BACKGROUND: STORY FROM A GRAVE

The oldest nettle textile we have in the Nordic region is the Lusehøj textile from Voldtoft in Denmark, around 2800 years old. The textile that turned out not to be from Lusehøj. Or Voldtoft. Or at all - Denmark!

Lusehøj is a particularly large site in Funen from the Late Bronze Age, and among the riches is a unique grave that belonged to one of the richest Danes of the time. (The picture is not from Lusehøj).

He was cremated and his ashes wrapped in a nettle cloth placed in a beautiful bronze urn. For nearly 2,800 years, the exclusive burial cloth has protected the man's remains.

But then an international research team makes incredible discoveries: The Danish textile was not made from Danish nettle after all! At first it was thought that the nettle came from a mountain in Norway or Sweden, but it soon turned out that the plant fiber most likely came from the Austrian Alps. The question thus became: How did an Austrian textile end up in Danish Funen during the Bronze Age?

The bronze was imported from Central Europe, and the trade was controlled by powerful men. One theory is that the man was a rich bronze importer who died in Austria. He was cremated to be transported to his Funen funeral. However, this does not rule out that fabrics were also imported to the Nordic countries.

At that time, flax was grown to make textiles. Since nettle fiber could be processed into very exclusive textiles even then, it may indicate that the plant was a conscious choice of material over linen, and indicated something about the man's status. The plant produced less fiber per stalk, but the thread was smoother and shinier. I guess it must have been a combination of less fiber per plant, more work and smoother shine that made nettle textiles a more exclusive material.

FUNERAL RITE TOWARDS THE AFTERLIFE

Our oldest finds of nettle weaving in Norway come from the Kvalsund ship, dated 680 BC. The ship contained bundles of nettle stalks ready to be processed into fiber and thread. 1,100 years later, two women were buried in the world's richest Viking grave, the Oseberg ship. No one knows who they were, but it is believed that one may have been Queen Åse, the mother of Halvdan Svarte. The grave was incredibly valuable. During the journey to the afterlife, the ship was loaded with the most expensive treasures, but also cargo for the next life; among practical tools and food supplies, they had a number of seeds from useful plants, including nettle. The ship also hid the most sumptuous fabrics that testify to diversity and cultural exchange. Among other things, there was silk from Asia (!), but also Norwegian textiles where nettle was mixed with wool and linen and woven as tightly as 10 threads per cm.

You would think that if there was anything poor people washed in, it would be nettles. Plants that sprang up behind outhouses and barns like footprints of people and animals. And yet the plant was chosen by these powerful people for the most important journey of life; the journey to the afterlife.

And this is precisely what I want to find out more about in the project; How something so common and everyday could be so valuable...

Kilder: Gillian Edom: «From Sting to Spin – A history of Nettle Fibre” s.19 https://natmus.dk/historisk-viden/danmark/oldtid-indtil-aar-1050/livet-i-oldtiden/hvordan-gik-de-klaedt/bronzealderens-dragter/bronzealderens-tekstilteknologi/

https://www.uib.no/aktuelt/36778/gikk-forfedrene-v%C3%A5re-kledd-i-brennesle https://www.nature.com/articles/srep00664