Rõivastusega seotud leiud muinasaja lõpu kalmetest on fragmentaarsed ja sageli raskesti mõistetavad. Neid detaile kokku klapitades üritame taastada tervikpilti. See on nagu pusle, millest suurem osa tükke on puudu. Iga uus leid annab juurde infokillu, mis sunnib varasema materjali juurde tagasi pöörduma ja seda uue pilguga vaatama. Nii muutuvad ka rekonstruktsioonid.
2012–2014. aastal valmis meeskonnatööna Kukruse memme rõivakomplekti rekonstruktsioon. Juba tookord olime kindlad, et see ei ole lõplik, vaid kajastab meie teadmisi sel hetkel. Kukruse memme uhkeim rõivaese oli spiraaltorudest mustritega kaunistatud põll. Selline põll, mille pikiservad ja alläär on metalliga kaunistatud, on olnud kaasas mitmetel Põhja-Eestis, Saaremaal ja Läänemaal 12.–13. sajandil maetud naistel.
Teatud detailid põlleleidudel jäid Kukruse rekonstruktsiooni valmimise ajal lahendamata. Näiteks olime märganud arusaamatut spiraalikestest lisamotiivi ühe Loona põlle alumise serva all ja Kaberla kalmistu kaevamisjoonisel põlle nurgas. Kaks samalaadset „kolmnurgakest“ avastati ka Lõhavere käsitöövakast. Need viimased rekonstrueerisime 2014. aastal rosetina.
Uue teadmise hilisrauaaja põllede väljanägemisest andis Valjala matuse 15b põlle puhastamine ja uurimine, millest räägib üks meie varasem blogipostitus. Selgus, et põlle pikiservade muster ei olnud kanga peal, vaid õmmeldi hoopis serv-servaga kanga külge, ja põlle alumistes nurkades olid kolmnurksed lisamotiivid. Viimaseid hakkasime hellitavalt nimetama „kõrvadeks“. Edasine töö Valjala leidudega näitas, et teised sama kalmistu põlled on samuti „kõrvadega“, mis igal eksemplaril on erinevad. Samal ajal hakkasid „kõrvad“ ennast ilmutama ka Kukruse leidude üle vaatamisel. Seal on neist säilinud väga vähe – lahtiselt leitud spiraaltorukeste kogumeid põlle nurkade juures oli varem peetud mõnest teisest mustrist pudenenuteks. Nüüdsete teadmiste valguses võib siiski arvata, et „kõrvad“ olid tõesti ka seal olemas. Seega on praegu ERMis säilitatav rekonstruktsioon juba vananenud.
Karja ja Pöide kiriku skulptuuride põlledel selliseid detaile kujutatud ei ole. Nende dateering on haualeidudest veidi hilisem. Kas ei olnud „kõrvadega“ põlled siis enam moes või ei osanud uhket põlle kujutanud skulptor neid üksikasju tähele panna, jääb muidugi teadmata.
Aprons with ‘ears’
Jaana Ratas
Finds related to clothing in the 12th–13th-century graves are fragmentary and often challenging to interpret. We attempt to restore the complete ‘picture’ based on these details, but it is like a puzzle with most pieces missing. Each new find can provide additional information, forcing you to return to the previous material and look at it again. This is how reconstructions change.
The Kukruse Lady’s dress reconstruction was completed in 2012–2014. Even then, we knew it was not final but reflected our current knowledge. The most luxurious item of this costume was an apron adorned with decorations made of tiny spiral tubes. This kind of apron, selvedges and lower hem decorated with metal is relatively common in the 12th–13th-century female burials in Northern Estonia, Saaremaa and Läänemaa.
Some details of the apron decorations remained unresolved during the completion of the Kukruse reconstruction. For example, we noticed an additional decoration fragment of spiral tubes under the apron hem found in Loona and in the corner of the apron hem depicted on the drawing of a burial in Kaberla cemetery. Two similar “triangles” were also discovered in the Lõhavere craft and jewellery box. We reconstructed the latter as a rosette in 2014, believing they were just broken.
New knowledge about the appearance of the 12th–13th-century aprons was provided by cleaning and examining the spiral tube decorations of Valjala burial 15b, discussed in one of our earlier blog posts. It turned out that the decorations on the long edges of the apron were not placed on the fabric but sewn edge-to-edge to the fabric. There were additional triangular motifs in the lower corners of the apron; we began to call the latter ‘ears’. Further work with the Valjala finds showed that other aprons from the same cemetery also have ‘ears’, differently designed in each case. At the same time, the ‘ears’ began to reveal themselves while reviewing Kukruse’s finds. Not much is preserved there – clusters of spiral tubes found loose at the corners of the aprons were previously thought to be fallen from another pattern. However, in light of the current knowledge, it can be assumed that the ‘ears’ were really there. Thus, the Kukruse reconstruction currently preserved in Estonian National Museum is already outdated.
Details, such as corner decorations, are not depicted on the aprons of the sculptures in the Karja and Pöide churches in Saaremaa. These figures have been dated slightly later than the grave finds. We do not know whether aprons with ‘ears’ were no longer in fashion or whether the craftsperson who depicted these beautiful aprons did not notice these details.