You will need:
• Thick cardboard
• Tracing paper
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Embroidery thread
• Single hole punch (or bradawl)
Method:
1. Trace the octagon below onto your tracing paper:
2. Transfer your tracing onto the cardboard and cut your octagon out. Cut along the lines on each
edge to make small slits.
3. Make a hole in the centre with a hole punch – or ask an adult to make one using a bradawl.
4. Choose seven different coloured embroidery silks. Cut a 50cm length of
each colour.
5.
5. Twist your threads together and push them all through the central hole.
Tie a knot in your threads; make sure the knot is big enough to stop the
threads from disappearing back through the hole!
6. Turn your cord-winding tablet back over, put one thread into each slit. You
will have one empty slit left over. Draw an arrow onto your tablet to
show which way you will turn it when you start to make your cord. (Most
people find it easiest to turn in a clockwise direction, but it is up to you!)
7. Hold your tablet horizontally so that the empty slit is facing you and the
threads are hanging down. Count back (in the opposite direction from
your arrow) three slits. Take the thread from that slit and move it over the
two threads in between to the empty slit facing you.
Please turn over...
6.
The Young Archaeologists’ Club is part of the Council for British Archaeology. www.yac-uk.org ~ [email protected] ~ St Mary’s House, 66 Bootham, York YO30 7BZ ~ 01904 671417
How to make a Viking braid; fill-gap braiding or trollen weaving!
How to make a Viking braid; fill-gap braiding or trollen weaving!
8. Now turn your tablet in the direction of the arrow until the new empty slit is facing you. Count
back another three slits and move the thread over into the empty slit. Keep repeating this
process. Remember to always turn your tablet in the same direction!
9. Your cord will be emerging from the underside of your tablet.
It is important to keep on gently pulling the cord through from
the underside.
10. The threads will tangle easily, so run your fingers through
them regularly to avoid getting knots!
9.
11. When you only have 5cm of the threads left hanging down, take all seven out from the slits
and pull the cord through the tablet from the underside. Tie the loose threads into a knot and
trim the ends. You now have a cord!
12. Cords make great friendship bracelets or even shoelaces!
Background information:
•
•
•
•
Bone discs with slits in have been found on Viking sites and experimental archaeologists
have tried different techniques to see what kinds of braid can be made;
The oldest evidence for the use of fibre to make clothes comes from the Upper Don region
of Russia where a 20,000-year-old stone figurine was found with a carved twined-fibre skirt.
The oldest piece of actual woven cloth is 9,000 years old! It was excavated from Anatolia
(in present-day Turkey);
Many dyes in the past came from insects and shellfish. For instance, the purple cloth used
for the togas worn by Roman emperors was dyed using a shellfish found in the Eastern
Mediterranean area. Extracting the dye was a long and very smelly job, so it was only used
for the clothes of very important people.
Follow up work:
•
•
•
Try counting back four threads from the empty slit each time, rather than three. Does this
make a different pattern?
What happens if you only use two or three different colours?
Can you use a different number of threads? Draw a pentagon (five sides) or hexagon (six
sides) to make another tablet. What happens then?
If you like this activity visit the YAC website for more fun things to try:
www.yac-uk.org/factsheets.html
YAC is aimed at young people up to the age of 17. Members receive:
•
Personalised membership pack with a certificate, pin badge and membership card;
•
Four copies a year of Young Archaeologist magazine with hands-on activities, competitions,
news, an exclusive behind-the-scenes Time Team report in every issue and annual
excavation competitions;
•
A YAC Pass packed with loads of special offers, including free entry or discounts at 180
independent museums across the UK and exclusive money-off deals with a range of
exciting organisations.
To find out more, including how to join, visit www.yac-uk.org
The Young Archaeologists’ Club is part of the Council for British Archaeology. www.yac-uk.org ~ [email protected] ~ St Mary’s House, 66 Bootham, York YO30 7BZ ~ 01904 671417
Method continued....