Recall that thirteenth– and fourteenth–century pilgrim souvenirs produced across most of Europe, including in the cathedral town of Ribe, were most commonly manufactured by melting pewter, a cheap material, and pouring it into molds carved into stone, which was a fast and simple process. (You can see a short video here ).  In contrast, the earlier, Transition Period workshop in Ribe worked with brass, which constituted a valuable commodity, in combination with clay molds, which could be used one time only. The molten brass was poured into the clay mold, which was broken apart once the metal had hardened, which explains the thousands of mold fragments on site. The badges produced in the Transition Era Ribe workshop tend to have pins and pin-catchers on their reverse, rather than the eyelets that became more common for continental badges from the high and late Middle Ages. The use of pins reconnects to the ancient Scandinavian tradition of brooches, albeit rather in a symbolic way, because the Transition Period badges are much smaller and more slender than their Viking Age forerunners, which also served a practical purpose as brooches pinning garments together. 

Until recently, the scientific task of analysing mold fragment was extremely time consuming and bestowed researchers with many uncertain outcomes. First, most of the fragments are partially sooted. This makes it difficult to trace and interpret the cavities. Second, the fragments are very fragile. This makes it risky to fill the cavities with modern metal substitutes (for example, silicone) to produce a 3D relief that is somewhat easier to follow. Third, it is very difficult – even for the trained eye – to compare the relief of two similar mold cavities to establish minimal deviations between two different mold topographies. In the face of these difficulties, we decided to try a different way. We implemented 3D laser scanning as a study tool for mould impressions from Transition Era Ribe. The technique has been previously tested for shape analyses on other mold fragments from the Early Viking Age as well as the High Medieval Era, albeit on a much smaller scale. After 3D-scanning a large selection of Transition Era moulds in a few weeks’ time, we are able to turn different mould surfaces inside-out. The virtual casts we have created lend themselves to digital comparisons that can be conducted by a few mouse-clicks or with the aid of groundbreaking artificial intelligence. Our pre-studies made us aware of the possibility that the Transition Period mold materials contain some original design ideas that have not come down to posterity in their metal form. By re-making those lost casts using virtual means, we hope to recover some unknown pieces of Viking Age artwork.

We have already become aware of the fact that our clay molds contain imprints from up to three objects, a phenomenon that only was rarely seen before in a Viking Age context. At the same time, the Transition Period artisans made sure to design their objects in a savvy way that facilitated the pouring process, whereas their forerunners tended to put all their heart and soul into much more demanding shapes … which paved the way to many uncertain outcomes. Third, it seems that our Transition Period artisans did not refrain from marketing badges produced from flawed casts to the less affluent segment of the population – a practice that might not have found universal approval in the olden days! All of this points towards the possibility that the casters of the Transition Period inaugurated a new era of mass production which felt rather medieval than Viking. Surprisingly perhaps, the combined badge output of all Transition Period artisans in South Scandinavia surpasses the surviving number of medieval badges from the same region.

In the final part of our blog post series, we will explore the message and meaning of the Christian badges from Transition Era Ribe.