DARC had a new place to set up camp for this year’s Labour Day long weekend so we imagined coming to the Viking-Age commercial centre of Ribe (in what is now Denmark) as traders and artisans. Trading was a seasonal activity, but people would come for several months each year. This allowed us to have a “camp” but also produce things rather than just “sell”.
Ragnar and Kettil ran the bead furnace with the assistance of Fion on the bellows, and visitors were invited to try their hand at making a bead. The furnace broke part-way through thanks to a gust of wind that knocked a pole into it, but they were able to mend it and continue. There were also issues with the charcoal, but once they switched to a different charcoal they did manage to produce a few beads.
Thorgeir turned bowls on his pole lathe.
Jhone worked on her warp-weighted loom when she wasn’t cooking, and several visitors had fun weaving under her supervision. Herr she is chatting with Kadin, who is also a skilled textile worker.
Ælfwyn spent the day making enamelled items.
Auðr mostly puttered around the hearth, making butter, fixing some kitchen tools to be more useful, and making a new wooden spatula.
We have some ideas on how to make our “street” more accessible to visitors while retaining the model of workshops in front of sleeping areas, but overall we were pleased with how it worked.
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