Archaeologia Islandica - 01.01.2007, Page 29

Medieval and early modern Beads from Iceland
excavations are needed on non-religious
and/or low- and middle status sites.
The beads from Iceland are in
various conditions but impressively almost
80% of them are unbroken. It therefore
seems that in most cases they represent
accidental loss rather than deliberate dis-
card. Hence it is likely that most of them
were lost through daily usage, whether
they had been pulled out for special occa-
sions, for example going to church, or if
they were a more integrated part of every-
day life for some people. In some cases
however, clusters of beads have been
found during an excavation suggesting
they were still strung - examples occur at
Stóraborg and Skálholt.
Although some of the beads
come from churches or cemeteries (for
example from Skálholt, Reykholt, Kúa-
bót, Varmá, Eystri-Ásar, the chapel in
Kapelluhraun and Skriðuklaustur) most of
the larger excavations from this period in
Iceland have produced some beads, both
trading sites like Gásir, assemblies like
Kópavogur or farmsteads like Stóraborg.
Within the farm excavations the beads
have been recovered from various areas
such as corridors, sleeping quarters, stor-
age rooms and kitchens. A proportion
of the glass beads undoubtedly comes
from embroideries, for example from
decorated clothing or furniture. Beads
were also sometimes used on laces, for
example on shoes and pouches. Tasseled
hats were popular among schoolboys in
Hólar and Skálholt in the 18th century
and the tassle often had a chape with a
beaded decoration, probably embroider-
ies (See Sigurður Guðmundsson 1868:64
and Brandsstaðaannáll - Björn Bjamas-
son 1941:35). It is also known that in the
16th century members of the gentry often
wore decorated hats (barets) and these
were sometimes decorated with precious
stones. These stones were probably larger
beads (Æsa Sigurjónsdóttir 1985:24-26)
It is unlikely that any of these beads had
a strong Christian connotation and more
likely that they were viewed as decorative
or status items.
The fact that beads have often
been found in churches and cemeteries
after the Reformation might indicate that
they continued to have a religious con-
nection although limited comparative
material makes it difficult to estimate
to what extent this might have been and
therefore also to estimate how connected
bead usage might have been to social sta-
tus, gender and age. The abundance of
beads found during the excavation of the
dormitory of the school boys in Skálholt
from the middle of the 17th century to the
end of 18th alone indicates that in this
period, beads were very popular among
teenage boys from better-off households
in Iceland. Whether that is a fair reflec-
tion of the whole upper class in Icelan-
dic society at the time is difficult to say.
Indeed, the high numbers of beads from
church sites may simply be reflection of
their greater wealth or status and concern
for conspicuous consumption; however,
unless some means can be found to dis-
tinguish the religious from secular mean-
ings of beads, the case for continuity of
catholic practices cannot be necessarily
ruled out. Similar continuities have been
explored in other aspects of material cul-
ture (e.g. see papers in Gaimster & Gil-
christ 2003).
Final remarks
In this paper an overview has been given
of beads from medieval and early modern
Iceland. Further investigation of the mate-
rial is needed to answer some of the impor-
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