Karina Grömer

The Art of Prehistoric

Textile Making

natural history
museum vienna

The development of craft traditions

and clothing in Central Europe
 The Art of Prehistoric
Textile Making
The development of craft traditions
and clothing in Central Europe

Karina Grömer

with contributions of
Regina Hofmann-de Keijzer (Dyeing)
and
Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer (Sewing and tailoring)

Veröffentlichungen der Prähistorischen Abteilung (VPA) 5

Natural History Museum Vienna, 2016
 IMPRINT

Karina Grömer
Natural History Museum Vienna
Prähistorische Abteilung
Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria
e-mail: [email protected]

Regina Hofmann-de Keijzer

Universität of Applied Arts Vienna
Department Archaeometry
Salzgries 14/1, 1013 Vienna, Austria
e-mail: [email protected]

Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer
Independent researcher, Altlengbach, Austria
e-mail: [email protected]

Publisher:
© 2016 Natural History Museum Vienna
All rights reserved.
Except where otherwise noted, all figures are the work of the authors. Any de-
ficiencies that remain are the sole responsibility of the respective authors or of
the editor.

Editor:
Andreas Kroh
Natural History Museum Vienna
Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria
Tel.: +43 (1) 521 77 / 576
Fax: +43 (1) 521 77 / 459
e-mail: [email protected]

Translation: Katharina Rebay-Salisbury and Roderick Salisbury

Proof reading: Susanna Harris, Katrin Kania, Andreas Kroh and John-Peter Wild

Cover: Andreas Kroh, Alice Schumacher

Layout: Gerhard Withalm, Baden

Printed by Ueberreuter Print & Packaging GmbH, Korneuburg

ISSN 2077-3943
ISBN 978-3-902421-94-4

Research partially results from: Austrian Science Fund (FWF): L 431-G02

(2008-2012)
Published with support from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF): PUB 127-G19

II
The Prehistoric Art of
Textile Making

The development of craft traditions and

clothing in Central Europe

IX Preface

1 A Introduction
2 1 Central Europe before the Romans
5 1.1 Stone Age
10 1.2 Bronze Age
14 1.3 Iron Age
20 2 Textile preservation
23 2.1 Preservation by metal corrosion products
24 2.2 Preservation by salt
26 2.3 Preservation within waterlogged contexts
27 2.4 Preservation by ice
28 2.5 Bogs
28 2.6 Oak coffins
30 2.7 Carbonisation
30 2.8 Imprints on ceramics
32 3 Defining textiles

35 B Craft techniques: from fibre to fabric

37 1 Raw Materials
42 1.1 Plant Fibres
54 1.2 Animal fibres
62 2 Preparatory work
63 2.1 Preparation of flax
65 2.2 Preparation of wool
72 2.3 Archaeological finds of tools for fibre preparation
74 3 Yarn manufacture: spinning
78 3.1 Different spinning techniques with the hand spindle
81 3.2 Archaeological finds of spinning tools
85 3.3 Weights of spindle whorls and associated yarn qualities

III
 91 4 Weaving techniques
93 4.1 Band weaves: narrow repp bands
96 4.2 Broad bands in different weave types
101 4.3 Tablet weaving
107 4.4 Textiles from the warp-weighted loom
139 4.5 Other types of looms
140 5 Dyeing (Regina Hofmann-de Keijzer)
141 5.1 Prehistoric people discover colourants and
dyeing processes
144 5.2 Scientific investigations of textile dyes
147 5.3 Archaeological evidence of organic colourants
163 5.4 Textile dyeing in the Bronze and Iron Ages
169 6 Patterns and designs
171 6.1 Weaving decoration: structure and spin patterns
173 6.2 Weaving ornaments: colour patterns
185 6.3 Floating threads in warp or weft
198 6.5 Patterning with needle and thread
205 6.6. Painting on fabrics
208 7 Finishing of fabrics
209 7.1 Finishing wool fabrics
212 7.2 Finishing linen fabrics
214 7.3. Washing and Dyeing
216 8 Sewing and tailoring (Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer)
217 8.1 Tools
218 8.2 Types of stitches in prehistory
223 8.3 Seam and hem types in prehistory
230 8.4 Examples of prehistoric dressmaking patterns
236 8.5 Prehistoric pictorial sources of seams and hems
239 8.6 Patches and repairs

241 C Textile craft in prehistory

243 1 Levels of production: household, specialised and
mass production
247 1.1 Household production
248 1.2 Household industry
252 1.3 Attached specialist production
256 1.4 Workshop production and large-scale industry for trade
262 2 The sociology of textile crafts
265 2.1 Consumers – people using textiles
268 2.2 Producers – people involved in textile handcraft
275 2.3 Textile craft organisation – division of labour?

IV
280 3 Sites of production

291 D From clothes to household textiles:

fabric use in prehistory
294 1 Clothes
296 2 Textiles in funerary practice
302 3 Soft furnishings: wall hangings, cushions and
similar items
307 5 Recycling: binding material, bandages, packaging
material, caulking material
313 6 Technical use and utilitarian textiles: scabbards,
belt linings, interlinings
318 7 Conclusion

319 E Clothing in Central European Prehistory

321 1 Sources for the history of pre-Roman costume
321 1.1 Complete garments
324 1.2 Textiles in graves
326 1.3 Clothing accessories and jewellery from graves
329 1.4 Pictorial sources
332 1.5 Written Sources
333 2 Clothing through the ages
334 3 Neolithic
335 3.1 The first farmers in the Early and Middle Neolithic
339 3.2 Late Neolithic – Copper Age
352 3.3 Neolithic clothing: conclusion
353 4 Bronze Age
355 4.1 Garments of the Nordic Bronze Age
360 4.2 Evidence for Bronze Age clothing in Central Europe
371 4.3 Bronze Age head coverings and shoes
373 4.4 Interpretation of Bronze Age sources in terms of
costume history
379 5 Iron Age
379 5.1 Complete Iron Age garments from Northern Europe
385 5.2 Evidence for Early Iron Age clothing in Central Europe
398 5.3 Representations of clothing on situlae
403 5.4 Evidence for Late Iron Age clothing in Central Europe
414 5.5 Iron Age head coverings and shoes
420 5.6 Interpretation of Iron Age sources in terms of
costume history

V
 428 6 The meaning of clothes and jewellery
429 6.1 Attraction and chastity
431 6.2 Protection of the body
434 6.3 Psychological effects of clothing
435 6.4 Gendered design
438 6.5 Social function – vestimentary codes
443 6.6 The value of clothing
445 7 Pre-Roman clothing history: conclusions

449 F Summary

455 G Appendix
456 Glossary of archaeological and textile terms
461 Figure captions
468 Sources for dyestuff analyses
469 Antique sources
471 Bibliography
524 Index

VI
Preface
The book „The Prehistoric Art of Textile Making – The develop-
ment of craft traditions and clothing in Central Europe“ is aimed
at historians, archaeologists and anyone interested in the history
of costumes and crafts. It was written from the perspective of a
prehistoric archaeologist to illuminate Central European history
before written records. To facilitate access for the broad, scien-
tifically interested public, basic concepts and methods of prehis-
toric archaeology are briefly explained if they are relevant to un-
derstanding the content of this book. A subject-specific glossary
of archaeological and textile technological terms is included as
well.

Textile crafts, especially spinning and weaving, were interpreted

metaphorically in Classical Antiquity. The Fates (parcae in An-
cient Rome, moirai in Ancient Greece), three wise women, span
and cut off the thread of life. Symbolically, they controlled the
life of every mortal from birth to death. This appreciation of tex-
tile crafts expressed in linguistic and mythological symbolism is
no longer apparent in the modern world of mass production and
global economy. Interestingly, however, textile crafts and above
all weaving have contributed significantly to the general devel-
opment of technology. Looms, invented in the Neolithic period,
were the first machines in human history as they mechanized
production processes. Automation by punch cards and binary
code – crucial for the development of modern computing – were
first applied in weaving. Joseph-Marie Jaquard* (1752 to 1834)
built punch cards into an Austrian model loom which contained
information about the pattern to be woven. These were scanned
by needles, whereby a hole meant the thread was to be lifted
and no hole meant the thread was to be lowered. Through the
punch cards – data storage in modern terms – the Jacquard loom
was the first machine that could be programmed as needed to
achieve patterns of any complexity.

The roots of our history – and thus the history of textile crafts –
lie in the darkness of prehistory far before the Romans. Essential
textile techniques that still accompany us as textile customers
today were already developed in the Stone and Bronze Ages.

VII
 Through the combination of different, sometimes inconspicuous
sources and the application of modern scientific methods, pre-
historic archaeology succeeds in painting a vivid picture of the
development of textile crafts over time.

At the beginning the book describes the individual steps of tex-

tile production and their tangible archaeological traces, address-
ing complex issues of craft sociology – the craftspeople behind
the textiles as well as the places of production. It further eval-
uates whether crafts were conducted in the framework of do-
mestic production or if organized forms of production such as
specialization and mass production already occurred in Central
Europe in pre-Roman times. The book concludes with a chapter
about the history of clothing before the Romans. Clothing is a
characteristic feature of any culture. By combining insights from
image sources, burial finds and textile remains, an attempt is
made to investigate the phenomenon of clothing from the Stone
to the Iron Age. This time span is very long indeed – it is there-
fore impossible to draw a complete picture of all developments
of clothing in prehistory. Individual garment shapes, however,
can already be reconstructed for this early period. Many as-
pects of prehistoric clothing can be accessed by archaeological
remains and further interpretations about the social function of
clothing are possible.

The German version of this book (Prähistorische Textilkunst

in Mitteleuropa – Geschichte des Handwerks vor den Römern,
2010) was written in the context of a research project based at
the Natural History Museum in Vienna; its focus is therefore
Austria and its neighbouring countries. The research project was
part of the international textile research framework “DressID –
Clothing and Identities. New Perspectives on Textiles in the Ro-
man Empire”, funded by the EU Culture Programme and con-
ducted under the direction of the Curt-Engelhorn-Foundation
of the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums Mannheim between 2007 and
2012. Research on the prehistoric dying techniques was carried
out within the FWF-Project Dyeing techniques of the prehistoric
textiles from the salt mine of Hallstatt – analysis, experiments
and inspiration for contemporary application. (FWF-Project L
431-G02; 2008-2012).

VIII
Within the last five years, however, textile research in Europe
made important steps forward. New analytical methods were
tested and applied to archaeological textiles, e.g. isotopic trac-
ing. The book was therefore extended to include the latest re-
search results and new exciting finds such as the Hamerum tex-
tiles. In this new edition, translated to English, more figures of
recent investigations and new finds could be added.

I would like to thank my co-authors, Regina Hofmann-de Kei-

jzer and Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer, who have provided the
latest research results in their respective specialised fields to be
included in this book. The book was translated by Katharina Re-
bay-Salisbury and edited by Roderick B. Salisbury. The publi-
cation was funded by the Austrian Research Fund FWF (PUB
127-G19).

For technical assistance, editorial comments, suggestions and

permissions to print illustrations I would like to extend my thanks
to Eva Andersson-Strand (Copenhagen), Walpurga Antl-Weiser
(Vienna), Ines Balzer (Glauberg), Johanna Banck-Burgess (Es-
slingen), Marta Bazzanella (San Michele), Lise Bender Jørgensen
(Trondheim), Sophie Bergerbrant (Stockholm), Anna Maria Bi-
etti Sestieri (Salento), Christoph Blesl (Vienna), Ida Demant (Le-
jre), Kerstin Dross (Marburg), Alexandrine Eibner (Vienna), An-
gelika Fleckinger (Bolzano), Melitta Franceschini (Bozen), As-
trid Geimer (Frankfurt), Margarita Gleba (Cambridge), Kordula
Gostenčnik (Magdalensberg), Vera Hammer (Vienna), Susanna
Harris (Glasgow), Anna Hartl (Vienna), Andreas G. Heiss (Vi-
enna), Berit Hildebrandt (Hannover), Eva Hölbling-Steigberger
(Vienna), Franz Humer (Carnuntum), Sebastian Ipach (Jena), In-
eke Joosten (Amsterdam), Albrecht Jockenhövel (Münster), Ka-
trin Kania (Erlangen), Fleming Kaul (Copenhagen), Anton Kern
(Vienna), Daniela Kern (Vienna), Marianne Kohler-Schneider
(Vienna), Kerstin Kowarik (Vienna), Andrea Kourgli (Vienna),
Kurt Kracher (Vienna), Robert Kralofsky (Vienna), Andrea Krapf
(Vienna), Alexandra Krenn-Leeb (Vienna), Andreas Kroh (Vi-
enna), Ernst Lauermann (Asparn), Gloria Lekaj (Vienna), Jutta
Leskovar (Linz), Urs Leuzinger (Thurgau), Wolfgang Lobisser
(Vienna), Ulla Mannering (Copenhagen), Bianca Mattl (Vienna),
Michaela Maurer (Horn), Susanne Mayrhofer (Vienna), Sylvia
Mitschke (Mannheim), Susan Möller-Wiering (Schleswig), Fritz

IX
 Moosleitner (Salzburg), Stefan Moser (St. Pölten), Marie-Luise
Nosch (Copenhagen), Anna Palme (Vienna), Christina Peek (Es-
slingen), Gabriela Popa (Vienna), Anna und Fritz Preinfalk (Vi-
enna), Art Néss Proaño Gaibor (Amsterdam), Antoinette Rast-
Eicher (Ennenda), Peter Ramsl (Vienna), Katharina Rebay-Salis-
bury (Leicester), Anne Reichert (Ettlingen-Bruchhausen), Mar-
tina Reitberger (Linz), Hans Reschreiter (Vienna), Ursula Rothe
(London), Angelika Rudelics (Vienna), Annette Schieck gen.
Paetz (Krefeld), Ingrid Schierer (Vienna), Alice Schumacher (Vi-
enna), Susanne Stegmann-Rajtár (Nitra), Thomas Stöllner (Bo-
chum), Tereza Štolcová-Belanová (Nitra), Claudia Theune-Vogt
(Vienna), Peter Trebsche (Asparn), Otto H. Urban (Vienna),
Maarten R. van Bommel (Amsterdam), Ernst Vitek (Vienna),
John Peter Wild (Manchester).

My family deserves special thanks for all their help and patience.

Karina Grömer, November 2015

* J. Essinger 2004: Jacquard's Web: How a Hand-Loom Led to the Birth

 of the Information Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

X
 A Introduction

The history of textile crafts and clothing can only be

understood correctly in the framework of prehistoric
research. A brief overview of the technical and
cultural as well as social and economic development
throughout the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages will
therefore introduce the topic.

1
 1 Central Europe before the Romans
Prehistoric archaeology1 is dedicated to the study of an era with
no written records, from the beginning of human development
to the dissemination of writing. Prehistory thus ends in Egypt
in the 4th Millennium BC, whilst in Central Europe north of the
Alps written history does not start before the expansion of the
Roman Empire into the area.

The role of an archaeologist dealing with prehistory is to ex-

plore the life-world of our ancestors from the meagre resources
of archaeological finds and to reconstruct everyday life, farming
practices, craft techniques and social and religious ideas, as far
as they are reflected, for example, in burial practices. Invaluable
sources of knowledge are prehistoric settlements with struc-
tures such as houses, hearths, storage pits or ditches, which may
be discovered during archaeological excavations. Archaeology
is a popular theme on screen as well as fiction writing. How-
ever, that which is central to the prehistorian’s interest is not
hunting down spectacular gold treasures – as suggested by the
well-known film character of Indiana Jones – but the entire leg-
acy of human culture: vessels, stone tools, animal bones, metal
artefacts, tools, jewellery, even the most inconspicuous piece of
pottery. Of uttermost importance is the detailed consideration
of all contextual information. When a sword is discovered, for
example, only the context it is found in may reveal its meaning:
found in a grave, it was probably a gift in honour of the deceased
warrior or a possession of the deceased. As a stray find in a ru-
ined settlement it could indicate a combat action, in which it was
lost. A buried sword in a sacred place (such as a river source) is
more likely to be interpreted as a dedication to a deity. For this
reason, finds unearthed without contextual information, for in-
stance during illegal metal detecting, are largely worthless for
research, even if they are the most beautiful piece of jewellery or
a magnificent sword.

In whichever way archaeological remains are interpreted, one

must always be aware that the vast majority of the materials with

1
For general introductions to archaeology see Cunliffe 1998. – Eggers 1959. – Eggert 2001. –
Renfrew and Bahn 2005.

2
which prehistoric people were surrounded and with which they
worked is lost to us today. In temperate Europe, organic mate-
rials start to decay as soon as they are deposited in the ground.
This includes everything made of wood, leather, grass or wool,
and therefore all kinds of food or clothing. Studying textile crafts
and clothing history is therefore particularly challenging. In Eu-
rope, there are only few sites with exceptional conditions under
which such materials were preserved (see section A2).

Since Christian Thomsen’s 1836 research in Denmark, prehis-

tory has been divided into three epochs, the Stone Age, Bronze
Age and Iron Age, each named after the innovative use of work-
ing materials at the time. During the time before written history
(particularly before the Celts around 400 BC), names of tribes,
peoples and rulers were not recorded, but ‘archaeological cul-
tures’ with similarities in material culture can be recognized,
separated from one another and arranged chronologically.
These cultures are defined based on typical tools, pottery or by
uniform practices of burial and house construction. These ‘ar-
chaeological cultures’ and periods are named after defining fea-
tures of the cultures, such as vessel forms (e.g. Bell Beaker Cul-
ture), vessel decoration (e.g. Linear Pottery Culture), or grave
types (e.g. Tumulus Culture, Urnfield Culture). Finally, there are
also special sites, including Hallstatt in Austria, which may give
a culture or an era its name. It has to remain open whether these
archaeological cultures coincide with former tribes, peoples or
language groups.

In this book, the main focus is on sedentary cultures from the

Neolithic period through Iron Age, since weaving and woven
clothing are common at that time, and it is these achievements
which will be dealt with in greater detail below. For orientation
and as guidance, this book starts with a brief overview of pre-
history in Central Europe2. In Northern Europe, the individual
prehistoric periods start a little later than in Central Europe.

2
For a general overview see Cunliffe 1998. – Jones 2008. – Kristiansen 1991; 2000. –
Milisauskas 2002. – Urban 2000. – Vandkilde 2007. – von Freeden and von Schnurbein 2002.

3
4 Fig. 1. Time table.
1.1 Stone Age

The Palaeolithic period is the one that has influenced the his-
tory of mankind the longest. Since humans learned to walk up-
right at about 4 million years ago, people lived as nomadic hunt-
er-gatherers till the end of the last Ice Age around 10,000 BC.
With the emergence of anatomically modern humans in Central
Europe in the Upper Palaeolithic at around 40,000 BC, the first
artistic expressions appear, of which the Venus of Willendorf or
the expressive cave paintings of Lascaux and Altamira are the
most famous examples.

The Neolithic period starts after the end of the last Ice Age in the
Middle East and is tied to environmental changes at the begin-
ning of the Holocene, which brought substantial changes to the
plant and animal life. The Pleistocene fauna of large mammals
such as the mammoth, woolly rhinoceros and cave bear disap-
peared, and instead of the ice-age steppe landscape, a mixed oak
forest spread across much of Central Europe.

The Neolithic period is characterized by farming culture with

agriculture and animal husbandry. These traits reach Central
Europe from the southeast. People became sedentary in the
9th millennium BC in the Fertile Crescent, the area between the
Euphrates and Tigris, Israel to the Sinai Peninsula. Early forms
of grain and domestic animals lived in this area, and abetted
the process. Einkorn and emmer wheat were cultivated, sheep,
goat, cattle and pigs became domesticated. Agriculture led to
the formation of permanent settlements: first houses, village and
­settlement communities arose, which were, among other rea-
sons, necessary to protect raw materials and the harvest. Agri-
culture also, however, led to dependence on the soil and climate,
resulting in a change of worldviews and religion. As early as the
Neolithic, people altered their environment, for instance in or-
der to gain land through deforestation. For the first time it was
possible to live in one place from harvest to harvest, together
with domestic animals as living meat stock. This new way of
living led to an increase in population. The farmers sought new
land, and so – after one of many theories – cereal cultivation
and animal husbandry spread. From Asia Minor, where one of
the oldest cities developed in Çatal Hüyük, the new way of life

5
 spread and reached Greece in the 7th millennium BC, to spread
further over the Carpathian Basin in the 6th millennium BC and
then into temperate Europe. By 5,500 BC, a large farming cul-
ture inhabited Central Europe, which is called the 'Linear Pot-
tery Culture' after its characteristic pottery decorations. In addi-
tion to the production of ceramic vessels, other new craft tech-
niques emerged. Stone tools were ground, sawed and drilled
from tough rocks such as serpentine and used for land clear-
ance, processing of wood and construction works. Another new
feature was the manufacture of woven textiles. Basketry of vari-
ous types, as well as net making, twining techniques and the like
were already known from the end of the Palaeolithic and the
Mesolithic, but weaving on a loom truly was a novelty.

The Neolithic in Central Europe covers the period from c. 5,600

to 2,300 BC. The Early Neolithic is characterized by a coherent
European culture, the Linear Pottery Culture, which is one of the
best-researched cultures of prehistoric Europe. The first farmers
preferred fertile loess soil near water for their settlements – par-
ticularly the Danube and its tributaries provided such condi-
tions. Villages with a few houses were founded, fields were es-
tablished close by (Fig. 2). For the first time, cemeteries were es-
tablished, some with hundreds of burials, which provide infor-
mation about the religious beliefs of these people. Components
of dress fittings and jewellery made ​​of bone and shell indicate
the look of the clothing; small figurines are also a good source
for reconstructing garments. Sickles with flint blades were used
as harvesting tools, various axes made of greenstone were used
for woodworking. For the first time in European history, ce-
ramic vessels could be used for cooking and storing food.

Nevertheless, living together was far from peaceful paradise, as

cruelly exemplified by the “massacre” site of Asparn-Schletz in
Austria. In a fortification built around 5,000 BC, archaeologists
found hundreds of skeletons. The entire population had been
slaughtered; apart from young women who are missing in the
anthropological statistics. They were probably abducted. The
reasons for the conflict remain unknown. Traces of malnourish-
ment on the human bones might indicate that crop failures and
famine were responsible for this first documented act of war on
European soil.

6
From c. 4,900 BC, in the Middle Neolithic, an expansion of the
settlement area meant that former forest landscapes of the Al-
pine foothills or in mountainous zones were cleared and used
for agriculture. At the same time the culture groups in Cen-
tral Europe kept dividing. In the middle Danube region the
Lengyel Culture was widespread, also named Painted Pottery
Culture after the preferred ceramic ornament. In Germany, the
Rössen Culture produced completely different ceramic types
and decorations, as well as different domestic structures and
forms of burial.

The settlement patterns were more diverse. Large, fortified vil-

lages acted as centres for several small villages in the vicinity.
In the Danube region a characteristic of this period are circu-
lar ditch systems (Kreisgrabenanlagen) with diameters of up to
160 m. These were composed of up to three parallel circular Fig. 2. Artist’s
impression of life
ditches with banks between the ditches, and often have a pal- in an early farming
isade along the innermost ditch. The monuments are likely community in Central
to have had a specific legal, political and ritual significance – Europe.

7
 ­ erhaps as meeting place, safe place or sanctuary. In terms of
p
ritual and cult, small female figurines have been found, and will
be referred to later when discussing the sources used for recon-
structing prehistoric clothing.

Warm and humid climate had generally been predominant since

the beginning of the Neolithic, but from c. 3,800 BC, the late Neo-
lithic (Copper Age) onwards, the climate began to change to a
slightly cooler, wetter transitional period.

While cultures in the millennia before the Copper Age were

purely rurally oriented, new social and economic changes now
occurred. Different social groups are archaeologically identifi-
able in the cemeteries. Different tools and weapons suggest that
warriors and craftsmen emerged as new social groups. This pe-
riod saw the beginnings of copper metallurgy, for the time be-
ing mainly used for jewellery, later tools were also made of this
metal, and gold was also employed. In this era named Copper
Age, the new sought-after raw material meant an economic and
cultural boom in regions with copper and gold deposits, espe-
cially the Carpathian region. Alpine areas too were settled now.

The four-wheeled cart made its first appearance in Central Eu-

rope, evidenced by finds of wooden wheels from Switzerland
and Slovenia and zoological evidence for domestic horses. Hu-
man mobility increased through the use of wagons and horses.
For millennia it had only been possible to travel on foot or by
water. Wheel and cart were also important for the development
of agriculture, enlarging the areas that could be worked. The
principle of the rotating axis was already familiar from the use
of spindles in the Neolithic.

In contrast to the major European Early Neolithic Linear Pot-

tery Culture, the Late Neolithic saw a breakdown into many
different regional cultural groups that maintained contacts to
neighbouring areas. For textile research the cultures of the lakes
around the Alps are of particular interest, since organic materi-
als and therefore textiles have been preserved in the wetlands.
The Pfyn and Horgen Cultures inhabited today’s Switzerland
during the Late Neolithic, and the Cham Group and Jevišovice
Culture were situated in Austria. It would be beyond the scope

8
of this framework to characterize the individual cultural phe-
nomena in more detail. Here, they offer us names for the tempo-
ral succession of different regional cultures. Of particular inter-
est is the Iceman, a mummy found in 1991 near an old mountain
pass in the Ötztal Alps with clothing and equipment, which has
survived c. 5,300 years in the ice of the glacier.

According to linguistic research, the Indo-European family of

languages ​​emerged during the Copper Age; it is, however, not
possible to verify such an entity archaeologically.

The Neolithic period ends as it began – with pan-European cul-

tures, the Corded Ware and Bell Beaker Culture, named after
the outstandingly well-made bell-shaped cups with stamp im-
pressions (Fig. 3). The end of the third Millennium BC is also
characterized by large migratory movements in Western and
Central Europe. At the same time, the Great Pyramids of the
4th Dynasty (2639 – 2504 BC) arise in Egypt under the pharaohs
Khufu, ­Khafre and Menkaure.

Fig. 3. Bell beaker

from Laa an der Thaya,
Austria.

9
 1.2 Bronze Age

The middle section of the classic three-age-system, the Bronze

Age, begins at c. 2,300/2,200 BC in Central Europe and ends at
the time of the first Olympic Games in Greece around 800 BC.
It is the time of the Middle and (start of the) New Kingdom in
Egypt, the time of the Hittite Empire and the Mycenaean Cul-
ture in the Aegean world.

The Bronze Age is characterized by a new material, bronze, an

alloy of nine parts of copper and one part tin. The use of this
metal had already been established by c. 5,000 BC in the Mid-
dle East. The discovery and the spread of knowledge related to
metal processing resulted in a technological revolution in Cen-
tral Europe that eventually transformed the economy and soci-
ety as a whole. Bronze, and later iron, enabled the production of
better tools and weapons, because both materials are very stable
and malleable. This in turn led to an increased division of labour
and other political and social differentiation. New occupations
emerged: miners and metallurgists, lumberjacks, carpenters,
charcoal makers, carriers, smelters, casters, blacksmiths, tin-
smiths and armourers, domestic and long-distance traders etc.

Trade was very important and a defining feature of the pe-

riod. The tin processed in Central Europe came mostly from the

Fig. 4. Bronze hoard of

Sipbachzell in Austria.
10
­ ritish Isles and Spain, copper deposits exist also at the heart of
B
the continent, in the Alps. Contacts established by metal trade,
but also trade of luxury goods such as amber from the North Sea
or necessities of life such as salt from the Alpine salt deposits
can be traced across the whole continent. The peoples of Cen-
tral Europe learned of the wealth of the Mediterranean coun-
tries through trade. During the following centuries, raids, mil-
itary expansions and migrations to the climatically favourable
south were carried out again and again (e.g. ‘Dorian invasion’ at
c. 1,200/1,100 BC).

Through metal, surplus could be earned and wealth could be

accumulated. This required better protection of settlements; and
this protection was granted by the ruling upper class and their
warriors. Richly furnished tombs and simple graves demon-
strate differences in social structure and the division of labour.
The Bronze Age elite had control of the trade routes and the
major ore deposits and were responsible for the construction of
fortifications.

Two distinct horizons of building fortresses can be differen-

tiated; one in the early and the other in the late Bronze Age.
During these times, fortified places provided protection and
served the self-representation of the upper class. In the Middle
Bronze Age the hilltop settlements were less important because
monumental tombs served the purpose of representation. The
prosperity of broad sections of the population is reflected in the
cemeteries of this period.

