Research Shows Viking Bead Makers' Advanced and Sustainable Methods in 700 AD

New research revealed that the craftsmen in Ribe Denmark in 700 AD showed advanced, sophisticated, and sustainable skills in making glass beads from old Roman glass mosaics.

The study presented new development and surprising findings than previously believed in the Viking bead makers.

The interdisciplinary study was published in the Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences journal and is available to read in ScienceDaily.

In ancient times, Northern Europe showed a booming industry of glass bead production in the early middle ages.

The importance of glass production was a rapid business.

The research explained that colored glass was a scarce source of commodity in the early Medieval time.

The colorful glass came from the pieces of mosaics from the deserted Byzantine palaces, temples, bathes, or houses.

The materials were then transported to the North, which was being traded to interested parties, such as the Ribe.

Bead makers from the Ribe would melt down the materials and transform them into majestic beads.

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According to the research abstract, it noted glasses recovered from two bead-making workshops in Ribe, Denmark. The researchers analyzed the recovered materials: crucibles, vessel fragments, cullet, and ninety pieces of tesserae.

Production process

(Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the research, Professor Søren Sindbæk explained that the most outstanding achievements in the discovery at the Ribe were not only the products they unveiled but also the economy and preservation of limited resources.

The research noted that white beads were made when an artisan melts the gold leaf tesserae at a low temperature.

Furthermore, the findings from one of the discovered workshops revealed that the creation of beads was sustainable to save time and materials.

The process involved a particular way of melting the materials with minimum resources.

The bead makers were said to crush the gold gilded and then remelt at the best lowest temperature to stir the melt and to trap the air.

After it, the maker forms the beads by wrapping the glass around the iron mandrel. However, the findings found that some gold ended up in the melting pot process, based on the study.

Sophistication in the process

The sophistication and advanced process were present in making the beads, showing the mixture of the blue and golden mosaic stones.

Moreover, the study noted that the advanced process was not only in the white beads but also present in the blue beads from the same workshop they discovered.

Moreover, Gry Hoffmann Barfod said the discovery of glassmakers in Ribe was connoisseurs who had the clearest class made, noting the privilege to work on the materials helpful for today's society.

Barfod is from the Department of Geoscience at Aarhus University.

On the other hand, curator Claus Feveile said that the results showed the potential of new facts about the Vikings, which high-resolution excavation could be helpful for more revelations in the future.

The scientists in the study were a collaboration between:

Gry Barfod, Søren Sindbæk - archeology professor at the Danish National Research Foundation's Center for Urban Network Development (UrbNet), Aarhus University.
Curator Claus Feveile - From Museum of Southwest Jutland specializing in the Viking Age and Ribe'shistory