Jorvik Style Cap

Linen cap, tabby woven 29 cm long x 19 cm wide Commercial yellow dye

In Jorvik and Lincoln, caps similar to the Dublin ones have been found. The Jorvik caps seem to be slightly longer than in Dublin, and the ties are placed higher on the front edge, at approximately chin height. The curved line shaping the hat to the head is still present, however in the Jorvik and Lincoln caps the point seems to have been removed or turned in. The caps are silk, and cut down from the original fabric to form a narrow piece. The front edge is a selvedge edge, rolled, as is the bottom. The back is sewn up on the Jorvik cap, but not on the Lincoln one. The Jorvik cap has linen ties. The caps may have been worn with a headband, or possibly with a veil,
though no contemporary veils have been found. The cap pictured above is of tabby woven linen. While the use of linen for caps is speculative as no linen caps have been found, most experts express the opinion that it is plausible, as linen is known to have been used for headwear in this period, and the lack of linen caps may simply be due to its poor ability to survive in an archological context. Also, I didnt have any suitable silk with which to make the hat. The yellow colour is a plausible colour, using weld on linen. None of the edges are selvedge on my cap, and the back seam extends all the way to the front hem, something not seen on any of the extant pieces, but was unavoidable due to the constraints of my available fabric (i.e. It was the only suitable linen I had). None of my resources said what kind of seam was used on the non-selvedge back hem, so I chose a seam known to have been used in Jorvik on linen during that period Bibliography Ewing, Thor. Viking Clothing. Tempus Publishing Limited, Stroud. 2006. Heckett, Elizabeth. Some silk and wool head-coverings from Viking Dublin: uses and origins-an enquiry Textiles in Northern Archaeology-NESAT III: Textile Symposium in York

6-9 May 1987 ed. Penelope Walton & John-Peter Wild. Archetype Publications, London. 1990. Walton, Penelope. Textile Production at Coppergate, York: Anglo-Saxon or Viking? Textiles in Northern Archaeology-NESAT III: Textile Symposium in York 6-9 May 1987 ed. Penelope Walton & John-Peter Wild. Archetype Publications, London. 1990.

Brgia Vadesbana
(Brighid Anraith)
e-mail: redmagpie@hotmail.com