In the Early Bronze Age (c. 2,300 – 1,600 BC), mighty fortifica-

tions were built with banks and ditches, always situated on an
already naturally favourable mountain spur. Rectangular post
structures with wattle and daub walls were used as houses.
Large cemeteries were started, with people buried in the
couched position. Through the graves we have a good picture of
the appearance of the population at that time. At the cemetery
of Gemeinlebarn, Austria, the anthropological analysis revealed
that those persons who were buried with rich grave goods were
unusually tall, with an average of 1.70 m (men). The poorer pop-
ulation measured on average only 1.66 m (men). Women were,
on average, 10 cm shorter in both groups. This difference in

11
 s­ tature between rich and poor can be explained by better diet
of the rich social sector, together with better living conditions,
such as the lack of hard work during childhood. These graves
are very important for our topic, since the metal jewellery and
clothing items offer insights into the way garments were worn.
Furthermore, textile residues may be preserved through metal
corrosion in such graves.

The Early Bronze Age was a time of upheaval, in which many

regional traditions were formed, as we can see from the archaeo-
logical finds, especially the ceramics. The bronze jewellery (pins,
arm and leg rings), weapons and tools such as axes, however,
were traded supra-regionally and reached even remote areas
through network contacts. One of the larger cultural entities of
the Early Bronze Age is the Únětice Culture, named after an ar-
chaeological site near Prague. The metallic wealth of this region
is reflected in many bronze hoards and numerous jewellery in
grave-goods.

As regards to the textile finds, the circum-alpine lake settlements

remain crucial. The most significant body of textiles is known
from northern Italy.

In the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1,600 – 1,250 BC) not as many

regional groups can be determined. The reason for the unity
of larger cultural entities is unclear. People were buried in
large burial mounds or tumuli, which lend the name Tumu-
lus Culture to this period. Considerable work was performed
to build the burial mounds of the elite, which were often up
to 15 m in diameter, and which may contain more than one
burial. As in the Early Bronze Age, it is frequently observed
that people with rich grave goods are taller, an indication that
upper class families had a significantly better standard of liv-
ing than the physically hard-working lower class. The warrior
class had their own status symbols, particularly richly orna-
mented battle-axes. Weapon technology advanced during the
Middle Bronze Age. The daggers used earlier in the Bronze
Age were replaced by the first swords – items used exclusively
for the personal combat, man against man. They continued to
accompany men until well into the Middle Ages and beyond.
Elite women adorned themselves with rich and heavy bronze

12
j­ewellery, often with ­exaggerated proportions: very long dress
pins, massive tiaras, wide metal belts, large sets of ornaments
worn on the chest – a wave of pomp dominated the Middle
Bronze Age.

From the Middle Bronze Age onwards, salt was mined at Hall-
statt in Austria – a lucky strike for textile research, as the ‘indus-
trial waste’ collected in the mines contained large amounts of or-
ganic materials that were perfectly preserved by the salt. These
provide excellent insights into the textiles used at the time.

In the Late Bronze Age (c. 1,250 – 800 BC), burial customs changed.
The dead were cremated and buried in urns. In addition to the
urns, small bowls as well as some jewellery and weapons were
deposited in the graves. The religious backgrounds for the
change to cremating the body have not yet been conclusively
unravelled. In the so-called Urnfield period, large fortifications
were again built on hilltops, such as in Stillfried an der March
in Austria. These settlements are up to 50 acres in size and are
surrounded by ditches, ramparts and mighty palisades. Inside
the ramparts there were dwelling houses, granaries and work-
shops; the fortifications were centres of power with residential
space and production centres. In the lowlands, there were also
village-like settlements with peasant character. Until the end of
the Bronze Age, agriculture intensified, culminating in a three-
part division of forest, meadow and field, which was essentially
maintained until the Middle Ages. Open meadows, as are com-
mon today, also emerged during the Bronze Age. There is grow-
ing evidence that during the Bronze Age, specialists became
responsible for carrying out certain types of work (apart from
metallurgy probably for pottery and trade, but also ritual and
warfare).

During this time, the first migratory movements were histor-

ically documented. Especially in south-eastern Europe, there
were extensive population shifts. The first wave of migration,
the so-called ‘storm of the Sea Peoples’ brought unrest in the
eastern Mediterranean. In the course of the events the Hittite
Empire was destroyed in Asia Minor around 1,200 BC. The
Dorian invasion in Greece essentially ended the Mycenaean
Culture around 1,100 BC. In central Italy, the Proto Villanova

13
 Culture was established, the roots of the culture of the Etruscans
in the 9th century BC.

Migratory movements are hard to prove by archaeological

means alone. Weapons, ceramics and jewellery of ‘foreign’ ­origin
might point both to trade connections and the physical presence
of different groups of people or tribes. It is clear from the archae-
ological evidence that the late Bronze Age was a time of many
wars. The effort put into the construction of fortifications sug-
gests that, and the development and refinement of weaponry is
another argument. In addition to improving swords, protective
armour and helmets were developed. Typical of this period are
also hoards, the secure deposition and hiding of bronze objects.
This might express the need to keep one’s belongings safe.

1.3 Iron Age

At the end of the 8th century BC, the political and cultural situ-
ation in Central Europe had stabilized after the turmoil of the
Urnfield period. While the Etruscan Culture became dominant
on the Apennine Peninsula, Greece extended its sphere of in-
fluence through the formation of colonies on the north-western
Mediterranean coast. The Thracians, Macedonians, Illyrians and
Scythians established themselves in the Balkans.

Again, it was an innovative raw material, this time iron, which

gave rise to the name of an era. The knowledge of the art of forg-
ing came from the eastern Mediterranean and spread during
the 9th and 8th century to Central Europe. Iron was first used as
jewellery, later for weapons and tools. Iron deposits are wide-
spread; they are also found in Central Europe. Tin no longer had
to be traded in from far-flung areas as it had been for the pro-
duction of bronze. Iron production finally became cheaper than
bronze production and lost iron objects were easier to replace
than those made of bronze.

Iron was then primarily used for the production of weapons and
tools (Fig. 5). This raw material was further important for the
development of craft and farming devices, which remained in

14
use virtually unchanged from the Iron Age until pre-industrial Fig. 5. Late Iron
times: ploughshares, pliers, chains, wheels, horse bits etc. Age iron hoard from
Gründberg, Austria
with wagon fittings,
In the Early Iron Age (c. 800 – 400 BC), the influence of ancient tools and equipment.
urban cultures expanded into the zone north of the Alps. There is Excavations by the City
good evidence for trade with Greek colonies in southern France Museum Nordico Linz
dating to the 6th century BC. Wine, spices, bronze vessels and and the University of
luxury goods were the objects of desire, which were cherished Vienna.
by the Iron Age elites.

Iron Age elites at the top of the social pyramid tried to imitate
the Mediterranean way of life by importing Greek household
and luxury goods. Power and control over natural resources lay
in the hands of a few large families. Feudal residences and lav-
ish burials in large grave mounds were used for representation.

15
 The site of Heuneburg on the upper Danube in Germany is a
particularly striking example. Within the fortification there was
a central location with a large open area (market) and a palatial
building for the ‘lord’. The Heuneburg also had its own arti-
san quarter with workshops for different crafts. The walls were
3 – 4 m high; in one phase, walls and bastions were built of mud
brick after Mediterranean fashion – a technique that turned out
to be extremely unfavourable for the Central European climate
and was soon replaced.

Life on such an Early Iron Age fortified settlement was, particu-

larly in the West, comparable to Mycenaean court life as known
from historical sources. It was also captured vividly in the scenic
images of situla art from the East Alpine region between the 6th and
4th century BC: music was played, sport competitions took place,
people danced, wine was served in drinking bowls, music with
harp and pan flute was enjoyed. Wagon rides and processions
complete the picture. Defended hilltop settlements were the
central places, forming protected and representational seats for
the nobility.

The Early Iron Age is also called the Hallstatt period after the
finds from Hallstatt in Austria. The efficient exploitation of salt
deposits and the associated extensive trade brought wealth to
the local population, which was reflected in the exquisite grave
goods of the large cemetery. In Hallstatt, salt mining began long
before the Early Iron Age. The mining of salt dates back to the
beginning of the Middle Bronze Age. Both in the Bronze Age
and Iron Age parts of the Hallstatt salt mines textile remains
have been discovered.

The Hallstatt Culture was spread from France over the Alps to
Western Hungary; further east, the nomadic Scythians settled.
The Hallstatt Culture was divided into a Western and ­Eastern
area, which are different in terms of the extent to which Medi-
terranean elements became absorbed. The Western area was in-
filtrated by Greek imports via the trading post Massalia (Mar-
seilles) and was located between France and Germany, ­extending
into Upper Austria. Large burial mounds with stone chambers
were erected within view of the princely settlements. In some
cases, the dead were laid out on a four-wheeled wagon. Famous

16
examples of such princely burials are the tombs of Hochdorf or Fig. 6. Gold torc from
Hohmichele in Germany, also containing textiles. Golden torcs an Early Iron Age grave
such as the one from Uttendorf in Upper Austria (Fig. 6) served from Uttendorf, Upper
Austria.
as a symbol of high social rank, and perhaps also as an attribute
of gods.

The Eastern Hallstatt area, located within eastern Austria, Slova-

kia and Hungary, was too remote to be reached by Greek trad-
ers. The area may best be understood as a periphery, in which
the wealthier western area was imitated. For example, bronze
vessels types were shaped in clay in the east. On the other hand,
idiosyncratic styles flourished, particularly for local ceramics,
as exemplified in the Kalenderberg Culture on the north-east-
ern edge of the Alps. In the east, neither gold grave goods nor
­wagons are typically found. Cremation graves are dominant.
The elites are buried in burial mounds like in the west; ordinary
people were frequently buried in inauspicious, shallow graves.

The Late Iron Age (c. 400 – 15 BC) is named after the archaeo-
logical site of La Tène on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland. The La
Tène period in Austria ends in 15 BC, when Tiberius ­(Emperor

17
 Augustus’ stepson) extended the Roman Empire up to the Dan-
ube and set up a winter camp for his legions in Carnuntum.
Thus, the area south of the Danube became part of the Roman
Empire, whilst north of the Danube, Germanic tribes such as the
Marcomanni and Quadi began to settle and replace the Celtic
population. The La Tène Culture marks the transition to written
history, as we are at least in part kept informed about events
through the recorded, historical tradition. Inscriptions on devo-
tional objects written in North Etruscan and attributed to the
Raeti and Veneti are amongst the oldest written sources in the
Alpine region (dating from the 3rd century BC onwards).

In the 5th century BC the Greek historian Herodotus first men-

tioned the name of a people from the area north of the Alps:
Keltoi – the Celts, which he located ‘at the source of the Danube’.
Later, the Romans referred to the Celts in Western Europe as
Gauls (gallii). Livy (c. 250 BC) indicates that there had been a
Celtic King in the 6th century BC. The historical records thus con-
firm the notion of an aristocracy at the time.

The Celts, who had expanded their territory from c. 500 BC to

the Alps, never erected a unified kingdom in Central Europe;
they remained divided into tribes and tribal alliances. The Celts
undertook far-reaching raids and expeditions; in 387 BC, they
reached Rome, in 279 BC Delphi and finally, as hired mercenar-
ies, Asia Minor, where they were even mentioned in the Bible:
they are the Galatians in Paul’s Epistles.

The La Tène period is characterized by large central hilltop

settle­ments. The fortification ramparts, constructed of a nailed
grid of wooden compartments filled with stones and soil, pro-
vided good protection against fire arrows. Julius Caesar men-
tions this particular form of construction as ‘murus gallicus’ in
his writings. Following the Roman conquest, most Celtic hill-
top settlements were abandoned and new Roman cities were
founded in the valleys.

Celtic cities (oppida) emerged in Central and Western Europe

from about 120/100 BC. In his ‘Commentarii de bello Gallico’
(58 – 49 BC) Caesar differentiates between the Gallic oppidum
(urbs) from the open village (vicus) and the single ­farmstead

18
(aedificium). ­Oppida were fortified, town-like settlement centres,
which served as the focal point of a tribe, as a refuge for the
­popu­la­tion at time of attack, and as a military assembly area.
Since they were also fortified aristocratic residences, they in-
cluded an administrative centre, workshops and tribal sanc-
tuaries. In addition, coins were minted in these centres. Coins
as a means of payment became introduced through Celtic
­mercenaries in Greek and Egyptian service from the middle of
the 3rd century BC; Celtic rulers ­initially copied Greek coins and
imitated their design.

At the courts of the aristocracy a new art style, the La Tène

style, emerged (Fig. 7). Plant and animal motifs from Mediterra-
nean art provided some influences, such as palmettes and lotus
­flowers; the Scythian and Persian animal style came from the
East. These elements became absorbed and reworked into fan- Fig. 7. Bracelet from
ciful formations with symbolic content, which sometimes even Getzersdorf in Austria,
­included representations of people. Late Iron Age.

19
 The Dürrnberg site in Austria (another salt mine), a production
and trading centre, is as important to the understanding of tex-
tiles in the Late Iron Age as Hallstatt is for the Early Iron Age.
The Dürrnberg salt mines contain hundreds of textile fragments
dating ­between the 6th and 2nd century BC as well as the extended
cemeteries offer insights in burial customs.

Burial customs changed in the La Tène Culture. The magnificent

mounds were replaced by flat cemeteries, where square and
round ditches surrounded individual grave areas. An emphasis
on warrior grave goods suggests that a class of warriors grad-
ually replaced the Hallstatt period elites. Jewellery and dress
­elements provide numerous clues to the appearance of clothing
in the Hallstatt and La Tène period. Additionally, mineralized
textiles are known from bronze and iron objects in the graves,
allowing a glimpse of the ‘textile culture’ in this period. From
the 2nd century BC, cremation became dominant and the remains
were deposited in small, inauspicious graves. Towards the end
of the La Tène period, there is no archaeologically visible funer-
ary rite, thus our knowledge of clothing decreased.

In terms of technology, there were a number of changes in the

centuries before the Christian era; the potter’s wheel, for in-
stance, was introduced. An important commercial product in
the early Iron Age was high-quality iron produced in the Al-
pine region (ferrum Noricum), which was important for Rome as
an expanding military power. Of similar importance was salt,
which was now primarily extracted at the site Dürrnberg near
Hallein and traded from there.

2 Textile preservation
Imagine a Celtic house in 300 BC: a loom, on which a woman
is working, leans against the wooden wall of the house. Next
to the loom there are a basket of wool and some spindles. A
wood fire crackles under an iron cauldron, in which food is be-
ginning to cook. Ingredients for the meal are being cut with iron
knives and placed in ceramic pots. Vegetables, fruits and grains
are stored in baskets within easy reach of the cooking place. A

20
 Fig. 8. Celtic re-
enactment at the
Open Air Museum
Mitterkirchen, Austria,
August 2014.

person is ­sitting on the nearby bedstead, which is comfortably

padded with straw and animal skins…

What is left of this scene after thousands of years when the

wind, rain and soil bacteria have done their work? Archaeolo-
gists often find only fragmentary remnants. The wooden walls
and pillars of the house have long since gone, only the post
holes, in which the supporting structures were embedded in the
ground, remain. The fireplace with stone lining is still visible,

21
 and ­charcoal and the red traces of fire on the surrounding clay
floor have survived. The metal and bone cooking utensils, the
cauldron, the pottery and metal knives are still present, to be un-
covered during the excavation, but the food and wooden uten-
sils are gone. Only meagre relics remain from the loom and the
spindle basket: the loom weights, the stake holes of the frame of
the loom at best, as well as some ceramic whorls of the spindles,
but the wool, like the fruits and vegetables, has decayed.

As demonstrated by this example, the preservation conditions for

organic materials under the climatic conditions of Central Europe
are, especially for textiles, anything but suitable. Thus the ­majority
of the materials which were handled by prehistoric ­people and
with which they were surrounded are usually not preserved at
archaeological sites. Only in serendipitous cases, such as the Neo-
lithic and Bronze Age wetland settlements around the Alps, the
findings from the salt mines in Hallstatt and Dürrn­berg-Hallein
or even the Iceman, a Neolithic mummy ­better known as ‘Ötzi’
show us the variety of raw materials in use.

Moreover, different preservation conditions3 also lead to a se-

lective survival of organic finds, especially textile finds, which
are discussed here. On some archaeological sites no plant ma-
terials are present; on other sites animal materials such as wool
or leather are absent. This may be due to different environmen-
tal conditions. Favourable conditions for the preservation of fi-
brous materials, which are based on protein (such as wool) or
cellulose (such as plant fibres) include a pH value that does not
damage the fibres and does not allow harmful bacteria and fungi
to survive. Animal fibres are best preserved in neutral pH of 7
and dissolve in alkaline environments. Vegetable fibres will de-
grade in an acidic environment; animal and vegetable materials
are therefore only preserved together on the same site in excep-
tional cases. The rate of degradation is dependent on several fac-
tors. Heat, water, oxygen and nutrient deficiency determine the
living conditions of soil organisms. The presence of tannins, as
are present in bogs or tree coffins for example, can greatly delay

3
Textile preservation under dry conditions is excluded here, because it does not occur in
Central and Northern Europe. For examples from the deserts of the Nile Valley, see Wild
1988, 7.

22
decomposition4. Different preservation conditions (oak coffins,
wetland settlements, organics corroded onto metals, salt mines
and glaciers) also represent various circumstances of deposi-
tion. Not only is the number of preserved textiles from Central
European prehistory small, but it also represents a highly selec-
tive range of different contexts. Several of these special contexts
of preservation are discussed below.

2.1 Preservation by metal corrosion products

During the Bronze and Iron Ages, numerous metal objects placed
in graves as equipment for the afterlife provide an opportunity
for textiles to be preserved. If textiles were deposited together
with bronze and iron objects (for example as components of
clothing in graves), metal corrosion at the contact points of the
copper or ferrous metals and the adjacent textiles may lead to
the emergence of a durable combination of materials (Fig. 9).

Under wet conditions the soluble metal salts penetrate the tex-
tile material and replace organic matter. During the duration of
deposition in the soil a chemical combination of materials takes
place, wherein the textile component becomes degraded. This
process, referred to as mineralization, can lead to a complete

Fig. 9. Textiles attached

on a bronze arm ring
from the Roman
cemetery of Mautern-
Burggartengasse,
Austria.

4
Cf. Farke 1986. – Gillis and Nosch 2007. – Wild 1988, 7–12.

23
 r­ eplacement of the organic material5. When textiles are in con-
tact with iron artefacts when they rust, the sulphides leaching
out of the metal gradually invade the adjacent patches of textile,
replacing the fibres or causing a negative imprint to be formed
around them.

The transition from the conservation of organic materials by

metal salts to complete mineralization of the fabrics until only
imprints remain is a fluid process. From the finds of Hochdorf,
Johanna Banck-Burgess6 was able to reconstruct the decompo-
sition processes that lead to a change in the appearance of tex-
tiles. Thus, the fibre substance can degrade, the yarn thickness
thins out and the surfaces may turn ‘soapy’, so that the textile
structure is barely noticeable. In some cases when the fabrics
have been completely replaced by the metal oxides, the weave
structure and even the fibres are still recoverable as an imprint.
The metal oxides can cause an increase of volume of the threads;
through the growth of the fibre structure the textile may also ap-
pear densely compressed and unnaturally compact.

Textiles preserved in graves by metal corrosion are usually more

than unsightly, because typically the original colouring is lost in
this process. Furthermore, the remains are very fragmented, of-
ten limited to only of a few square millimetres and can therefore
all too easily be overlooked during the excavation and resto-
ration of the finds. Despite these limitations, textile residues ob-
tained by metal corrosion are an important source for research,
because of their clearly defined position in regard to the body of
a buried person7.

2.2 Preservation by salt

In the prehistoric sites of the Austrian salt mines8 of Hallstatt and

Dürrnberg near Hallein, preservation conditions unique in the
whole of prehistoric Europe prevail. Salts may contribute to the
preservation of fibres because they are toxic to ­microorganisms

5
Cf. Chen et al. 1998. – Mitschke 2001, 29. – Wild 1988, 8 – 11.
6
Banck-Burgess 1999, 93, pl. 1 and 2.
7
E.g. Bender Jørgensen 1992. – Rast-Eicher 2008.
8
Hallstatt: Grömer et al. 2013. – Dürrnberg: Stöllner 2005.

24
 Fig. 10. ‘Heidengebirge’
(layers containing
objects from ancient
mining activities) with
textiles from the salt
mine in Hallstatt,
Austria, Early Iron Age.

such as bacteria. In a salty environment, single-celled ­bacteria

dry out and die9. This prevents the decomposition process of
organic materials due to bacterial activity.

The high pressure of the mountain closes the man-made cavi-

ties in the amorphous, soft geological material after the short-
est possible time, so that the prehistoric remains, the so-called
‘heathen’s rock’ (Heidengebirge) becomes hermetically sealed
(Fig. 10). Through this air-tight embedding in the salt rock, no
oxidative degradation processes can take place and microbio-
logical degradation is strongly reduced. The high humidity in
the mountain prevents the drying out of fibres10. The natural
degradation processes are slowed by the constant and low tem-
peratures in the salt mines. The textiles are therefore preserved
so well in their organic matter that they are still elastic and sup-
ple when recovered. Salt preserves any organic material, both of
plant and animal origin, without limitation. In contrast to lake-
side settlements, bogs or oak coffins, sites with salt preservation
thus do not show biases in regard to raw material origin.

9
Gengler 2005. – Van der Sanden 1996, 12.
10
See Gengler 2005, 28: chapter 3.1.3.5, 37: chapter 3.3.1.

25
 2.3 Preservation within waterlogged contexts

Neolithic and Bronze Age textile materials are also known from
wetland settlements within the circum-alpine area: from Swit-
zerland, Germany, northern Italy and Austria. Prehistoric peo-
ple built their houses as lakeside settlements, partly on the shore
and partly as pile dwellings in the water. When organic mate-
rials were deposited in the water and remained there, chances
became good that they would be able to survive the millennia.

Due to the relatively low oxygen levels in the water, the oxida-
tion process of textiles were slowed down and bacteria were pre-
vented from performing their decomposition work. Textiles sank
to the ground and became embedded into geological deposits
such as chalky sediments at the bottom of the lakes. Because of
Fig. 11. Neolithic this alkaline environment, however, animal fibres were destroyed
settlement Arbon
over time11. For this reason preservation in waterlogged contexts
Bleiche 3, Switzerland.
Context and position of mainly includes plant materials such as woven textiles of flax or
wood and textiles in the sieves, nets, mats and baskets from materials like grass, tree bast
wetland conditions. and wood.

11
Cf. Farke 1986, 56. – Rast-Eicher 2012, 381.

26
2.4 Preservation by ice

Since the spectacular discovery of the Iceman, a Neolithic

mummy that melted from the glacier with all his belongings in
1991 (Fig. 12)12, the mountainous regions of Central Europe in-
creasingly moved into the focus of archaeological interest. Since
then, other important discoveries were made in the Alps, for in-
stance at Schnidejoch in Switzerland13. From this site we know
of a quiver, a bow and arrows, remains of Neolithic shoes and a
fragment of a legging.

The preservative effect of ice is based on the low temperatures.

Fig. 12. The Iceman, a
The combination of cold and dryness, freeze-drying, is also Neolithic mummy from
used in modern research for continued preservation of organic the Ötztal glacier, Italy,
­material. c. 3300 BC.

12
Fleckinger 2011. – Spindler et al. 1995. – Spindler 1995.

13
Suter, Hafner and Glauser 2006.

27
 2.5 Bogs

In bogs, the lack of oxygen as a result of constant moisture, the

exclusion of air and permeation by humic acids prevent degra-
dation and damage by microorganisms. In terms of the preser-
vation conditions, however, it is important to distinguish raised
bogs and fens14. In raised bogs, the polysaccharide of Sphag-
num is essential for preservation. This carbohydrate resides in
the peat moss and is released upon decomposition of plant cell
walls. It is later converted into brown humic acid, which binds
nitrogen and calcium. Due to the acidic pH level only animal
fibres remain. Humic acids and tannin present under these con-
ditions preserve protein-containing organic materials (wool,
fur, leather, skin, hair, nails, horn), whereas plant matter and
bones decay. In the calcareous fens, on the other hand, wool tex-
tiles decompose and only fabrics made of plant materials may
be preserved. Most archaeological finds of textiles come from
raised bogs and, therefore, only encompass woollen textiles.

The bogs of northern Europe are particularly significant for re-

search into textiles and clothing15. From famous sites like Thors-
berg or Huldremose we know complete vestments, which came
to light as peat was recovered. Central Europe also has bogs, but
since peat for fuel production played no major role due to the
abundance of wood and forests, bogs were not exploited there.
Most likely, many prehistoric (textile) treasures still lie dormant
in Central European bogs.

2.6 Oak coffins

The famous intact oak coffins (Fig. 13) from burial mounds are
primarily located in the territory of the North German Schleswig
into middle Jutland in Denmark16. The deceased person was
laid out in a hollowed-out tree trunk in complete clothing and
the coffin covered with a stone packing, soil, clay, sand, grass
or mossy turf. Humic acids penetrated into the interior of the

14
Cf. Farke 1986, 55–57. – Van der Sanden 1996, 18, 20 and 120. – Wild 1988, 7–8.
15
Mannering et al. 2012. – Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012. – Schlabow 1976. – Van der
Sanden 1996.
16
Broholm and Hald 1940. – Hald 1980. – Mannering et al. 2012. – Schlabow 1976, 12.

28
mounds with the rain and formed a gelatinous mass at a depth
of 1 – 1.5 m from the upper mantle of the mound. In combina-
tion with the lime and iron particles present in the fill, this then
developed into a rock-hard humus-iron layer and sealed the in-
terior of the hill airtight. Through this process, the tree coffin
rested under absence of air in a liquid enriched by humic acids.
In addition, the tannins from the trunks of recently felled oaks
had a preservative effect. Particularly wool textiles, leather, fur
or horn preserve well in this milieu. The bones of the deceased,
however, are usually in a very bad condition due to decalcifica-
tion.
Fig. 13. Oak coffin from
Trindhøj in Denmark,
The phenomenon of well-preserved tree coffins is primarily dendrochronologically
known from the ‘Nordic Bronze Age’, more precisely the time dated to 1355 BC.

29
 between the 15th and 13th centuries BC. From this period, com-
plete garments have been recovered.

Only one case of similar preservation conditions for the conser-

vation of textiles in south-eastern Central Europe is known so
far. The early Bronze Age burial mound from Pustopolje in Bos-
nia-Herzegovina17 has revealed a perfectly preserved wooden
grave construction, a grave chamber made ​​of elm boards. The
deceased lay in crouched position, wrapped in a large woollen
cloth on boards that were coated with a thin animal hide.

2.7 Carbonisation

It may seem strange, but charred textiles also have some chance
to survive the passing of time. With incomplete combustion,
chemical processes interact with physical alterations. After car-
bonization18, the charred and usually shrunken textiles preserve
in carbonized form. Although there are partial transformations,
the microstructure of the textile usually remains substantially
intact. Plant fibres are often more stable in a carbonised state,
animal fibres, on the other hand, often perish in fire. If the tex-
tiles are exposed to excessive heat in the absence of oxygen, the
process is called coalification. The amount of volatile constitu-
ents of the textile fibres thereby decrease more and more in fa-
vour of the carbon content. Again, the microstructure of plant
and animal fibres is largely maintained. Examples include the
Neolithic finds of Spitzes Hoch near Latdorf and Kreienkopp
near Dietfurt19.

2.8 Imprints on ceramics

Information about textiles can also be obtained from impression

on pottery or pieces of clay20.

17
Cf. Benac 1986, 109. – Car 2012.
18
See Farke 1986, 57. – Rast-Eicher 2003. – Wild 1988, 11.
19
Bender Jørgensen 1992, 115, fig.1. – Schlabow 1959.
20
Wild 1988, 11, fig. 5.

