Amanda Robinson

MRes Student

Supervisors

Prof Alexandra Sanmark (INS UHI), Dr Shane McLeod (INS UHI), and Dr Michèle Hayeur Smith (Smithsonian Institution)

Research Title

“Spinning Threads: An Analysis of Viking Age Spindle Whorls in the Northern British Isles”

Research Abstract

While women in the Viking Age have long held an accepted role as weavers and spinners, confidently assigning textile production within the category of craft specialisation has, until recently, not been attempted by modern scholarship. The intent of this thesis is to use textile tool analysis, particularly on spindle whorls, to explore the degree of textile specialization and production that was taking place within the British Isles during the Viking Age. This research will attempt to analyse the types of spindle whorls uncovered to explore what materials were being sourced, what those materials can tell us, typological changes that may have occurred, and which textile types could have been produced by the whorls uncovered from settlement sites and within burials. Making these connections can provide a foundation for future research in comparative textile analysis, supporting theories that women’s roles as weavers and spinners went well beyond basic household needs.

Student Biography

Amanda Robinson is a full-time MRes student with the Institute for Northern Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands. Amanda earned a BA Honours in Anthropology with distinction from MacEwan university in Alberta, Canada. Prior to beginning her Masters she worked for four years in Cultural Resource Management doing fieldwork in northern Alberta.