Introduction
The finds of the Early medieval armour are in the center of attention not only of many academics and military experts, but also of several thousand reenactors, who eagerly accept information about each new find with which they can support their costumes. From 9th-11th century Scandinavia, which is given a lot of attention in these interest groups, we know mail finds from both Norway (Gjermundbu; Vike 2000) and Sweden (Birka, Slite; Ehlton 2003; Thunmark-Nylén 1995: Abb. 261: 7–8; Tweddle 1992: Fig. 589l–m; Vlasatý 2020), while material from Denmark waited the longest for its discovery. As late as 2002, Anne Pedersen stated that there were no mail finds in Denmark (Pedersen 2002: 33), which was particularly remarkable in relation to well-preserved Roman-era armours (eg Wijnhoven-Moskvin 2020). Equally interesting is the fact that we do not find a single armour in the elite graves of Danish riders (Pedersen 2014).
The mail fragments that will be the subject of this article are in poor condition and are therefore not published in great detail. So far, they have only been published in Danish. In the following text, I would like to introduce the fragments into English and put them in context.
Discovery
Aarhus, along with Hedeby and Ribe, is one of the oldest cities of historic Denmark. As the exact age was not known, the Moesgård Museum launched a project in June 2009 that lasted until the following year, which aimed to explore the oldest layers of Aarhus center. Bispetorvet Square south of the cathedral was chosen, which had already been archaeologically examined down to a layer from the 13th century in 1921.
Archaeological research has discovered, among other things, an interesting pit-house measuring 4 × 4 m, which had a depth of 0.7 m. The inner side of the walls was lined with vertically placed charred planks, which indicates the burnout of the building. The house was later used as a waste pit. A spur made of copper alloy, a braided ring made of copper alloy, a key made of copper alloy, a brooch or a similar object, a bit, beads, millstone, and an antler industry were found in the excavation of the earth coming from the waste pit. In May 2010, when sifting clay from the pit, two iron, heavily corroded fragments were discovered, which turned out to be formed by mail during the X-ray. The construction of the house can be dated to the end of the 10th century and it seems to have been destroyed in the early 11th century. The objects are now in the Moesgård Museum under inventory numbers FHM 5124 X1463 and FHM 5124 X1430.
The results of the research were published in a report (Poulsen 2010), academic paper (Out et al. 2025), on a blog (Graabach-Klinge 2009; Krants 2010) and in an Youtube video (Moesgård Museum 2009). Mail fragments have been published separately (Pind 2012: 178).
Drawn reconstruction of the pit house from Aarhus. Damm 2005: 22.
Description
As mentioned above, the mail found at the Bispetorvet site is composed of two small, heavily corroded fragments. The larger fragment (FHM 5124 X1463) measures about 5 × 3.5 cm and consists of about eighty rings. The upper row of rings, now represented by three pieces, is formed by copper alloy rings. Originally, it could have been the decorative edge of mail product.
Iron rings have an outer diameter of about 8.5 mm, while copper alloy rings have about 7 mm. Lars Krants Larsen from the Moesgård Museum told us that the wire thickness is between 0.8-1 mm, but it cannot be determined exactly due to corrosion.
Photograph of mail fragments from Bispetorvet. Pind 2012: Fig. 5.
X-ray of mail fragments from Bispetorvet. Krants 2010.
Drawn reconstruction of a larger fragment from Aarhus Bispetorvet.
Author: Michal Havelka, baba_jaga_atelier.
An addition: Haithabu mail fragment
The material from historical Denmark also includes a fragmentary find discovered in grave 976 (129/1964) in Haithabu, present-day Germany. It is a skeleton grave with a coffin and an object that is described as a “chain link” (Arents – Eisenschmidt 2010: 208, Taf. 95) and an “iron chain” (Hägg 1991: 163, Abb. 76). In fact, it is a part of a mail, numbering about 20 rings. The placement of small fragments of mail in the graves of women and children was relatively common in the Early Middle Ages (Wijnhoven 2023). The grave can be dated to the 9th-10th century. We thank to Piotr Napiórkowski who identified this piece.
The fragment is covered with a thick corrosion crust and a textile layer, which makes detailed reading impossible. The structure was identified on the basis of an X-ray image. We do not see any clearly recognizable rivets, alternation of rows of solid and riveted rings, or anti-clockwise overlap of rings, but it can be concluded that the mail was made using the classic four-in-one method and that it was at least three rows high. The available documentation allows us to say that measurable rings are made of circular iron wire with a thickness of 1.2 mm. With an outer diameter of around 10 mm given in the literature, the inner diameter can be determined to be approximately 7.5 mm.
