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:The last are the remains of a knot made from wool and bast. The knot consists of a thick cord made of multiple woollen threads that are tied around a rope made from wood bast. Only a small hooped fragment of the rope remains. [HAGG 1991:p.110]
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In York, Coppergate 16-22 a fair amount of cords were found. 13 cords had a diameter of 3mm or more. 7 of the 13 finds were made of plied or cabled wool and ranged from 3mm to 5mm, one example was 8mm in diameter. The 6 remaining examples were made of vegetable fibre, most likely bast, and ranged from 5mm to 9mm. It would seem that the thicker cords are made of bast, while the thinner examples are made of wool. {[WALTON 1989:p.432f.]
10 examples of ropes were also found at Coppergate, York, they do however all date to the 12th and 13th centuries. 8 of the 10 ropes are made from “common haircap moss” (Polytrichum commune) the other two are made of untreated flax stems. Those made of hair moss were made of 3 strand plaits, while the flax ones were plied. Both the flax examples had a diameter of 10mm, while the hair moss ropes ranged from 25mm to 40mm in diameter (one was to fragmented to measure). One of the hair moss examples was only a bundle of stems, some still with leaves. [WALTON 1989:p.441f.]
Another example of cords found at A Toftanesi, Leirvik on the Faroe Islands were made of twinned Juniper branches, which were used as handles for the barrels and ropes for the roof stones [ARGE 2008:p.581].<br>
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