ringlets and they put rouge on their cheeks. They were often
doing needlework. Silk was affordable only by the wealthy.

Most families kept a pig and pork was the primary meat. There
were also sheep, goats, cows, deer, rabbits, and fowl. Fowl was
obtained by fowlers who trapped them. The inland waters yielded
eels, salmon, and trout. In the fall, meat was salted to preserve
it for winter meals. There were orchards growing figs, nuts,
grapes, almonds, pears, and apples. Also produced were beans,
lentils, onions, eggs, cheese, and butter. Pepper and cinnamon
were imported.

Fishing from the sea developed in the 8th century, and yielded
herrings, sturgeon, porpoise, oysters, crabs, and other fish.
Whale skins were used to make ropes.

Hot baths were in common use. It was usual to wash one's feet
after traveling and drying them with a rough wool cloth.
Traveling a far distance was unsafe as there were robbers on the
roads. Traveling strangers were distrusted. There were
superstitions about the content of dreams, the events of the
moon, and the flights and voices of birds were often seen as
signs or omens of future events. Herbal mixtures were drunk for
sickness and maladies.

In the peaceful latter part of the seventh century, Theodore, who
had been a monk in Rome, was appointed Archbishop and visited all
the island speaking about the right rule of life and ordaining
bishops to oversee the priests. However, this was difficult
because the bishops spoke Latin and the priests of the local