It doesn't matter whether it is for protection against wind and rain or for displaying one's wealth and status: The cloak is one of the most important parts of a man's dress in early medieval Europe. Direct archaeological finds, however, are rare and usually quite small. The following article explores some of the archaeological evidence from the Viking Age. It is most certainly not comprehensive, but gives a rough overview over some of the most important finds.
The textile remains which had been identified as cloaks were made of comparatively coarse fabric 1 2 , namely the ones which Agnes Geijer classified as W 1-9: Woolen material of poor quality with thick threads. Microscopic analyses showed that it resembles the wool of old Swedish sheep breeds. No dyestuff has been found to be left in the fibers, so it might have been undyed 3 (in some cases, however, there might have been some blue colour). Most of the woolen fragments identified as cloak remains could not be attributed to a certain category because of poor preservation 2 . In six out of ten cases, the fabric has been classified only as "W", meaning "wool". In one case (Bj 956), it might have been W 1, that is, a rough tabby with 4 z-spun warp threads per cm and 3 s-spun weft threads per cm. In two cases (Bj 58 A and Bj 716), fabric of the type "W 6" has been found, a twill with 10 z-spun threads per cm in the warp and 4-5 threads per cm of unknown spinning direction in the weft. Finally, one grave (Bj 736) yielded some fabric which might have been "W 9", which looks like a tabby weave on one side and has a surface of locks or unspun wool on the other 3 . So it can be said that the cloaks from the Birka graves - where there is evidence for them - were mostly made of a rougher , sometimes hairy fabric which had the primary function of giving warmth and protection 1 2 .
According to Inga Hägg 1 2 , either a ring brooch or a ringed pin was used to fasten the cloak. Many of these fibulae were found some distance away from the buried, so that it is difficult to assess the original position on the body. Another factor is that the body itself might have moved after the funeral due to decomposition, which affects the position of the fibula as well. If the deceased decomposed completely, then it is impossible to tell where the brooch or pin lay in relation to the body, too. In those cases where the position on the body was clear, it was either associated with the shoulder or with the hip 2 . Ģinters 4 had a closer look at the ring brooches of eastern European origin. According to him, those brooches lay close to the skull in eight graves, in seven they lay at the hip, in three at the right thigh bone, in two at the right knee and in five at the shoulder and/or breast. Having the brooch at the shoulder would be the more traditional way, wearing them at the hip would have been less common 1 2 . The location at the hip was more common in graves with other rich clothing, so perhaps there the cloak was worn more openly so that the other garments could be seen 2 . It might also be that the brooches had some practical uses for another garment, namely the caftan 2 .
When Ģinters looked at the cloak remains from the Birka graves in connection with similar fashions from Eastern Europe, he noted that the position of the brooch in relation to the body was largely the same; he also noted that usually only one ring brooch was found in each of the Birka graves in question, whereas at the other side of the Baltic Sea two ring brooches, a bigger one for the cloak and a smaller one at the throat/breast, were more common 4 . There were two exceptions from Birka: Bj 644, were the Eastern European ring brooch was found together with a ring brooch of Scandinavian style, and Bj 643, where it was found together with a gilded ringed pin of bronze. Ģinters names three possible explanations for this deviation: First, the cloak might have been fastened at two places, second, one of the brooches might have been worn for decorative reasons only and third, there might have been two cloaks in the graves, each with its own brooch.
During the excavations in Hedeby / Northern Germany, some fragments had been unearthed which have been interpreted as cloaks. There are two fragments from the harbour 5 : The first ("H 44B"), 66 cm x 19 cm in size and 2 mm thick, is made of a fine diagonal twill (s-plied threads in the warp and z-spun threads in the weft). It has one tablet-weaving edge remaining and the surface is roughened, probably to make it more water resistant. The second one ("H 84"), 3 mm thick, is made of a checkered diagonal twill, the lighter squares have some of the (original?) yellow and red colours left. Warp and weft are z-spun. Here, too, the surface is roughened. Hägg compares those cloak fabrics of very high quality with the "Prachtmäntel" of the early Iron Age and the Thorsberg-find.
From the Hedeby settlement there are some cloak fragments as well 6 . Eight fragments ("S 8A-H") come form one and the same garment which used to be dyed red. It's a find diagonal twill with a roughened surface, a remaining selvedge and one side folded over and stitched with a thread of plant fibers (which is gone now). The second piece ("S 49 A"), 40 cm x 12 cm in size, is a strong diagonal twill of medium fine quality, slightly fulled and roughened. It is folded over a width of 4-4.5cm at one side, with a seam only one cm from the folded edge.
The cloak fragments from Hedeby are of medium-fine to fine quality and slightly roughened, which is a contrast to the thick and dense fabrics found in Birka. However, the graves from Hedeby also yielded some evidence for a shorter cloak of a denser fabric which would have been fastened at the right shoulder 7 . Some smaller fragments from the harbour could not be attributed to any particular garment, but might have come from a cloak, too. They usually are of coarse quality, undyed and roughened on one or two sides. They were woven either in 2/2-twill, 2/1-twill or cross twill.
Although a rectangular cloak has been common in the whole North, the Baltic, Finland, and the Slavic and Germanic regions during the Viking Age, its measurements can usually not be reconstructed 4 . Ģinters mentions one exception, a 9th century bog find from Liepāja, where a cloak of blue colour measuring 210cm x 110 cm was found. The short edges were decorated with tablet weaving.
Apart from archaeology, there are iconographical and historical sources which can be taken into account. If the Icelandic sagas can be believed, the cloak was a rectangular piece of fabric, between 200 cm and 230 cm long and ca. 160cm wide and of a fine material, portraying most of all the social status of the person wearing it 8 . The Icelandic law book Grágás mentions a kind of "trade cloak" of 160 cm x 80 cm 8 .
On the Bayeux tapestry, the cloaks are being closed at the shoulder or on the breast and reach down to the calfs; riders wear a shorter type of cloak 4 . The fact that only one in eight clothed figures wears a cloak and that those are usually of higher status fits the picture of the fine cloak as a symbol of status; it has also been observed that the "cloaked" figures on the tapestry never are involved in any fighting or hard work 8 .
Among all the garments a man might have worn in the Viking Age, the cloak is one of the most important since it gave warmth and protection from bad weather. For this, it had to be a sturdy garment, well fulled and with a roughed surface. Textile fragments fitting this description have been found in some of the graves in Birka and perhaps in Hedeby's harbour. Cloaks of much finer quality, however, have also been found, again in the harbour of Hedeby as well as the settlement. They, too, had a roughened surface but were made of finer wool, sometimes in different colours. A bog find from Latvia yielded a cloak dyed in blue. From this find as well as some historical and iconographical evidence we find hints of how long and wide the cloak might have been. It seems that the length of the cloak could vary depending on what the person wearing it was doing (e.g. just walking, or riding). A long and fine cloak would also been a status symbol. It could have been fastened with highly ornate brooches and pins which could have been positioned either at the (typically right) shoulder, at the middle of the breast or, in some cases, at the (right or left) hip.