Birch Bark Boxes for all your storage needs!

So life has kept me very busy this year but alas I am back.

I wanted to share with you readers a few of my projects that have kept me busy this 2017. I will be adding projects for the next several weeks once every 7-10 days.

This post is centered on the birch bark box recreation I attempted over the summer. The Varangian attributed graves that I study with women in them have an interesting similarity, there seems to be a recurring theme of a large birch box container with clothing and jewelry wrapped up in side some where with in the grave. I decided I should attempt to make this box. Here is my project.

Possible 10th Century Birch Bark Box Construction

Birch bark boxes, baskets and other containers have a very long history both in the Baltic world and continue to do so in modern folk culture. Pieces of both bark and the heartwood have been found throughout central and western Russia in the centuries preceding the 10th that show these materials were used for everything from letters of correspondence to a doodle pad. Specifically in Novgorod hundreds of birch bark letters have been found preserved in the wet clay soils and they show a vibrant history of using and preparing birch bark for use in correspondences. (Iivius)  Birch trees were an abundant source of useful material in western Russia and continue to be utilized into the modern day

13th Century Birch Box Lid with Child’s homework written on it. Found in Moscow 2015

Moscow 4 Birch Bark letter from a 2015 dig near Red Square is very similar to letters found in Novgorod. 13th century

In the Pskov and Gniozdovo 10th century graves have yelled the remains of  birch bark discs in the female graves. These discs appear to have been the tops and bottoms of containers. We know that the modern craft of birch bark box crafting is alive and well throughout Russia and the Baltic and is thought to be a centuries old technique.

Modern birch bark boxes found in a google image search and available for sale

The extant examples found in Pskov and Gniozdovo were of birch bark disks with clothing and jewelry remaining sandwiched in between. In both Pskov and Gniozdovo it appears that clothing and jewelry have been stored in these birch containers in the female graves and were both found stored on the floor of the the graves.(Zubkova 291 Avdusin 22). In the Pskov grave the birch bark disks were referenced as follows “ textiles were placed in a birch bark container with a possible leather cover…” as well as “ remains of the base of a birch bark container reinforced wood” (Zukova 291-292) In the Gniozdovo grave complex the birch bark containers were referenced like this. “The remains of the birch bark boxes consisted of two disks 27cm  (11 inches) in diameter. Along the rim were small holes. This shows that the walls of the box- possibly of cloth - were sewn to it.” (forvännen 83 pg 28)

Due to birch bark and other wood products decaying quickly, very little remains of the extant birch bark containers other than the thicker top and bottom disks. I decided to make a 50% scale model of the Gniozdovo container as it is the only extant piece I was able to find measurements for. I created a design that would accommodate a large garment and the jewelry that would accompany it. I also chose to construct the box using the theory that the sides of the containers were constructed with wood and not cloth as there is no evidence of trace fiber left in either grave. For my entry I choose to use nothing but birch bark and birch wood products in the construction of the box.

Photo of the birch bark disk on display from Gniozdovo Grave 301 at the State Russian Museum

I took the information that I had regarding the birch bark disks and created a box design that I think would be able to hold up a large heavy garment and the additional weight of jewelry. In constructing my box I started with 2 similarly sized disks cut from the available birch tree I had procured. I cut the disks using a hand saw and  I then proceeded to sand the top and bottom of each disk smooth over a stone with sand on it to mimic modern day sandpaper. I drilled small holes along the outside edge for sewing the birch bark to the disks. In period a small hand drill and or an awl would have been used. I used a small dremel tool to save time and energy on the project as I do not have a hand powered drill.

I decided to create a traditional box and lid shape for my scale model. I started by removing 2 large pieces of bark from a birch tree to use as my sides. I proceeded to then soak these bark pieces in water to help split the bark in half thus creating more material with which to work and giving me the desired inside wood to work with. I learned in my project this is a natural progression in using birch bark as the bark naturally splits into a thin papery layer and a sturdier layer and each can be used easily for different purposes.  

Birch bark soaking in the water. In period the bark could easily have been weighed down with stones and not laundry bottles from the recycling.

After processing the bark I started experimenting with creating sturdy sides. I referenced modern birch bark box crafting which uses two layers of bark placed back to back and the sides are then stitched together around the edge to create a lip. Using a pocket knife, a straight edge and a small exacto blade as my only tools for this project, I created two small side pieces for the lid and two larger side pieces for the main body of the box. I used strips of birch bark as my “thread” and it was very sturdy and when cut to a point it easily made a built in “needle” which I found could explain why the original thought by the extant archaeologists was that the piece was a fabric or leather sided box instead of a birch bark sided box.

While there is no information of the height of the extant birch boxes, based on the strength of the material it is my belief that they could have been quiet deep to accommodate all the material and jewelry that was later found in them. My half scale birch box is very sturdy and would easily be able to hold heavier items. I looking forward to attempting a larger container when I am able to find an birch tree to accommodate the size. Below are photos of my process.

Bibliography:

Zubkova, Elena S. et al. 

            “Studies of the Textiles from the 2006 Excavation in Pskov” NESAT X Pg 291-298

Avdusin, DA & Puskina,TA
             “Three chamber graves at Gniozdovo” Fornvännen 83 1988 pg. 20-33

Iivius.

"The History Blog." The History Blog. N.p., 9 Nov. 2015. Web. 26 May 2017. <http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/39295>.

Savelyev, and Belyaev.

"News From the Latest Discoveries of Archaeologists IA RAS."Http://archaeolog.ru. N.p., 26 Oct. 2015. Web. 26 May 2017.

Artsikhovsky, et all.

"Old Russian Birch Bark." Древнерусские берестяные грамоты. Russian State Museum, n.d. Web. 26 May 2017. <http://gramoty.ru/>.

PLEASE NOTE. All photos and the contents of this webpage belong to myself Rannvaeig Eskilkona and are not to be reproduced or used without my expressed permission. All rights reserved and copyrighted.