms, and asssumed to be mounted. A Roman would say "miles + cavalry", while a medieval writer would say "miles + infantry" to describe exactly the same force.

It is possible that "laminis" could be used for scale armour, or even a coat of plates. Both are made of flat pieces of metal, and both are sewn / attached, even though it is to a backing rather than each other.

[Dan Howard]

A literal translation of laminis would be "part of something that was laminated". In the above context it could mean lamellar, scale, COP or segmentata (or even a breastplate made from multiple sheets joined together). Since there is nothing to suggest that segmentata was worn during this time, only the first three are plausible options. In any case the passage is largely irrelevant since it doesn't date to the so-called "viking period". I think that a few nails can be removed from this coffin if the phrase "spangabrynja," as mentioned by Josh in the sagas, was further studied.