In an effort to help folks better their ability to choose textiles for historic projects, I am compiling a series of articles aimed at those less familiar with the source material and textiles in general.  I hope this helps those who are looking to recreate Bronze Age costumes better source their cloth!
 
I am starting with the dating systems used to better help frame the discussed textiles with timeline. According to some dating systems, the Bronze Age in Scandinavia covers the years 1700BCE to 500BCE, while others start at 1800BCE (see chart used by Lise Bender Jorgensen from Northern European Textiles) and come to the same final point.  The period is broken down into the Early Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age (either 1700-1000BCE or 1800-1000BCE for Early, depending on the source).  More recent work has sought to use carbon dating as a means of  ‘finalizing’ the 6 subcategories in the periods with the following being the results (Olsen, et al):
 
Phase 1 – 1700-1500
Phase 2 – 1500-1300
Phase 3 – 1300-1100
Phase 4 – 1100-950/920
Phase 5 – 950/920 – 800
Phase 6 – 800-530/520

​Note that while I am adding this to my blog category for “Textile Charts”, I have to note that there really is no actual chart to be had for this topic because the textiles from this period were almost entirely tabby/plainweave.  For those new to textiles, basic tabby cloth is what you usually see in linen fabrics, particularly those sold at popular vendors like Fabrics-Store.

In her work, Forhistoriske Textiler I Skandinavien, Lise Bender Jørgensen details the textiles from each grave in each specific time period for Scandinavia.  The book has both a catalog and an analysis of textiles, including spin direction. All figures in the next few paragraphs are summarized from that source.  The book does not, however, have detailed information on color or density of weave.  In total, there are 185 Bronze Age graves containing textiles.  Most of these are from Denmark, with only 2 finds from Norway, 20 graves were from Sweden (from Scania and Halland) and 10 graves from Schleswig and Holstein, which are now part of Germany.  Overwhelmingly, the textiles are wool in tabby weave.

For the Early Bronze age (Phases 1-3), Phase 1 has only one grave and all items were repp-like tabby weave.  In a repp weave, one thread system covers the other giving it a ribbed effect.  If you have seen inkle weaving, you have seen repp weave.  82 graves from Phase 2 contained 107 tabby textiles, 13 repp (these include bands and starting borders), sprang was present in 4 graves and there were a few other more unique items as well, including men’s caps with pile (fuzzy hats!) in 7 graves.  All of the actual fabrics were tabby or repp.  The last Phase for the Early Bronze age (Phase 3), had 52 graves with textiles yielding 79 items with a determinable weave.  68 of these were tabby, 9 are repp and the remaining fall into the category of other (again, containing items like sprang and plaiting).​

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The Late Bronze Age is comprised of Phases 4-6, but there was a switch during this period to cremation graves which leaves little material for us to explore.  Most of the textiles from this time are found in Phases 4 and 5, where we find 13 graves with textiles and with only 21 textiles that are preserved well enough to categorize.  18 of these are tabby, one is repp and two are a 2/2 twill.  Twill cloth has a diagonal weave to it (think of blue jeans here).  Both of these twill textiles are dated to Phase 5.
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The surface of the wool cloth was also fulled, which makes it a bit fuzzy but improves the way it sheds water, insulates and renders the cloth unable to fray at the edges (meaning things like bottom hems or complex French seams were often unnecessary as the cloth will not ravel).

As a side note here, if anyone is interested in learning to weave, these garments, particularly the cropped blouses in several women’s graves, would be great projects for a novice.  They could even be done on a wide rigid heddle loom, which is a very good way to get started with the craft.  (See information on this type of weaving here - http://awanderingelf.weebly.com/blog-my-journey/rigid-heddle-weaving-for-sca-use )

The next question that folks often have is what color to purchase.  In this case, the Bronze Age in Scandinavia also makes this easy.  Aim for Brown.  There is no evidence of organic dye from this time and place (Frei, Mannering, et al, p652).  We do see natural pigmentation from the sheep, primarily brown, in the cloth and white wool seemed rare.  Soay sheep are a Bronze Age Breed, so it does not hurt to aim for those shades of brown for your textiles.
 
And finally, the last question, embroidery?  Figurative embroidery is not represented at all in these finds.  If you want decorative stitching for Early Bronze Age, I encourage you to look to the Skyrdstrup blouse and the beautiful needlework on it.  

It is important to note here that the complete costumes we have from the Bronze Age in Denmark, including those from Borum Eshoj, the Egtved Girl, and Skrydstrup, all fall into the EARLY Bronze Age designation.  That means that if you are looking for appropriate textiles for these items, then your best bet is to seek out a coarse wool tabby.  The mentioned nettle textile and the two twills fall very much outside of the period for these costumes.  Given that most folks seeking to represent this period will be opting for these looks (given how broad the amount of base material there is), I will summarize specifically for the Early Bronze Age period:
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• Weave structure: Tabby, with repp being a lesser possibility for cloth, and likely for something like belts
• Fibre content: Wool
• Thread Count:  This cloth is what we would consider very coarse.  The textiles were most commonly 10 threads to the inch in each system.  There were a scant handful of wools that were more fine, but still coarse by today’s standards.  Because wools from this period were fulled, you can also look for wool flannels in a tabby weave that will help conceal a lower thread count.  It is possible that one might also locate something meant for more casual sport coats or jackets that will work.
• Color: Brown
• Stitches used: Running, overcast and buttonhole (Gleba & Mannering, p101)

If you want more information on Bronze Age costume, I have a list of sources in my Egtved Girl bibliography here:  http://awanderingelf.weebly.com/iron-age-celtic-studies/egtved-bibliography

Resources:
 
Barber, E.J.W. Prehistoric Textiles, Princeton University Press, 1991.

