The Martebo Sack

Carved into the Martebo church on Gotland is a depiction of a woman wearing a sack across her shoulder to carry her possessions. This carving is often referenced as it is one of the few images showing how people in the Middle Ages carried goods and possessions.

The bag is a simple affair, a perpendicular slit is cut in the center of a closed rectangular shaped cloth sack. This opening will be used to load objects into the sack. Once filled the sack is twisted in the middle to close it and then slung over the shoulder to carry. This configuration is very familiar for anyone that has ever seen cowboy saddle bags.

Check out the Deep Dive links below to find more information as well as patterns and vendors.

Deeper Dive

sack-from-martebo
a medieval-backpack/
A Martebo Sack for Sale