Moa Råhlander

About me

The value of Beads? Artificial gemstones, trinkets or talismans.  

Beads are a common find for the Viking age. They are numerous but valuable objects with long lifespans and a strong connection to the dress and body of the Scandinavian Iron age. As a group they have often been overlooked by archaeology and simply as shiny trinkets.

The main material for my work is the beads from the burial field at Ire (traditionally spelled ’Ihre’) on Gotland, abt 3344 beads from 362 graves from the Roman Iron Age up into the beginning of the middleages.

The beads will be examined and compared from the perspective of their production techniques, materials, and damage from wear and cremation. This typological information is complemented by chronologies, literature studies and comparison between the different ways beads was used. Special attention is paid to the curation, mending and augmentation of broken beads. Who keeps broken beads?

What are the values embodied in the collection, curation and carrying of beads made from glass and stone? Who wears them and why? There are indications that beads have a symbolical value or function, to understand this function we need to understand who uses it.

Beads are found with all genders of the Viking age, but they seem to be most numerous in the burials of young women and children. This could indicate a protective quality, one of the most common attributes ascribed to beads throughout history, a value that is embodied by bead types like the Nazar with its simple design and stylistic motif of eyes.

Who made them? Many of these beads are imported from the cultural sphere around the Eastern Mediterranean, but others are made here from imported materials such as glass and stone. Can they tell more about what were desirable qualities of beads? Are there artistic elements in the beads made here that are not present or common in the imported material?

Is it possible to understand what this material and these objects symbolized for the people who made and collected them?

Proud recipient of International society of Glass Beadmakers Student scholarship 2020.

Supervisors.

Main Supervisor - Jan Apel

Supervisor  dr Alison Klevnäs, Institutionen för arkeologi och antikens kultur, Stockholms universitet

Supervisor, professor emeritus, Johan Callmer, Lund