30
Although the organic material is not preserved, technical details
such as thread count and weave can be documented, and in ex-
ceptional conditions, information about fibre material can also
be recovered. Shrinkage in drying or firing of the clay therefore
has to be taken into account. These impressions arise largely by
chance, for instance when a clay pot that has not yet dried after
moulding, turning or coil-building was set on a mat or weave21.
On the other hand, imprints of textile elements were also de-
liberately used as an ornament in different prehistoric cultures.
The best known of these cultures is the so-called Corded Ware
Culture (Fig. 14) from the end of the Neolithic period22. The

Fig. 14. Corded

Ware pottery from
Franzhausen, Austria,
Late Neolithic.

Examples see Richter 2010, fig. 34.2 – 34.3.

21

Cf. Grömer and Kern 2010.

22

31
 decoration of pottery with impressions of about 2 – 3 mm thick
cords corresponded to the aesthetics of the time.

3 Defining textiles
What actually is a textile? Conventionally, the term textile is ap-
plied to woven fabrics in particular. The British standard hand-
book for the textile industry: Textiles Terms and Definitions, The
Textile Institute Manchester (7th edition 1975) says: ‘Originally a
woven fabric; the term is now applied to any manufacture from fibres,
filaments or yarns, natural or man-made, obtained by interlacing’.23

In prehistoric and ethnographic research the term also encom-

passes a variety of things. Textile techniques are more closely
defined as ‘primarily all methods, which include the production of
fabrics from smaller units, e.g. of thread, yarn, string, bast, leaves or
parts thereof, rods, wood chips etc. Further, they include, on the one
hand, the manufacture or production of raw materials, e.g. the produc-
tion of string, yarn or thread, and, on the other hand, the processing of
finished fabrics (cutting, sewing) as well as their decoration, e.g. em-
broidery and appliqué.’24

The term textile25 encompasses not only woven fabrics, but all
products which consist of interconnected basic components.
These include mats made in plying and basketry techniques, ob-
jects of fabrics made in coiling techniques, nets, wickerwork and
twined objects. The extensive range of fabric making techniques
are amply shown by ethnological classification systems such as
the work of Annemarie Seiler Baldinger26 and Irene Emery27 or,
for prehistory, exemplified in the publications of the textile as-
semblages from the Swiss lake-dwellings of the Neolithic pe-
riod28.

23
Kind comment by John Peter Wild, Manchester, Great Britain, Feb. 2015.
24
Bühler-Oppenheim 1948, 84.
25
See discussion about the term by Desrosiers 2010, 27–28.
26
Seiler-Baldinger 1994. First published in 1973 as ‘Systematik der Textilen Techniken’, worked
out at the Museum der Kulturen in Basel, Switzerland.
27
Emery 1966 uses ‘fabric’ as the generic term for all fibrous constructions, ‘textile’ to refer
specifically to woven fabrics.
28
Médard 2010, 2012. – Rast-Eicher and Altorfer 2015. – Vogt 1937.

32
As apparent from the table of contents, this book focuses mainly
on woven textiles and all the steps involved in their produc-
tion. In addition, the most important end products, especially
the clothes, are investigated more closely. In time and space the
study area concentrates on prehistoric Central Europe.

33
 B Craft techniques:
from fibre to fabric

The techniques that were applied in the manufacture of

prehistoric textiles can be understood through various
means. The textile remnants themselves permit
conclusions about different production processes and
the use of specific equipment.
 B Craft techniques: from fibre to fabric

Tools and equipment for textile crafts are abundant amongst ar-
chaeological finds, especially if they were made of durable ma-
terials such as stone, clay, bone or metal. Textile tools are found
both in graves and on settlements, where the context in which
they were found may be particularly revealing. Sometimes, for
instance, a tool is found in its original position in a house that
was destroyed by fire. Such serendipitous findings provide in-
formation about where the textile equipment was placed within
the house, and sometimes about how it was assembled and
­handled21.

Some findings may appear very strange from the perspective of

a 21st century onlooker – taking a look at our Grandparent’s and
Great-grandparent’s generation generally helps to understand
prehistoric textile crafts. Not too long ago, around the time of
the World Wars in the 20th century, flax and wool was processed
in rural areas in Europe, spun in the houses, woven and turned
into tablecloths, other home-textiles or garments. This was often
done by hand and with simple tools such as the spinning wheel,
the hand loom and the foot-powered sewing machine. European
folklore and, in some cases at least, non-European ethnographic
records are rich sources of information for our topic.

In the definition of textiles and textile techniques in chapter A3

(pages 32–33) it was already mentioned that there are many dif-
ferent types of fabrics – weaves, basketry, plaits, wickerwork,
nets, etc. In the following, the focus will be on archaeological re-
mains of woven textiles from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, and
discussion about their production.

The workflow (Fig. 15) starts (after the breeding of animals and
the cultivation of fibre plants) with the extraction and prepara-
tion of plant or animal raw materials, from which the threads
are made. In this book, thread manufacture will only be looked

Cf. Bender Jørgensen 2007, 8–9. – Ræder Knudsen 2007.

21

36
at in detail for spinning22, because spun yarns provide the pri- Following page:
mary base material for woven textiles in Central Europe. Sev- Fig. 15. Textile
eral prehistoric weaving techniques are highlighted. Dyeing production sequence.
and decorative techniques are used to enhance the value of tex-
tiles and were already applied in manifold ways before Roman
times. The work that occurs after removing the weave from the
weaving equipment is referred to as finishing (e.g. raising the
nap, fulling, pleating, bleaching, some decorative techniques
like embroidery and appliqué, and dyeing the cloth). Finally,
sewing and tailoring are the steps that eventually form a gar-
ment or utilitarian object.

The individual steps of production will now be considered in

terms of the archaeological evidence from prehistoric finds
and features. Each activity requires its own equipment – some-
times a highly specialized tool, sometimes universal tools such
as knives, which are used for many different crafts or house-
hold activities, or even something a tool as simple as a stick. Re-
sources such as space, work surfaces or specialized know-how
shall also be considered for the prehistoric textile crafts.

1 Raw Materials

The raw materials from which prehistoric textiles were made

are very diverse. For closer examination, researchers look at
them through the microscope (Fig. 16). If prehistoric textiles are
well preserved as organic remnants, the fibre structure can be
easily identified under the optical microscope with high magni-
fication. Plant fibres and animal hairs are clearly different from
each other. The bamboo-like fibrous thickening of the bast fibres
such as flax or hemp and the scaly structure of the wool and an-
imal hair are clearly visible on undamaged fibres. When the tex-
tiles are appropriately preserved, specialists may even be able to
distinguish individual species from each other.

For a long time, mineralised textiles fibres, i.e. fibres preserved

by metal corrosion, could not be identified due to raw material.

22
There is also evidence that plant fibres were spliced into yarns: Leuzinger and Rast-Eicher
2011.

37
 Under an optical ­microscope, or light microscope, only a dark
mass is visible, and details remain hidden. For the last few dec-
ades, however, the development of the scanning electron micro-
scope (SEM)23 has provided new insights. In the scanning elec-
tron microscope, the surface of the investigated fibres is scanned
line by line and made ​​visible at high magnification and an ex-
traordinary depth of view. In this way, valuable information can
now be obtained from fibre materials even if they are poorly
preserved. Written records from ancient authors provide further
information about the use of fibre materials in the Late Iron Age,
such as a quotation from Herodotus about hemp (Hdt. 4.74).

Raw materials of animal and plant origin were available to pre-

Fig. 16. Analysis historic people in order to produce textiles24; in nature, however,
under transmitted
light microscope mineral fibres also occur that could be woven into fabrics. Well-
(left) and scanning known and banned in the EU today because of its health hazards
electron microscope is asbestos, fibres deriving from the mineral amphibole (Fig. 17).
(right) at the Curt-
Engelhorn Centre In ancient Greece25 asbestos was spun and woven into textiles,
for Archaeometry at
the Reiss-Engelhorn and this raw material was admired mainly because of its resist-
Museums in ance to fire. We thus learn from Pliny the Elder (Plin., Nat. Hist.
Mannheim. 19.1.4):

For analyses of mineralised remains with the SEM, see Fischer 2010, 57–58.
23

Cf. Barber 1991. – Harris 2010, 2012. – Contributions in Gleba and Mannering 2012.
24

Pekridou-Gorecki 1989, 31–32.

25

40
‘There has been invented also a kind of linen which is incombustible
by flame. It is generally known as "live" linen, and I have seen, before
now, napkins that were made of it thrown into a blazing fire, in the
room where the guests were at table, and after the stains were burnt
out, come forth from the flames whiter and cleaner than they could
possibly have been rendered by the aid of water. […] By those who find
it, it is sold at prices equal to those given for the finest pearls; by the
Greeks it is called "asbestinon" [unquenchable], a name which indi-
cates its peculiar properties.’

Unaware of the health hazards, asbestos was used to produce

towels, tablecloths, scarves and shrouds – how fitting, cynics
might say.

The use of mineral fibres has not been proven for the prehistoric
periods in Central Europe, but the British Museum has an exam-
ple of presumably Etruscan asbestos26. From Austria, there is ev-
idence for an asbestos thread, used as a lamp wick from Enns27,
dating to the 4th century CE.

Fig. 17. Mineral fibres,

amphibol asbestos
from Uri in Switzerland,
Inv. Natural History
Museum Vienna
W A.I.160.

26
After Gleba 2008, 64.
27
Grömer 2014, 166–167; 270 (Rö-152).

41
 In addition to these non-­organic materials, metal threads28 were
used as strips or wires to be incorporated as a decorative ele-
ment in textiles (for details see pages 193 – 197).

Man-made fibres such as rayon, nylon or polyester that charac-

terize today’s textile industry were only developed at the begin-
ning of the 20th century and produced in even greater quantities
since the 1960s and 1970s29.

1.1 Plant Fibres

Plant fibres were already known to Palaeo- and Mesolithic peo-

ple as raw materials for the manufacture of textile sheets such
as mats and nets. Many of these products were based on twisted
threads that were further processed by braiding, netting and
twining techniques30. Knowledge about the properties of grasses,
tree bast and fibre plants, their preparation and their processing
thus has a long tradition; a tradition that was extended by the
early farmers of the Neolithic period to the new technique of
weaving. Of all the plant fibres, flax was especially important in
Central European prehistory. In addition, however, other plants
such as hemp or stinging nettle were used for textile production.
There is no evidence for the use of cotton in Europe in prehis-
toric times, it arrived during the Roman period31.

Archaeobotanical investigations are referred to again and again

in the discussion of fibre plants. Archaeobotany is the science
that deals with plant remains from archaeological excavations.
They can give indication as to which crops were cultivated and
used as well as how they were distributed.

Systematics about worked metals emerged from ethnographical material: see Emery 1966, 5.
28

Cf. Eberle et al. 1991, 30, 33.

29

Bender Jørgensen 2013b. – Rast-Eicher 1997; 2005. – Soffer et al. 2000.

30

Barber 1991, 32. The use of cotton dates back to c. 3.000 BC in the Indus Valley.
31

42
Flax

Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is a versatile crop, which is already re-

flected by its exuberant botanical name – ‘usitatissimum’ means
‘the most useful’. It provides both fibres from the stem and oil,
which is extracted from the seeds. Through selection and breed-
ing to enhance those two traits, a large number of different types
of flax are known today. A breakdown of their different types is
beyond the scope of this book, but information can be found in a
book on specialist crops by Udelgard Körber-Grohne32.

The cultivated flax plants with high yield are usually annual
plants requiring very high maintenance and intensive cultiva-
tion. There are, however, also perennial varieties that could well
have been used in the Neolithic period33. Depending on variety
and region, the individual plants are about 60 to 90 cm high, but
may also be taller. The fibres of flax are embedded in the bark of
the stem34, whereby they are grouped into bundles. Individual
fibres of prehistoric flax have a length of 4 to 10 cm and an aver-
age thickness of 14.9 µm.

The wild form of our cultivated flax, the narrow-leaved pale

flax (Linum bienne), occurs in the Mediterranean region, North
Africa and Western Asia. The fibres of the pale flax could be
spun. As a crop, cultivated flax arrived – similar to many other
achievements of the Neolithic period – in Central Europe from
the south. The oldest evidence of this crop35 for fibre produc-
tion comes from the Near East, from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic at
c. 9.000 BC. These are plant remains of cultivated flax from Jeri-
cho and linen fabrics from the Nahal Hemar Cave near the Dead
Sea. One of the most remarkable recent finds is a linen cloth
made of flax from a burial at Çatalhöyük in Turkey36. Wrapped
around an infant, the flax cloth was well preserved due to its
partial carbonisation.

Körber-Grohne 1994, 366–379, for a history of linen and for archaeological finds of flax.
32

Herbig and Maier 2011. – Karg 2011.

33

Körber-Grohne 1994, 370 – 371. – Leuzinger and Rast-Eicher 2011, 3643 – 3646.

34

A good summary of the origins of flax and its introduction to Europe is provided by Gleba
35

2008, 65 – 66.
Özdöl Kutlu 2014.
36

43
 Flax as plant residues is
found in the archaeological
To illustrate the flax plant, an entry in a herbarium
over 200 years old is shown here (Fig. 18); it is one
material from prehistoric set-
of a million plant records stored in the Department tlements in Central Europe
of Botany of the Natural History Museum in Vienna. since the Neolithic period37;
Information about plants, their appearance and it has been grown since the
use has been recorded since the beginning of the oldest phase of the Linear
modern era in engravings on copper plates and in
watercolour paintings. Herbaria have been created
Pottery Culture in Central
for over 500 years. Plants are carefully dried, pressed Europe, c. 5,500 BC.
and then stored on thin cardboard or loose in a paper
sachet. Labels of the origin, collector and date of Due to its resilience in the
detection allow scientists to look into the past and less-cultivated forms, flax
sometimes they can even reveal information about
climate change.
also thrives in the more un-
favourable climates and
soils of the central moun-
tain areas – flax could pre-
vail alongside emmer and
einkorn. It was appreciated both for the fibres and because of
the seeds that can be pressed for oil. Flax was eaten in prehis-
toric times, as evidenced by charred crusts of flaxseed on Late
Neolithic potsherds from Switzerland38. Particularly well-stud-
ied is the history of use of this crop for the Neolithic and the
Bronze Age at Lake Zürich in Switzerland. The cultivation of flax
reached a climax in the Late Neolithic period there, especially in
the Horgen Culture between 3,300 – 3,200 BC39. Numerous finds
of teeth from heckling combs used for the preparation of flax and
finds of linen fabrics go hand in hand with this evidence.

If archaeobotanical evidence for flax is found in a prehistoric

settlement, it cannot be immediately determined whether its
primary use was for fibre or oil, although a synergetic utili-
zation is most probable. The textile specialist Antoinette Rast-
Eicher remarks that the entire Neolithic textile production is
based on the processing of plant materials, which has its roots
in the Old and Middle Stone Age40. Flax is also evidenced by

After Lüning et al. 1997, 58–59 (Neolithic period). – Austrian finds in Kohler-Schneider 2007. –
37

See also Gleba 2012, 219 – 221.

Jacomet et al. 1990, 81 – 90.
38

Herbig and Maier 2011. – Rast-Eicher 1997.

39

Rast-Eicher 2005, 117 – 120. – See also Bender Jørgensen 2013b.

40

44
Fig. 18. Herbarium sheet of flax (Linum usitatissimum), Portenschlag, c. 1800. The
flowers of the flax plant, originally blue, are now yellow.

45
 archaeobotanical finds from the Bronze and Iron Age41, for
example from the La Tène period settlement and sanctuary
Roseldorf in Lower Austria.

Early Bronze Age examples of linen weaves42 stem from the wet-
land settlements of northern Italy, for instance the beautifully
designed linen bands from Lago di Ledro. Middle Bronze Age
linen fabrics are known from the Hallstatt salt mine in Austria.
Whereas woollen fabrics outweigh those of flax in the Early Iron
Age in Central Europe, people of the Late Iron Age (La Tène
period) still used textiles made of flax. The famous embroi-
dered linen textiles from Nové Zamky in Slovakia and the linen
weaves from Dürrnberg near Hallein in Austria are noteworthy.

Blended weaves (‘union fabrics’) were also produced. In an

Early Bronze Age textile from Unterteutschenthal, Germany,
the thread system in one direction (possibly the warp) consisted
of linen, the other (possibly the weft) of thick yarns of sheep’s
wool43. Here, the strength of the flax plant was obviously appre-
ciated and taken advantage of, whilst the combination with the
warming properties of animal hair was exploited by combining
the flax threads with bulky wool yarn.

Flax threads as sewing material for woollen textiles were also

used, for example, for the trousers of a bog body discovered in
1900 in Damendorf, dating to the Roman Iron Age44. The use of
flax as a sewing thread can be explained by its stability and re-
sistance to tearing.

Flax fibres are easy to smooth and can be spun into shiny threads,
which in turn form a solid, sturdy fabric when woven. Flax has a
cooling effect due to the high thermal conductivity of the fibres.
The pale grey to light brown fibres can be bleached almost to
white, although dyeing the material can prove difficult.

Cf. Roseldorf: Caneppele, Heiss and Kohler-Schneider 2010. – Generally for the Bronze and
41

Iron Ages: Lüning, Jockenhövel, Bender and Capelle 1997, 163.

Examples: Lago di Ledro: Bazzanella et al. 2003, 161–171; Bazzanella 2012. – Hallstatt:
42

Grömer 2012, 2013. – Nové Zamky: Belanová 2005, fig. 3–4, 2012. – Dürrnberg: Stöllner
2005, fig. 9. – Textiles from Switzerland: Rast-Eicher 2008.
Schlabow 1959, 118–120.
43

Van der Sanden 1996, 127, fig. 176.

44

46
Hemp

Hemp (Cannabis sativa) (Fig. 19) is less frequently identified as

raw material of archaeological textiles. Hemp is difficult to dis-
tinguish from flax even under the scanning electron microscope,
especially in the mineralized state. The usual material identifi-
cation tests on modern materials, such as the combustion test,
staining reaction, etc., can usually not be performed on archaeo-
logical textile remains. Therefore, the neutral term ‘bast fibre’ is
now preferred if it is not clear whether a plant fibre is flax, hemp,
nettle or the like. It is quite possible that behind many ‘flax tex-
tiles’ published long ago there is actually a fabric made ​​from
hemp. When some organic matter of the textile is preserved, cer-
tain tests with the transmitted light microscope might provide
more clarity45.

Hemp is an annual plant46 that produces only one thick stem,

which usually reaches 1.2 to 3 m height, sometimes up to 5 m,
depending on the variety and region. Today, hemp is mainly
known as a hallucinogenic plant harvested for the drug mari-
juana – with the Indian hemp (Cannabis indica) having the most
hallucinogenic effect. Modern varieties of industrial hemp with
only slight traces of the psychoactive drug tetrahydrocannabinol
have been re-introduced as fibre plant crops in Central Europe
in recent years, whereas cultivation of the hallucinogenic varie-
ties are largely prohibited because of the danger of drug abuse.

The fibres of hemp vary according to their position in the plant.

The lower part of the stem forms a larger number of bast fibre
rings, the upper part less. The fibres of the outer ring (nearest the
epidermis) are coarser, with about 50 to 70 µm in diameter, than
those of the inner ring (nearest the pith) with 12 to 30 µm. These
are on average even finer than flax fibres and very fine textiles
can be prepared with them. Ropes and coarser fabrics are made

45
The ‘Herzog test’ can be applied to differentiate bast fibres such as flax and hemp. The
distinction is possible, because the cellulose fibrils of these fibres are arranged differently
in the cellulosic layer of the secondary wall 1. Under polarized light a different sequence
of interference of the colours red and blue is therefore visible upon rotation of the fibres in
orthogonal position between crossed polarizers and switched on wave plates. After Wülfert
1999, polarizing microscopy 283–293, Herzog test 290–293.
46
See Körber-Grohne 1994, 379–391, for hemp and its history.

47
 Fig. 19. Female and
male hemp plants
(Cannabis sativa):
Water coloured
chalcography,
Miller 1782.

48
from the thicker, very tough and abrasion-resistant fibres of the
outer ring. In historical times, these coarse fibres were used to
manufacture canvas, tents, fire hoses and mailbags because of
their particular durability.

Secure evidence for hemp comes from the early Celtic princely
grave of Hochdorf, dating to c. 500 BC47. The deceased was
placed on a bronze couch (klinē) in his grave chamber. Several
textiles made from hemp bast were discovered, which served
as upholstery and cushioning on the couch. According to the
investigations of Udelgard Körber-Grohne, the hemp bast from
Hochdorf was not made of processed fibres. Instead, the bark
of the stem was stripped off in narrow strips, spun and woven.
This procedure resulted in thread sizes between 0.2 and 0.7 mm.
The bottom layer comprised a weft-faced repp weave as well
as a striped weave of hemp bast. A mattress was placed on top,
with a cover made of a hemp bast weave and a filling of badger
hair and parts of plants. Tablet woven ribbons were also discov-
ered at Hochdorf, for which strips of hemp bast and fine wool-
len threads were used.

The research on the unusual textiles from Hochdorf48 revealed

additional hemp fabrics from the late Hallstatt and early La
Tène period, from Saint-Colombe or Chavéria in France and
Prague-Záběhlice or Stehelčeves in the Czech Republic. Udel-
gard Körber-Grohne49 further reports a rope made of hemp bast,
which was found in the Dürrnberg salt mine near Hallein.

Ancient written records about the use of this crop by Indo-Euro-

pean tribes in the Balkans date to the 5th century BC. The histo-
rian Herodotus (490/480 – 424 BC) notes in his Histories that the
Thracian knew how to weave hemp clothes of similar quality to
linen (Herodotus, Histories 4.74).

Banck-Burgess 1999, 82–84, 100–101, for the weaves of hemp bast and their funerary
47

function.
Banck-Burgess 1999, 83 for comparable finds.
48

Körber-Grohne 1994, 385.

49

49
 Stinging Nettle

The stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)50 was also processed into fi-
bres and spun for making fabric. What sounds rather strange
to modern ears was quite common not so long ago. During the
Second World War, for example, the stinging nettle was grown
on a large scale in Germany and Austria. The nettle fabrics were
sown to produce clothes, especially for robust uniforms for
the army. Nettle was an especially common material for mak-
ing sails and fishing nets during the Middle Ages. However,
since the stinging nettle is not very high-yield, this material was
ousted in the wake of industrialization – except in times of eco-
nomic hardship. Wild nettle plants have a fibre content of only
5 % in their stems, cultivated varieties reach up to 15 %. In com-
parison, hemp has a fibre content of 10 % in wild plants and up
to 40 % in cultivated hemp.

The stinging nettle grows on nutrient-rich soils, for example

in lowland forests. It has accompanied humans since the earli-
est farmers, as it is a follower of human activities and emerges
wherever settlements with open spaces are created. Archaeo-
botanists have found nettle plants in settlements of the Early
Neolithic Linear Pottery Culture, for instance in Mold in Lower
Austria51. A large amount of plants (over 200 pieces) were found
during excavations at the Middle Neolithic circular ditch system
Kamegg in Lower Austria. Because nettle is typically found in
areas cleared and cultivated by humans, the mere existence of
this plant cannot be taken as evidence of its use as a source of
fibre. Since the method of extracting fibres from stems of flax
and hemp was known from the Neolithic period, however, this
technique of treatment was probably also applied to the nettle.

An actual textile made of nettle fibres is known from the Luse-

høj burial mount near Voldtofte52 in Denmark, it was wrapped
around cremated bone remains and placed inside a bronze urn.
The typological features of the bronze urn indicate that it was

General information on stinging nettles after Bredemann 1959. – See Barber 1991, 19 – 20.
50

Cf. Kohler-Schneider 2007 for various Austrian sites, including Kamegg. – Kohler-Schneider,
51

Caneppele and Geihofer 2008, 113 – 115 (Mold).

Bergfjord et al. 2012. – Hald 1980, fig. 117. – Mannering et al. 2012, 97, fig. 3.3.
52

50
originally imported from the Eastern Alpine Area. The textile Fig. 20. Samples of
is a dense, fine tabby woven fabric and dates to period V of the plant fibres under the
Nordic Bronze Age (c. 900 – 750 BC), which is roughly equiva- scanning electron
microscope: flax (1),
lent to the beginning of the Iron Age in Central Europe. A recent hemp (2), stinging nettle
strontium-isotope analysis of the nettle revealed that it most (3), linden bast (4).
likely derived from areas with Precambrian rocks. Denmark, Curt-Engelhorn Centre
in contrast, consists of a geological base primarily composed for Archaeometry at
of Tertiary and Cretaceous sediments. The strontium isotopic the Reiss-Engelhorn
Museums in
signature of the Lusehøj nettle textile can correspond to several Mannheim.
locations with Precambrian rocks, e.g. in Sweden, Norway or
Central Europe, in particular the Carinthian-Styrian region in
Austria. The latter has a crystalline basement with a strontium
isotopic signature matching the measurements of the nettle tex-
tile. Also the typological origin of the bronze urn, on which the
textile was attached, can be placed there. So the nettle textile was
presumably imported from that region to Denmark.

51
 Furthermore, a close examination of the Huldremose woman
(Huldremose I, 192 – 61 calBC), famous for the variety of gar-
ments such as the skirt, the scarf (both twill) and two capes
made of fur has shown that she also wore a garment of nettle
fibre covering the upper part of the body53. A nettle thread was
discovered, and distinct imprints of textiles were found on the
chest and shoulders of the body. These are of the twill-woven
scarf and some imprints of a tabby textile, which is thought
to be of nettle cloth. On the back side of the body, stuck to the
lower back, a tabby textile was found. It is made from z-twisted
threads with a thread count of 9 – 10 threads per cm.

Tree bast

Tree bast from lime (Tilia; also called linden or basswood)

(Fig. 20.4 and 21) or oak (Quercus) were mainly used in the
Neolithic period for a variety of textile techniques, especially
the production of ropes, nets or twined objects. These fibres
were usually processed directly with the hands, turned and
twisted. A special find was discovered at Arbon Bleiche 354
in a layer of House 3 of the wetland settlement. A completely
preserved spindle was recovered (Fig. 38), dendrochrono-
logically dated to 3,384 – 3,370 BC (the transitional period be-
tween the Pfyn and Horgen Cultures). The spindle shaft was
made of hazel, the clay whorl was found still on the shaft,
and spun material was wound around the shaft. The analysis
showed that the spun material was bast of lime. In the Neolithic
­period lime bast was prepared so finely that fine threads of
0.5 – 0.7 mm diameter could be achieved.

Prehistoric woven textiles of tree bast have so far only rarely

been discovered in Central Europe. A woven fabric made of
lime bast is reported from Zürich-Mythenquai, dated to the time
of the Corded Ware culture at the end of the Neolithic period55.
Another example comes from the Late Neolithic settlements on

Gleba and Mannering 2010. – Mannering et al. 2012, 103–104.

53

Leuzinger 2002, 119, fig. 147/3.

54

Rast-Eicher 1997, 315.

55

52
Lake Zürich in Switzerland56. The waterlogged environment pre- Fig. 21. Lime bast: after
served some textile fragments made ​​of tree bast, most likely all four to six weeks decay
from the same textile, woven in tabby with a yarn of 0.5 – 1 mm in water, the inner
layers of the bast can
diameter. Twenty three fragments of a tabby weave from the be detached, the outer
Early to Middle Bronze Age are known from Valle delle Paiole layers need more time.
in Northern Italy, which are said to be made of yarns of wool
and tree bast57. Beside these woven items, some very fine fabrics
were made in twining techniques, which are by no means infe-
rior to woven textiles in their fineness. Spinning and weaving
bast into clothing is also known from folklore tradition in Lat-
via. Men's work clothing, aprons and women's skirts were made
this way58.

Rast-Eicher 1997, 317–320.

56

After Bazzanella et al. 2003, 198. – Bazzanella 2012, fig. 8.11.

57

Cf. Bielenstein 1935, 19–27.

