Archaeological dyeing

Equisetum variegatum Schleich. ex Weber et Mohr (Equisetaceae L. Rich. ex DC.) is a perennial evergreen plant with a long rhizome. It grows in Arctic tundra and mountain habitats. Usually E. variegatum is assigned to rare or fairly frequent plant species in Lithuania. During the last six decades the number of E. variegatum localities increased more than tenfold. Therefore it is important to perform an analysis of E. variegatum distribution patterns, diversity of localities, and environment protection status in Lithuania. In order to analyse E. variegatum distribution and habitats, herbarium specimens of the horsetail in four Lithuanian herbaria as well as the data obtained during personal research were used. The analysis showed that E. variegatum is found in 27 of 60 administrative districts of Lithuania. Approximately 70% of E. variegatum habitats are anthropogenic, found mainly in the abandoned sand or gravel quarries. Three naturally occurring E. variegatum habitat concentration zones were determined in southeastern and western Lithuania as well as on the coast. Typical naturally occurring E. variegatum habitats in Lithuania are wet meadows, lake shores, fen, coastal dunes, and pine forests. E. variegatum is rare or very rare in natural habitats and fairly rare or fairly common in anthropogenic habitats in Lithuania. In the latter habitats E. variegatum frequently forms thicket.

Between 1880 and 1904, African American residents of Freedmen's Town in Houston, Texas, were buried in the Third New City Cemetery. Using an assemblage of clothing fasteners recovered during excavations of the cemetery, I attempt to identify patterns of use and to interpret the kinds of clothing ensembles represented among men and women. The main goal of this study is to discern potential gendered patterns of clothing-fastener use that could assist in analyzing similar data from other sites. A related, secondary focus of this research is the working-class, gendered identity of black Houstonians and the roles of consumerism and clothing within the context of a segregationist Southern city.

Referring to the published and unpublished historical sources, the significance of botanical data collected by Jósef Jundziłł during the expedition in Lithuania in 1821 to the development of plant distribution studies in Lithuania is analysed. Attention is given to the distribution of plant species collected by J. Jundziłł on the present territory of Lithuania, currently rare plants and J. Jundziłł's notes on their distribution. Botanical data are treated as one of the first evidences for the formation of plant distribution studies in Lithuania.

Textile objects, elements of clothing placed in graves are seldom conserved and poorly researched. However, they inform us not only about clothing itself but also about other functions of textiles. Systematic collection and examination of fabrics may shed light on the textiles used by people of a certain region and period and what is more, import textiles may be identified. The study presents the catalogue and analysis of the textile remains excavated in Tiszafüred-Majoros, the largest Avar period cemetery in today eastern Hungary (mid-7th to 9th century AD).

The sagas of Icelanders (Íslendingasögur) are an important part of European literary history. Both the sagas’ historical background and their literary techniques were studied intensely in the last century, but dress and fashion in Old Norse–Icelandic literature received comparatively little attention in this period. Moreover, the literary corpus and textile history have rarely been used to illuminate one another; however, as this article will demonstrate, synthesising data and methodological approaches from both fields can yield new knowledge about both historical textiles and the sagas. This article focuses on four of the sagas of Icelanders that are set on the Snæfellsnes peninsula: Bjarnar saga Hítdælakappa, Bárðar saga Snæfellsáss, Eyrbyggja saga, and Víglundar saga. The central question the article poses is, how are social norms and cultural ideas reflected in clothing and textiles in these sagas? This study presents a comprehensive and multifaceted view of the textile and clot...

The usual wide range of approaches to garments and fabrics appears in this tenth volume. Three chapters focus on practical matters: a description of the medieval vestments surviving at Castel Sant'Elia in Italy; a survey of the spread of silk cultivation to Europe before 1300; and a documentation of medieval colour terminology for desirable cloth. Two address social significance: the practice of seizing clothing from debtors in fourteenth-century Lucca, and the transformation of the wardrobe of Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII, upon her marriage to the king of Scotland. Two delve into artistic symbolism: a consideration of female headdresses carved at St Frideswide's Priory in Oxford, and a discussion of how Anglo-Saxon artists used soft furnishings to echo emotional aspects of narratives. Meanwhile, in an exercise in historiography, there is an examination of the life of Mrs. A.G.I. Christie, author of the landmark Medieval English Embroidery. Robin Netherton is a...

