Dress and Dress Fasteners from the Pagan Norse Graves of Scotland: Origins and Identity

Abstract

The pagan Norse graves of Scotland provide a tantalising glimpse of what the interred were wearing at the time of burial. However, the survival of actual clothing, frequently in a mineralised state, is rare. Yet dress accessories—typically brooches, cloak pins and belt fittings—help to create a more comprehensive picture of the dress worn, and of contemporary fashion. The origins of these fittings can be identified by their form, ornament and metallic composition. Some, such as the paired oval brooches found in female burials, are typically Scandinavian and indicative of the wearing of a pinafore-like dress, corroborated on occasion by surviving textile loops mineralised within their shells. However, others, including penannular brooches, ringed pins and bossed belt fittings, are of Insular origin and illustrate an emerging Hiberno-Scandinavian identity. Such evidence for cultural interaction through dress provides a fascinating insight into contemporary perceptions of identity, just prior to the abandonment of the pagan ritual with the subsequent loss of this rich source of evidence.