58

53
 1.2 Animal fibres

Prehistoric people were most

Sometimes, research goes astray. At the beginning
of the 1960s the textile remains from the Hallstatt creative in the use of differ-
period chieftain's grave from Hohmichele, Biberach ent animal hair for textile
district (Germany), were studied. Fine remnants work. Hair of many animals
of yarns were discovered, which formed complex with a certain staple length
‘embroidery’ patterns in the form of angles, hooks,
is suitable for spinning and/
meanders and triangles on a fragment of woollen
repp. The pattern threads were fine and showed or weaving – especially the
a bright, papery saponified surface. The author of wool of the sheep.
the textile reports, Hans-Jürgen Hundt, considered
them to be silk, although even at that time scientific
analyses by a botanist classified them as more Sheep’s wool
likely of plant origin*21. . Hundt also interpreted the
patterned fabrics from the princely grave of Hochdorf
with threads of similar bright, papery saponified Domestic animals like the
appearance as silk. Sweeping theories, for instance sheep came to Central Eu-
as to trade along the Silk Road to Central Europe, rope with the first farmers
were built on these interpretations. In the 1990s,
in the Neolithic period, af-
Karlheinz Mann from the Max Planck Institute for
Biochemistry, Martinsried near Munich analysed the ter their domestication had
fibre remnants again by modern means** 22
. Amino
acid from animal protein should have been present if
indeed the textile was a product of the mulberry silk taken place in the Near East-
moth. Based on these tests, however, silk could be
ern mountains in the area of
ruled out; rather, the fabric is very finely processed
plant fibre. According to the current state of research, the Fertile Crescent. Bones of
there is no evidence for cultivated silk in the late sheep and goats are regular
Hallstatt and early La Tène period in Central Europe finds in settlements, from the
north of the Alps***
23
. Sometimes textile archaeology
can be as exciting as popular forensic TV shows.
earliest farmers of the Linear
Pottery Culture to the Iron
Age. The proportion of their
*21 Hundt 1962, 206 – 208, with experts reports by A. animal bones in comparison
Küntzel, M. Hopf and V. Thron. Interpretation of silk to other domesticated species
finds 213 – 215.
varies through time. Based
**
22
Banck-Burgess 1999, 234 – 237, also for a research
history of these finds.
on the bones, the different
See Bender Jørgensen 2013a, with a discussion of
phases of domestication and
***
23

the recent analysis by Irene Good. introduction of new breeds

can be reconstructed59. The
sheep was a very common

59
For a general history of the sheep as domesticated animal Benecke 1994, 228 – 238. – Lüning
et al. 1997, 69, 84­ – 87, 165-168. – Barber 1991, 20 – 30.

54
domestic and farm animal during later prehistory. Meat and
milk served as food; the wool was spun and woven, leather and
fur were used for clothing, belts and many other purposes. Even
bones and tendons were processed into various devices.

But was the sheep in demand as a wool supplier from the begin-
ning? Archaeozoologists can determine the purpose for which
animals were kept from the bone material found on settlements.
If they were slaughtered at a very young age, then the primary
purpose must have been as a source of meat. Wool and dairy
use, on the other hand, are most likely when a large number of
older females appear among the finds.

The earliest breeds of sheep still had very short hair, similar to
deer. The woolly sheep probably did not reach Central Europe
before the Late Neolithic. A small figurine of a ram from the
eponymous site of the Jordansmühl Culture in Poland, dating
to c. 4,300 – 3,900 BC, shows a male sheep with longer hair60. Os-
teological research observed that apparently a large breed of
sheep (woolly sheep?) was introduced from the Near East or the
­Eastern European steppes to Central Europe between the 4th and

Fig. 22. Soay sheep,

a primitive breed of
domestic sheep
(Ovis aries).

60
Müller-Karpe 1974, pl. 458/B3.

55
 3rd millennium BC61. On some sites, however, breeds of small,
hairy sheep were kept for a longer period of time, such as in the
Late Neolithic Mondsee Culture in Upper Austria62.

The use of wool fibres is one aspect of the ‘Secondary Prod-

ucts Revolution’63. As the new materials for cloth were mainly
­obtained from domestic species of plant and animal, their avail-
ability depended on skilful economy and use of land. Animal
skins are only obtained after the animal has been killed (primary
product), whereas sheep wool (secondary product) can be har-
vested year after year.64

The fleece of the sheep was subject to a long process of breed-

ing. Hairy sheep breeds (like today's bighorn sheep in Sar-
dinia, which are a feral form of the early domesticated sheep)
have about 6 cm long, coarse top outer hair (kemp). As in wild
­animals, kemp covers any shorter, finer underwool of the coat.
However, the fine wool was the object of desire, since it can eas-
ily be spun, unlike the more rigid kemp. One of the breeding
­efforts, therefore, was to select animals according to the length
of their fine wool. Moreover, breeding must have aimed at re-
ducing the number of coarse hairs in the coat. The resulting
mixture of coarse and fine hair in the fleece makes it possible to
­distinguish types of wool and sheep breeds from each other. For
these complex issues, we refer to the works of Michael Ryder,
especially as reinterpreted by Antoinette Rast-Eicher65, who is
tracing primitive breeds of sheep by measuring wool fineness
and fibre quality. By measuring a sample of 100 wool fibres from
one yarn and plotting the fibre diameter distribution as a histo-
gram, conclusions can be drawn about the character of the fleece
from which the wool came and about the preparation process.
In Roman times, literary evidence66 gives an additional picture,
e.g. from the descriptions of Pliny the Elder. He ­mentions that

Lüning et al. 1997, 69, 85.

61

Pucher and Engl 1997, 22 – 27, 76 – 79.

62

Sherratt 1981, 159, 180 – 181.

63

See Harris 2012, 82.

64

Rast-Eicher 2008; 2012, 386, 392 – 395. – Rast-Eicher and Bender Jørgensen 2013. – Ryder
65

1982; 1997.
See also Gleba 2008, 74.
66

56
s­ pecific breeds of sheep, differing in the colour, length and thick-
ness of their fleece, were established in different areas by the­
1st century AD (Plin., Nat. Hist. 8. 189 – 193). At this point it should
be remembered that different wool qualities also appear within
a single flock of sheep (e.g. lamb or ewe), and different parts
of the sheep’s body produce different qualities of wool (e.g. the
back or the belly).

What do the textile remnants themselves tell us about the use

of wool? The surviving textiles of the Neolithic period have al-
most exclusively been produced from plant material. It has to be
noted, however, that this may be a result of preservation con-
ditions: the majority of the textiles in question comes from wet-
land settlements where animal material cannot survive. One of
the earliest surviving woollen textiles67 is a charred wool weave
from Clairvaux-les-Lacs in Switzerland dating to c. 2,900 BC.
Another find comes from Wiepenkathen in northern Germany
and dates to c. 2,400 calBC. It is a flint dagger with a complete
leather sheath and a wooden handle, where a scrap of textile
has been tucked under the wood of the handle. It is described as
woollen tabby with a yarn diameter of 1.6 – 2 mm.

Even in the Early Bronze Age, the proportion of linen fabric

finds is still very high, but from the 16th century BC onwards,
woollen textiles become more and more common68. The major-
ity of the Middle Bronze Age textiles from the salt mines of Hall-
statt, for instance, or from the copper mines of Mitterberg, both
in Austria, was made of wool. The famous complete garments
from the oak coffins in Northern Europe dating to the period
between the 14th and 12th centuries BC were also manufactured
from wool. In the Hallstatt period, textiles from sheep's wool
were preferred. Numerous examples come from the salt mines of
Hallstatt or from Switzerland. Sheep bones are found regularly
in settlements, for instance in the Hallstatt period ­settlement of

Wiepenkathen: von Stokar 1938, 103. – Bender Jørgensen and Rast-Eicher 2015, 67 – 68, fig.
67

5.1. – Clairvaux-les-Lacs: Hundt 1986.

Oak coffin finds: Hald 1980. – Mannering et al. 2012, 97. – Mitterberg and Hallstatt: Grömer
68

2006b. – Rast-Eicher 2013. – Switzerland: Rast-Eicher 2008, 2012.

57
 ­ öttlesbrunn in Lower Austria69. In the course of the La Tène
G
period, linen fabrics become more frequent again.

Strontium isotope and DNA-analysis70 have recently been ap-

plied to identify the geographic areas of origin for the raw mate-
rial of archaeological textiles. The Huldremose textile, Denmark
(Huldremose II, ‘peplos’, 180 – 50 BC), for example, was shown
to have been made of wool both of local and non-local origin71.

Hair from other domestic animals

The goat belongs to the oldest domestic animals, along with the
sheep. The coat of the goat as fibres or fur can also be converted
into clothing and everyday objects. Roman written sources
­inform us about goat farming. From Columella (Col., De Re Rus-
tica 7.6), for instance, we learn that goats were also shorn and
emphasis was placed on their long, thick coat. Goat hair was
­primarily processed into ropes. For prehistoric times there is
good evidence for extensive goat farming in Europe, especially
in the mountainous regions of south-western and south-east-
ern Europe and in the Alps72. Goat hair (Fig. 23.2), however, has
only rarely been identified in European archaeological textiles.
Similar to the issue of differentiating flax and hemp, the finest
wool of goats and sheep is hard to differentiate. Perhaps some
textiles of fine goat hair are hidden behind what is described as
sheep wool.

Spectacular textiles made ​​of goat hair were found on the Vedrette
di Ries Glacier73, where leggings dating to the Iron Age between
the 8th and 6th centuries BC were found. The goat wool of natu-
ral colour in shades of beige brown, beige grey to dark brown
had been spun into medium-fine threads, which were woven
in tabby and twill and further processed into leg wear. Further-
more, a tabby woven textile made of goat hair was identified

Pucher 2004, 309 – 311.

69

See Frei 2013. – von Holstein 2013.

70

Brandt et al. 2011. – Frei et al. 2009. – Mannering et al. 2012, fig. 3.11.
71

Benecke 1994, 244.

72

Bazzanella et al. 2005.

73

58
in the cemetery of Solduno, Switzerland74, in a middle La Tène Fig. 23. Samples of
period grave. Only recently textiles from the fine wool of the animal hair under the
Kashmir goat have been published; the fragments were found scanning electron
microscope: sheep
at Lattes in France, dated to c. 470 – 460 BC75, the object is inter- wool (1), goat hair
preted as an Etruscan import. (2), horse hair (3),
badger hair (4). Curt-
The horse, which was used as a domesticated animal in Central Engelhorn Centre
Europe76 since at least 4,000 BC, is distinguished by its long tail for Archaeometry at
the Reiss-Engelhorn
hair. Although they are too stiff to be spun well, they are very Museums in
useful for processing directly due to their length and stability. Mannheim.
Horse hair from the tail (Fig. 23.3) was used as weft threads for
some bands from the Early Iron Age site of Hallstatt and the

Rast-Eicher 2008, fig. 27, Grave D20.

74

Landes 2003, 137 – 138, No. 10 – 6.2. The result of the fibre analysis is disputed.
75

Benecke 1994, 294 – 295.

76

59
 Early La Tène site of Dürrnberg77 – in two tablet woven bor-
ders and one warp-patterned repp band used as a belt. The spe-
cial qualities of this material were utilised very appropriately.
These bands should be flexible in their longitudinal direction,
but steady and firm across their width (Fig. 24). Anyone who
has ever worn a soft cloth band as a belt and was angry about
the fact that it curls up is aware of the problem. The stiff horse
hair made sure that the shape of the band was always stable in
its width.

Contemporary finds of textiles78, for which a horsehair thread

system was used, were discovered in the burial ground at Ut-
tendorf in Pinzgau (Early Iron Age). A tabby woven fabric with
a similar weft of horsehair was found corroded to an iron blade
in a Hallstatt period grave from Hirschaid in Bavaria. Likewise
interesting is the find of horse tail hair from the bog of Damen-
Fig. 24. Band with
dorf 1934, dating to the Late Bronze Age, Montelius period V.
horse hair from the
salt mines at Hallstatt, In this case, braided and twisted horse hair was used to deco-
Austria, Early Iron Age. rate a leather case. The woman from Skrydstrup, discovered in a

Grömer 2013, 55. – Grömer and Stöllner 2011, fig. 6.

77

Uttendorf: Moosleitner 1977, 115–117. – Hirschaid: Hundt’s analysis in Pescheck 1972,

78

268 – 269. – Damendorf: Van der Sanden 1996, 95, fig. 123. – Skrydstrup: Broholm and Hald
1940, 20. – Hald 1980.

60
tree coffin and dating to c. 1,300 BC, wore a hairnet braided from
horse hair.

A band made of horse hair was found together with a woollen

cloth at Cromaghs, Armoy in Ireland79, dating to c. 800 BC. The
cloth was wrapped around a small hoard of bronze tools, placed
in a bog, with the horse hair ornament on top. Both warp and
weft are described as unspun single hairs of black horsehair wo-
ven into a herringbone 2/2 twill weave. The exquisitely worked
band of horse hair has tassels on each end and displays an ex-
tremely high standard of skill.

For all finds of textiles with horse hair discovered so far, dark,
heavily pigmented tail hairs were used.

Hair of wild animals

Evidence for fabrics made of badger hair (Fig. 23.4) seem more
like a curious side note, but it does show that prehistoric people
used any suitable material for their purposes. Textiles consisting
of badger hair80 were found in the chieftain's grave from Hoch-
dorf, according to the analysis by Johanna Banck-Burgess81.
Yarn made of badger hair was processed in various weaving
techniques. Under the cushion layers of the ornate bronze couch
(klinē), on which the deceased was laid to rest, a fine, tabby wo-
ven badger fabric was found. The fine wool of this wild animal
was spun and plied into fine threads of 0.3 mm diameter. Addi-
tionally, patterned tablet weaves were made from the fine hair
of the under-coat of the badger and decorated with hemp bast.
Coarser badger hairs were also discovered in the same grave;
the hair was sorted out and eliminated before spinning. These
fibres appear to have been used as pillow and mattress filling in
the prince's grave. This find illustrates both the careful prepara-
tion of this rather unusual material as well as the creative and
efficient use of natural resources.

79
Wincott-Heckett 2012, 433 – 435.
80
For comments on finds of badger hair in graves see Rast-Eicher 2008, 50.
81
Banck-Burgess 1999. Weaves of badger hair 102 – 103.

61
 Identification errors made by early archaeological textile research are perpet-
uated in the popular scientific literature to this day. When the first microscope
images of fibres of the wool textiles from the Nordic Bronze Age and Iron Age
(from oak coffins and bogs) were released at the beginning of the 20th cen-
tury, deviations from the usual sheep’s wool of modern times were noted: the
threads consisted of very thick fibres along the well-known fine wool hair. It
was not considered that very coarse stiff hair could have belonged to the natu-
ral coat of primitive prehistoric sheep breeds. It was thus concluded from the
fibre images that deer hair must have been added to the mix82. This theory has
been scientifically refuted since the late 1930s83, and today's researchers are
confident that the fleece of sheep was not mixed with other hair.

2 Preparatory work

The step from the raw material to the spun thread is an essential element in
the manufacturing process, as the preparatory treatment is a significant fac-
tor for the quality of the final product. The care taken and the time spent, as
well as the application or omission of individual manual steps, may lead to
coarser, more irregular threads or to fine, uniform and shiny material, from
which top-quality products can be manufactured. We know the full range of
different qualities of end products from the textiles of the Central European
Stone to Iron Ages. However, only a few pieces of equipment have been re-
covered archaeologically from the fibre preparation processes. Most of our
knowledge currently comes from portable artefacts such as loom weights and
spindle whorls, and finished textiles. More research is needed, employing
new methods and technologies to identify the cultivation plots, work surfaces
and activity areas associated with all of the steps of collecting and preparing
the raw materials.

To produce fibres, first of all the availability of the raw material is important,
pastures for breeding animals or the land to be used for flax cultivation. Fur-
ther, work surfaces are needed, on which the material is spread out, dried,
threshed, sorted and combed. Space for storing the raw material and the pro-
cessed spun fibrous material must also be available. In the study of prehistoric
settlements all these necessary open spaces are difficult to attribute to specific
activities, because space also was used for multiple purposes.

For example von Stokar 1938, 103–134.

82

Cf. Schlabow 1976, 31 – 33. – Discussion see Möller-Wiering 2012, 126 – 127.

83

62
The advantage of using wool as a fibre over flax is that herding
sheep does not require prime agricultural land. In fact, non-agri-
cultural areas can be utilised as pastures. Wool does not require
ploughing, sowing, weeding or harvesting, and it is less affected
by weather conditions. Fewer herders are needed to tend the
flock in order to produce a greater volume of fibre than would
be generated by the same people cultivating flax84.

The steps in the fibre preparation will now be explained by the

examples of the two most common plant and animal fibre mate-
rials – flax and sheep wool. To understand the working process,
references to ethnographic records and folklore are used.

2.1 Preparation of flax

The labour-intensive and lengthy process of flax preparation by

hand was part of farmer’s life until the mid-20th century in Cen-
tral Europe. Today, these activities are continued only in eth-
nographic open-air museums, where they are brought to life
again85. The various tools and equipment applied in these mu-
seums were not necessarily used in this form in prehistory. In
general, very few tools are present in the archaeological material
that can be associated with treatment of flax.

According to ethnographic records, the process (Fig. 25)86 fol-

lows certain rules that were probably similar for prehistory;
only a few deviations have been found so far. At harvest, the
flax stalks were pulled by hand so as not to curtail the length of
the fibres to be obtained by separation of the lower plant parts.
In the Neolithic period, the plants were possibly cut87. The seed
capsules were removed by rippling or combing and processed
separately as an oil source. As shown in ethnographic muse-
ums, the flat bundle of flax is pulled through large iron combs

See Gleba 2012, 222.

84

For example open-air museum Stübing in Styria, http://www.freilichtmuseum.at/en/ (last

85

accessed 30th July 2014).

Cf. Barber 1991, 13–14. – Körber-Grohne 1994, 370–371. – Leuzinger and Rast-Eicher 2011,
86

3643–3646. – Wild 1988, 21–22.

Kind comment by A. Rast-Eicher. Rast-Eicher and Dietrich (in press).
87

63
 during this processing step. In prehistoric times this may have
been done by hand only or possibly coarser heckling tools (Fig.
30) might also have served to remove seed balls.

To facilitate separation of the usable fibres from the rest of the

plant mass, the stems have to undergo a biological process in
which the plant stems are retted. For this purpose, the plants
are either soaked in water for about two weeks or spread on a
meadow and exposed to rain and dew for about 3 to 5 weeks.
These wet conditions cause the cell walls to ferment in the cor-
tical layer as bacteria loosens the fibres from the core and bark.
This makes it easier to separate the fibre bundles from both the
wooden parts in the stem and the outer skin. Pits used for retting
Fig. 25. Treatment flax were found in connection with the settlement of Frydenlund
of flax according to a
historic chalcography of Funen, Denmark88. Fragments of flax capsules from those pits
in the local museum have been dated to the Nordic Late Bronze Age (800 – 410 BC)
Gallneukirchen, Austria. and Pre-Roman Iron Age (420 – 350 BC).

88
After Mannering et al. 2012, 104.

64
After drying, mechanical force is required in order to separate the fibres from
the woody parts. For this, flax was broken and beaten with a wooden mallet
on a flat surface well into the 20th century in rural areas. Scutching followed,
in which the stems were struck over a narrow edge to remove the bark and
woody splinters. They were rubbed, swung and beaten to remove the last
of the extraneous wood particles. In prehistoric times, these operations were
probably accomplished by hand with stones or wooden clubs. The subse-
quent combing and hackling with a flax hackle separates the flax lengthwise,
smoothens and orders the fibres. The material was drawn through the teeth
of a heckle board, until the fine, good quality fibres were separated from the
short fibres (tow) and remaining wood particles. Ethnographic examples of
European flax heckles are designed like brushes – boards with many rows of
metal prongs. Thanks to careful examination of the Swiss lake-dwellings, we
know different types of equipment that could have served as flax hackles (see
pages 72 – 74).

Some Roman authors89 discuss flax growing and cultivation techniques, such
as Pliny the Elder, Varro or Columella, all describing similar techniques. In
ancient sources there is no information on the amount of fibre that could have
been obtained from a field of flax, but Eva Andersson-Strand90 presented
some calculations of yield in rural Denmark in the 20th century, based on a
100 m2 field:

● 100 m2 = 1 working day to pull the flax stems by hand

● 100 m2 = ca. 25 kg yarn in different qualities + 14 kg of lower
quality fibres (tow) for ropes etc.
● 25 kg yarn = 287,500 m thread
● 11 threads per cm in warp and weft = 2,200 m thread
per m2 = 130 m2 fabric

2.2 Preparation of wool

The coat of sheep as well as other animals consists of different fibre types.
One type is the thicker, stronger kemp (long guard hair) with a diameter
­between c. 50 and 100 µm and a thick medullary canal, which is visible un-
der the ­microscope. The kemp forms the coat’s surface and repels water from
the animal. The finer wool fibres form the undercoat and are characterised

After Gleba 2008, 69.

89

Andersson Strand 2010b, 11.

90

65
 Fig. 26. Hallstatt salt by a delicate wavy texture. Their primary function is the ther-
mine: Bronze Age wool mal insulation of the animal. The length and thickness of sheep
with kemp hairs. hair depends on the breed of sheep, the season and the climate.
Wool hair of medium quality has a thickness of about 30 to 60
µm; finer qualities have diameters less than 30 µm, sometimes
less than 6 µm91.

The view through the microscope (Fig. 26) of Middle Bronze Age
threads from Hallstatt clearly shows that fine and coarse fibres
were mixed92. At that time, apparently, the wool of the primi-
tive domestic sheep was not sorted according to fineness in a
targeted manner. Microscopic analysis of threads from the Iron
Age provides information about improvements in fibre process-
ing techniques since the Bronze Age and on the development of
the coat of sheep through breeding. The fibres in the Iron Age
threads are much more homogeneous, and coarse kemp is only
rarely found.

Basic steps of processing wool

The preparation of wool is much easier and more direct than

that of flax. Primitive sheep breeds, as well as many other an-
imals, naturally shed their hair on a seasonal basis; primitive
sheep moult in spring or early summer. Staples of sheep fleece
can be plucked as they shed, and in principle, they can be pro-
cessed further without intermediate steps through twisting

Rast-Eicher 2008. – Ryder 1973.

91

Cf. Rast-Eicher 2013, 172–175. – Rast-Eicher and Bender Jørgensen 2013.

92

66
with fingers or spinning with the spindle. Through selective Fig. 27. Preparation of
­processing of the wool, however, a substantial increase in the wool. Striking wool with
quality of the yarn material can be achieved. At least the teas- a bow from Kuşadasi
in Turkey, August
ing of the fleece by hand, mechanical cleaning or washing in 1995 (1), carding by
water to remove coarser and finer dirt particles are already pre- hand from Matmata in
supposed in the earliest times. Ethnographic evidence further Tunisia, July 2008 (2).
shows that wool could be beaten with a bow to separate the
fleece fibres (Fig. 27.1). The process of carding, which is done
by means of two boards filled with hooks (cards), is also well
known from ethnography and folklore (Fig. 27.2). Wool fleece
is placed between the cards, which are placed face to face and
drawn in opposite directions, so the fleece is broken up like cot-
ton wool. If the wool is not very dirty, it can be spun even be-
fore washing, in which case the wool wax, lanolin, is very ben-
eficial to the spinning process.

It may be assumed for prehistoric periods that sheep’s wool was

harvested or plucked by hand at the time of moulting in order to
avoid losses. Even with today's breeds of sheep that are close to
primitive forms, harvesting the fibre is done this way. The fine

67
 undercoat is released earlier than the guard hairs and can thus
be easily selected, as Karl Schlabow recorded93:

‘The following observations could be made ​​in North Friesland dur-

ing the production of particularly smooth threads. The wool is not,
as usual, sheared. When the wool is ripe, the sheep are first washed.
After drying, only the long wool is pulled by hand jerkily in the fibre
direction so that a kind of sliver-like band forms, similar to roof tiles
set neatly one next to the other. It is easy to understand that fleece
prepared in such a way, consisting of smooth and long hair can be
spun into a very fine and uniform thread with the appropriate skills.’

At what point in the history of textile crafts people began to

shear sheep is not entirely clear. The wool researcher Michael
Ryder94 suggests that it went hand in hand with the develop-
ment of sheep breeds from those with natural hair change to
those with continuously growing hair at c. 1,000 BC in Anato-
lia. Cutting hair would in principle be possible with any type
of knife. Flint knives are available from the Stone Age, various
types of copper, bronze and iron knives later on. Shears, how-
ever, are particularly practical and quick for cutting the con-
tinuously growing wool of sheep, which no longer naturally
moult. This particular breed would then go hand in hand with
the invention of shears for sheep-shearing. Shears as tools first
appear in Central Europe from the La Tène period, more pre-
cisely in the second half of the 4th century BC (Fig. 28)95. All
known examples of sheep shears are made of iron. In fact, their
invention is tied to the use of iron, which is more springy than
Fig. 28. Late Iron bronze96. Interestingly, these shears which can be up to 20 cm
Age shears from in length, are frequently found in men's graves (see page 274).
Mannersdorf, Austria.

93
Schlabow 1974, 173. – See also Wild 1988, 14–17.
94
Ryder 1997.
95
E.g. Pottenbrunn, Lower Austria: Ramsl 2002. – Dürrnberg Grave 9, 10/2, 24/2: Penninger
1972. – Northern Italy: Gleba 2008a, 173.
96
Barber 1991, 29.

68
Preparation steps for influencing the properties of wool

Further observations on the fibre quality can be made directly

on the original archaeological material. In addition to the differ-
ent proportion of coarse and fine fibres in the yarn, another phe-
nomenon has been noted through direct comparison between
Bronze and Iron Age textiles from the salt mine of Hallstatt.97
In Bronze Age fabrics dating to c. 1,500 to 1,200 BC, the fibres
within a thread are quite irregularly oriented. On the same site,
nearly 800 years later, the Iron Age fibre threads normally lie
parallel (Fig. 29), although ‘fluffy’ threads as they were known
from the Bronze Age still occur. This may look like an insignif-
icant detail, but it has far-reaching implications. For threads, in
which the fibres are frizzy, the fleece was only lightly prepared.
It was probably teased apart, cleaned, beaten and even possi-
bly roughly combed. To achieve fibres lying parallel within a
thread, however, requires a much larger investment of time, es-
pecially by careful and repeated combing. This process results
in a shiny and water-repellent thread.
Fig. 29. Hallstatt salt
mines: Iron Age wool of
Microscopic analysis was used for more hints about wool pro- various qualities: yarns
cessing98 in the Hallstatt material, looking at the direction of the with tangled fibres (1)
fibres within the threads. The more the fleece had been combed, and parallel fibres (2).

Grömer 2005a, 27–28.

97

Rast-Eicher 2013, 170–172, e.g. fig. 60.

98

69
 the more variation there is in the direction of the scales of the
fibres and the greater the parallel alignment of fibres.

Another sophistication of the Iron Age, particularly popular

in the eastern Hallstatt areas, is the spin pattern (Fig. 97). Its
effect relies on the fact that s-and z-twisted yarns reflect light
differently and thus, if the yarns are arranged in groups, the
textile appears in a fine stripe tone-on-tone pattern. This subtle
­patterning goes hand in hand with the way wool is combed, as
only smooth threads with their parallel fibres optimally ­support
this effect. With ‘fluffy’ threads it would hardly be worth the
effort – the stripe effect of the s-and z-threads would only be
poorly visible.

Different methods of preparing the wool before spinning are

used even today. The basic procedures are carding and comb-
ing, which result in different qualities of the carded wool yarn,
called woollen yarn (Streichgarn), and combed or worsted yarn
(Kammgarn)99. The combed top (Kammzug), a narrow band with
parallel fibres, is produced from good quality wool in an inten-
sive and lengthy process of combing. The worsted yarn spun
from this combed top is smooth and uniform, the short fibres
have been combed out and the fibres are parallel to the usually
sharply twisted yarn, which also makes it water repellent. The
carded woollen yarn, in contrast, is spun into a rather loosely
twisted thread. It has a coarse appearance with protruding
­fibres, but it is more elastic, moisture absorbent and warming
than worsted yarn. In addition, it is easier to felt due to the pro-
truding hairs.

Through the different treatment of the fleece the properties of

the wool yarn can be changed from soft and fluffy to smooth,
shiny and firm. These different characteristics were known, se-
lected and deliberately achieved in the Central European Iron
Age. However, the previously discussed qualities of prehistoric
yarns cannot be directly equated with modern woollen or wor-
sted yarns, as machine processing requires completely different
preparatory and spinning techniques. In this context only ­details

Eberle et al. 1991, 45 – 46. – Barber 1991, 20. – Wild 1988, 18 – 19.
99

70
of fibre preparation that were already known in prehistory will
be pointed out.