The significance of medicinal and aromatic plant selection has risen in recent years due to increasing requirements on quality, safety, and efficiency of herbal products. Only selected varieties could guaranty the homogeneity of raw material. The chemical diversity of spontaneous populations is one of the main directions of investigations on medicinal and aromatic plants at the Institute of Botany. The target species under research are following: Origanum vulgare, Thymus spp., Hypericum spp., Achillea millefolium, and Helichrysum arenarium. The analysis of trade figures pointed out that the imported raw material mainly supplies the demands of pharmaceutical industry in Lithuania. The cultivated production covers only 4-6% of the demand for raw material. Wild plant material represents about 29% of total volume used in pharmaceutics. The trade in wild plant species and their resources is regulated by the legislations. In situ and ex situ conservation methods are used to avoid potentia...

How did people in Tang dynasty China view textiles and how did they conceive of their value? Those involved in production could calculate the value in terms of the costs of raw materials, labour and the loom used to weave a particular textile. They might add to this the costs of workshop supervision and maintenance, distribution and marketing, and they might expect to see some benefit – a profit – in the process. However, most people would be end users, and would reckon the value of textiles by eye, if not also by hand, and what they considered to be the market value. Some might have expert knowledge, but many would not. The non-expert evaluation by eye and hand would likely include aspects such as colour, pattern, level of workmanship and intricacy but would probably also reflect some awareness of status and fashion.

Hand-knitted silk stockings from the second half of the 16th century and the first half of the 17th century, which were found in today's Czech Republic (historically Kingdom of Bohemia, Margraviate of Moravia and a part of Duchy of Silesia), were examined from a knitter's point of view. Their shaping and patterning were compared to some stockings from the same period found in other European countries. The possibility of using knitting techniques and construction details for dating or determining the place of origin of knitted objects is discussed.

In Lithuania, 36 species of orchids belonging to 19 genera can be found in the wild. 30 species are included in the Red Data Book of Lithuania and 6 other species (Epipactis helleborine, Epipactis palustris, Goodyera repens, Listera ovata, Neottia nidus-avis, Platanthera bifolia) are not protected at the national level because their populations are considered to be rather large. Two species – Cypripedium calceolus and Liparis loeselii – are listed in Annex A, while the remaining 34 species of Lithuanian orchids are in Annex B to the EU CITES legislation.

Many fragments of archaeological textiles have been found in the Netherlands during the last century. This article focuses on the way these textiles were made and used. How and where were textiles and clothes made and by whom? Was cloth production already a practice of specialists, acting in an extensive trade network, or was it a craft that mainly took place at the household level? To answer these questions  fragments of  different textiles, from  sites have been examined. Without exception these textiles were discovered in settlement context, mostly in the north of the country. The analysis of the remnants has resulted in the distinction of the different steps in the production process and insight in the way the textile products were used. The results show that many textiles are likely to have been produced at a household level. Only in a few cases were they made using special skills and tools or did the production process require much time. Some products, such as the finer fabrics, the fine needlework on several hats, fabrics with a raised nap, piled weaves and a veil-like garment, may be considered as the work of textile specialists. In this article it is argued that these specialists were either working for a patron or in an independent workshop.  Chrystel R. Brandenburgh Journal of Archaeology in the Low Countries - (May ) © Brandenburgh and AUP  Chrystel R. Brandenburgh Journal of Archaeology in the Low Countries - (May ) © Brandenburgh and AUP Early medieval textile remains from settlements in the Netherlands. An evaluation of textile production  Journal of Archaeology in the Low Countries - (May ) © Brandenburgh and AUP  Chrystel R. Brandenburgh Journal of Archaeology in the Low Countries - (May ) © Brandenburgh and AUP  Chrystel R. Brandenburgh Journal of Archaeology in the Low Countries - (May ) © Brandenburgh and AUP  Chrystel R. Brandenburgh Journal of Archaeology in the Low Countries - (May ) © Brandenburgh and AUP

The article acquaints the readers with the manufacture of jewellery artefacts, old technologies and with the names of some processes. Technologies used in Lithuania in 2nd- 14th centuries are compared with some old metal processing technologies that came from the eastern Mediterranean sea region. To explain and visualise technological processes the author of the article, an archaeologist and jeweller, used his long time research and practical experience, which he has amassed when reconstructing non-ferrous metal processing technologies.

