Agafia of Novgorod
Blog by Agata Prus
My name is Agata Prus, though in the reenactment and archaeological community I am better known as Agafia of Novgorod. I am an early-medieval archaeologist and textile craftsperson from Lublin, Poland, specialising in Viking-Age and Rus’ material culture, with a particular focus on textiles from burial contexts in Birka, Gniezdovo, Timerevo and Pskov. My work combines academic research with practical experimentation, aiming to understand not only what people wore in the early Middle Ages, but also how these garments were made.
For the past several years I have been working at the intersection of experimental archaeology, textile reconstruction and living history. My workshop started as a small personal project and gradually evolved into a recognised platform that connects academic research, craft and public outreach. Today “Agafia of Novgorod” is both my brand and my ongoing experiment — a long-term attempt to recreate early-medieval textiles using historically attested methods, tools and dyeing techniques.
Blog by Agata Prus