Bender Jørgensen, Lise.  Forhistoriske Textiler I Skandinavien, 1986.

Bender Jørgensen, Lise, Joanna Sofaer and Marie Louise Stig Sørensen.  Creativity in the Bronze Age: Understanding Innovation in Pottery, Textile, and Metalwork Production, February 2018.

Brandt, Luise Ørsted. “Species identification of skins and development of sheep wool”, PhD Thesis, The SAXO Institute, 2014.

Frei, Karin Margarita, Ulla Mannering, Ina Vanden Berghe, and Kristian Kristiansen.  “Bronze Age Wool: provenance and dye investigations of Danish Textiles”, June 2017.  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317347024_Bronze_Age_wool_Provenance_and_dye_investigations_of_Danish_textiles

Gleba, Margarita and Ulla Mannering. Textiles and Textile Production in Europe from Prehistory to 400AD, Oxbow Books, 2012.

Hald, Margarethe.  Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials, National Museums of Denmark, 1990.
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Olsen, Jesper, et al. “Chronology of the Danish Bronze Age Based on 14C Dating of Cremated Bone Remains”, (2011). Radiocarbon, 53(2), 261-275.

I think that this could also be subtitled "My love-hate relationship with Herringbone cloth".

In my Textiles and Dress Class, I discuss what types of cloth are the most common in the Viking Age and talk bit about tracking down modern textiles that, even if not perfect, are good options for reenactment.  Another item I touch on in that class is making good choices.  We all love the rare graves, and unique items, but one kit made of 20 different unique pieces steps away from being a good historic representation of a time.  An easy way to start building a better kit is in your cloth choices, and one can consider weave structure, threadcount, and color when making those choices. 

For me personally, I lean towards the most common weaves (tabby and twill), whenever possible.  I will add an element such as broken diamond twill to my kit for a very high status persona, but would not add broken diamond twill, herringbone cloth, a silk band, tablet weaving, and possements all to one costume because it would be showing too much that was rare in period all at once.  My love-hate relationship with herringbone reflects the fact that I find the weave attracted, but I am often frustrated when it tends to be more readily available in the weights I want than the more historically common twill and tabby.  (And this is additionally frustrating when the herringbone cloth is two tone, which is also something less common in period.)

I turned the data from Lise Bender Jørgense's book Prehistoric Scandinavian Textiles, as well as some additional works, into charts to help illustrate how common (or not) weaves were in various areas.

Denmark - 9th Century

Jørgensen's work on the textiles of Denmark covers graves, excluding Hedeby, and is nicely broken down into two centuries.  One issue with this work that it only covers weave structure in the synopsis, and for me to break it down between linen and wool, I would have to reference back to collect that data.  Further, some of the data here is provided by textile pseudomorphs, which only show us the weave structure and leave no cloth to analyze.  It is likely that some amount (even a good amount, according to the author) of the tabby shown here is linen.  It is also possible that some of the tabby weave represents a type of fine, open weave wool that was used for veils and mantles but that was also used as specific burial clothes or covers.  It is also noted by the author that there are additional "fine silks" not covered in her work because they were detailed elsewhere.

For Denmark the charts are based on the total number of textiles/textile impressions.

Denmark - 10th Century

The notes above apply to this category also.

Hedeby Graves

For Hedeby I had to reference the book Tools for Textile Production from Birka and Hedeby by Eva Andersson; Die Textilfunde aus der Siedlung und aus den Grabern von Haithabu by Inga Hägg; and VikingAge.org, as well as Jørgensen's work to obtain data for the chart.

Note that I only have the percentages for weave structure, not total number of fragments for Hedeby, and the percentages in Andersson's work are listed below.  I believe it is, in part representative of the silk cloth, possaments or metal brocaded bands found in the graves.  As mentioned previously, some of the fine tabbies might represent burial cloth.  

It is also interesting to note that only one of the "other twills" is a herringbone weave, and the only herringbone sample from the settlement finds was from a legwrap.  Also relative, the most common cloth from the settlement is 2/2 twill.

Sweden - Excluding Birka and Gotland

One of the nice things about Jørgensen's work is she does break out unusual segments of data, such as that from Gotland.  This allows the reader to look at Sweden and Gotland (which tend to have very different types of grave goods) individually, rather than as a whole, which can skew the presentation.

Birka - Linen & Wool Cloth

For Birka I had two separate sets of data from which to work.  One from the analysis in Jørgensen's book, and the other from Andersson.  This first breaks it down into fiber types, as well as weave, but is based on number of graves, rather than number of textiles.

Birka - Textiles

This chart was based on a chart produced by Inga Hägg that covers the Birka textiles and that was reproduced in Andersson's work.

Norway

My only note here is that Jørgensen makes the comment that the Broken Diamond Twill is far more common in Western Norway, than in the South East.

York

For York I had to compile information from Anglo-Scandinavian Finds from Lloyds Bank, Pavement and Other sites by Arthur MacGregor and Textiles, Cordage and Raw Fibre from 16-22 Coppergate by Penelope Walton.  Some of the fragments might represent one piece of cloth, but the author's were not completely sure and hence they, and I, listed them separate.  
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