Mittens found in Akranes in 1960 are dated to be 1100 years old, reports RÚV.
The gloves were found by a farmer from Akranes in 1960. The National Museum of Iceland has held on to the gloves since, but were only able to date the gloves recently.
“Technology allows us to take tiny samples, thread samples, from textiles and send them abroad for analysis,” says Freyja Hlíðkvist, an expert at the National Museum. “It turns out that they are from the second half of the tenth century. 950-1000 somewhere in between.”
The museum believes the mittens belonged to a young settler from the first generation. The mittens are in extremely good condition.
“They are incredibly healthy and that is perhaps the most remarkable thing about them. And of course, it’s also so much fun because this cord that’s in them, we also sampled it, and found that it’s as old as the mittens, so it’s original,” says Freyja. “Then we know that before the year 1000, parents were also making sure their children didn’t lose their mittens. Which hasn’t really worked in this case because they’ve obviously been lost since they were laying here.”
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