The costume
With the excavation of the Mammen man’s grave in the burial mound Bjerringhøj in 1868 various remains of a splendid man’s costume were found. The clothes were badly damaged, but originally must have been a fantastic sight. They were made of exclusive materials. The excavation was not carried out to today’s standards and no record of the finds were made at the time. It is therefore difficult to establish the function of the textiles.
The man was laid on a blue woollen cushion decorated with red embroidery. He probably wore a woollen tunic. A blue gauze material perhaps makes up what is left of his breeches. He also wore a woollen cape lined with marmot fur. The tunic and cape were embroidered with complicated patterns: leopards, four-footed animals, bird masks and acanthus leaves in shades of red, blue and yellow. Many tablet-woven bands were also found in the grave, some made of lilac wool and others of lilac silk with interwoven gold and silver thread. It is uncertain, how the bands decorated the costume.
