"Being a guide for SCA-folk who desire to clothe themselves in a simple but reasonably accurate Viking fashion"
Prepared by Duchess Marieke van de Dal.

This thesis by Fredrik Lundstrom deals with archery in the Viking Age settlement of Birka and in particular the presence of Euro Asiatic, steppe nomadic archery equipment at the Birka Garrison and one Birka grave.
Swedish with English summary.

Article from the "Journ al of Archaeolog y in the Low Countries& #34; describing textiles, including clothing such as hats, mittens and sleeves, from pre-11th C. finds in the Netherland s. Includes very large, detailed photograph s, and diagrams of the stitches used.

An article discussing the difficulti es of differenti ating between wildcats and housecats from archaeolog y. Evidence from Hedeby, York and the Orkneys is analysed.

PhD thesis "concerned with the technology and utilisatio n of skeletal hard tissue in prehistori c Scotland. The natural properties of skeletal tissues were considered , their reaction to particular methods of manufactur e and utilisatio n were studied and a detailed examinatio n made of material from a number of archaeolog ical sites. Whilst the conclusion s reached are site-speci fic, their usefulness as general statements on technology and utilisatio n are explored. There are two volumes - volume I containing the main text and volume II the catalogues and illustrati ons."

A PhD thesis focusing on jewellery (including belt buckles) from burials and finds in Viking Age Iceland.

The multi-fait h society of medieval Iberia, where Muslims, Christians and Jews co-existed under changing religious political rule, provides a novel setting for the study of diet. This thesis employs carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to explore variabilit y in diet and resource exploitati on between faiths, localities and through time under Muslim and later Christian rule and places the isotopic data in the context of other historical and archaeolog ical evidence.

"This study considers the effects that variations in living conditions have on animals, in particular pigs, and how these difference s can be examined using the archaeolog ical record." And looks at the different ways that pigs were raised at six sites in Flanders from the 4th-15th centuries.

The majority of the finds came from anaerobic marine rather than traditiona l land sites and consisted chiefly of medieval to 17th century tablewares – dishes, saucers, plates, porringers , salts, beakers and other smaller drinking vessels, together with a few larger flagons.

Free download of a PhD thesis, focusing on late Medieval north-east England, and the trends in dress accessorie s worn there.

From the thesis database British Library EThOS, which is free to register for. This is a 5-volume PhD thesis, starting with evidence of different fibres used in textiles, to how they were prepared, woven, dyed, and used (volume 1) up until the Viking Age, and a catalogue of textile equipment (volumes 2, 3, 4 and 5).

Summary by Hilde Thunem about the archaeolog ical evidence, artwork, and reconstruc tions of trousers worn during the Viking Age.

Photograph s of documents with seal tags, both open and folded up, and (at the bottom of the page) an example of how to replicate the look.

A series of blog posts, with photos and descriptio ns of documents with seal tags.

Seals on letters intended to be broken off as a simple security measure, but also acted as authentica tion of the sender. Seals affixed to the surface of a page of a public document as authentica tion of the writer had a tendency to fall off, which was a problem when the seal was the a major means used to prove a document was genuine, which was a concern in a rapidly bureaucrat ising society making the transition from verbal to written agreements .

The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingu al format, significan t primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.

With an emphasis on Polish manuscript s.

Parchmment s, charters and manuscript s from the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

"Being a guide for SCA-folk who desire to clothe themselves in a simple but reasonably accurate Viking fashion."

Prepare d by Duchess Marieke van de Dal

Three-part article from the Journal of the British Astronomic al Associatio n, Vol. 86, p. 18-29, 125 - 132, 219 - 227.

Pa rt II: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1976JBAA...86..125E
Part III: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1976JBAA...86..219E

An Icelandic- English Dictionary , by Richard Cleasby and Gudbrand Vigfusson, was published in 1874. It is the most comprehens ive and authoritat ive dictionary on Old Icelandic.

By Geir T. Zoëga, 1910.

