Cimbrians and Their Origins
The Cimbrians are a people mentioned by the Roman and Greek historians like
Strabo (around 64 BC - 23 AD), Livius (59 BC - 17 AD), Annius Florus (1th - 2nd century AD),
Dio Cassius (about 150-235 AD),
Orosius (5. century AD), and
Plutarchos (48-122 AD).
They tell about a people breaking up from the far north, following the river Elbe southwards and, later on, the
Danube eastwards. The Skordiskians blocked their progress towards east, so they turned west along the river Drau. In 113 BC, they entered Roman territory in today's
Austria. They traveled around in central Europe for many years, and encountered the Roman army in battle several times, until they were finally defeated at the North Italian town of Vercelae in 101 BC.
The reason for placing their homeland in northern Jutland is a map, originally ascribed to the Greek astronomer, mathematician and geographer Ptolemaeus (about 100-178 AD). On his map, the name 'Kimbroi' is written on the northern part of a peninsula, which seems to be the Jutland peninsula south of the Limfjord. It is not certain whether the preserved version of the map is identical with the one Ptolemaeus drew. But also in his book 'Geographik? Huph?gesis' (from around 150 AD), he mentions some people called Cimbrians, who lived farther north than all other peoples, on a peninsula to the north of the river Elbe. His information may have been acquired on journeys he made himself, or originate from talks with Roman sailors. It seems certain, however, that at his time there still existed some people living in the far north who called themselves 'Cimbrians'.
The romantic historians of the 19. century emphasized the information in these early written sources. Because of the similarity in name between Himmerland (first mentioned as 'Himber syssel' in 1231 AD) and 'Cimberland' = 'the land of the Cimbrians', this area was regarded as the homeland of the Cimbrians. This theory may well be correct, so the people living in Himmerland today may be justified in considering themselves as descendants of the Cimbrians.
It is necessary to remember, however, that people have been travelling a lot out of Denmark and into Denmark ever since: Sailors, fishermen, traders, warriors in foreign pay, tradesmen, nobility on education journeys, pilgrims, with wives and family members, as well as imported slaves, Vendic raids leaving a trail of raped women, religious fugitives of various observations, from Jews to
Huguenots, gypsies, people invited by the kings to improve on agricultural techniques, people of the church not always observing the celibate, and so on.
The list is long enough to show that people travel when they can, unless hindered by warlike neighbours or unsurmountable natural barriers. And they mix with the local people, whether they just pass by or settle in the new country. It is not a new phenomena in our days that the Danes travel out in the world, or that other people come to Denmark. It just happens a little faster, and over longer distances today. It is in this way cultural progress comes about.
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Cimbric Caps and Bonnets
by Eva Koch 28/9 99
(Originally this was an answer to a lady, who wanted to know what the hats of the Cimbric people looked like, and whether they used felt for making them.)
The Cimbric tribe is best known from the reports of the
Romans, and all they say about their headgear is a short note from
Plutarch: "The riders were wearing helmets, that were like the mouths of horrible beasts of prey, and many other strange shapes. On top of the helmets were fastened high feather bushels in the shape of wings." Unfortunately, we have no preserved helmets from the Cimbrians, nor any further description.
Assuming that the Cimbric people did come from the northern part of the
Jutland peninsula, another possibility is to have a look at the archaeological finds from this area from the time of the Cimbrians, that is the centuries around the birth of Christ. Here we have 3 kinds of headgear: 1. A female bonnet made of wool-yarn in the technique called "sprang"; 2. a fur-cape with hood, which seems to have been worn by both sexes; and 3. some small fur-caps with a small peak, only worn by men.
The female bonnet made in sprang technique (fig. 1) is known from a single find, from Bredmose, Storarden county in the southern part of Himmerland. So if the assumption, that the Cimbrians came from Himmerland, is correct, it must have been worn by a Cimbric woman. It was found with the
bog body of a 25 - 30 years old woman with a rather sophisticated hairdo. Apart from the bonnet, the woman also was equipped with a couple of woollen mats. The technique of sprang, used for making the bonnet, is a special kind of knotting or braiding resulting in a very open and elastic textile (figs. 2 and 3). The technique is known in
Denmark as far back as the bronze age, where it was also used for making bonnets and hair-nets for the noble women. Several are known from burials in oak-coffins. The technique is known from ancient
Greece as well, as some vase-paintings show pictures of women working with this technique (fig. 4).
The fur-cape with hood is known from a bog-find from Vendsyssel, from the bog Krogens M?lle Mose in Torslev county (fig.5). It was found together with the skeleton of a slender person, most probably a woman. Together with the woman was also found some pieces of chequered woollen cloth, so maybe she was wearing a chequered skirt like the woman from Huldremose. The find from Krogens M?lle was unfortunately made already in 1878 during peat-cutting, so we do not know so much about it. But the fur-cape was preserved, and Margrethe Hald has made a drawing of its pattern (fig. 6).
This type of fur-cape is also known from the iron age of other parts of Europe. It is for instance common on pictures and statues from the area around the German city of Trier, where the celtic tribe the
Treveri lived. It seems to be a part of a common North-european dress of the time. In the Trier area it seems mostly to have been worn by men, especially herdsmen and peasants. From this area also comes a small bronze-statue of a man wearing such a fur-cape (fig.7). Elisabeth Munksgaard writes that from 382 AD, the use of this kind of cape was only allowed for slaves - according to a law made by emperor Thedosius.
