Viking and Early Middle Ages Northern Scandinavian Textiles Proven to be made with Hemp

TLDR

Most plant textiles today are made of cotton and viscose, but before the 19th century Scandinavia used nettle, hemp, and flax, and hemp was generally believed to be used only for coarse textiles such as rope and sailcloth. The study investigates 10 Viking and Early Middle Ages Scandinavian plant fibre textiles believed to be locally produced. The investigation involved analyzing these textiles. Four textiles, including two pieces of the Överhogdal Viking wall-hanging, were found to be made of hemp (sometimes mixed with flax), indicating that hemp was used for both coarse and fine textile production in Viking and Early Middle Ages Scandinavia.

Abstract

Nowadays most plant textiles used for clothing and household are made of cotton and viscose. Before the 19th century however, plant textiles were mainly made from locally available raw materials, in Scandinavia these were: nettle, hemp and flax. It is generally believed that in Viking and early Middle Ages Scandinavia hemp was used only for coarse textiles (i.e. rope and sailcloth). Here we present an investigation of 10 Scandinavian plant fibre textiles from the Viking and Early Middle Ages, believed to be locally produced. Up till now they were all believed to be made of flax. We show that 4 textiles, including two pieces of the famous Överhogdal Viking wall-hanging are in fact made with hemp (in three cases hemp and flax are mixed). This indicates that hemp was important, not only for coarse but also for fine textile production in Viking and Early Middle Ages in Scandinavia.