Multilingu al dictionary of Nicolaum Morettum, from 1595, covering Latin, Italian, German, Czech (Dalmatian ) and Hungarian.

A brief article describing characteri stic jewellery of the Mordvins, a Finno-Ugri c tribe, with examples from the 10-19th centuries, that are often mistaken for Viking Age pieces. PDF format.

Images of a wide variety of hats from Russia, including a 14th century hat woven from pine roots from Novgorod.

Thesis discussing archaeolog ical finds of cats, cats in artwork, and literary mentions of cats in the Viking Age.

The complete title was "Libro llamado Refugium infirmorum , muy útil y provechoso para todo género de gente, en el cual se contienen muchos avisos espiritual es para socorro de los afligidos enfermos, y para ayudar a bien morir a los que están en lo último de su vida; con un alfabeto de San buenaventu ra para hablar por la mano." (Book called refuge of the sick, very useful and beneficial for all kinds of people, in which is contained much spiritual advice for assistance of distressed sick persons, and for helping those who are at the end of their lives to die well; with Saint Bonaventur e's alphabet to speak by the hand).

It contained a manual alphabet that could be used as a mnemonic, or as a method of manual communicat ion.

A study of the 8th century ancestors of the Viking Period tortoise brooches.

Article by Lesley Smith in the "Journal of Family Planning and Reproducti ve Health Care" 32(4);265- 266, discussing the history of syphilis.

Discusses the evidence for Vendel and Viking Age Norsewomen wearing shawls, and proposes a method of folding a rectangula r shawl to mimic the look of 'Valkyrie' figures, that matches the folded textiles from a grave find.

Discusses the scant evidence for sanitary pads, and medieval theories about menstruati on.

Blog for a Middle Eastern dance guild.

Masters Thesis, discussing Scandinavi an horse burials, artwork, and literature during the Viking Age. Word document format.

Dogs have been an integral part of human culture for 15,000 years...so metimes in unexpected ways.
Art icle from the Archaeolog ical Institute of America.

PDF of article discussing the discoverie s of 5-8th c. burials of women that also included waterbirds .

Describes a 13th century ball from medieval Hull, England, and the game it was used for, called half-bowl.

Focusing on forged iron and copper items from the Roman, Anglo Saxon, Viking and early Medieval periods.

Svante Stensson Sture, and his two sons Erik and Nils were murdered in 1567. Svantes widow, Marta Leijonhufv ud, placed the garments they wore into a heavy iron box to be placed over their graves. These clothes have survived and are photograph ed on this page.

Article about dogs, and their accessorie s, found in Vendel-per iod graves. Includes a descriptio n and photograph of an early medieval collar.

Article about a 13th century CE medical certificat e, described by the author as the earliest known. The physicians diagnosed leprosy, and the patient was considered to be contagious .

Article from the journal 'Medical History' discussing a sculpture of a medieval leper.

Brief article about possible hawking bells, and hawking by Norse aristocrac y.

Free journal archive, contains articles discussing pre-17th century Korean dress.

Archive of a Korean journal, with English summaries. Discusses pre-17th century clothing and textiles.

Body hair is something that appears to have been shunned in artworks during the medieval period. With two late-medieval literary sources discussing the presence or absence of body hair.

The Museum of the History of Science has a paper astrolabe from Nuremberg, 1542.

With the rise of the printing press, astronomical instruments became an inexpensive alternative to brass instruments. One example is this paper astrolabe by by Philippe Danfrie, Paris, 1584.

Webpage that has collated numerous sources, including archaeological reports, and photos from museum reconstructions, in an attempt to determine the likely form that a Viking-age underdress may have taken.

The Collection of Parchments (Fund No 101) of the Rare Book and Manuscript Department of Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania. The largest group of documents are from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, dated 1465 to 1818.

German Renaissance style of shoe known as the cow-mouth shoe. PDF with brief instructions for making a pair, and information about construction techniques, archaeological finds and artwork.