During the investigation of Iron Age textiles from Switzerland100

it was discovered that sorted wool was already being processed
into textiles in the Hallstatt period. At the end of the Celtic era,
in the late 1st century BC, sheep were bred with much finer wool
than had been the case in earlier centuries.

Various pieces of equipment must have existed for the prepara-

tion of fibre material. Wooden boards with thorns, such as the
ones described below, would be suitable for carding. In princi-
ple, any type of comb can be used for combing wool – however,
finer-toothed devices are necessary for fine, worsted qualities.
Iron combs, which may be used for the preparation of wool,
­appeared during the La Tène period in Switzerland. The wool
was combed with a warm iron comb to retain the straight long
fibres, while the short fibres were discarded. Such aligned wool
fibres in threads were detected from La Tène contexts in Swit-
zerland.101

In ancient Greece, the preparation of the wool fleece for spin-

ning had developed into a complex workflow, shown in picto-
rial representations and written sources, and through special-
ised equipment. According to Anastasia Pekridou-Gorecki,102
the wool was pulled slightly apart after washing and combing
and somewhat rotated to connect the fibres with each other. A
roving, a narrow band of processed wool fleece with fibres care-
fully aligned, similar to a combed top, was produced that could
then be spun into fine yarns. Three different methods were in
use for that purpose: the wool was either processed solely by
hand or on the bare leg; the third possibility was the creation of
the roving on the clay epinetron, a device in the form of a hollow
brick (half-round ceramic plate), which was placed on the knee
and thigh of one leg.

100
Rast-Eicher 2008.
101
Rast-Eicher 2012, 392, fig. 19.24.
102
Pekridou-Gorecki 1989, 16 – 20, fig. 3 – 6. – Barber 1991, 77, Epinetron: fig. 2.45.

71
 2.3 Archaeological finds of tools for fibre preparation

Surveying the archaeological literature, a few artefacts are again

and again linked to the preparation of fibre materials for tex-
tile production103. From the Neolithic wetland settlement of
Egolz­​wil, Switzerland, for example, we know bundles of black-
thorn. Such hard, pointed devices are useful for the preparation
of flax. Blackthorn branches are very durable and so fine that
they can untangle the material well. Tips of animal ribs tied to-
gether, such as the ones from Zürich-Mozartstrasse or the dou-
ble-pronged bone tools from the Attersee in Upper Austria­
(Fig. 30) might have served to hackle or riffle flax. Flax heckles
need to have long spikes or teeth to attain sufficient tension for
separating and cleaning flax fibre as it is pulled through the de-
vice. Another device from the Neolithic period was already rec-
ognised as a textile tool in 1937 through the pioneering work of
Emil Vogt on Stone Age wickerwork and weaves: the hackling
board from Lattringen104 is a board in which the thorns of black-
thorn were set.

In addition to these Late Neolithic finds, some devices are also

known from the late La Tène period, i.e. the centuries before
the Christian era. We know slim, rectangular wooden boards
with holes and handle105 (Fig. 31) from Liptovska Mara, Slo-
vakia, and Hallstatt Dammwiese, the latter with thorns still
stuck in the board. They would be useful devices for hack-
ling flax. Perhaps these Iron Age devices were also employed
for carding wool (Fig. 32). Functionally they are very simi-
lar to hand carding tools known from ethnographic records.
Fig. 30. Two-pronged If they were indeed used for carding by hand, the older hy-
bone tools from pothesis106, that those were only used from the Middle Ages
Attersee in Austria, onwards, would be refuted. The fuller's teasel (Dipsacus sa-
Late Neolithic.
tivus) was not, as often thought, used to comb the wool, but
for , raising the nap on the surface of a finished fabric107.­­

Zürich and Egolzwil: Rast 1990, fig. 2. – Attersee: Willvonseder 1963 – 1968. – Lattringen:
103

Vogt 1937. – For a discussion on functional experiments, see Rast-Eicher 1997, 304.
Vogt 1937, fig. 72/6 – 7.
104

Cf. Belanová and Grömer 2010.

105

Cf. Barber 1991, 22.

106

See also Goldmann 1990, 432 – 433.

107

72
 Fig. 31. Hackling
boards from Hallstatt-
Dammwiese in Austria
and Liptovska Mara in
Slovakia, Late Iron Age.

Fig. 32. Reconstructions

of the hackling board of
Hallstatt-Dammwiese in
use. Made by Wolfgang
Lobisser.

73
 Of course it is conceivable that the heckle boards from Liptovska Mara and
Hallstatt were also used as tools for finishing textiles by rising a nap.

Combs of various kinds have been recovered from various Neolithic contexts,
for instance from Arbon Bleiche 3108. Well known examples were found in the
water-logged settlements of northern Italy, dating to the Early and Middle
Bronze Age. These multifunctional artefacts can be used as toiletry articles for
combing and/or pinning up hair, but they also can be employed to prepare
wool or even for weaving, where they are useful for beating in the weft. Fine-
toothed wool combs made of iron are mainly known from Roman times109,
where images provide evidence of how they were used. In Avenches, Swit-
zerland, a wool comb was found along with a silver cup dating to the 1st/2nd
century AD, which shows a man (!) combing wool110.

3 Yarn manufacture: spinning

There are different ways to produce yarn from fibres: they can either be spun
or plant fibres can be spliced into yarns111. With the latter technique, bundles
of flax fibres, 60 – 90 cm long, are stripped from their stalks and spliced, so
that the ends of the fibre bundles overlap one another for a few centimetres.
The overlapping section has some twist inserted into it so the splice will hold,
­cemented by natural pectin in flax. Archaeological evidence for splicing has
recently been recovered in Neolithic Swiss textiles112. Most common, how-
ever, and later in development is spinning.

Today, few people are aware how time-consuming the production of cloth-
ing for the household is. Many hours of the daily workload were dedicated
to textile work, especially to spinning, in previous eras. Spinning is known
from fairy tales, for example, when Sleeping Beauty picks her finger on the
spindle and falls into a deep sleep until she is awoken by the Prince. Some
phrases and proverbs still reference spinning, for example ‘to spin a yarn’ = ‘to
tell a very long and usually fanciful story’, ‘to spin (something) out’ = ‘to make
(something) take a very long time’. A ‘spinster’ is the technical term for an un-

108
Arbon Bleiche: Leuzinger 2002, 101. – Northern Italy: Bazzanella et al. 2003, 141 – 142.
109
Wild 1970, 25 – 26; 1988, 19, fig. 10.
110
Rast-Eicher 2008, 161 – 162, fig. 228 – 229.
111
Barber 1991, 47, 145. Splicing is particularly associated with Egyptian linen, fig. 2.8 and 2.9.
112
Leuzinger and Rast-Eicher 2011.

74
married woman, i.e. who has nothing to do except spin.113 Also, a
modern English term describes the female branch of a family as the
‘distaff side’.

Spinning is a very meditative activity, during which – granted

sufficient mastery of the craft – one has plenty of time to think.
In addition, spinning is very sociable. Even in the period around
the ­Second World War it was customary in the Upper Austrian
Mühlviertel region that women from neighbouring farms gathered
together with their spinning wheels for the ‘Rucka-Roas’, a meeting
at which the women spun together, exchanging news and gossiping
as well as talking about personal matters and problems114. Perhaps
it was this female exchange of information that was not welcome
to all and was judged negatively in the German language. ‘Die spin-
nen!’, literally ‘they are spinning’, also means ‘they are crazy’. An in-
teresting example in English is a ‘spin doctor‘, someone who ‘spins‘
interpretations (usually deliberately incorrect or misleading), from
actual research to influence public opinion115. The fact that prov-
erbs such as these are deeply rooted in our use of language shows
how important spinning was as an activity in times past. But how
does spinning actually work?

The basic principle of spinning with a hand spindle (drop spin-

dle)116 is very simple: by inserting twist (rotating the spindle),
relatively short fibres are connected into a thread of any length.
Whether this happens with a hand spindle or, after some technical
development, with the spinning wheel is not relevant. No later than
from the beginning of the Neolithic period (in Central Europe from
c. 5,600 BC) there is archaeological evidence that human ingenuity
invented a new tool to aid the tiresome process of twisting threads
by hand, which simplified and accelerated the process. The spindle
was created from a wooden rod of approximately 20 – 30 cm length
with a weight (whorl) impaled on the lower third. The weight of
the spindle whorl facilitates the thread formation by drawing the

Kind comment by John Peter Wild, Manchester, Great Britain, January 2014. For the term
113

‘distaff gender‘ see Hornby 1995. – German proverbs include ‘der Geduldsfaden reißt’, ‘man
hat den Dreh raus’ or ‘die spinnen’.
Kind comment by Anna Riener, farmer on the z`Oberwinkl country estate, Altenberg near
114

Linz, Upper Austria, January 1999.

Kind comment by Roderick B. Salisbury, October 2014.
115

Barber 1991, 39 – 78. – Crockett 1977. – Wild 1988, 25 – 29.

116

75
 thread downwards in rapid and uniform rotation. The spindle
may be turned clockwise or counter clockwise, resulting in a
right or left-twisted (s or z) thread (Fig. 33).

During spinning (Fig. 34), the spindle, already attached to a

starting thread, is set in rotation. The end of the thread and the
wool fleece is held in the left hand, while the spindle is set into
motion with the right hand117. Drawing out fibres evenly from
the mass and pulling and twisting gently, the rotation twists the
loose fibre material, immediately forming a thread. When it has
become a certain length, the thread is wound on the spindle.
After winding the yarn, the end of the thread is secured to the
tip of the spindle again, so that the spindle can hang freely on
the starting thread once more, and the spinning process can be
Fig. 33. Threads: s- and repeated: drafting and arranging the wool mass into the desired
z-yarn, as well as plied thickness of the thread, twisting the thread by turning the spin-
yarn twisted together to dle, etc. When the spindle is finally full, the thread must be un-
form Z-and S-plied yarn.
wound. This is the basic spinning technique for a simple yarn
from sheep wool.

The spinning wheel, especially the treadle wheel that until re-
cently was still used in rural communities, is a relatively late
Fig. 34. Sequence of
motions: spinning wool technological advancement; in comparison to the hand spindle,
with the suspended which is more than 7,000 years old, the spinning wheel dates back
spindle. only 600 to 800 years118, the treadle wheel only about 500 years.

117
It might be the other way round, if you are left handed.
118
For general information on the spinning wheel, cf. Sporbeck 1996, 472–480. – Crockett 1977.

76
The older type of wheel, the great wheel (c. AD 1250 – 1300), has Fig. 35. Hand spinning
a horizontally positioned spindle, which is moved via a belt wheel from Kuşadasi in
driven by a large wheel (Fig. 35.1). The whorl as a centrifugal Turkey, August 1995 (1),
spinning wheel
mass became redundant. The drive wheel was set into rotation from Galicia, early 20th
by hand; the other hand drafts the fibre against the spindle. The century (2).
twisting of the yarn as well as the subsequent winding are still
separate operations.

Only the treadle wheel (Fig. 35.2), which came in use in Cen-
tral Europe towards the end of the Middle Ages in the 15th cen-
tury AD, combined spinning and winding into a single opera-
tion. Again, the spindle is mounted horizontally on the spinning
wheel and is rotated via a flywheel by a foot pedal. The thread
runs through a feed hole and a flyer onto the bobbin. There is
a speed difference in the rotational speed of the flyer and the
bobbin that is the key point of the mechanism: it leads to simul-
taneous twisting (spinning) and winding of the spun thread.
Through this mechanism, which enables the twisting of the yarn
and winding up the thread only by varying the yarn tension,
a continuous and un-interrupted fibre processing is possible.
With the hand spindle, in contrast, it is necessary to interrupt
the spinning to wind up the yarn.

77
 3.1 Different spinning techniques with the hand
spindle
The basic operation of the hand spindle has already been dis-
cussed. However, different spinning techniques emerged119,
which were common in different regions or were used for spe-
cific raw materials.
Fig. 36. Spinning in
different techniques: The drop spindle can be used hanging on the thread that is cur-
spinning with a rently being produced (Fig. 34). It is also possible to allow the
supported spindle, spindle to run in a ceramic bowl or on the floor (supported spin-
Matmata in Tunisia, July dle) so that gravity does not act on it (Fig. 36.1). This technique is
2008 (1), flax spinning
with a long distaff, ethnographically documented for some North American Indian
watercolour from tribes, in North Africa and in Tibet120. The spindle in the ceramic
Romania, 1895 (2). bowl might be the preferable technique to letting the device run

Barber 1991, 41 – 51.

119

Cf. Hirschberg and Janata 1986, 131. – See also Crawfoot 1931.
120

78
on the floor, so that the precious thread
material will not get dirty. It is also pos-
sible to rotate the spindle horizontally
while holding it in the hand.

The individual spinning techniques are

on the one hand regional traditions, but
are also related to general working tech-
niques. Spinning with the drop hand
spindle has, among other advantages,
the advantage that one is not bound to
a place like with the spinning wheel or
when spinning with a ceramic bowl.
Spinning can be done whilst sitting,
standing, and – with a little skill – even
while walking. It is quite conceivable that
in Central European prehistory the spin-
dle was always carried on the body, so
that it could be used effectively when-
ever the opportunity for spinning arose;
for example, when longer distances had
to be walked.

When spinning sheep wool, the fleece

may be held in the hand and spun from there, or attached to a Fig. 37. Short distaff
distaff and spun. With flax and other long plant fibres, however, from Unterradlberg,
a distaff has to be used. A distaff is a rod of sufficient length for grave 4018 (1)
and Mautern-
the material being worked (about 90 cm long for flax), on which Burggartengasse, grave
the combed flax is fixed and plucked down with both hands 397 (2), Roman period.
during the spinning process (Fig. 36.2). The distaff may be held
under the arm or stand on its own on a stand. The rest of the
work process is the same: turning the spindle, drafting the fi-
bres, winding up the thread, continuing spinning.

Further refinements are possible even for sheep’s wool: if a

combed top is used for spinning, a prepared narrow band of
wool fleece (described above), then this would also be wound on
a distaff. This step in the work process facilitates fine spinning.
Short distaffs that are held in the hand are not suitable for spin-
ning plant fibres, but are good for spinning a carefully prepared
roving. The presence of distaffs in the archaeological record as

79
 well as on Early Iron Age images goes hand in hand with the
development towards ever finer and more uniform yarn qual-
ities during the Bronze and Iron Ages, in part even those with
parallel fibres. Short distaffs appear in the archaeological record
in metal form from the Iron Age, for instance from a grave of
Frög121, Austria, and from the Late Antique cemeteries of Un-
terradlberg und Mautern122 (Fig. 37). Ancient Greek vase paint-
ings123 often depict short distaffs used in textile processing; the
spinning woman on the sheet bronze rattle from Bologna124 also
spins roving from distaffs (Fig. 147). Objects identified as dis-
taffs made of luxury materials have been found in wealthy bur-
ials of the Villanovan and early Etruscan cultures in Northern
Italy125. Such distaffs most likely functioned as status symbols.

One of the earliest pictorial representations of a long distaff for

spinning flax from the extended area around Central Europe
has been presented by Anastasia Pekridou-Gorecki126, although
she did not identify the device as a distaff. The image on the
­inside of a red-figure kylix (5th to 3rd century BC) shows a spin-
ning woman in front of a rack. This represents a tall wooden
rod on a stand with struts at the top. The flax fibres are wound
round the struts and could then be pulled off with both hands
for spinning.

In addition to spinning yarn, the spindle is also used to ply two

or more single yarns in order to obtain a stronger and more du-
rable plied yarn. To do this, two or more single yarns spun in
the same direction are led together onto the spindle, the spindle
rotates and after twisting the plied yarn is wound up as usual.
Plying takes place in the opposite direction to the twisting di-
rection of the single yarn, which stabilises the yarn. If the single

121
Frög Tumulus 50, Grave 1: Tomedi 2002, 161 – 162, pl. 17. The interpretation as spindle has to
be questioned.
122
Unterradlberg, Grave Verf. 4018: J.-W. Neugebauer 2001, fig. 43/7. – Mautern, Grave 397:
Grömer 2003. Roman period distaffs see also Gostenčnik 2012.
123
After Barber 1991, 75. – Pekridou-Gorecki 1989.
124
Gleba 2008a, fig. 7.
125
Gleba 2012, fig. 9.12.
126
Pekridou-Gorecki 1989, fig. 14.

80
yarns have been spun towards the left (z-yarn), they are plied
clockwise; an S-plied thread is formed (Fig. 33).

It should be mentioned briefly here that the use of yarns of dif-

ferent spin directions can be an indication of regional differences
in production traditions127. Also, in some periods and regions of
prehistoric Europe single spun yarn is preferred, whilst in other
regions more plied yarns are processed, which are more dura-
ble and better withstand the mechanical stress during weaving.
In the eastern region of the Hallstatt Culture, for instance, sin-
gle yarn was used for both thread systems, while in the west-
ern Hallstatt region plied yarns were used at least for one of the
thread systems.

3.2 Archaeological finds of spinning tools

Finds of complete spindles are extremely rare, although discov-

eries have been made in the circum-alpine lake settlements128,
for instance the Late Neolithic wooden spindle shaft with
wound up yarn from Twann in Switzerland or the Bronze Age
wooden spindles from Fiavè, Italy. The spindle from Arbon
Bleiche 3 with the spun material still intact (Fig. 38) has already
been mentioned whilst discussing lime bast as a raw material.
More complete spindles (shafts with attached whorls) have been
recovered from the same site.

The raw material for spindle shafts has most often been identi-
fied as hazel (Corylus L.) or viburnum (Viburnum L.), for ­instance
from the Neolithic lake dwellings of Switzerland129. The spin-
dle shafts found are usually pencil thick and have a minimum
length of 20 cm. Fig. 38. Complete
spindle from the
wetland settlement
Spindle whorls are very common amongst the archaeological ma- Arbon Bleiche 3
terial, as they are usually made of fired clay, or, in rare cases, of in Switzerland,
stone or bone, so they preserved well over the millennia (Fig. 39). c. 3,370 BC.

127
See Banck-Burgess 1999, 84–85. – Bender-Jørgensen 1992. – Rast-Eicher 2008, 167–169. –
Contributions in Gleba and Mannering 2012.
128
Twann: Dunning 1992, 46, fig. 6. – Fiavè: Bazzanella et al. 2003, 137–138.
129
Rast-Eicher 1997, 304.

81
 Fig. 39. Different In the framework of this book it is not possible to provide a full
shapes and sizes of typological overview130 of spindle whorls, as it is often done
prehistoric spindle by archaeologists after sorting the archaeological material. It is
whorls from Austria.
clear, however, that the functional aspect of the spindle whorl

Summary of Central European finds: Germany: Möller-Wiering 2012, 127 – 129. – Italy:

130

Bazzanella 2012, 210 – 211; Gleba 2008a; 2012, 227 – 229, 234 – 236; 2013, 4 – 6. – Slovakia
and Czech Republic: Belanová-Štolcová 2012, 309 – 314; Belanová-Štolcová and Grömer 2010.
– Switzerland: Médard 2012, 369 – 370; Rast-Eicher 2012, 382.

82
as a fly-wheel cannot be subject to drastic shape variations,
­although there are some variations in the different time periods.
Their form and especially their ornamentation vary according
to fashion trends and fads, which have always existed and still
do today.

The earliest finds of spindle whorls from Austria131 date to the

beginning of the Neolithic period, the time of the first farm-
ers (Linear Pottery Culture, c. 5,600 – 4,900 BC). Spindle whorls
made of pieces of broken vessels are known from the Upper
Austrian site of Leonding near Linz. In this early form of recy-
cling, ceramic sherds were simply broken into the desired size,
the edges ground smooth and a hole punched into the middle.
Particularly large and heavy spindle whorls (up to 100 g) were
produced in Late Neolithic, in the Cham and Jevišovice Cultures
around 3,000 BC; finds are known, for example, from Krems-
Hundssteig or Pulgarn near Steyregg. The whorls have many
different shapes and types of decoration. Smaller, disk-shaped
to spherical whorls were found in other Late Neolithic cultures
such as the Horgen Culture in Switzerland with the site Arbon
Bleiche132.

At the beginning of the Bronze Age, spindle whorls are rather

rare finds in Austria; among the few examples are those from
the Early Bronze Age settlement of Jetzelsdorf in Lower Aus-
tria. Maybe purely wooden spindles were used at that time133.
Spindle whorls from the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, in
contrast, are abundant. These are small, delicate and beautifully
designed in shape, such as those from Gars/Thunau and Hall-
statt. In the Late Iron Age the spindle whorls were again made
of pot sherds, such as the La Tène pieces from Neubau near
Traun or Linz-Freinberg. The archaeological contexts of spindle
whorl finds may be lost items in settlement areas and beyond,
but they were sometimes added as grave goods in cremation
and inhumation burials; in the latter, spindle whorls are often
found near the arms or hands. Those textile tools played a major

131
For further references see Grömer 2004 (2006). – Belanová-Štolcová and Grömer 2010.
132
Leuzinger 2002, 115 – 117.
133
Compare spindles with wooden whorls from Bronze Age pile dwellings in Northern Italy:
Bazzanella et al. 2003, 137.

83
 Fig. 40. Early Iron Age role as grave goods especially during the Early Iron Age in the
spools and spinning eastern Hallstatt area (see chapter C).
whorls from Bad
Fischau in Austria.
In addition to the archaeological finds of the tools there are, al-
beit rarely, some representations of spindles from Central Euro-
pean prehistory. It should be mentioned briefly that representa-
tions of spinning are very common motifs in the ancient civili-
zations134, such as in Egyptian paintings, sculptures and hiero-
glyphs or on Greek ceramics. In our area, the most interesting
pieces are the vessel from Sopron (c. 700 BC) and the Villano-
van sheet bronze rattle (tintinnabulo) from Bologna (Fig. 146 and
147), which both depict a woman with a spindle and short dis-
taff amongst other human representations.

As the last step after spinning, the spun (or plied) yarn material
could then be stored until it was needed for weaving or sewing;
the thread was either kept on a stick or left on the spindle. There
is also some evidence from the Stone Age that threads were

Barber 1991, 39 – 78.

134

84
wound up into balls of yarn135. Ceramic bobbins or spools136 may
also fulfil the purpose of a thread depository, and they have been
found occasionally from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, both in
settlements and graves. They consist of about 5 – 7 cm long cyl-
inders with slightly protruding flanges (Fig. 40).

3.3 Weights of spindle whorls and associated yarn

qualities
The weight of the spindle depends inter alia on the size of the
whorl, its raw material (whether it is made of ceramics, wood,
glass or stone) and how much yarn has already been spun and
wound up on it. These are at first purely physical facts. What is
interesting is whether the different shapes and sizes common in
prehistory result in different handling techniques and different
end products.

The Late Neolithic spindle whorls from Switzerland, for exam-

ple from Arbon Bleiche, usually weigh 16 to 40 g137, but can be up
to 80 g in weight. The 100 g ‘bombastic’ examples from the Late
Neolithic Cham and Jevišovice cultures (Fig. 39) are extremes138.
Among other textile equipment, numerous Early Bronze Age
whorls were preserved in the lake dwellings of Lago di Ledro,
Italy. They are spherical to disk-shaped and have weights rang-
ing from 15 to 50 g, with an average of 30 g139.

Overall, the typological development of spindle whorls from

the Neolithic period onwards results in a refinement and re-
duction in size of the tools, a process which culminates during
the Hallstatt period, when very light (5 to 20 g) and extremely
carefully executed whorls with ornaments were common. At
the fortified Hallstatt period hillfort of Smolenice Molpír in

E.g. Molina di Ledro, Italy (Early/Middle Bronze Age): Bazzanella 2003, 173. – Switzerland:
135

Vogt 1937.
E.g. Gleba 2008, 140 – 148. – Grömer 2006a, fig. 5.
136

Leuzinger 2002, 119, fig. 151.

137

Grömer 2004 (2006).

138

Bazzanella et al. 2003.

139

85
 Slovakia140, for example, about 2200 spindle whorls (Fig. 131)
and 200 loom weights were found, which probably indicate
that this site was of outstanding importance to textile produc-
tion. The weights of the whorls were predominately between 6
and 26 g, with an average of 15.8 g.

Through hands-on experience and experimental archaeology141

the world of prehistoric people can often be better understood
than through purely theoretical considerations. Spinning as a
technique is relatively easy to learn, but to gain the skill level
of prehistoric people takes years. Today, a ‘hobby’ craftsper-
son rarely reaches the refinement of a craftsperson who has
been practicing spinning since childhood.

On the basis of spinning experiments142 it was found that the

weight and the shape of the spindle can have a direct impact
on the resulting thread. This raises the question of whether and
in which spinning technique these tools can provide the neces-
sary thread sizes due to their shape and size. A series of techni-
cal experiments was conducted to evaluate rotational frequency
and its duration on original spindle whorls dating from the Ne-
olithic to Late Antiquity, as well as to test spinning of different
thread sizes with original finds.

Flax and wool was experimentally spun to threads of different

strengths (Fig. 41) with original spindle whorls from the ceme-
tery of Hallstatt (8 – 12 g) and the heavy spindle whorls from the
Late Neolithic Jevišovice Culture settlement Meidling/Kleiner
Anzingerberg (over 100 g). The weight, and thus the size of the
whorl, is crucial when used as drop spindle. Large and heavy
spindle whorls put a lot of weight on the thread on which the
spindle hangs. When trying to produce a thinner wool thread

Belanovà-Štolcová and Grömer 2010.

140

About experimental archaeology generally see Coles 1973. – Textile craft experiments:
141

Mårtensson 2007, fig. 2.

Grömer 2005b with details about the experiments and test results on original spindle whorls.
142

Experiments have been conducted to determine rotation time and rotational frequency
(number of rotations in a given time period). See also the experiments of the ‘Tools and
Textiles Research Program’ of the Centre for Textile Research Copenhagen: http: //ctr.
hum.ku.dk/research/tools_and_textiles_/, last accessed 3rd Dec. 2009). Mårtensson 2007.
Andersson Strand 2010a.

86
of about 0.4 mm thickness, a large and heavy spindle whorl can Fig. 41. Comparison
cause the thread to tear. This happens particularly when the an- of wool thread sizes
imal hair used for yarn production consists of rather short indi- achieved with spindle
whorls of different
vidual fibres, which only mesh with each other slightly in the weights.
finished yarn. The light whorls, such as those from the cemetery
of Hallstatt, are especially suited for the production of the finest
wool yarn common in the Hallstatt period. They are, however,
less suited to produce thicker wool qualities, for which their low
weight and the lower moment of inertia are responsible.

The spinning of plant fibres such as flax, hemp or nettle is com-

pletely different. The already processed raw material with
longer fibres is attached to a distaff. The spindle is rotated with
one hand, and the thread is pulled with the hands, which, with
a bit of practice, is a much faster procedure than spinning wool.
The long fibres overlap each other over longer stretches, which
minimises the risk of rupture. Even for the production of a thin

87
 thread of flax, heavier whorls (about 30 g) are preferable, since
the thread twists faster due to the increased momentum of a
larger and heavier whorl. Spindles that are too light achieve a
high speed when first rotated, but they slow down after a very
short time, which means that they cannot process the rapidly
emerging thread.

Under ideal conditions thread thickness and spindle whorl size

are correlated (Fig. 41). The shape of the whorl – whether conical,
bell-shaped or disk-shaped143 – further exerts some influence.

The influence of the weight decreases when the spindle runs in

a bowl or on the floor. In this context for most of the spindle
weights it does not really matter which raw material and what
thread size is spun. A heavier whorl increases the centrifugal
effect and in comparison to lighter whorls prolongs the rotation
of the device. In the few prehistoric representations, however, it
is always the drop spindle that is used.

Yarn qualities can also be determined on original finds, and the

measurements can be brought together with the results of ex-
perimental archaeology. Both single yarn and plied yarn have
been found in wetland settlements of the Stone Age144, some-
times in unwoven condition. In part, they are wound onto re-
mains of spindles, with spindle shafts still preserved. In other
cases, the yarn has been carefully wrapped into balls. The thread
sizes of these yarns are sometimes very fine, like in a ball of flax
yarn only 0.5 – 0.7 mm in diameter from the Zürich-Kanalisation
at Seefeld from the Late Neolithic Horgen Culture.

