2-Hole Pebble Weave: Reproduction of the Tablet Woven Band “Object I/7” from the Ladoga Burial Mound

The following was my entry into the Regional Art Sci Competition in the Barony of Wyvernwoode, for which I was awarded the title of Baronial Champion. I am making my documentation available here so that it is available to any who wishes to weave this band. Most of this information is freely available on the web, and the Bibliography section has links to the source material.

1.     Summary and Inspiration

In 2010, an excavation of burial mounds in Ladoga, Russia yielded a rich variety of textiles finds believed to originate from the people inhabiting a nearby Viking settlement.  Ladoga is a small town north of St. Petersburg in Leningrad Oblast, in the area historically known as Karelia. This area is in far northern Russia in the area bordering Finland. The area was inhabited in the period from the 10^th to 13^th centuries by Vikings, leading up to the Novgorod Rus era of the 13^th to 15^th centuries.

The finds at the Ladoga burial mounds have been dated from between the 10^th and 12^th centuries [1]. The finds consist mainly of small fragments at various degrees of preservation, ranging from small segments of tablet woven woolen bands, to small patched of woven textile in herringbone patterns. The quality of the fibers varies with some rich silk originating in Central Asia likely belonging to a wealthy elite. While some of the fibers were not of such high quality, their co-location with expensive silks in the same burial mounds indicated they probably were owned by the same wealthy person or persons [1, 2].

In the present work, a reproduction of a particularly interesting tablet woven band from the Ladoga burial mounds is attempted. Care was taken to make use of period materials and methods where possible, although there were a few differences from the tools used in period, as will be discussed.

Since the very beginning of my SCA career 2 years ago, I have been fascinated by fiber arts and specifically band weaving.  At my first SCA event, I learned to use the inkle loom, and was immediately hooked.  Within a month I had woven my first tablet woven band, and have since endeavored to attempt new historical reconstructions in a variety of techniques.  For my first entry into an Art-Sci project, I wished to attempt a technique new to me. My choice of this band to weave for my first Art-Sci project was inspired by the beautiful reconstructed band form this burial by Silvia Aisling [4] which showed the delicacy of this woven band. Aisling postulated [4] that the method for weaving this band should differ from that suggested by the original paper by Kochkurkina and Orfinskaya describing this find [1]. My attempt at reproduction confirms this hypothesis, as will be shown presently.