Featured in the EXARC Journal

Ancient Technology

Anglo-Saxon Beads: Redefining The “Traffic Lights”

Author(s)
Sue Heaser 1
Publication Date
Many thousands of glass beads have been excavated from Early British cemeteries of the fifth and sixth centuries AD. Amongst these beads is a type that was particularly common: decorated polychrome beads in red, yellow, and green glass in a variety of styles and combinations. Birte Brugmann, in her 2004 analysis of Saxon-period glass beads (Brugmann, 2004), named these beads “Traffic Light” (TL) beads...

“Cuts Stones of all Sorts, In the Best Manner…”: Experiments in 18th Century lapidary work in America

Author(s)
E. Giovanna Fregni 1
Publication Date

Introduction

Colonial Williamsburg is unique among open-air museums. It encompasses 70 hectares (173 acres), where there are no barriers, except for motorised vehicles. Visitors can walk along the streets and visit shops, although an admission ticket is needed to enter workshops and interpretive centres.  People working at Colonial Williamsburg are dressed in period costumes and are well versed in both history, the crafts they demonstrate, and in explaining them to the public.

A Tablet Woven Band from the Oseberg Grave: Interpretation of Motif and Technique

Author(s)
Bente Skogsaas 1
Publication Date

Introduction

The textile fragments from the Oseberg tomb (834 AD) in Norway are considered the world's largest and most important textile finds from the Viking Age. Among the textiles, 48 tablet-woven bands were identified and roughly divided into five categories by Margareta Nockert: I) Brocade, II) Tabby, III) Mixed I and II, IV) Ready threaded and V) Three or more colours without brocade (Nockert, 2006, pp. 147-155).