The aforementioned spindle from Arbon Bleiche 3145 is espe-

cially interesting as it constitutes a snapshot of the past. It is a
working tool with a whorl of 21 g and thread of lime bast of 0.7
mm thickness. The find clearly demonstrates that with a whorl
of c. 20 g in weight plant fibres could be spun into a thread of 0.7
mm in thickness.

Andersson Strand 2010b, 12–15. – Cf. experiments in Kania 2010 and 2013. – Verhecken
143

2010.
Cf. Rast-Eicher 1997, 315. – Images of various balls of yarn in Vogt 1937, fig. 73–78.
144

Leuzinger 2002, 119.

145

88
Fig. 42. Comparison of thread sizes of Bronze Age and Early Iron Age wool textiles from
the salt mines of Hallstatt, Austria.
89
 Early Bronze Age textiles preserved at lakeside settlements in
northern Italy consist of fine threads of flax, which were also
usually plied. The thread thickness ranges between 0.5 and 0.7
mm146 for the plied yarn.

In contrast to these fine, relatively thin threads of flax known

from Neolithic and Early Bronze Age contexts, the very thick
woollen threads that were used in textile production from the
Middle Bronze Age onwards are particularly conspicuous.
Bronze Age wool yarns are significantly thicker than the yarns
of earlier linen textiles. Similar wool yarn qualities can also be
observed in contemporary Scandinavia. The question must re-
main of whether this phenomenon reflects different spinning
Fig. 43. Hallstatt: Iron
Age textile with yarns techniques developed for different fibres or the preference and
of 0.1 to 0.2 mm taste of the Bronze Age people. The various fabric qualities of
thickness. wool cloth from the Middle Bronze Age to the Hallstatt period

Bazzanella et al. 2003. – Bazzanella and Mayr 2009.

146

90
can be elucidated best with the finds from Hallstatt147 (Fig. 42).
These finds are representative for thread thicknesses in Central
Europe in general. In the Middle Bronze Age, thicker strands of
wool yarn with a diameter between 1 and 2 mm are common, al-
though both thicker, and rarely finer yarn qualities also occur. In
the Hallstatt period much finer yarn qualities can be observed;
the most popular thread diameters range from 0.3 to 0.5 mm.

Thin threads could have been spun from long flax fibres rela-
tively early in the Neolithic period. With sheep wool, which is
characterised by shorter fibres, the spinning and weaving tech-
niques were refined at the end of the Bronze Age to the extent
that in the Hallstatt period thin yarns up down to 0.1 mm diam-
eter (equivalent to today's sewing thread) were achieved. Early
Iron Age craftspeople also managed to weave these very fine
yarns without plying them, a sophistication that is mainly found
in the eastern area of the Hallstatt Culture and the site of Hall-
statt itself (Fig. 43). Whorls of different weight classes have been
found from all prehistoric periods: perhaps these specialised
tools reflect the production of varying types of thread148.

The strength of the twist of the yarn is important for further

processing. Tightly twisted and therefore stable yarn made of
combed fleece is often used for the warp threads and for tablet
weaving. Loosely twisted yarn makes a good weft for absorbent
and warm textiles. The textiles found in the salt mines of Hall-
statt149 cover the whole range of possibilities – they were most
likely deliberately designed by Iron Age craftspeople with spe-
cific properties in mind (see also fibre preparation).

4 Weaving techniques
Weaving was a highly valued craft in ancient times. The sym-
bolism of weaving was embedded in society to the degree that
in the Ancient Greek language weaving became a synonym for

147
Grömer 2013, fig. 17.
148
Belanová-Štolcová and Grömer 2010, 11–15.
149
Cf. Grömer 2013, 59–60; see also key word ‘twist angle’ in the glossary.

91
 planned action. This thinking even found its way into poetry,
for instance in the comedy Lysistrata by Aristophanes (Aristoph.,
Lys.) (premiered in 441 BC). In a conversation with a magistrate
the eponymous heroine compares politics in a humorous way
to the various stages of textile production150. The appreciation of
high-quality textiles went so far that women skilled in weaving
were considered important war trophies151.

A variety of weaving techniques were available to prehistoric

people. As we know from the archaeological finds, certain me­
thods and tools were applied purposefully from very early on to
produce textiles for a specific use. The finds of the Hallstatt and
Dürrnberg salt mines152 in particular provide a treasure trove
of material for textile archaeologists. Again, it is the prehistoric
textiles themselves which reveal technical details of the manu­
facturing process – even if they are incompletely preserved.
There are narrow bands with simple selvedges. These bands
were used for various purposes, as belts, straps, bandages, trim-
mings for larger textiles, etc. Several weaving techniques can be
distinguished among these bands on the basis of the weave type
and patterning. Large-scale fabrics for clothes were most likely
produced on the warp-weighted loom in Central European
prehistory, which is evidenced by the countless finds of loom
weights from prehistoric settlements. Even small fragments of
large textiles produced on the warp-weighted loom can be iden-
tified by their starting border (see details below).

The process of weaving generally involves yarn systems that are

interlaced with each other, so that a fabric is formed. One might
note that this is also the case with braiding or plaiting. In princi-
ple, weaving, as well as plaiting mats, can be effectively done by
guiding the weft by hand alternately over and under the warp
threads. Such a weaving process is still taught to children in kin-
dergartens and elementary schools to train dexterity.

Real weaving, however, differs from plaiting by the fact that

the weaving device allows a mechanical creation of a weaving

150
Pekridou-Gorecki 1989, 25 – 26.
151
Cf. Eibner 2000/2001, 108 – 115.
152
Hallstatt: Grömer 2013. – Dürrnberg: Stöllner 2005.

92
shed153. It is therefore no longer necessary, as with plaiting, to
move each element individually and to place the thread under
or over individual warp threads by hand. The weaving device
(heddle rod) makes weaving more efficient and faster because
the whole series of threads are moved simultaneously. With the
loom, man invented one of the first ‘machines’ in human his-
tory – one of the first complex devices that allow a mechanised
operation. Like other achievements of the Neolithic, this princi-
ple was first developed in the Fertile Crescent, somewhere be-
tween Turkey and northern Iraq154.

4.1 Band weaves: narrow repp bands

Narrow repp bands with a width of approximately 1 to 2 cm

appear again and again in the archaeological material. As sepa-
rately woven bands, unicoloured or patterned, they are known,
for example, from the Bronze Age copper mining site of Mit-
terberg, Austria, or from the Iron Age salt mines of Hallstatt155.
They were produced from both single and plied yarns. The lat-
ter technique makes them even more stable and tear-resistant.
Repp bands were also used as starting borders for weaving. In
this function, they are known from the Neolithic period (see
pages 118 – 119).

Bands can also be identified as decorative elements in arts. The

hems of many garments depicted on the works of situla art156
are adorned with bands. The bands are often represented with
dashed lines, which could indicate the structure of repp bands.
The weaving device used for the production of these bands
cannot be exactly determined from the appearance of the final
product. Possibilities include the use of rigid heddles or a band
weaving tool with short heddle rods and spacing cords.

153
Plaiting and weaving are technically only peripherally related: Whilst plaiting works with at
least two active thread systems, weaving has one active thread system, the warp, and a
passive thread system, the weft. For systematics, see Seiler-Baldinger 1994.
154
Cf. Barber 1991, 79 – 122.
155
Mitterberg and Hallstatt: Grömer 2006b; 2013, 69 – 70.
156
See chapter E. – Situla art in general: Lucke and Frey 1962. – Turk 2005.

93
 Fig. 44. Band weaving Archaeological evidence of rigid heddles date to the Roman pe-
with the rigid heddle: riod; in Central Europe, one was discovered in Lauriacum, Enns
preparing the warp and in Upper Austria (Fig. 45)157. The device consists of a small board
the two weaving sheds.
of wood or bone, a flat frame with alternating slots and slants
with holes through which the warp threads passed. A heddle
rod weaving device, on the other hand, is made ​​purely from
wooden sticks and threads. The difficulties with the preserva-
tion of wood aside, these could only be identified as weaving
equipment if they were discovered in situ, with the work piece
still attached. No such a device has yet been identified in the
­archaeological materials in Europe.
Fig. 45. Rigid heddle
from Lauriacum/Enns, The production of repp bands is very simple and particularly
Austria, Roman period. clear with rigid heddles158. The warp threads are prepared at
the desired length and alternately passed through the holes and
slots of the rigid heddle (Fig. 44 and 47). By raising or depress-
ing the heddle, two different sheds could be opened, the one
above, the other below the general level of the warp. The weft is
then inserted into the shed.

The ribbed structure of repp is formed by the dense arrange-

ment of the warp threads, so that the fibre density of one thread
system is at least twice the one of the other. In some bands the
weft threads are packed so firmly that the warp threads almost
cover the weft threads. This binding is preferably used for nar-
row bands, as it gives the weaving greater strength.

Gostenčnik 2012, fig. 29d.

157

Wild 1988, 38 – 39, fig. 27.

158

94
Exactly the same textile structure of repp band can also be pro- Fig. 46. Band weaving
duced without a special rigid heddle. Working with a heddle with a heddle rod:
rod weaving device (Fig. 46) is probably the original technology. attaching the heddle rod
and the two sheds.
When warping, an upper and lower layer of thread is already
created by passing the threads around a warping device in a cir-
cular manner; the distance between the upper and lower level
of the warp is fixed by means of a separating rod or string. Now
the threads of the bottom layer are fixed to the heddle rod while
passing them through the upper layer. When the warp is tight-
ened, the weaving can begin. The shed is formed by moving the
heddle rod.

The attachment of the warp when working with a rigid hed-

dle or heddle rod is most often horizontal, knotted between
two fixed points or a fixed point on the weaver’s body. Vertical
mounting, with weights or on a frame, is also possible. Devices
Fig. 47. Scheme of
for weaving bands are very flexible, and handling is done ac- making the shed with
cording to regional weaving traditions and also according to in- heddle rod (1) and rigid
dividual preferences. heddle (2).

95
 From this simple, narrow heddle rod weaving device, other
forms of weaving tools can be derived. If one extends the hed-
dle rod in width and secures a wider warp to a stationary frame,
the vertical hanging warp threads can be weighted with loom
weights and the warp-weighted loom emerges. Widening the
distance of the warp threads, the heddle and dividing rod, and
attaching the warp on both ends on rods results in a two-beam
loom. This weaving equipment is mounted horizontally and
used close to the ground, resulting in the horizontal ground
loom, which is, for example, typical for Ancient Egypt159. The
tubular loom, a two-beam vertical loom160, is also derived from
this principle, but stands upright.

This does not mean, however, that it is proposed here that the
different weaving techniques have evolved from band weaving.
Different devices probably emerged at the same time, benefit-
ting from active exchange.

4.2 Broad bands in different weave types

In addition to the repp bands up to 2 cm wide, wider bands are

also found among the prehistoric materials. These were made
in other weave structures than repp and are made in techniques
similar to those for large-sized textiles produced on the warp-
weighted loom. The bands are sometimes decorated (see pages
185 – 188); the selvedges are usually designed by a simple return
of the weft thread. Wider bands occasionally have repp struc-
ture at the selvedges.

Bands with a width of 10 to 15 cm have been discovered at var-

ious lake dwelling sites of the Neolithic period – provided they
could be reconstructed because two selvedges were preserved161.
Bands of tabby weave were found in Feldmeilen-Vorderfeld.
The bundles of bands were amongst the charred remains of a
settlement dating to the second half of the 4th millennium BC

Barber 1991, 83–91 and fig. 11.1.

159

Cf. Goldmann 1990. – Hald 1980. – Stærmose-Nielsen 1999, 124–125.

160

Cf. Wininger 1995, fig. 51. Textiles from Zürich/Utoquai, Feldmeilen/Vorderfeld or Montélier/
161

Platzbünden. – Médard 2010, 2012.

96
and had been rolled up before their final deposition. The various Fig. 48. Early Bronze
bands dating to the Late Neolithic from archaeological sites in Age band from Molina
Switzerland are always made ​​from flax with plied threads and di Ledro in Italy with
woven diamond
often have reinforced selvedges. These side edges are discussed pattern.
in more detail in the chapter on the warp-weighted loom.

A few examples from the abundance of material from the

Bronze and Iron Ages will be discussed here162: A band of 10 cm
was found in the Early Bronze Age site of Unterteutschenthal,
Germany. Particularly well known are the contemporary bands
from Northern Italian wetland settlements in Molina di Ledro,
site Ledro A. The magnificent 6.8 cm wide band is fully pre-
served at 2 m length and has ends decorated with a rhomboid
pattern (Fig. 48). Another example from the same site has the
same length, is 2.2 to 3 cm wide and has fringes on one end.
Wider bands are also known from the Hallstatt site, including a
17 cm wide Bronze Age band with ribbed surface. Bands around
9 cm width in twill weave and a 4.2 cm wide repp band with
brocade pattern date to the Hallstatt period (Fig. 49).

162
Unterteutschenthal: Schlabow 1959. – Ledro: Bazzanella et al. 2003, 161–163. Bazzanella and
Mayr 2009. – Hallstatt: Grömer 2013, 70, e.g. HallTex 20, 22 and 58.

97
 Fig. 49. Different woven bands from Mitterberg, Bronze Age, and
Hallstatt, Iron Age, both Austria.
98
The weaving equipment used here is even more difficult to re- Fig. 50. Modern band
construct than for the narrow repp bands. The large number of weaving device with
warp threads (for a 8.5 cm wide twill band from Hallstatt with a four heddle rods by
Ingrid Schierer.
warp density of 13 threads per cm, 115 warp threads have been
counted)163 speaks against the use of a rigid heddle, which would
have to be very wide. Heddle rods can be easily used for vari-
ants of tabby weave as well as for more complex weaves such
as twill – only their number and way they are mounted varies
(Fig. 50). Whether the set-up was carried out horizontally or ver-
tically cannot be determined for prehistoric weaves. Nor do we
know whether the weaves were mounted on a frame. For bands
of this width it is advantageous to mount the warp threads on
both ends and arrange them in the desired width. Simply tying
the start and the end of the warp in a knot would make it diffi-
cult to achieve the desired width, particularly at the beginning.
Rods that could have been used to hold the warp were, for ex-
ample, discovered in Vinelz on Lake Biel, Switzerland, dating to

163
Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, Iron Age catalogue, HallTex 11.

99
 Fig. 51. Band weaving the 27th century BC164. The rods have thickened endings, which
with crescent-shaped might prevent the warp from slipping off.
loom weights.
Reconstruction by
Karina Grömer and Annemarie Feldtkeller165 suggested an interesting reconstruc-
Ludwig Albustin. tion of a band weaving device as it could have been used in the
Neolithic period (Fig. 51). It is based on the findings of kidney or
crescent-shaped loom weights, which are also known from Late
Neolithic contexts in Austria166. The width of the bands which
could have been produced with such a device corresponds well
to the late Neolithic fabric remnants from the lake site settle-
ments.

Wininger 1995, fig. 50. The pieces are fragmented and alternative interpretations, e.g. as
164

ends of bows, are possible.

Feldtkeller 2003.
165

Grömer 2006a, fig. 18.

166

100
After completing the weaving process, it is advisable to secure
the warp ends in some way, so that the bands are stable at the
ends. Only a few Central European pieces are well enough pre-
served that it can be observed how prehistoric people have de-
signed the ends. On one band (interpreted as a belt) from Lago
di Ledro167 this problem was solved by braiding and partially
knotting of the ends.

An example of the infinite creativity concerning the band ends

is the repp belt from Itzehoe168 from the Nordic Bronze Age; its
end is designed as a tassel with 10 cm long cords. These consist
of braided warp ends to which additional threads were added to
increase the volume of the tassel.

4.3 Tablet weaving

Tablet weaving169 was already known in Central Europe in pre-

historic times, but this craft was practiced well into the modern
era in the Persian world, Turkey, China, India, Burma and Ice-
land.

The earliest evidence for this technique from our latitudes is

found in the form of the typical square tablets170 with holes in the
corners. One such piece was discovered in the Late Bronze Age
layer 6 (14C-dated to 1,400 – 1,075 BC) of the site Abri Mühltal I,
Göttingen district in Germany. The square bone tablet is 3.5 cm
wide, 3.7 cm long and 0.4 cm thick. It is perforated at the corners
and has circular eye ornamentation on one side (Fig. 52.1). The
weaving tablet was found in context with other textile equip-
ment, a fragment of a spindle whorl and a polishing stone (to
smooth hems). Additional examples are known from an Iron

167
Bazzanella and Mayr 2009, fig. 18.
168
Ehlers 1998, 37, 43.
169
Collingwood 1982. – Hansen 1990.
170
Abri Mühltal: Grote 1994, part I/1, 149; part I/2, pl. 101/2 – 3. – Dejbjerg: Collingwood 1982,
pl. 1. – El Cigarralejo: Hundt 1968, fig. 5. Square, ceramic tablets with perforated corners
are also found in the late Neolithic of the Iberian Peninsula (Cardito Rollán 1996, 124) and in
the Lengyel Culture around 4,900 – 4,300 BC in Central Europe (e.g. Urban 2000, 92). The
use of these objects for tablet weaving has not been ultimately confirmed due to a lack of
contemporaneous fabrics in this technique.

101
 Age bog in Dejbjerg, Denmark. Particularly impressive is also
the La Tène period grave 200 of El Cigarralejo in Spain, in which
not only tablet woven textile remains were found, but also the
associated tools – thin weaving tablets made ​​of boxwood with a
Fig. 52. Archaeological length of 3 cm (Fig. 52.2). From the Roman period, we know of
finds of weaving numerous square and triangular weaving tablets (Fig. 52. 3 – 4),
tablets: Abri Altmühltal I especially in the Northern Provinces171.
in Germany, Late
Bronze Age (1), El
Cigarralejo in Spain, The ‘Ramses Belt’ from Egypt, c. 1,200 BC, and three linen
Grave 200, La Tène bands dating to the 22nd Dynasty (945 – 745 BC) have long been
period (2), Carnuntum, considered the oldest evidence of tablet weaving. This has
1st century AD (3 – 4). been refuted by Peter Collingwood in his rigorous studies172.
The earliest secure finds of textiles produced in this weaving
technique date c. 1,500 – 1,200 BC. Heidemarie Farke examined
a starting border on a Middle Bronze Age textile from the bur-
ial mound group in Schwarza, Germany173, and identified it as
having been made with tablets with four holes in the corners.
This find is now complemented by one recent find from the
Bronze Age area of the ­Hallstatt salt-mine (c. 1,500 – 1,200 BC),
a tabby textile with ­tablet woven starting border patterned
with blue warp stripes (Fig. 53)174.

The numerous well-preserved textile finds from the Iron Age

testify that tablet weaving was a fully developed art at the
time. Complicated pattern types and a variety of different tech-
niques were being used. Particularly splendid examples have

Gostenčnik 2012. – Wild 1970.

171

See Collingwood 1982, 10 – 11 for a reconsideration of finds that were identified as tablet
172

weaves in older literature.

Burial mound C1, textile 13c: Farke 1993, 111.
173

Grömer 2013, 87, catalogue 312, HallTex 288.

174

102
been found in the Hallstatt chieftain's grave of Hochdorf, Ger- Fig. 53. Hallstatt,
many175. Tablet woven bands also decorate the cloaks and capes Austria: Bronze Age
from Verucchio, Italy176. Most tablet weaves from Austria were textile with tablet
woven border.
discovered in the Iron Age sites of the Hallstatt and Dürrnberg/
Hallein salt mines177.

The most spectacular find concerning tablet weaving dates to

around 800 AD. A fully mounted device was discovered in the
grave of the ‘Viking Queen’ Asa in Oseberg, Norway178: a loom
with a mounted warp for tablet weaving with 52 tablets and a
partly woven band.

Tablet woven textiles were held in high esteem in the past be-
cause of their extraordinary load-bearing capacity. Small, deco-
rative bands were most often produced. They are very durable
and can be stretched without tearing; they do not even tear when
one of the warp threads is broken, as the warp strands usually

175
Ræder Knudsen 1999, 80 – 82. – Further examples of tablet weaves from Central Europe:
Grömer and Stöllner 2011.
176
Cf. Ræder Knudsen 2012.
177
Hallstatt: Grömer 2013, 87 – 88. – Dürrnberg: Ræder-Knudsen and Grömer 2012.
178
Collingwood 1982, 16 – 17, pl. 5.

103
 consist of four threads twisted together. Moreover, complicated
and colourful patterns can be produced with simple means in
tablet weaving.

Tablet weaves were used as trimmings for garments and as belts

in prehistoric times for these reasons. Sometimes they were di-
rectly woven together with other textiles on the loom, some-
times they were produced separately and then sewn on a fabric.

The resources and tools needed for the handling of tablet weav-
ing are very simple. No loom or weaving frame is needed; the
tablets and two fixed attachment points suffice. Nevertheless, a
large number of patterns and fabric structures can be produced.
Within a single band an amazing variety of pattern variants is
possible.

The width of the textile is determined by the number and di-

ameter of the warp threads, as is the case with other weaves.
The number of tablets is arbitrary. In prehistory and the early
historic period, up to 178 tablets were used, for example in the
splendid Prachtmantel from Thorsberg in Germany, dating to the
3rd and 4th centuries AD179.

The weaving process, the technique of combining warp and weft

threads, is not based on intersecting the thread systems by rais-
ing and lowering a heddle rod, but on an entirely different prin-
ciple. The fabric is formed by rotating the tablets (Fig. 54). The
threads are led through the holes of the tablets, which are then
given quarter or half turns. The weft is passed through the gap
(shed) between the upper and lower threads and so the warp is
converted into a fabric. The weft is not visible in the textile; it
appears only at the turning points when the rotational direction
of the tablets is changed.

Before mounting the tablet weave on the weaving devices, the

required number of warp threads must be cut to the desired
length. Then the warp threads are individually pulled through
the holes in the tablets. As soon as the warp is stretched and

Schlabow 1976, fig. 109 – 118.

179

104
Fig. 54. Tablet weaving: steps of production from the warping to the finished textile.

Fig. 55. Instructions for

tablet woven patterns:
basic pattern in white,
red and brown.

105
 mounted so that the tablets are all par-
allel, the insertion of the weft thread can
begin.

During the weaving process, the tablets

are turned on the tense warp in a quar-
ter turn, forming a shed (Fig. 54, below).
The result of this rotation is that a differ-
ent warp thread comes to the top each
time. The twist direction of the warp
‘cords’ – S or Z twisting – is determined
by the direction of the entry and the ro-
tational direction of the tablets. Since
the remainder of the warp is also turned
by the rotation, the direction of rotation
needs to be changed from time to time.
These changes of rotation allow differ-
ent patterns, which are a characteristic
feature of tablet weaving.

Depending on the combination of col-

ourful threads used in the warp and
the arrangement of the threads that run
through the holes, various patterns are
possible. The rotation direction of the
tablets is another component of the mo-
tif design. When all tablets are turned
back and forth alternately, a zigzag or
diamond pattern forms in the fabric, like
in the present example (Fig. 55). Revers-
ing the rotation direction of the pattern
is reflected in the longitudinal pattern of
Fig. 56. Using spools the fabric.
and spacers for tablet
weaving.
Other than this simple binding technique, there are many more
options for design. For more complicated motifs (see pages
180 – 185) some of the individual tablets have to be rotated for-
wards, others backwards, before leading the weft thread through
the shed. Turning the tablets around their own axis results in
further complex patterns.

106
Metal components, beads, tassels and fringes can also be woven
into the band. By using additional weft threads (brocade weft) it
is possible to weave complex pictorial patterns. This technique
was especially popular in the Middle Ages, when even gold and
silver threads were inserted180.

Iron Age contexts from Italy delivered interesting evidence for

the use of spools, spacers and clasps for the elaborate produc-
tion of tablet woven borders on the garments of Verucchio181
(Fig. 56), which were directly woven onto the textiles.

4.4 Textiles from the warp-weighted loom

People today are especially fascinated by the warp-weighted

loom182, primarily because of its primeval appearance in com-
parison to the complexity of modern looms, but also because of
its impressive functionality.

Most striking are probably the weights that stretch the warp
threads and the position of the textile at the upper end of the de-
vice (Fig. 57.2). To today's onlookers, a loom in which the shed
is cast upwards seems strange and technically immature. On
the warp-weighted loom the cloth is formed at the top and the
working face (‘fell’) slowly creeps downwards. After inserting
the weft yarn, the weaver beats each insertion firmly upwards
into place against the main web.

The procedure used and the form of this loom varies slightly
according to time and region – in this case, prehistoric Europe.
When setting up this type loom, no large space is required to ac-
commodate the device in a house (living space or workshop). A
warp-weighted loom just leans against the wall. A horizontally
mounted ground loom, however, requires much more space,
because it covers the floor. This was common in warmer areas

180
E.g. Collingwood 1982, pl. 197–198.
181
Ræder Knudsen 2012, 259–261, fig. 11.10–11.14. – For tools, see Gleba 2008a and 2012.
182
Basics of the warp-weighted loom and the work process: Hofmann 1964.

107
 Fig. 57. Krems- such as the Middle East or in Egypt183, where working could be
Hundssteig in Austria, also done outside due to the favourable climate.
cylinder-shaped
loom weights from
Late Neolithic (left), The warp-weighted loom is known from numerous illustra-
reconstruction of a tions on Greek vase paintings184. It is also depicted on Central
warp-weighted loom European finds, which are few but frequently shown in the lit-
for plain weave in
Archeopark Schnals
(right).

183
Barber 1991, 83 – 91, fig. 11.1.
184
E.g. Pekridou-Gorecki 1989. – Greek vase paintings are cited and reproduced in almost any
work on prehistoric and antique textiles. For a detailed compilation, see Stærmose-Nielsen
1999, 144 – 147.

108
Fig. 58. Val Carmonica
in Italy, rock art
representations of
warp-weighted looms.

109
 erature185 (Fig. 146 and 147): the conical necked vessel from So-
pron in Hungary, the sheet bronze rattle from Bologna and the
wooden throne from Verucchio, Italy, all date between c. 800
and 500 BC. The rock art depictions from the Val Camonica in
the Italian Southern Alps are much harder to date. At the site
of ‘Grande Roccia’ near the village Naquane, a large number of
looms are shown in engravings in the rock (Fig. 58)186. Accord-
ing to Emmanuel Anati, they date to the Bronze Age, a period
around 1,200 BC, although other authors, like Erich Schumacher,
suggest a younger date, between 800 – 500 BC.

The people who created those prehistoric images of looms most

likely did not intend a technically correct, naturalistic representa-
tion of the device. Nevertheless, some principles of the loom con-
struction can easily be determined: the upright timber beams,
the loom weights, the heddle rod and the fixed shed rod. In the
Iron Age images (Fig. 147) the woven cloth can also be seen sche-
matically. Particularly noteworthy are the details on the conical
necked vessel from Sopron187, which present the weaving pro-
cess: the end of the weft thread is wound into a ball, the woven
textile is marked by hatching. Perhaps the incised structure even
indicates that twill is woven, or does it reflect a specific pattern?
Archaeological evidence of warp-weighted looms frequently
comes in the form of loom weights188, which have been pro-
duced since the Neolithic period and are mainly found in set-
tlements. They prove that even Neolithic farmers mastered the
weaving of large-size cloth189 Loom weights dating to the late 6th
millennium BC are the earliest evidence of the warp-weighted
loom from south-eastern Europe190. Due to the good preserva-
tion of ceramic loom weights, a substantial body of information
is available for archaeological investigation. A complete over-

Verucchio: Von Eles 2002, 235 – 237. – Bologna: Gleba 2008a, fig. 7. – Sopron: Eibner 1980.
185

See Anati 1994, 158 – 159. – Schumacher 1983. – Zimmermann 1988.

186

Eibner 1980.
187

Overview of Central European finds: Germany: Möller-Wiering 2012, 127–129. – Italy:

188

Bazzanella 2012, 210–211; Gleba 2008a; 2012, 227 – 229, 234 – 236. – Slovakia and Czech
Republic: Belanová-Štolcová 2012, 309 – 314; Belanová-Štolcová and Grömer 2010. –
Switzerland: Médard 2012, 369 – 370; Rast-Eicher 2012, 382.
Fine fabrics in twining techniques can be produced in addition to weaves on a warp weighted
189

loom. See Rast-Eicher 1997; 2005.

