The clothes of the Bronze Age people were made from fine-woven wool.   The yarn was spun from natural-coloured sheep’s wool.   There is no evidence of dyeing at this stage, though natural fleece colours would have given a range of browns, greys, whites and off whites.   Both the male and female clothing seem to have been made to a standard set of designs.

The female garments usually consisted of two parts: a bodice and a skirt.

The bodice had elbow length sleeves and reached roughly to the waist.   The sleeves are sometimes decorated with simple embroidery on the outer arm.   The strange construction of these garments (and several others from the bronze age) have led to suggestions that they were copying in wool a style of garment that had once been made of skin.
 

The basic pattern of the woman's bodice.	The way the bodice is constructed and sewn together.	The finished bodice with waistband attached.

The skirt seems to come in two forms.

The first was a short skirt made from vertical strands of string, hanging loosely around the hips and twisted twice around the waist.   The vertical strands were sometimes decorated with bands of tubular bronze or gold ornaments.   A belt went around the waist and held, at the centre front, a circular ornamental belt plate.   This style of skirt is depicted (without the bodice) on several votive figurines.   These figurines show girls dancing and making offerings of bowls of grain(?), and this has led to the suggestion that these skirts may have been part of a ritual garb, though this is by no means certain.
 

The basic bodice and string skirt outfit.	These examples show the skirt with the bands of tubular ornaments.

The second type is a simple wrap-around skirt of woven cloth that could be tied around the waist with a belt.   The length varies with some being long enough to have been worn fastened at the shoulders in a manner similar to the ‘peplos’ style gowns known from the later bronze age and iron age in Denmark.
 

The long, wrap around skirt, worn over a bodice.

On her head the woman could wear a hairnet or a cap which had long ties to hold an elaborate coiffure in place, or the hair could be worn loose.

Jewellery in the form of large golden hoop earrings and neck- and armbands of twisted gold or bronze were also worn.
 
 
 

The Egtved Girl
 

The Borum Eshøj Woman
 

The Skrydstrup Woman
 
 
 
 

	Back to Main Page
	Male Clothing Overview of male clothing of the Early Bronze age with specific examples and reconstructions.
	Other Artefacts Examples of some other items from this period, showing the skill of the Bronze Age craftsmen and beauty of the items they created.