Iron Shears
The iron shears found at the West Stow Village are an obvious indication that the textile industry was present at the settlement, as sheers would have been used to harvest wool from sheep, and wool was by far the easiest material to use in the production of textiles, as it only needed to be shorn from the sheep. Evidence of the textile industry’s presence at West Stow is corroborated by a set of metal spikes which, due to evidence found at various dig sites, are believed to be used in the preparation of wool for the creation of textiles. This also makes sense, as textile production was an important and widespread craft at the time. The blades of the shears are also constructed in a similar manner to most knives of the time, which contained trace amounts of steel. The presence of select, strategic amounts of steel within most blades of the time rather than simply constructing the blades from steel provides us with insight into the mentality of the Anglo-Saxon metalsmith. Steel was incredibly difficult to produce and took significant amounts of time to create, so it was used sparingly in strategic points along the blade’s edge or in the core of the blade. This is an incredibly practical approach. Additionally, the presence of only one pair of shears is notable, as textile craft was incredibly prominent. Sheep were only wooled once per year in July, so despite the prominence of the craft, shears were not needed all year round. This could be evidence that metal was recycled when not in use, rather than go mine new iron.
For my recreation, I chose to make a digital model of the shears, as I did not have the resources or the skill to recreate them as a physical model. The digital model gave me a very interesting look into the scale of the object, and being able to examine it in a 3 dimensional space allowed me to get a look at where the wear and tear over time had affected the item the most, which could provide further insight into its craftsmanship.