Audiniai, randami archeologinėje aplinkoje, dėl humuso rūgščiųpoveikio yra praradę savo buvusią spalvą. Tyrimų objektas -I-XII a. tekstilės fragmentai. Natūralūs dūžikliai tirti atliekant mikrocheminę ir plonasluoksnę chromatografinę analizę. Analizės metu įvairių laikotarpių medžiagoje nustatyti mėlynos (indigo), raudonos (alizarino, purpurino), geltonos (hirdoksiflavonų klasei priklausančių dažiklių) ir juodos/rudos spalvos dūžikliai (taninai). Reikšminiai žodžiai: archeologinė tekstilė, dažikliai, dažieji augalai, mikrocheminė kokybinė ir plonasluoksnė chromatografinę analizė. Fabrics that are found in the archaeological environment have lost their former color due to effect of humus acids. The object of research is textile fragments of the lst-12th c. Natural colorants were investi gated through microchemical and thin-layer chromatographic analysis. During analysis of fabrics from various periods, the following colorants were found: blue (indigo), red (alizarin, purpurin), yellow (be longing to the class ofhydroxiflavones) and black/brown (tannins). Keywords: archaeological textiles, colorants, dying plants, micro chemical analysis and thin-layer chromatography. Kaminską J., Nahlik A., 1958 -Wlökiennictwo gdanskie w X-XIII. Lodz, 1958. Kirjavainen H., Riikonen J., 2004 -Some Finish Archaeological Twill Weaves from the 11th to 15th centu ry // table 1 (nepublikuota). Kraszewski J., 1847 -Litwa, Starožytne dzieje,ustawy, jązyk, wiara, obyczaje, piešni, przystowia, podania i t.d. Warszawa, 1847. T. 1. Kulikauskas P., 1966s -1966 m. Girkalių (Klaipė dos r.) plokštinio kapinyno tyrinėjimai. Vilnius, 1966 // Lietuvos istorijos instituto rankraštynas, b. 263. LTbieši, 2001 -LTbieši senatne. Riga, 2001.

While few archaeological finds remain concerning dress during the Iron Age of the Celtic Tribes in Europe, if we consider historical commentary, Celtic art, oral traditions and archaeological data together we can amass a generic idea what might have been available and worn by them. This broad approach to dress is not with out bias however and it must be noted that regional differences must have existed. The document tries to amass not just the generic view of dress but also emphasizes the issues of lack of evidence and culture and region differences that impact this information.

This is the presentation of my first results of the analysis of the textiles from Lønne Hede - a first century gravefield in western Jutland, Denmark. As I am in doubt about the copyrights of this article, I have removed it as a downloadable file. However, if you are interested, please contact me.

Please note - I have started working on this material again - and this time around I find many more interesting details - which will be published in an article within the next few years.....
IDA

Sagas draw our attention to colour in clothes, and coloured clothing is also mentioned in poetry. From sagas and poetry, it would appear that coloured clothing is noteworthy in itself; it is usually blue, but red is more imposing, and most impressive of all is red scarlet. Undyed clothing is also mentioned, often as the dress of slaves, but it can be worn even by kings. White clothing appears to symbolise piety.

To what extent is this picture supported by archaeology? Finds from medieval Greenland suggest that dyed cloth might indeed have been a rarity in the saga age, but interestingly the picture changes slightly when we look back to Viking times. This would appear to point to increasing isolation of the Atlantic settlements in the second millennium. Nonetheless, dyes are best represented on the best cloths of Viking Scandinavia, such as fine tabbies, Birka-type twills and pile woven cloaks.

Chemical analysis of excavated Scandinavian textiles by Penelope Walton Rogers has confirmed a remarkable predilection for blue clothing among Vikings. Red clothing is limited to high status contexts. 'Red scarlet' refers to a type of luxury cloth that was unknown in the Viking Age; however, the dye that was used to produce it (kermes) has been found on Viking silks. White clothing appears to have been popular not only with the pious but with the ungodly too, though its religious significance was important from the Conversion. The archaeology of dyestuffs reflects a similar pattern to that of dyed clothing.

In the light of this, I argue that blue clothes occur in the sagas simply as best clothes, and the colour does not in itself have any special symbolic meaning when it is worn before a killing. I also consider how red clothes are used as a status marker in sagas and poetry.

As well as a general analysis, I look in more detail at some specific instances of coloured clothes in poetry, such as Atlakviða's 'serki valrauða ' (st. 4), Sigurðarkviða inn skamma's 'valaript vel fáð' (st. 66) and Rígsþula's 'serk bláfáan' (st. 29). I also consider literary and archaeological evidence for coloured clothes in other Viking-age societies, and find that the colour of Viking dress was distinctive, and was recognised as characteristically Scandinavian.