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We have a few good literary sources describing the kinds of furs traded during the Viking Age.*The Voyage of Ohthere from King Alfred's Orosius. Othere was from Halgoland and traded via Hedeby to London. He described the tribute paid to him by the Finlanders as:<br>:"Everyone pays according to his substance; the wealthiest many amongst them pays only the skins of fifteen martens, five reindeer skins, one bear's skin, ten bushels of feathers, a cloak of bear's or otter's skin, two ship-ropes (each sixty ells long), one made of whale's and the other of seal's skin." [HAKLUYT 1893:p.178]<br>:Owen-Crocker describes the Finlanders tribute as "bear or otter skin cyrtles" [OWEN-CROCKER 1998:p36]<br>*Al-Mukaddasi, Shams Al-Deen Abu Abdallah. 985AD "fur of steppe foxes, martens, foxes, beavers, spotted hares and goats" HOWARD-JOHNSTON 1998:p.69]<br>A few archeological sites have turned up a number of finds of fur.*Birka, Sweden: 90 fragments of fur and 100 feathers [HAGG 1986:p.52] were found. Geijer reports of the following types of fur being found: Squirrel (grave 507), Marten (grave 557), Beaver (graves 539, 619, 956, 968). These pieces for fur were probably used as decoration on womens clothing. [GEIJER 1983: p.133] [HAGG 1986: p. 65]<br> ===FurBear==={{Evidence|Art|Literature = *The Voyage of Ohthere: a cloak of bear's or otter's skin|Archaeology|Discussion}} ===Beaver==={{Evidence|Art|Literature = *The Voyage of Ohthere*Al-Mukaddasi|Archaeology =*Birka, Sweden: Beaver (graves 539, 619, 956, 968)|Discussion}} ===Boar==={{Evidence|Art|Literature |Archaeology =*Birka, Sweden: The boar bristles found in grave 739 were probably from a brush. [GEIJER 1983: p.133]|Discussion}} ===Goats==={{Evidence|Art|Literature =*Al-Mukaddasi|Archaeology |Discussion}} ===Martin==={{Evidence|Art|Literature = *The Voyage of Ohthere*Al-Mukaddasi*Doomsday book. 1086AD. Mentions martin skins being imported into Chester [OWEN-CROCKER 1998:p36]|Archaeology =*Birka, Sweden: Marten (grave 557)|Discussion}} ===Otter==={{Evidence|Art|Literature =*The Voyage of Ohthere|Archaeology |Discussion}} ===Reindeer==={{Evidence|Art|Literature =*The Voyage of Ohthere|Archaeology |Discussion}}
:Unspun sheeps fleece, probably from a sheepskin blanket, was found in two further graves (731, 942)<br>
:The boar bristles found in grave 739 were probably from a brush. [GEIJER 1983: p.133]
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*Birka, Sweden: Feathers or downs were found in 2 graves (597duck, 825) [GEIJER 1938: p.133]
