Linet i Sverige

• The earliest recorded evidence of flax cultivation in Sweden is from the end of the Bronze Age/beginning of the Iron Age. Later, from ca A.D.1100 and onwards, flax is an economically important crop in Sweden. Here, I present evidence of the cultivation of flax in Sweden with focus on the prehistoric archaeobotanical record, which consists primarily of charred seeds from the Swedish Iron Age (c. 500 BC – A.D.1050) and on documentary evidence. Finds of implements and other traces from the processing of flax are described. The question of which type of flax was grown in prehistoric times – fibre flax or oil flax – is discussed.Some of the numerous cultural traditions and rituals formed around flax over the centuries are described, as are some of the religious beliefs, magic and rituals associated with flax in ancient times.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Botanik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Botany (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Flax

cultivation

history

archaeology

textile-oil flax

lin

odling

historia

arkeologi

spånadslin

oljelin

Archaeology

arkeologi

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

art (subject category)