Identification of Bird Species Used to Make a Viking Age Feather Pillow
A grave containing the remains of a wooden boat was discovered in 1934 under a low mound in a bog at Øksnes in the Vesterålen islands of northern Norway. The boat grave dates to the 10th century in the Viking Age, and grave goods placed in the boat include an iron axe, a cowhide in which the body wa...
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The Arctic Institute of North America
2016
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic4546 http://arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/4546/4726 |
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crarcticinstna:10.14430/arctic4546 2024-09-15T17:49:52+00:00 Identification of Bird Species Used to Make a Viking Age Feather Pillow Dove, Carla J. Wickler, Stephen 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic4546 http://arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/4546/4726 unknown The Arctic Institute of North America ARCTIC volume 69, issue 1, page 29 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 journal-article 2016 crarcticinstna https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4546 2024-08-06T04:00:27Z A grave containing the remains of a wooden boat was discovered in 1934 under a low mound in a bog at Øksnes in the Vesterålen islands of northern Norway. The boat grave dates to the 10th century in the Viking Age, and grave goods placed in the boat include an iron axe, a cowhide in which the body was wrapped, and pillow remains consisting of feather stuffing and a wool textile cover. A microscopic analysis of the feathers from a subsample of the pillow fill identified three avian orders: Anseriformes (eider); Suliformes (cormorant), and Charadriiformes (unspecified gull). It was possible to make one species-level identification of Great Cormorant ( Phalacrocorax carbo) and to narrow the gull types to the “white-headed” gull group. The sample was composed of a nearly equal mix of downy and pennaceous feather types. Downy feathers from gulls (Laridae) composed the majority of the material in this sample. While it is reported that feathers and down (assumed to be eider) were used in the Late Iron Age, this is the first successful attempt to identify bird species used in these materials and suggests that avian species identifications should be explored in other such burial items to enhance our understanding of human-wildlife interactions throughout Norse history. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Northern Norway Vesterålen Arctic Institute of North America ARCTIC 69 1 29 |
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Arctic Institute of North America |
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A grave containing the remains of a wooden boat was discovered in 1934 under a low mound in a bog at Øksnes in the Vesterålen islands of northern Norway. The boat grave dates to the 10th century in the Viking Age, and grave goods placed in the boat include an iron axe, a cowhide in which the body was wrapped, and pillow remains consisting of feather stuffing and a wool textile cover. A microscopic analysis of the feathers from a subsample of the pillow fill identified three avian orders: Anseriformes (eider); Suliformes (cormorant), and Charadriiformes (unspecified gull). It was possible to make one species-level identification of Great Cormorant ( Phalacrocorax carbo) and to narrow the gull types to the “white-headed” gull group. The sample was composed of a nearly equal mix of downy and pennaceous feather types. Downy feathers from gulls (Laridae) composed the majority of the material in this sample. While it is reported that feathers and down (assumed to be eider) were used in the Late Iron Age, this is the first successful attempt to identify bird species used in these materials and suggests that avian species identifications should be explored in other such burial items to enhance our understanding of human-wildlife interactions throughout Norse history. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dove, Carla J. Wickler, Stephen |
spellingShingle |
Dove, Carla J. Wickler, Stephen Identification of Bird Species Used to Make a Viking Age Feather Pillow |
author_facet |
Dove, Carla J. Wickler, Stephen |
author_sort |
Dove, Carla J. |
title |
Identification of Bird Species Used to Make a Viking Age Feather Pillow |
title_short |
Identification of Bird Species Used to Make a Viking Age Feather Pillow |
title_full |
Identification of Bird Species Used to Make a Viking Age Feather Pillow |
title_fullStr |
Identification of Bird Species Used to Make a Viking Age Feather Pillow |
title_full_unstemmed |
Identification of Bird Species Used to Make a Viking Age Feather Pillow |
title_sort |
identification of bird species used to make a viking age feather pillow |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic4546 http://arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/4546/4726 |
genre |
Arctic Northern Norway Vesterålen |
genre_facet |
Arctic Northern Norway Vesterålen |
op_source |
ARCTIC volume 69, issue 1, page 29 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4546 |
container_title |
ARCTIC |
container_volume |
69 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
29 |
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1810291647860178944 |