The Oseberg Tapestry And Other Artifacts Show That Intense Colors Were A Viking Symbol Of Status And Wealth

Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - If you were a Viking warrior, you didn't paint your shield with just any color. Picking the right color was not a matter of taste. It was a decision based on careful selection because the stain revealed a Viking's status and wealth.

Rich Vikings liked showing off by using particular colors to symbolize their high societal status. Based on traces of old paint, a Danish chemist and a conservator have recreated a palette of 17 magnificent colors used by the Vikings to emphasize their high status.

Intense colors were popular because they were rare and symbolized status.

Chemist Mads Christian Christensen and conservator Line Bregnhøi from the National Museum in Copenhagen examined a piece of wood from a church in Hørning, Denmark, built around 1060. After so many years, the colors were not visible to the naked eye, so chemical analyses were required to recreate them.