Mail fragment from grave 976, Haithabu.
Source: Arents – Eisenschmidt 2010: Taf. 95; Hägg 1991: Abb. 76.
An addition: Tissø mail fragment
During a detector inspection in the important Danish site of Tissø, a fragment of four interlocking rings was found in 2019. The riveted central ring creates the most dominant impression, it has an inner diameter of around 6 mm and an outer diameter that is close to 10 mm. The other rings are solid and less pronounced, with an inner diameter of around 7 mm and an outer diameter of 10-11 mm. The fragment is registered under the inventory number DIME ID 5899 and has not yet been published. Given the dating of the site, one could speculate about the Vendel period or Viking Age dating but Vegard Vike believes that the 13th century date is more likely based on the perfect oval cross-section and the long overlap of the ends. We are grateful to Flemming Fabriciusen-Nielsen for the information on this find.
The mail fragment from Tissø, Denmark. Source: Flemming Fabriciusen-Nielsen.
An addition: Viborg Søndersø mail fragment
Excavations carried out in the 1980s in Viborg Søndersø found a total of 10 rings in the 1000-1300 AD horizon, 9 of which are still intertwined (Jantzen 1998: 201, Fig. 40). Inv. no. of larger fragment 51E1433/VD, inv. no. of separate ring 51E1429/VD. It can be seen from the drawing that the classic four-in-one linking method is used. The diameters of the rings vary between 7-10 mm, but it is not stated whether this is the inner or outer diameter; based on the context, it appears to be outer diameters.
The mail fragment from Viborg Søndersø, Denmark. Source: Jantzen 1998: Fig. 40.
Use of non-ferrous mail
In the catalog, which was published elsewhere on this site (Vlasatý 2020), we collected a total of 24 European mail examples from the period 6th-12th century, which are completely or partially made of non-ferrous metal. The material is often a copper alloy (hence the designation copper, brass, bronze), more rarely gold. Both in cases of fragments or more or less complete pieces, non-ferrous rings form 1-10 rows, which could serve as decorative edging or stripes on the collars, sleeves and lower edges of ring armours, aventails for helmets or flags. A similar tendency is also found outside Europe. In addition, the grave from Sutton Hoo, England, preserved the finds of iron rings that were riveted with “copper” rivets (Evans 1994: 41). The fragmentary nature indicates the frequent use of these mail pieces for symbolic and protective purposes. Sparse evidence of the use of rings of various materials can also be found in iconography and in written sources.
Edged mail. Weight: 4.5 kg. Production: Peter Kocúr.
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Literature
Arents, Ute – Eisenschmidt, Silke (2010). Die Gräber von Haithabu. Die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu 15, Band 2, Neumünster.
Damm, Annette (2005). Vikingernes Aros, Højbjerg.
Ehlton, Fredrik (2003). Ringväv från Birkas garnison, Stockholm [thesis]. Available at: http://www.erikds.com/pdf/tmrs_pdf_19.pdf.
Evans, Angela Care (1994). The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial, London.
Graabach-Klinge, Christian (2009). Et brændt grubehus fra vikingetiden. In: Udgravning af Bispetorvet. Available at: https://bispetorvet.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/et-br%C3%A6ndt-grubehus-fra-vikingetiden/.
Hägg, Inga (1991). Die Textilfunde aus der Siedlung und aus den Gräbern von Haithabu: Beschreibung und Gliederung. Berichte über die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu, Bericht 29, Neumünster.
Jantzen, Connie (1998). Genstande af metal. In: Hjermind. J. – Iversen, M. – Kristensen, H. K. (red.). Viborg Søndersø 1000- 1300. Byarkæologiske undersøgelser 1981 og 1984-85, Viborg, 185-213.
Krants, Lars (2010). Så er efterbearbejdningen gået igang! In: Udgravning af Bispetorvet. Available at: https://bispetorvet.wordpress.com/2010/05/05/sa-er-efterbearbejdningen-gaet-igang/.
Moesgård Museum (2009) = På sporet af Vikingernes Aros – arkæologisk udgravning på Bispetorvet i Århus, december 2009. In: Youtube.com. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsN7lGZXoRI&feature=emb_title.
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