Barber 1991, 93.
190

110
view of the Central European finds of loom weights
would, however, go beyond the scope of this book.
Instead, a brief outline of some details of sites
from Austria and Slovenia will be given here.

Neolithic and Bronze Age types of loom

weights are very large, heavy and coarse.
Their shape is spherical to cylindrical191. The
earliest in situ find of a loom (Fig. 57.1) in Aus-
tria was made on the fortified hilltop settle-
ment Krems-Hundssteig (Jevišovice Culture,
c. 3,100 BC)192. The loom weights were found
in three rows parallel to the wall of a pit house
at a length of 1.20 m. Stone slabs encountered to the
left and right could have served to support the frame.
Fig. 59. Flat, oval Iron
Late Bronze and Early Iron Age loom weights are usually shaped Age loom weight from
like truncated pyramids. Occasionally they may also be disc- Hallstatt, Austria.
shaped or oval with a decentralized hole, such as a find from
Hallstatt (Fig. 59). Some loom weights from the eastern area of
the Hallstatt Culture are marked with signs on the top end; dots,
crosses, dashes, etc. are, for instance, found on the loom weights
from Burgstallkogel near Kleinklein in Austria193. We do not
know why the Iron Age people marked their loom weights. Per-
haps the signs were marks of the manufacturers of the weights
(potters) or the owners and users (weavers). The signs may
also have been important markers for the weaving process. For
weaving patterns achieved with the weft wrap patterns (flying
shuttle technique), for instance, marked loom weights would
have been useful to easily identify specific points in the textile.

Very interesting loom weights were recovered from the Hallstatt

period hillfort of Molpír near Smolenice in Slovakia194. Two small
loom weights from House 17 show exceptional decoration con-
sisting of animals, humans and geometric motifs (Fig. 60). Su-

191
E.g. Grömer 2006a, fig. 5.
192
Pieler 2001, 503 – 505, fig. 59. – Grömer 2006a.
193
Dobiat 1990. See comment on crafts by Walter Slonek.
194
Stegmann-Rajtár 1998, 278–282.

111
 sanne Stegmann-Rajtár interpreted these pieces
as ‘loom weight idols’ used for ritual or religious
purposes.

Pyramidal loom weights were also found in the

La Tène period. It is, however, noteworthy that
the total number of loom weights found in settle-
ments is now significantly lower compared to the
Hallstatt period. Perhaps a new type of loom was
introduced in the La Tène period195. It may be a
two-beam loom, as depicted on a Hallstatt period
vessel from Rabensburg (see below).

Various forms of loom weights, which developed

over time, are presented here. Is there a differ-
ence in the finished fabric depending on the type
of loom weight used? Late Neolithic to Middle
Fig. 60. Smolenice Bronze Age weights are very large, heavy and roundish. Late
Molpír, Slovakia: Bronze Age and Early Iron Age loom weights are narrower and
Pyramid-shaped loom disk-shaped or pyramidal. In addition, in the Iron Age there are
weights, one with
anthropomorphic various weight classes196 ranging from heavy loom weights with
decoration, Early a similar weight to the ones used in the Neolithic period, to sig-
Iron Age. nificantly lower weights.

According to archaeological experiments197, a weight per thread

of about 30 – 40 g is optimal for stretching the warp of a loom in
order to achieve a well balanced textile. It is the thread diame-
ter that defines the appropriate tension to a large extent, as Eva
Andersson Strand198 points out, but the amount of tension re-
quired is also affected by how hard the thread is spun, the fibre
quality and the degree of fibre preparation. If too much tension
is applied, the thread will break; if the tension is not sufficient,
it will be more difficult and time-consuming to change the shed.
The shape of the loom weights has functional significance as
well: the 800 g, narrow disc-or pyramid-shaped weights of the
Iron Age need less space than an equally heavy spherical loom

Cf. Stöllner 2005, 173.

195

E.g. different loom weights of the large loom from Kleinklein. Dobiat 1990.
196

Andersson-Strand 2010a. – Mårtensson et al. 2009.

197

Andersson-Strand 2010b, 18.

198

112
weight of the Neo-
lithic period. Weav-
ing with Iron Age
weights thus ena-
bles a higher thread
density of warp
(Fig. 61).

These theoretical
considerations co-
incide fully with the
archaeological finds
of textiles: Early
Iron Age weaves
on average have
much higher den-
sities than those
from the Neolithic
to Middle Bronze
Age. The change of
loom weight shapes
and types can there-
fore be explained
as a technological
change as part of an
effort towards finer
textiles. As an exam-
ple, the fabric qual-
ities from the salt
mines of Hallstatt,
which have yielded
hundreds of prehistoric textiles, are listed here (Fig. 62). Textiles Fig. 61. Thread
from the Bronze Age areas of the salt mine (c. 1,500 – 1,200 BC) distances in the weave
are compared to those of the Early Iron Age mines (c. 800 to 400 correlating to shapes
of loom weights in the
BC)199. Coarser wool fabrics with a textile density of less than 5 Late Neolithic and
threads per cm prevail in the Bronze Age, whereas Hallstatt pe- Iron Age.
riod fabrics are finer with a main density of 11 to 20 threads per

Grömer 2013, 62 – 65, fig. 20.

199

113
 cm200. Textiles woven in basket weave with fine threads can even
reach densities of up to 40 threads per cm, with a thread diam-
eter of 0.1 to 0.2 mm. Considering the simplicity of the availa-
ble equipment, this is a remarkable achievement by the Hallstatt
craftspeople.

Of particular interest are prehistoric finds of loom weights that

are found just as they were arranged on the loom while work-
ing. In the millennia between their deposition in the soil and the
excavation of the loom, the wooden frame structures and the
woven product have decomposed completely. What remains
are the rows of loom weights in the houses and in some cases
even traces of the posts of the frame.

Such rather rare finds offer invaluable information about warp-

weighted looms. From the length of the loom weight rows, the
approximate width of the fabricated textile can be deduced. The
analysis of in situ finds of Iron Age looms (rows of loom weights)
in Austria and Slovakia201 revealed interesting insights. There ap-
pear to be three standard sizes of looms during the Hallstatt pe-
riod. Narrow looms with a width of only 60 to 90 cm are known
from sites like Stillfried202; they were obviously used to produce
narrow textiles. The standard width of 120 to 160 cm occurred
much more frequently, for instance at Michelstetten in Lower
Austria203 and for Loom 2 from House 1/02 of Nové Košariská,
Slovakia204 (Fig. 63). Fabrics of this width may very well be made​​
by one person or in cooperation between two persons.

Looms with a width of over 3 meters205 are again rare. Until

recently, this type was only represented by the 3.70 m wide
loom from Kleinklein in Austria, with over 148 pyramidal loom
weights. The exceptional context on a hillfort was interpreted

Comparable thread counts can be found all over Central Europe: Bender Jørgensen 1992. –
200

Möller-Wiering 2012. – Grömer 2012. – Rast-Eicher 2008; 2012.

Cf. Belanová-Štolcová and Grömer 2010.
201

Eibner 1974.
202

Lauermann 2000, 19 – 20, fig. 18 – 19.

203

Čambal and Gregor 2005, 37. – Belanová-Štolcová 2012, 312–314, fig. 15.6. – Štolcová and
204

Zajonc 2015.
Hafnerbach: Preinfalk 2003, fig. 12. – Kleinklein: Dobiat 1990. – Freundorf: Blesl and Kalser
205

2005, 88.

114
Fig. 62. Examples of different weave densities of wool fabrics from the salt mines
Hallstatt in Austria, Bronze and Iron Ages. Details of original textiles 1 cm each.
115
 Fig. 63. Excavated
corner of House 1/02
at the Early Iron Age
settlement of Nové
Košariská in Slovakia,
with two looms
(short and long).

116
in terms of a special production in conjunction with the local
elite buried in the nearby necropolis. Lately, however, there is
increasing evidence that large looms are not purely linked to
the production of special textiles for status display in (fortified)
hilltop settlements. Large looms have also been excavated in
the Iron Age lowland settlements such as Hafnerbach (Fig. 150)
and Freundorf, both Lower Austria. The loom from Hafnerbach
even had a width of 4 m.

At many sites where rows of loom weights have been found,

there is also a ceramic vessel nearby.206 Did such a vessel serve as
a container for yarn balls, or was it filled with water, to moisten
the yarn? Weaving wool or linen with a moist weft thread pro-
duces a soft and flexible material that can be more easily com-
pressed into a dense textile.

Other implements needed for weaving on warp-weighted looms

(and other weaving devices) include tools with which the weft
in the shed can be beaten up207: weaving swords and weaving
combs. A pin beater, a bone implement pointed at both ends, is
another weaver’s aid for releasing knots and tangles. Each craft
worker is aware of the fact that both the character of a particu-
lar tool as well as its handling has an effect on the final prod-
uct208. A weft purely beaten up by hand results in a lower weft
density, as less pressure can be applied. The resulting fabric is
rather soft and supple. In contrast, if the weft is beaten in with a
long, heavy weaving sword, the result is a much denser weave.
The weaving comb only has a small contact area with the textile
when it is beaten in, so slightly irregular and wavy weft lines
can typically be seen on the finished fabric when this ­device was
used. Such fabrics were discovered among the Bronze Age and
Iron Age textiles from Hallstatt209.

206
Schierer 1987, 81–82.
207
Wild 1988, 33–35, fig. 23.
208
Cf. Hammarlund 2004; 2013.
209
See Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, HallTex 247, 248 (Bronze Age); HallTex 104 (Iron
Age). – Hammarlund 2013.

117
 Wooden weaving swords could be identified amongst the
finds from Neolithic and Bronze Age wetland settlements210,
for instance the well-known, 68 cm long weaving sword from
Wetzikon-Robenhausen in Switzerland. Smaller examples of
weaving swords with 13 – 16 cm length as well as weaving combs
are known from Fiavè in Trentino, northern Italy (15th century
BC, Middle Bronze Age II). From Hallstatt-Dammwiese, a set-
tlement dating to the late La Tène period, wooden objects have
been recovered that may be interpreted as weaving swords as
well (Fig. 64)211. Similar objects of the same period were found
in Fellbach-Schmieden and Porz-Lind in Germany212. Additional
weaving swords, including objects made of bone, were identified
amongst the small finds from the Magdalensberg in Carinthia213
and date to the mid-1st century BC to the mid-1st century AD.

Starting borders

How does weaving on the warp-weighted loom start? First, a

specific number of warp threads have to be prepared with a spe-
cific thread count so they can be attached to the cloth beam. To
avoid hanging hundreds of threads on the loom individually,
a starting border can be used. This technique was already per-
fected in the Neolithic. The starting borders added more work,
but fulfilled an important technical purpose: they sorted the
warp yarns and spaced them regularly. In addition, the start-
ing border strengthened and decorated the fabric edge that
Fig. 64. Weaving ­anchored the main warp to the cloth beam. The edges of a fabric
swords from Hallstatt- are the most vulnerable to wear and tear, and thus required the
Dammwiese in Austria, prehistoric weavers to take extra steps to reinforce them wher-
late La Tène period.
ever possible to make the textile more resilient.

Various types of starting borders are known from the Neolithic

lakeside settlements in Switzerland214. The textile fragment

210
Bazzanella et al. 2003. Fiavè: 141, Wetzikon-Robenhausen: 228 – 229.
Kind comment by Hans Reschreiter, Natural History Museum Vienna. These pieces might
211

also be interpreted as wooden parts of architecture.

Von Kurzynski 1996, 14 – 15.
212

Gostenčnik 2013, fig. 4.5c.

213

214
See Médard 2010; 2012, 371, fig. 18.8 – 18.11.

118
from Gachnang/Niederwil-Egelsee215 (Fig. 65), for example,
was made ​​in a tabby weave from fine plied yarns of flax with a
thread diameter of only 0.3 to 0.5 mm. The fabric has a density
of 8 – 9 threads per cm. It has a repp starting border as well as
repp selvedges; one of the selvedges is preserved at a length of
c. 1 m. The textile belongs to the later Pfyn Culture and dates
to c. 3,650 BC. It was found rolled up at the time of discovery.

Repp starting borders (Fig. 66) with widths of 1 to 1.5 cm are

frequent among the Bronze Age and Iron Age textiles from the
salt mines in Hallstatt. In Hallstatt alone there are several differ-
ent variations of repp borders, which are distinguished by the
different ways the yarn is led, as well as by the use of different
thread types: single, plaid or paired yarn (Fig. 67).

The oldest tablet-woven starting borders216 were identified on

a tabby from Schwarza, Germany, dated to the Middle Bronze
Age. A contemporary (c. 1,500 – 1,200 BC) textile was recently
found in Hallstatt, with the same features (Fig. 67, HallTex 288).
From the Iron Age onwards, starting borders in tablet weave are
common, such as the one from the late Hallstatt period grave
from Bescheid in Germany217. The ‘Prachtmäntel’, luxury cloaks
of the Roman ­period especially are often characterised by very
wide tablet woven borders218.

Warping and weaving of the starting border are also known

as pictorial representations, on the famous sheet bronze rattle
from Bologna. As described by Elizabeth Wayland Barber219, Fig. 65. Tabby weave
two women are shown working together, one operating the from Gachnang/
rigid heddle for the starting border, the other one guiding the Niederwil-Egelsee
in Switzerland with
threads (Fig. 147). A particularly striking find representing this starting border and
particular step in the weaving process is the warp from Tegle220 repp selvedges, Late
Neolithic, c. 3,650 BC.

Hasenfratz und Raemaekers 2006, 67, fig. 80.

215

Schwarza: Farke 1993, 111. – Hallstatt: Grömer 2013, 72–74, fig. 25 and catalogue 312,
216

HallTex 288.
Banck-Burgess 1999, 66.
217

Cf. Schlabow 1976: Cloak from Hunteburg (fig. 64–74), Damendorf (fig. 80–81), Thorsberg
218

(fig. 109), Vehnemoor (fig. 126). Some with tablet woven selvedges.
Barber 1991, 116, fig. 3.32.
219

Halvorsen 2012, 284, fig. 13.8.

220

119
Fig. 66. Making a in ­Norway, which was ready prepared for weaving with a tablet
starting border and woven stating border, but deposited at this stage in a bog be-
attaching the fabric to tween the 3rd and 5th centuries AD.
the loom. Created at
the Open Air Museum
Schwarzenbach, Austria The practical use of a starting border was demonstrated by the
in 2005. archaeologists Bianca Mattl, Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer and Sil-
via Schwärzler in an experiment during the Celtic Festival 2005
at the Open Air Museum at Schwarzenbach in Lower Austria
(Fig. 66). First, the warp of the repp band is prepared, which has
to be somewhat longer than the intended width of the fabric on
the warp-weighted loom. These warp threads are mounted on

120
a band weaving device, for instance a rigid heddle. For the next Fig. 67. Different
step a warping device, a device for counting, measuring and ar- starting borders and
ranging the warp threads before they are attached to the loom, selvedges from the
Bronze and Iron Age
may be used; alternatively, simple wooden pegs driven into the salt mines of Hallstatt,
ground can be used. The band is now woven using the rigid hed- Austria.
dle loom. The weft yarns of the repp band serve as future warp
threads of the entire fabric: the threads are passed through the
shed and then drawn out around the pegs to obtain the desired
length. The repp band is then attached to the cloth beam of the
warp-weighted loom. The hanging threads – ideally bundled
half for the front and half for the rear ­position – are weighed

121
 in front and behind the dividing rod with loom weights. The
rear row of threads is attached to the heddle rod and weaving
in simple tabby weave can begin. The transition between the
starting border and the weave itself is often handled with great
care. This can be marked by a change in the density of the weft
threads, supplementary threads or even in crossing threads un-
der the starting edge in the nexus between the starting border
and the main weave. This technique is especially suited for tab-
bies and quite common in Neolithic and Bronze Age textiles221
(see Fig. 67, HallTex 217).

Selvedges

The simplest, most basic version of a selvedge222 is produced

simply by inserting the weft in the next shed, after that has been
created – a simple return of the weft into the textile after loop-
ing around the last warp thread. Producing a well-proportioned
fabric on a warp-weighted loom, however, needs skill! This par-
ticularly applies to the selvedges. Even with great care the sel-
vedges tend to be irregular and loose. Therefore, the endeavour
to produce the strongest possible selvedges, which is also ben-
eficial when the textile is used, can be seen in the textile finds
from early on.

Repp-like edges, obtained through a dense set of warp threads

in this area, perhaps even weaving an extended border with
paired warp threads taken up and paired threads left off every
two picks are the earliest solutions to this problem and have been
known since the Neolithic period, for instance at Gachnang,
Switzerland223.

The textiles from the salt mines of Hallstatt again provide nu-
merous examples of different selvedges (Fig. 67) that made the
textiles perfectly straight, parallel, solid, and aesthetically pleas-
ing. Complex selvedges in repp or twill weaves are also possi-

Compare Grömer 2013, 74–75. – Médard 2012, 371, fig. 18.11. – Rast-Eicher 2005, fig.
221

13 – 16.
Barber 1991, 116–118. – Wild 1970, 63–64.
222

Médard 2012, 371.

223

122
ble. One could critically comment that amongst the examples
described as starting borders, some may in fact be more com-
plex side edges, particularly those that show double threads
merging into the main weave from the repp band without cross-
ing threads.

The repertoire of the selvedges includes the hollow selvedge

from the Hallstatt period (Fig. 67, HallTex 31), as it is found
on a twill piece from the salt mine in Hallstatt224. For hollow
selvedges, the weft thread is guided through the main textile
and led back at the edge through an additional tablet woven
band through eight warp threads of the edge. The result is a
hollow selvedge that reinforces the fabric. This technique is
known from the Nordic Late Bronze Age onwards (Montelius
V, c. 900 – 740 BC)225.

Flat tablet woven bands may also serve as selvedges, again

e­ videnced by the ‘Prachtmäntel’ of Northern Europe. The spe-
cial weaving technique, in which the tablet weaving devices are
mounted at the side of the heddle rods for the main fabric of the
warp-weighted loom, has been thoroughly explained by Karl
Schlabow226. On the other hand, it is also possible to weave tab-
let woven bands onto the sides of a textile once it is completed,
using the cut and disentangled warp and/or weft threads of the
main weave as weft for the tablet band. A very elaborate exam-
ple of this was found at Verucchio in Italy.227 Another method,
which was found on the Vehnemoor cloak, is to weave a tab-
let woven border to the edge of a fabric using the loops of the
­selvedge to interlink with the main weft thread of the tablet bor-
der.228 In Central Europe, tablet woven selvedges are sometimes
woven as side borders with the textile and at other times man-
ufactured separately and sewn to the corresponding textile229.

224
Hundt 1960, pl. 20–21, fig. 3–5. – Grömer 2013, 77–78, fig. 25; HallTex 31, 34, 254.
225
Broholm and Hald 1940, 249, 314, fig. 37/2.
226
Schlabow 1952.
227
Ræder Knudsen 1998; 2012.
228
Möller-Wiering and Ræder Knudsen 2013, fig. 6.
229
E.g. band woven onto the main fabric from Hochdorf: Banck-Burgess 1999, 104. – Attached
band from Hallstatt: Grömer 2005a and 2013, 69–72. – Overview in Grömer and Stöllner
2011.

123
 Fig. 68. Neolithic and Early Bronze Age finishing borders.

Fig. 69. Tabby woven fabric with plied fringes from

Dürrnberg near Hallein, Austria, Late Iron Age.

124
Finishing borders and fringes Fig. 70. Bronze Age
textile with braided
When the fabric is finished to the extent that it can be removed border from Hallstatt
from the loom, it is advisable to fix the warp threads so that the in Austria.
fabric does not unravel at this point. This is particularly impor-
tant if the cloth is used as such without further processing. Pre-
historic people also had many different ideas of how to make
the lower end of a textile more appealing: perhaps the finish-
ing of a textile was made according to individual preferences
and the skills of the weaver. The most obvious way of finishing
textiles are fringes – braided or twisted and fixed by knots at
regular intervals. Even Stone and Bronze Age fabric edges are
carefully trimmed with fringes (Fig. 68), as the finds from fa-
mous Swiss and northern Italian sites like Zürich-Mozartstrasse,
Lüscherz, Wetzikon-Robenhausen and Lucone di Polpenazze
show230. The creative handling of the material allows for many
design options: the fabrics from Robenhausen had the fringes
wrapped with threads and knotted or designed by plying the
warp threads or by braiding. Fringes are also known as Iron Age
design elements231, for instance from Dürrnberg (Fig. 69). Above
all, the ‘Prachtmäntel’ of the Nordic Iron Age are often adorned
with fringes, particularly the cloaks of Thorsberg.

Garments with fringes also appear in pictorial representations.

The warriors with spear and shield on the second frieze of the
Situla Arnoaldi from Bologna, for example, wear outer garments

230
Generally: Médard 2010; 2012, 373–376. – Zürich: Rast-Eicher 1997, 319. – Robenhausen:
Vogt 1937, fig. 87–89, 90–91, 100. – Lucone di Polpenazze: Bazzanella et al. 2003, 192.
231
Dürrnberg/Ferro-Schachtricht, Nr. 1357: Stöllner 2002, pl. 309/1357. – Thorsberg: Schlabow
1976, fig. 123.

125
 with fringes, also the belt plate of Vače
indicates garments with fringes232.

Another design possibility for the fin-

ishing of the weave is to make a braided
border. The technique of braided bor-
ders is familiar in Central Europe from
the Bronze Age finds of Hallstatt233. On a
coarser fabric with thread diameter of 1.5
to 2.5 mm, a braided band was generated
by taking the threads in pairs and braid-
ing them diagonally (Fig. 70). Since the
threads cross each other at the transition
from the primary textile to the braiding,
it could also be a braided starting bor-
der. Braided borders are very popular in
the Nordic Bronze Age234. They are often
used as finishing edges in textiles that
have been made ​​on the two-beam verti-
cal loom.

The skilful prehistoric artisans also man-

aged to finish the warp ends with bands
and tablet weaves – again, the Late Neo-
lithic finds from Switzerland, Zürich or
Wetzikon-Robenhausen235, can be men-
tioned as examples for band weaving
techniques, the Nordic ‘Prachtmäntel’ for
examples of tablet weaves.

Fig. 71. Verucchio, Italy: In Pustopolje, Bosnia and Herzegovina236, a technically complete
finishing a textile with a textile (now torn into many fragments) dating between 1495
woven-on tablet border, and 1,435 calBC was found in a grave. It is a wool tabby with a
Early Iron Age.
repp starting border, a main weave with simple selvedges and
an elaborated, 9 cm wide finishing border. It begins with two

232
Lucke and Frey 1962, pl. 14.
233
Grömer 2013, 76–77, fig. 27.
234
Geijer and Ljungh 1937, 273–275, fig. 6. – Sundström 2010, 233–234.
235
Rast-Eicher 1997, fig. 312.
236
Bender Jørgensen and Grömer 2012, fig. 4. – Car 2012.

126
opposed rows of twining made with paired yarns, concluding
the main weave, followed by a wide repp 4/1 border (Fig. 68).
The twining divides the end of the s-twisted warp threads of the
main web into pairs that become the weft of the finishing border
in two steps. Each pair of those threads was inserted into a shed
of the finishing border, turned back into the next shed along
with a fresh pair of warp ends and cut just below the twining.

Even complicated techniques such as tablet weaves woven onto

curved cut selvedges are known from the Iron Age. The recon-
struction of the cloak of Verucchio237 in Italy dating to the 8th or
7th century BC has demonstrated this impressively. The ends of
the fabric cut in a semi-circle are frayed deliberately and the ex-
posed fabric yarns are used as weft yarns for the tablet weave
(Fig. 71). The tablet woven band is woven onto the textile in a
rounded shape and serves as a finishing border. The skill of the
craftspeople managing such a technique is of the highest ­quality.

Warp-weighted loom with a single shaft for tabby and

tabby variants

The basic process of weaving on a warp-weighted loom has al-

ready been discussed. Human ingenuity, however, developed
further technical refinements, namely looms with a single and
looms with multiple shafts. In the Neolithic and Bronze Age,
weaving was normally done with one heddle rod and a divid-
ing rod. With this simple set-up, whereby each second thread is
attached to the heddle rod, the shed is made by raising and low-
ering the heddle rod, and weaving is performed in a rhythmic
sequence of passing the weft through the shed. A simple tabby
weave emerges (Fig. 72.1 – 2), in which the density of the warp
and weft threads is relatively balanced in this set-up.

In addition, the character and the properties of a textile can be

influenced by certain decisions the weaver takes. If the thread
position of one thread system of a weave is significantly denser
than the other, a ribbed tabby, weft- or warp-faced, or a repp
emerges. In the latter case, one thread system is at least twice as

237
Von Eles 2002. fig. 94 and 104. – Ræder Knudsen 2012, fig. 11.3.

127
 Fig. 72. Textiles from dense as the other, rendering the latter invisible (Fig. 72.3 – 4).
Hallstatt in Austria, Early Such a fabric is stiff, thick and not very flexible. By alteration of
Iron Age: examples of the thread count, also different effects can be achieved. A weave
tabby weave (1 – 2) and
variants repp (3 – 4), can be open by using few thin threads per centimetre or con-
basket weave 2/1 (5) and densed by packing the threads closer together. This is described
basket weave 2/2 (6). in textile terms with thread count (threads per cm) and cover
Different scales. factor238. Both are technical features of the weaving procedure,
chosen with the purpose of the finished product in mind. Open
weaves are gauze- or net-like, transparent, soft and very elastic.
Very dense weaves, on the other hand, are more tear-resistant,
resilient, stiff and not very flexible, but they have good thermal
properties.

In this simple set-up with a single shaft loom, more creativity is

possible by doubling the number of threads (Fig. 72.5 – 6). When
double threads are used as warp or weft and single threads in
the other thread system, it results in basket weave 2/1. If double

Andersson Strand 2010b, 15–19, fig. 2.5. – Grömer 2013, 62–65, fig. 21. – Hammarlund 2004.
238

128
threads are used for both the warp and the weft, a basket weave
2/2 is obtained. The weaving process itself remains the same as
for tabby.

The earliest tabby textiles are known from Jarmo in northern

Iraq and Çatalhöyük in Anatolia239 and date to c. 7,000 – 6,000
BC. This is an indication that the cultural achievement of weav-
ing has its origins in the Fertile Crescent. From there, this art of
weaving spread to the south and north, reaching Central Europe
in the Neolithic.

Fabrics in tabby weave are known in Central Europe240 from the

beginning of the Neolithic. Scattered across the large distribu-
tion area of the first Central European farmers’ culture, the Lin-
ear Pottery Culture around 5,500 – 4,900 BC, small-scale traces of
tabby weave fabrics are occasionally found as imprints on pot-
sherds and pieces of clay. Examples include the finds from Luleč
in Moravia or Hessenrode in Germany. We just do not know
whether the textiles were already made ​​on a warp-weighted
loom or were the product of a band weaving loom. Many exam-
ples of tabby fabrics come from the Late Neolithic circum-alpine
lake dwellings. In most cases, they are also small fragments of
textiles, such as a densely woven flax fabric from Zürich Mo-
zartstrasse (Cortaillod Culture, c. 3,900 BC). From the Neolithic
to the Middle Bronze Age, tabby weaves occur almost exclu-
sively, although a few ribbed variants like the textile from Fran-
zhausen in Lower Austria (Fig. 98) or Straubing-Ortler, both
Early Bronze Age, have been discovered. In the Hallstatt period,
twill weaves that are more complex are preferred over the tabby
weaves. In the Late Iron Age, however, tabby again becomes
popular, especially in the middle and late La Tène period241. In
2008 Antoinette Rast-Eicher has provided a good review of this
trajectory based on the Swiss textile finds. The transition back to
tabby weave occurred slightly early in Austria, evidenced by the
early La Tène finds from Dürrnberg near Hallein, where more

Cf. Barber 1991, 126–128. – Özdöl Kuflu 2014.

239

Hessenrode: Lüning 2005, 52. Suggests flax as fibre plant. – Luleč: Kostelnikova 1985, fig.
240

1. – Zürich: Rast-Eicher 1997, 322. – Franzhausen and Hallstatt: Grömer 2006b. – Straubing:
Möller-Wiering 2012, 129. – Dürrnberg: von Kurzynski 1996, 34. – Stöllner 2005, fig. 6.
Cf. Belanová-Štolcová 2012, 314–317. – Grömer 2012, 44–47, pl. 1.1. – Rast-Eicher 2008;
241

2012, pl. 19.5.

