From flax to linen. Experiments with flax - Ribe VikingeCenter

Place name Parish no. SB no. File No. Dating
Frydenlund 08.08.03 Fraugde 82 OBM 8916 Late Bronze Age/Early
Pre-Roman Iron Age
Seden Syd 08.08.09 Seden 7 OBM 9882 Roman/Germanic
Age
Iron
Helstedgård SV 08.08.09 Seden 8 OBM 5740 Late Roman Iron Age
Hvissinge Vest 02.02.04 Glostrup 10 NM/Kamr Germanic Iron Age
2
24
BO251-1061
Mårhøj 16.05.09 Tolstrup 3, 28 HOM 1350 Roman Iron Age
Næs 05.04.03 Kastrup 39 SVM 7546 Germanic Iron
Age/Viking Age
Table 1. Known retting wells in Denmark. Source: Arkæologiske udgravninger i Danmark
The number of retting wells on each site can vary from a few to quite a large number as on
Næs. Some wells may be empty and then possibly used for drinking water or maybe just emptied
before the abandonment of the site. It is very clear that the discovery of retting wells is dependent
on the proper excavation of the wells. Five out of the six sites are dated to the expected period
between the Roman Iron Age and the Viking Age.
There is an exception, though. In 2005 retting wells and features believed to be breaking pits
were found at Frydenlund on the island of Funen. The area contained 52 wells and about 100 pits
in different sizes and botanical samples indicated that the wells had been used for retting flax. The
area was surprisingly C 14 dated to the Late Bronze Age/Early Pre-Roman Iron Age (800-350 BC)
and this is the earliest find of flax production in Denmark. (Runge & Henriksen 2007). In light of
what we otherwise know of prehistoric flax production in Southern Scandinavia, this is a very
early date, especially when considering the almost industrial scale of the production. One problem
with these results is that Frydenlund is in fact a continuous settlement from the Bronze Age
through to the Middle Ages. Considering the lack of any other evidence for flax production during
this period, it is more than likely that these dates are the result of contamination.
Breaking pits have also been found, sometimes in combination with retting wells, sometimes
on their own (Table 2). When only breaking pits are found it could mean that the people obtained
flax ready to be broken from somewhere else or that they retted it themselves using dew retting,
which would not leave any archaeological trace as no constructions are necessary for this process.
When breaking pits are found on a site where no retting wells are found it can be hard to interpret
them correctly. Several things may help with the proper interpretation; botanical analyses of the
bottom layers, the presence of charcoal and heat affected rocks in the bottom of the pits and signs
of further textile production e.g. in the form of spinning whorls. Even so, not all pits with charcoal
can be interpreted as breaking pits as they may of course have had many other uses.
These sites, though not all from the Viking Age, and not all showing a production to the same
scale as on Næs, demonstrates that flax production took place across the country, and that the
features in the form of wells and pits does not change much over time.
Dedicated retting wells are not necessary, if conditions otherwise permit retting. This
demonstrated in for instance in the lake Skånsø near Skive in northern Jutland (Odgård 2001).
The lake had been used for retting of hemp from 600 to 1800 AD, and for retting of flax from
1000-1400 AD, possibly even earlier. In Dallund Lake on northern Funen, pollen showed the
growing of flax nearby from the Middle Ages and onwards (Rasmussen & Bradshaw 1998).
Seeds and seed bolls from flax in the sediments could be evidence of retting, although these parts
of the plant would normally be removed before retting.