Fragment of a dress underneath the church floor

Many people were buried under the floor inside Uvdal stave church. A fragment from a dress have been found in a grave dating to the latter part of the 14th century. The fragment is presumably from the front part of the top. The piece is pleated with vertical wrinkles and fitted with a V-neck. The wool fabric is woven in a three-shafted Twill technique, lightly fulled, and colored red from the plant Dyer´s Madder (Rubia tinctorum).

Also dated to the late 14th century, a burial of two adult females as well as two young girls has been identified. All the females are clothed in a combination of everyday wear as well as funerary clothing. The females all wear linen undergarments. As most common clothing was made from wool, the garments found on these individuals are unique.

All four individuals also wear red mittens stitched to the sleeves of their dresses as well as linen bands around their heads. Graves such as this present a unique insight into the current clothing styles of the age.