Bronze Age moss fibre garments from Scotland – the jury’s out

In the light of recent discoveries of early to middle Bronze Age burials with mats and fibrous material in Scotland, for example at Langwell farm and Forteviot, it was deemed timely to re-evaluate earlier finds of this period, several of which were discovered and initially reported on nearly a century ago. As part of this research it was noted that three Bronze Age finds from the old literature were reported as clothing or shrouds made of hair moss (Polytrichum commune). Three of these are reassessed here, with a detailed re-examination of the “hair moss apron” from North Cairn Farm. Technological analysis of this find showed no evidence for the twining previously reported and SEM fibre analysis shows that it is unlikely to be hair moss or indeed Bronze Age. However, there is other evidence for hair moss artefacts from other British Bronze Age and Roman contexts. These suggest it is possible that hair moss fibre was used in Scotland in the Bronze Age, but that the North Cairn Farm fibrous object should no longer be considered among this evidence

Sheep to Textiles: Approaches to Investigating Ancient Wool Trade

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Harrassowitz via http://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/title_88.ahtm

Making cities: Economies of production and urbanization in Mediterranean Europe, 1000–500 BC

Large and complex settlements appeared across the north Mediterranean during the period 1000–500 bc, from the Aegean basin to Iberia, as well as north of the Alps. The region also became considerably more interconnected. Urban life and networks fostered new consumption practices, requiring different economic and social structures to sustain them. This book considers the emergence of cities in Mediterranean Europe, with a focus on the economy. What was distinctive about urban lifeways across the Mediterranean? How did different economic activities interact, and how did they transform power hierarchies? How was urbanism sustained by economic structures, social relations and mobility? The authors bring to the debate recently excavated sites and regions that may be unfamiliar to wider (especially Anglophone) scholarship, alongside fresh reappraisals of well-known cities. The variety of urban life, economy and local dynamics prompts us to reconsider ancient urbanism through a comparative perspective

Wool textiles and archaeometry: testing reliability of archaeological wool fibre diameter measurements

Characterisations of ancient sheep breeds and wool types and theories about wool fibre processing are integral parts of textile archaeology. The studies build on statistical calculations of measurements of wool fibre diameters and reveal characteristics of the yarns that are attributed to the available raw wool and to the production methods of the time. Different microscope types have been used for data collection. Presently digital images from either scanning electron microscopy (SEM) or transmitted light microscopy (TLM) are the preferred methods. The advantage of SEM is the good depth of field at high magnification, while TLM is simpler to use and more readily available. Several classification systems have been developed to facilitate the interpretation of the results. In this article, the comparability of the results from these two methods and from the use of different magnifications in general is examined based on the analyses of a large number of the Danish prehistoric textiles. The results do not indicate superiority of one microscope type in favour of another. Rather, they reveal differences in the calculations that can be ascribed to the diversity of the fibres in the individual yarns as well as to the methodology and the magnification level

Colouring the Mediterranean: Production and Consumption of Purple-dyed Textiles in Pre-Roman Times

Purple textiles were highly valued in the ancient Mediterranean as a symbol of prestige, social status and power. Despite the numerous publications focused on the production and spread of purple dye technologies, the discussion regarding this particular dye has often been compartmentalised regionally (eastern or western Mediterranean) and chronologically (second or first millennium bc). The aim of this paper is threefold: (1) to propose a full chaîne opératoire for the production of shellfish-purple-dyed textiles; (2) to synthesise the archaeological evidence on production and consumption of such textiles in the entire Mediterranean before the Romans; and (3) to discuss the social implications of the production and consumption of these textiles, to gain a better understanding of their economic and social significance.ER

Old Textiles - New Possibilities

Textile research has become an important field of archaeology. Although the established analytical methods are often viewed as specialized, their integration with other interdisciplinary approaches allows us to deal with broader archaeological issues and provides the interpretational base for a much more comprehensive investigation of textiles in ancient times. Analyses of fibres, dyes, archaeobotanical and archaeozoological remains, as well as palaeoenvironmental and geo- chemical investigations, provide information about available resources, while tool studies, experimental testing, and visual grouping are approaches that explore the technology and techniques. Together, these approaches can provide new knowledge about textile production and consumption and, thereby, about people and society in ancient times