HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Gerum Cloak is a nearly intact brown
wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...
en cloak dating from 360-100 BC that was found in a peat bog on Gerumsberget plateau,
Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
in 1920. The cloak is oval shaped and has a few small holes in it, mainly around the bottom edge. The biggest of these was made by Johan Fredrik Klasson with his shovel when he was digging in the bog and found the cloak. The cloak is notable not only for its age and how well it was preserved, but for the
Houndstooth Houndstooth, hounds tooth check or hound's tooth (and similar spellings), also known as dogstooth, dogtooth, dog's tooth, (), (), is a duotone textile pattern characterized by broken checks or abstract four-pointed shapes, traditionally in black ...
pattern in which it was woven. When the cloak was found in the bog, it was folded with three stones lying on top of it. The cloak was originally made of white and brown wool, but it all became brown after having been in the bog for so long. A replica is on display in Falbygden's Museum in Falköping, while the original is stored in the Historical Museum in
Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
. The cloak has a breadth of 248 cm (8 feet 1.64 inches) and a height of 200 cm (6 feet 6.74 inches). Given the holes in the cloak, it is believed that the wearer was stabbed, possibly to death. However, this gives rise to some uncertainty as the cloak was found folded and no human remains were found with it or nearby. Through measuring the strontium isotope system of the wool and dye, it is believed that the wool came from sheep who grazed and lived in the area south west of
Torpa stenhus Torpa stenhus (translated ''Torpa stone house'') is a well-preserved medieval castle near lake Åsunden, in the county of Västra Götaland, southern Sweden. History The first stone house was built around 1470 by Privy Council Arvid Knutss ...
. The wool was not from the local area around where the cloak was found on Gerumsberget, but at least 45 miles southwest.


References

{{Archaeology-stub Archaeological artifacts Archaeological discoveries in Sweden Individual garments Prehistory of Sweden