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"The jewels flowed in from the east, while the slaves, like Fredegund herself, were shipped from the north in wagon carts, their arms bound by jute rope." Jute
by Archelaos 5y ago
"The jewels flowed in from the east, while the slaves, like Fredegund herself, were shipped from the north in wagon carts, their arms bound by jute rope."
Jute is a Mediterranean plant. It seems somewhat implausible that it was used in the north. Does anyone know of any archealogical evidence of jute ropes in the north during the Dark Ages?
- bryanrasmussen 5y agoMaybe the rope was not made from jute, but made by the Jutes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jutes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jutes although then it should be capitalized so that also seems unlikely.
- pjc50 5y agoWhy couldn't it be shipped in the opposite direction?
- karaterobot 5y agoIt could have been. Commenter was asking if anybody knew of archaeological evidence that it was.
- smegsicle 5y ago'here take all this rope- bring it back after wrapping it around a bunch of slaves'
- RobertMiller 5y ago
- labster 5y agoFibers tend not to survive very long in moist climates, so I’d expect direct evidence of jute to be mostly absent.
- paleotrope 5y agoWhy assume it's not just some poetic license on the part of the writer here.
- Archelaos 5y agoThis is the reason for my question. The whole paragraph is about trade goods from afar. I have heared about everything the author mentions except jute ropes. So is this just idle talk or really fact?
- eyko 5y ago"Prize-winning poet Shelley Puhak is the author of the new book The Dark Queens, from which this story is adapted." I don't know if the author is a historian, and she doesn't present herself as one. I'd take that into account when reading the article/story.
- paleotrope 5y agoI would also add that it's not likely that someone would bother transporting slaves in wagon carts, especially in 6th century northern europe.