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CLAY-DISK WITH STICK IMPRESSIONS (TYA 619: 319)
Type: Half clay-disk, decorated with stick impressions.
Use: Probably a weight for upright loom warp yarns.
Site: Raisio, Ihala, Mulli abode.
Period: Viking Age / Crusade Age / Early Middle Ages.
Dating: 980-1220 A.D.
Size: 130 mm × 130 mm × 34 mm (estimated).
Weight: 620 g (estimated total weight).
Photographer: Antti Huittinen.
More than 67 kg of fragments of clay-disks have been discovered in Mulli abode. The disks have been shaped in clay and there is a hole in them. After shaping the disks were usually burnt. These items have been presumed to be, e.g., weights for nets or mouthpieces for bellows. In Mulli, clay-disks were most probably used as weights for warp yarns of upright looms when a fabric was woven. Clay-disks are known in Finland from the 4th century to the 13th century in abodes, cemeteries and prehistoric castles.
The diameter of the clay-disks of Mulli is 9-14 cm and the weight is 300-1100 g. There are several kinds of ornaments in the disks, like circular crosses, stick impressions, finger impressions, cord impressions and hole impressions.
This clay-disk has been decorated by making with a hollow tube, like bulrush, impressions in row which divide the disk in four parts.
Other pictures:
Other related topics:
Coordinates: x=102, y=502, 2nd layer.
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