In spite of this decision, giving this kind of cape the symbolic value marking its wearer as a person of the unfree class, it seems to have been used for a long time - at least made of wool. Maybe only capes of fur and leather were a slave-sign. Woollen capes of a very similar pattern were worn by some of the medieval people found in the graves at Herhjolfsn?s on Greenland, and they seem to constitute a common part of the male dress of the medieval times.
The small fur-caps seem to have been an established part of the North-european male dress in the iron age. There are 3 finds of caps of this kind.
A very nice and simple cap (fig.
was found together with a bogbody from S?g?rds Mose in Daugbjerg county in Himmerland - and must be the closest you can get to a preserved Cimbric male headgear (still presuming that the Cimbrians really did come from Himmerland). The man had also got two fur-capes with him, and a pair of moccasin-like shoes. The scull was sufficiently well preserved to establish that he was 30 - 35 years of age at the time of his death, and that he had some rather worn teeth, but without holes. The preserved bones of the body indicate that he was about 170 cm high. The cap was sewn of two pieces of fur, most probably dog-fur, and had a small peak. It was worn with the hairy side innermost, and was bound with a string below the chin. Margrethe Hald has made a drawing of its pattern, but there are no good photos of it.
A cap very like the one from S?g?rd was found together with the bogbody from Tollund (fig. 9), found close to the town of Silkeborg. The man, with the cap, is today a part of the exhibition of the museum of Silkeborg. The cap of the Tollund man has a somewhat more complicated pattern, as it is sewn from 8 pieces of fur, but the two caps have looked quite similar. Like the S?g?rd cap, the one from Tollund was worn with the fur-side innermost, and tied to the head with a string. It seems that this type of cap has been the common fashion for men in Jutland in the
iron age.
A third cap from this time was found in northern Germany, and is of a somewhat different design (fig. 10). It was sewn from two trapeze-shaped pieces of fur, and has a small six-edged crown. It was found at Bernuthsfeld at Hannover, where the fashion seems to have been a little different from the one in Jutland. But also this cap is a small leather cap, tied with strings under the chin.
Felt
But then there is the question of felt. This material seems not to have been known in Denmark before the viking age, and that is about 1 000 years after the Cimbrians. But from this later period, there are some amusing finds of felt, from the harbour-area of Hedeby (or Haithabu, as the German archaeologists call it). They are masks made like animal heads, and sewn onto woollen capes, so that the wearer was hidden as far down as his chest (figs. 11 and 12). Whether they were used for lively feasts and parties, where people disguised themselves for fun, or whether they have played some role in the cult, or maybe both, we cannot know today.
Illustrations
Bonnet made in sprang-technique from the bog Bredmosen, Storarden sogn, Denmark. Photo: Lennart Larsen, published by P. V. Glob (1965) p. 69
Chart over the technique used in the bonnet from Bredmosen. Drawing by M. Hald, published by M. Hald (1962) p. 27, fig. 21
Reconstructions of the first steps in making a piece of textile in sprang-technique. Drawing by M. Hald, published by M. Hald (1962) p. 80, fig. 72
Woman with sprang-frame. Drawing made after an ancient Greek vase painting. The picture shown here was taken from M. Hald (1962) p. 83 fig. 75
Fur cape from the bog "Krogens M?lle Mose", Torslev sogn, Denmark. The picture is from E. Munksgaard (1974) p. 127, fig. 91
The pattern of the fur cape from Krogens M?lle Mose. Drawn by M. Hald, taken from M. Hald (1980) p. 320 fig. 380
Small bronze figurine from the Trier-area, Germany, about 12 cm tall. The figurine shows a local peasant - a treveri - dressed in a cape with hood of the kind the romans called a "cucullus". Photo: Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, picture taken from E. Munksgaard (1974), p. 114, fig. 82
The pattern of a small cap for a man, the bog "S?g?rds Mose", Daugbjerg sogn, Denmark. Drawn by M. Hald, the picture was taken from M. Hald (1980) p. 320 fig. 381
Photo of the man from Tollund (Denmark), wearing a small fur cap. Photo by Lennart Larsen, published by P. V. Glob (1965) p. 22
The pattern and a reconstruction of a small cap from Bernuthsfeld at Hannover, Germany. Drawing by Kirsten Malling after H. Hahne, the picture was taken from E. Munksgaard (1974) p. 192 fig. 138
Face mask of the shape of an animal head, made of felt, from Hedeby (near Schleswig, Germany). Width from ear-point to ear-point: 15.6 cm. Shown after I. H?gg (1984) p. 71, Abb. 46 lowermost
Reconstruction-drawing of the animal mask from Hedeby, as it must have looked sewn onto a hood. Shown after I. H?gg (1984) p. 70 Abb. 45,4
Literature
Jens Br?ten (1988): Kimbrerne - Historie, teorier og myter om Himmerlands kimbrere. Aars (in Danish)
P. V. Glob (1965): Mosefolket. K?benhavn (English version: P. V. Glob (1969): The Bog People)
Margrethe Hald (1962): Jernalderens Dragt. Nationalmuseet. (This book describes the cap from Bredmose on pp. 26-27 and 29, and the technique for making it on pp. 78-83) (in Danish)
Margrethe Hald (1980): Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials, Publication of the National Museum, Archaeological-Historical Series vol. XXI, K?benhavn
Lone Hvass (1980): Jernalderen 1, Landsbyen og samfundet. Sesams Danmarkshistorie. K?benhavn (in Danish)
Inga H?gg (1984): Die Textilfunde aus dem Hafen von Haithabu. Neum?nster (describing the animal masks made of felt on pp. 69-72)
Elisabeth Munksgaard (1973): Oldtidsdragter. K?benhavn (in Danish, with a short English summary)
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