129
 than two-thirds of the fabrics are made in tabby weave. Tabbies
are also predominant in the Central European provinces Ger-
mania, Raetia, Noricum and Pannonia of the Roman Empire242.

Basket weave as one of the variants of tabby is known in the

Mediterranean very early on, as Neolithic and Early Bronze Age
finds from Turkey or Spain243 demonstrate. The earliest evidence
of basket weave in Central Europe244 comes from Vösendorf,
Austria, where a textile fragment was found in a Late Bronze
Age cremation grave. Other basket weave textiles were recov-
ered in the early Hallstatt period cemetery Uttendorf in Pinzgau
and in Hallstatt.

Warp-weighted loom with multiple shafts for twill

variants

Twill as a decorative structure in basketry techniques was al-

ready known from Neolithic finds. Imprints on the bottom of a
vessel of the late Lengyel Culture (mid-5th millennium BC) from

Fig. 73. Imprint of

a mat at the base
of a ceramic pot
from Michelstetten
in Austria, mid-5th
millennium BC.

Cf. Gostenčnik 2012, 82–84. – Grömer 2014, 33–35, fig. 17. – Möller-Wiering and Subbert
242

2012, 171–174.
Turkey: Çatalhöyük, Neolithic. Barber 1991, 127–128. – Spain: Mazarrón (Murcia), Bronze Age.
243

Alfaro 2012, fig. 16.7.

Vösendorf: Grömer 2006b. – Talaa 1991. – Uttendorf: von Kurzynski 1996, 26, no. 84a and c. –
244

Moosleitner 1992, fig. 23. – Hallstatt: Grömer 2013, 60–62.

130
the settlements of Michelstetten in Lower Austria (Fig. 73) and
Hódmezővásárhely-Kökénydomb and Tiszaföldvár-Téglagyár,
Hungary245, for example, evidence complex mats of rushes or
grasses. The structure of the Michelstetten imprint is a 2/2 and
2/4 twill with diagonal ridges. Such a structure can be relatively
easily achieved when braiding by hand, but how can this struc-
ture be achieved on a loom in a mechanised way? This requires
a sophisticated lifting and lowering mechanism for the warp
threads, allowing multiple shafts (or heddle rods) to be used on
a warp-weighted loom.

For more complex weaves, the warp-weighted loom had to be

expanded with multiple shafts (heddle rods), which constituted
one of the largest changes in weaving technology before the in-
vention of the foot-treadle loom during the Middle Ages. Not
only the loom itself, but also its handling changed with more
complex binding methods, both in the preparatory work as well
as in weaving.

Whereas tabby requires every second thread to be attached to

a heddle rod, three heddle rods have to be used for the sim-
plest twill variant – the 2/1 twill. The first, second and third
thread are each attached to the first, second and third heddle
rod respectively. By raising and lowering of the various rods in
a certain sequence, the sheds are formed through which the weft
yarn can be passed to weave the textile.

For other types of twill four heddle rods are usually used. Eth-
nographic observations, for instance from Iceland, show that a
2/2 twill can also be produced by using three heddle rods and
one dividing rod246.

The more complex the weave, e.g. herring-bone or diamond

twill, the more complicated is the sequence of lifting and low-
ering the individual heddle rods as well as the assignment of
individual threads to a heddle rod (demonstrated here on the
warp-weighted loom with four heddle rods, Fig. 74). With 2/2
twill the warp threads are drawn in a uniform sequence on the

245
Michelstetten: Grömer 2006a. – Hungarian finds: Richter 2010, fig. 34.2–34.3.
246
Cf. Broholm and Hald 1940, 305. – Hoffmann 1964, fig. 91. – Stærmose Nielsen 1999.

131
Fig. 74. Reconstruction heddle rods, whereas for (longitudinal) herring-bone twill or
of a multiple shaft warp- horizontal broken twill the sequence of the thread-up varies, so
weighted loom. that the direction of the ridge results in dislocations or symmet-
rical peaks from Z to S-slant and vice versa.

Vertical broken twill can, however, also be woven with the same
thread-up as simple twill weave by raising the shafts in a differ-
ent sequence than for the 2/2 twill. After a certain number of
weft threads the inclined lines of the 2/2 twill can be woven in
reverse, which forms the point of the chevron.

In assessing this loom development, experimental archaeology

provides helpful insights. Interestingly, even archaeological
findings offer indirect evidence for the weaving of twill – pro-
vided there excellent preservation and documentation condi-
tions are present. Ingrid Schierer based her experiments on the
Late Bronze Age loom from Gars-Thunau in Lower Austria247
(Fig. 75). Three rows of loom weights were found there paral-
lel to the wall of a house. The organic parts had decayed, and
after thousands of years, the rows of loom weights were recov-
ered by archaeologists. To understand, what type of weave was

247
Schierer 1987, 44.

132
Fig. 75. Loom at the Late Bronze Age settlement of Gars-Thunau,
Austria. Rows of loom weights in situ, area of hut highlighted.
133
 produced on this loom, experiments were carried out. Schierer
repeatedly mounted a loom with various bindings (tabby and
twill) and different positions of the shafts. She then destroyed
the loom by cutting the threads, knocking it over or burning it
to simulate the circumstances the prehistoric loom might have
been subjected to before it was covered by soil. The exact posi-
tion of the loom weights were recorded and evaluated meticu-
lously in every experiment. The type of weave and the required
sheds have the most significant influence on the pattern of loom
weights in the ground. Tabby weaves with one natural shed
result in two distinct sets of weights found in rows, whereas
twill with additional sheds results in more closely spaced loom
weights. Several rows of weights or a large heap of weights are
typical arrangements for twill. The specific way in which the
loom weight rows from Gars-Thunau were found suggests with
high probability that a twill fabric was woven on the loom im-
mediately before it was destroyed.

Experimental archaeology also helps to reveal how much time

the manufacture of woven fabrics took. The weaving team of
the Düppel Museum near Berlin248, with decades of experience,
managed to produce a 3 by 2 m large twill cloth on a warp-
weighted loom in 529 hours of work. The spinning of the warp
and weft threads with a hand spindle alone amounted to 332
hours.

Taking a look at the pictorial representations of textile equip-

ment from prehistory, it should be noted that even the earliest
representations of looms from Val Camonica (Grande Roccia/
Naquane) often show looms with multiple shafts249 (Fig. 58). No
matter whether the date of the rock art is Bronze Age or Early
Iron Age, it coincides with the finds of twill from both the Mid-
dle Bronze Age or Iron Age parts of the Hallstatt salt mines. Two
heddle rods are also recognisable on the Early Iron Age conical
necked vessel from Sopron (Fig. 147). The hatching depicted on
the woven part of the textile may represent the structure of a
2/2 twill.

Pfarr 2005.
248

Schuhmacher 1983. – Zimmermann 1988, fig. 2–5.

249

134
The development of twill is regarded as one of the major turning Fig. 76. Textiles from
points in textile history. As pointed out before, twill weaving Hallstatt, Early Iron
requires a loom with a more complex set-up including multiple Age: Examples of
twill variants: 2/2 twill
sheds, marking the appearance of a more complex technology. (1-3), broken twill (4-
5), diamond twill (6).
What archaeological evidence from original textiles can further Different scales.
underline these ideas? Twill weave appears in Central Europe
around the Middle Bronze Age, with the earliest finds from
Hallstatt (c. 1,500 – 1,200 BC)250. From Bronze Age Hallstatt we
know of two fragments of 2/1 twill fabrics of flax as well as two
fragments of complex wool twill with point repeat. The latter is
most remarkable, as particularly fine threads with a thread di-
ameter of 0.3 mm were processed in pairs; in addition, the fabric
was coloured blue with dyer’s woad.

A pattern in twill structure already appears on a small section

of a tabby woven belt from Lago di Ledro (Fig. 48) dating to

250
Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, Bronze Age catalogue, HallTex 26, 27, 211, 275.

135
 Fig. 77. Textile from the Early Bronze Age. This is, however, merely a decoration
Hallstatt, Early Iron Age: on a tabby woven band and does not prove the use of a loom
transition from basket with multiple shafts. Another well-known early trace of twill is
weave to twill.
the imprint on a ceramic sherd from Malanser in Liechtenstein
­dating to the 14th century BC251 and the late Bronze Age finds
from Gevelinghausen in Germany.

By the end of the Urnfield Culture and the beginning of the Iron
Age in the 9th and 8th centuries BC, twill is the most popular
type of weave in Central Europe252: this is what Lise Bender Jør-
gensen253 has termed the ‘twill horizon’.

251
Bazzanella et al. 2003, Lago di Ledro: 161. – Malanser: 273. – Gevelinghausen: Hundt 1974.
252
Banck-Burgess 1999. – Bender Jørgensen 1992; 2005. – Gleba 2012, 228–229. – Möller-
Wiering 2012, 130–131. – Rast-Eicher 2008, 2012.
253
Bender Jørgensen 1992, 120.

136
Complex binding variants (Fig. 76) of varying degrees of diffi-
culty such as twill with point repeat, herring-bone twill or dia-
mond twill bear witness to the creativity of Hallstatt period craft-
speople. These fabrics are usually made of wool. Twill is char-
acterised by an attractive pattern, but also improves the thermal
efficiency of the weave compared to tabby, because the yarns
float over the surface of the fabric and thus sometimes several
layers of threads come to lie on top of each other. In addition,
twill fabric is more supple and can be stretched diagonally to the
thread direction. It is therefore relatively elastic. The advantages
of this binding come to best effect with sheep’s wool.

To illustrate the wealth of material, a few examples of early Iron

Age twill variants from the salt mines of Hallstatt254 will be sin-
gled out here (Fig. 76). Twill variants from Hallstatt testify to the
highest level of textile craft and are usually characterised by fine
threads and high textile densities.

A particular example of the skill of weavers is known from

this site255: they even had the knowledge how to switch dur-
ing the weaving process from basket weave to 2/2 twill (Fig.
77). A larger reddish brown textile and a wide band show this
procedure. The following method is conceivable: The warp is
mounted with four heddle rods (denoted by the numbers 1-4).
Basket weave can be woven by raising rods 1 and 2 together,
passing two weft threads through the shaft. Rod 3 and 4 are then
lifted together and a further pair of weft yarns is passed through
the shaft. For the 2/2 twill the heddle rods have to be lifted in
the following order: 1+2, 2+3, 3+4 and 4+1.

Twill becomes increasingly less popular in Central Europe dur-

ing the La Tène period, as can be observed from the numerous
Iron Age textiles256. Amongst the textiles from the early La Tène
salt mines at Dürrnberg257 2/2 twill and sometimes 2/1 twill may
be encountered in low numbers; creative variants like twill with
point repeat or even diamond twill no longer appear. Tabby

254
Grömer 2013, 60–61, fig. 19; see also Iron Age catalogue.
255
Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, Iron Age catalogue, HallTex 64, 263.
256
Rast-Eicher 2012, pl. 19.5.
257
Stöllner 2005, fig. 6.

137
 weave clearly dominates in the middle and
late La Tène period of Switzerland258. This
continues in the Roman period in the Cen-
tral European provinces where twills more
or less disappear259. On the other hand, twill
weaves are still popular in Northern Europe
around the beginning of the Common Era260,
generally recognised as in indicator that the
textile technology of the Early Iron Age is
shifting from Central Europe to the north.

Fig. 78. Conical

necked vessel from
Rabensburg in Austria
with graphite painting
of persons with a loom,
Early Iron Age.

Fig. 79. Schematic two-

beam vertical loom with
tubular warp.

Rast-Eicher 2008, 170–171.

258

Gostenčnik 2012, 82–84, fig. 2.12–2.13. – Grömer 2014, 33–35, fig. 17.
259

Cf. Mannering et al. 2012, 110–114. – Möller-Wiering 2012, 132–133. – Möller-Wiering and
260

Subbert 2012, 157–163 (Germania Libera).

138
4.5 Other types of looms

One depiction of a loom from Central Europe may point to a

different type of loom than the warp-weighted loom. A paint-
ing on a conical necked vessel from Rabensburg in Lower Aus-
tria261 (Fig. 78), dating to the Hallstatt period, shows a woman
and a square frame, which might be a weaving frame or a
two-beam loom with chequered cloth, and perhaps a warping
stand. There is no archaeological evidence for the existence of
such a weaving device, since it does not have loom weights –
they are replaced by another horizontal beam linking the up-
rights.

Two-beam vertical looms, in which the warp is prepared in

the round, are frequently evidenced by Danish bog finds262. A
fabric woven on the two-beam vertical loom can be identified
by the tubular warp, whereby the warp threads end in loops
at each end of the textile. A particularly impressive example
of a garment woven on such a device is the round-woven tube
dress from Huldremose263. Since complete or nearly complete
garments are absent in Central Europe, tubular textiles have so
far not been identified in the archaeological material. Some re-
searchers argue264 that braided starting- and finishing borders
are characteristics of textiles made on the two-beam (tubular)
vertical loom (Fig. 79). Could this mean that the Bronze Age
fabrics with braided edges from Hallstatt were made on such
a loom?265

Two-beam looms are well known, at least in the Mediterra-

nean world, for instance from Egypt. Such devices can be
mounted vertically or horizontally and are found as beauti-

261
Franz 1927, 97, fig. 1. – This image might also be interpreted in a different way; maybe it
was a net for fishing or hunting – comparable to images on the situla art, as pointed out by
Katharina Rebay-Salisbury, pers. comm. June 2014.
262
In a study Karen-Hanne Stærmose-Nielsen could clearly identify 22 textiles of the Nordic Early
Bronze Age (c. 1,400–1,100 BC) from Denmark, which were clearly woven on a two-beam
vertical loom, including cloaks, tops, blouses, skirts and footwear. Stærmose-Nielsen 1999,
124–125.
263
Hald 1980. – Mannering et al. 2012, fig. 3.11.
264
Stærmose-Nielsen 1999, 124–125.
265
Cf. Grömer 2013, 76–78.

139
 fully designed miniature models, which were used as grave goods, as well
as shown in art266. Written sources indicate that two-beam looms were also
common amongst the Romans. Seneca mentioned in the 1st century AD that
textiles were no longer made on warp-weighted looms in his time (Sen., Ep.
90.19 – 20).

5 Dyeing
(Regina Hofmann-de Keijzer)

To decorate the living space, objects

and clothes with colour seems to be
a basic human need. The colourants
were found in minerals, plants and
animals. Water-insoluble mineral pig-
ments were applied as paint to stone,
wood, leather, textiles and skin. The
dyeing of textiles, in contrast, was
performed in liquid dye baths. To
create durable textile dyeings prehis-
toric people had to solve two prob-
lems: first, stable colourants had to be
found in plant and animal materials,
then dyeing techniques had to be de-
veloped that enabled them to fix sol-
uble dyes permanently to the fibres
or to dye them with insoluble organic
pigments. Organic dyes could be ob-
tained relatively simply from certain
Fig. 80. Dyer's woad (Isatis tinctoria) is one of the plants, lichen and insects. Special
oldest cultivated dye plants. The leaves contain skills were in demand for the produc-
precursors of the blue pigment indigotin. From tion of organic pigments, such as in-
former cultivation the plant has escaped into the
wild as a so-called feral plant, and now occurs in digotin from woad and Tyrian purple
the natural vegetation e.g. in the Wachau, Lower from sea snails. Preserving colourants
Austria. Harvest takes place in the first year by for later use or transport required dry-
cutting the woad leaf rosettes. The flowers and ing of the dyestuffs.
fruits develop in the second year.

Cf. Barber 1991, horizontal ground loom: fig. 3.2–3.6. Vertical two-beam loom: 113–115, fig.
266

3.29, 3.30.

140
5.1 Prehistoric people discover colourants and Fig. 81. Experimental
dyeing processes vat dyeing in
the laboratory of
the University of
Analytical results of dyes reveal that the oldest finds of coloured Applied Arts Vienna,
textiles originate from a time in which dyeing was already well Department of
developed. Let us travel back into prehistory to understand how Archaeometry: The vat
the colour palette for textile dyeing could have been discovered. was made with natural
indigo and the reducing
agent sodium dithionite.
Prehistoric people perceived numerous colours in their vicinity, Wool fleece, wool
which they wanted to transfer to their clothing. The yellow, blue, yarn and wool fabric
red and violet should be as radiant as certain flowers and fruits, are submerged in the
the green like the leaves of the trees. Unfortunately, this could greenish yellow liquid.
not be achieved with the colourants present in flowers or fruits, After lifting the textile
material into the air,
the anthocyanins, nor could the chlorophyll that makes leaves reaction with oxygen
green be used to dye textiles durably and beautifully. It was causes a colour change
easy to find out, however, that the bark of trees, certain herbs from yellowish green
and galls267, which have already been used for tanning leather, via green to blue.
could create stable shades of brown – from reddish brown to
yellow brown – on textiles. Tannins are amongst those chemical
compounds which bond to the textile fibres without any addi-
tives. This dyeing technique, direct dyeing, could be applied for
creating brown colours. In addition to the tannins only a few

267
Galls are irregular plant growths which are stimulated by the reaction between plant
hormones and powerful growth regulating chemicals produced by some insects or mites.
They often contain tannins.

141
 other dyes can be used for direct dyeing, such as the red dye or-
cein from orchil which has to be prepared from certain lichens,
the brown dye juglone from the green parts of walnut trees (Jug-
lans regia, Juglandaceae) and the yellow dye crocetin from the
stigmata of saffron (Crocus sativus, Iridaceae).

Dyeing blue was only possible in Europe after people brought

woad (dyer's woad, Isatis tinctoria, Brassicaceae, Fig. 80) from
the East and developed a special dyeing technique, the so-called
vat dyeing. First, they had to discover that the blue pigment in-
digotin could be obtained from precursors occurring in green
woad leaves268. The water-insoluble organic pigment indigotin
was suitable for painting on textiles, but not for dyeing until
prehistoric people succeeded in transforming woad blue into
a greenish-yellow liquid (vat) by adding water and urine or
potash and allowing the mixture to ferment. In this way they
had prepared a vat in which fleece, yarn or fabric could be sub-
merged. People must have been amazed when they removed
the textile material from the vat for the first time. When exposed
to the air, the colour changed from greenish-yellow to green and
finally to blue (Fig. 81).

It was probably easy to figure out that textiles can be dyed yel-
low with almost all yellow flowers and green parts of plants.
This is due to the yellow flavonoids, which occur in nearly all
plants. Red colours, however, could only be achieved with some
dyeing materials. The most colourfast red dyes in nature, the
anthraquinones, can be found in the rhizomes of the Rubiaceae
(madder, or bedstraw family) and in some female scale insects.
These soluble yellow and red dyes cause initially neither deep
nor durable dyeings. They are so-called mordant dyes and need
to be fixed on the fibres by means of mordants such as tannins
and metal salts of aluminium, iron and copper. For preparing
a mordant bath, tannins or metal salts had to be dissolved in
water to treat the textiles before or after the dyeing process. The
mordants could also be put directly into the dye bath. Also fer-
mentation processes cause brighter and more stable colours269.
Due to their chemical properties, animal fibres could be dyed

Hartl 2012, 35. – Hartl et al. 2015a.

268

269
Vajanto 2014; 2016.

142
in bright yellows and reds whereas plant fibres received less in- Fig. 82. Investigation of
tense shades. Mordants could have been used to influence the samples from Hallstatt
hue. Aluminium containing mordants (gained from clubmoss, textiles by transmitted-
light microscopy.
alunit or alum shale) do not change the colour of the dye while
mordants containing copper or iron (metal, metal alloys, metal
salts, or iron containing mud from fens) and tannins (e.g. from
barks or galls) cause a darkening of the colours. Yellow dyes
yield olive-green shades with the ­addition of copper mordants,
and olive-green to brownish shades with iron mordants. The
discovery of mordant dyeing added an additional colour to the
palette – black. Iron mordants mixed together with tannins re-
sult in iron gall black.

The combination of different dyeing materials and dyeing tech-

niques was necessary to obtain even more shades of colour.
Shades of green different to olive green – known from leaves and
grasses were only achieved through a combination of vat dyeing
for blue with woad and mordant dyeing with yellow dyes. Du-
rable violets, similar to the juice of blackberries or ­blueberries,

143
 could have been obtained by vat dyeing for blue with woad and
dyeing with red mordant dyes.

5.2 Scientific investigations of textile dyes

The materials and techniques used in historic textile dyeing are

extensively studied, but this is not the case for prehistoric tex-
tiles. However, research on prehistoric textile finds from Aus-
tria, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy,
Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden has been performed (Fig.
84)270. In order to study prehistoric dyeing techniques, coloured
fabrics, yarns and fibres are examined by chromatographic tech-
niques. High-performance liquid chromatography with photo
diode array detection (HPLC-PDA) requires a thread sample of
at least 0.5 cm length, ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatog-
raphy with photo diode array detection (UHPLC-PDA) requires
a smaller sample size with a thread length of about 0.2 cm 271.

The textile samples are examined by reflected-light microscopy

prior to sampling and prior to dye analysis, additionally the fi-
bres are investigated by transmitted-light microscopy (Fig. 82).
The aim is to choose the optimal fragment for analysis and to
observe whether the weave, yarns and fibres are dyed regularly
or irregularly.

The chemical elements present in fibres and contaminations are

analysed by scanning electron microscopy with energy-disper-
sive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX)272. In this analysis, the focus is
on the elements aluminium, iron and copper, which could orig-
inate from mordants. Studying the mordants of archaeological
textiles is rather difficult, since these elements can additionally

Balzer, Peek and Vanden Berghe 2014. – Banck-Burgess 1999. – Bender Jørgensen and
270

Walton 1986. – Geimer 2007. – Gleba 2012. – Gleba 2014a. – Hofmann-de Keijzer, Van
Bommel and Joosten 2005. – Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013. – Milcent and Moulherat
2000. – Rast-Eicher and Vanden Berghe 2015. – Stöllner 2005. – Vanden Berghe, Gleba and
Mannering 2009. – Van Bommel, Joosten and Hofmann-de Keijzer 2013a–c. – Walton 1986. –
Walton 1988. – Walton Rogers in Banck-Burgess 1999.
Joosten and Van Bommel 2008. – Joosten et al. 2006. – Serrano et al. 2013.
271

Joosten and Van Bommel 2008.

272

144
penetrate textiles from the archaeological environment, such as
soil, minerals and metals.

The optimal method for the identification of textile dyes today is

high-performance liquid chromatography with photo diode ar-
ray detection (HPLC-PDA)273. HPLC is a chromatographic tech-
nique in analytic chemistry used to separate the components in a
mixture and to identify each component. During sample prepa-
ration, the dyes are first extracted with the non-polar solution
dimethylformamide (DMF) and next by acid extraction. After-
wards, an extract is prepared, which is injected into the column
of the HPLC equipment (Fig. 83 left). Fig. 83. Left: HPLC-
PDA equipment
The column is filled with a stationary (solid) phase. As soon as a at the Cultural
Heritage Agency of
mobile phase (mixture of solvents) passes through the column, the Netherlands in
the dyes advance with the mobile phase but are retained due to Amsterdam (RCE).
adsorption to the stationary phase. The components are sepa- Top right: HPLC-PDA
rated due to differences in adsorption, chromatographic proper- chromatogram of a
ties and solubility in the mobile phase. Each dye leaves the col- Bronze Age Hallstatt
textile sample (HallTex
umn at a certain time, the retention time shown in the chromato- 211) dyed with woad.
gram (Fig. 83, top right). When a component leaves the column, Bottom right: spectra of
the PDA-detector measures an UV/VIS absorption ­spectrum of indigotin and indirubin.

273
Joosten and Van Bommel 2008.

145
 this substance (Fig. 83, bottom right). A dye is identified when
both its retention time and its UV/VIS absorption spectrum cor-
respond to a reference dye. In case only one parameter is corre-
sponding the component cannot be identified but shows only a
similarity to a reference dye (Fig. 84)274. This may be due to deg-
radation or the lack of the appropriate reference material.

In fragile archaeological textiles, the identification of dyes is

hampered because the chromatogram shows a baseline distur-
bance (small bump). This is probably caused by acid hydrolysis
during sample preparation which partly dissolves the degraded
wool (Fig. 83, top right). Furthermore, dyes are often present in
low concentrations that cause spectra slightly different to those
of higher concentrations of identical dyes. Additionally, there is
still a lack of analytical data of prehistoric textiles and appropri-
ate reference materials.

The results of the analytical investigations of dyes allow differ-

ent conclusions275. If no component is detected by HPLC-PDA
analysis, this does not mean that the textile was not dyed, be-
cause degraded dyes could have diminished below the detec-
tion limit of the analytical system. If unknown coloured (espe-
cially yellow) components are detected in archaeological textiles
in low concentration, the origin cannot be determined. They can
be components originating from plants of the archaeological en-
vironment as well as degradation products of the dyes and fi-
bres. Therefore, it is not always possible to conclude whether a
textile is dyed or not.

Proof that a textile was dyed is obtained as soon as a coloured

component is recognized as a dye and it can be excluded that
it originates from the archaeological environment. When a spe-
cific dye cannot be identified it can sometimes be assigned to a
certain class of dyes, for example to the yellow flavonoids or the
red anthraquinones. This allows a conclusion regarding the ap-
plied dyeing technique or the colour fastness.

Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 136–141.

274

275
The possibilities and limitations of dye analysis in prehistoric textiles are discussed in
Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 136–141. – Joosten and Van Bommel 2008.

146
Only those vegetable and animal dyeing materials that leave a characteristic
chemical fingerprint on the dyed textiles can be identified. This fingerprint
usually consists of major and minor components, which can be detected in
certain concentrations. The identification of dye plants in prehistoric textiles
is difficult because knowledge about their exact chemical fingerprints remains
limited. Both locally grown and cultivated plants are possible candidates for
a dye plant. Furthermore, both textiles and dye materials might have been
traded over long distances. A variety of dyeing materials must therefore be
considered. Moreover, the minor components that are characteristic of a dye-
ing material's fingerprint may degrade during long periods since deposition
and now lie beneath the detection limit of the HPLC system. The degradation
processes of dyes under special depositional conditions in salt mines or peat
bogs have not yet been investigated sufficiently. Despite these limitations, it
is possible to find out the sources of the dyes. Conclusions regarding textile
manufacturing and trading can only be drawn once a dye plant or dye insect
has been identified. If the origin of the textile is not within the distribution
area of this plant or animal, it can be concluded that the dyeing material, the
dyed yarn or the dyed fabric has been imported.

5.3 Archaeological evidence of organic colourants

The oldest finds of inorganic pigments in cave paintings are over 20,000 years
old; the oldest finds of organic colourants, however, date to the period of the
early civilizations of Egypt, India and America276. The use of organic colour-
ants has been identified in textiles, on jars and other supports277. Since both
the dye and the dyed textiles are of organic origin, preservation of these ma-
terials requires specific conditions, such as the dry desert climate of Egypt,
Israel, India and Peru, the salt of Hallstatt and Dürrnberg in Austria, and ice
(tombs of the Scythians)278. Textiles found in bogs often appear uniformly
brown coloured due to the influence of humic acids. Nevertheless, traces of
dyes can be detected by HPLC-PDA in these textiles that give clues to their
original colours279.

276
Schweppe 1993, 17–59.
277
Koren 2008. – Seefelder 1982, 21–22 (fig.).
278
Kurgan 5 of Pazyryk in the Altai Mountains contained the oldest evidence for a carpet dating
to the 5th – 4th century BC (Han 2008, 50).
279
Vanden Berghe, Gleba and Mannering 2009.

147
 Opposite page: In recent years, the dyes of prehistoric textiles have been ana-
Fig. 84. Dyes detected lysed, including the prehistoric Hallstatt textiles from the Bronze
in European textile and Iron Age (Fig. 84).
finds from the Bronze
Age and Iron Age.
Explanations: small
caps: main dye; small Investigation of the dyes in prehistoric Hallstatt
letters: minor dye; textiles
s.t. +: sometimes
together with; +: The colours of the Bronze Age (1,500 – 1,200 BC) and Early Iron
identified; +?: possible
identified, that means Age (800 – 400 BC) textiles from Hallstatt in Austria were inves-
that the retention time tigated as part of an interdisciplinary research project280. The dye
or spectrum is slightly and element analysis were carried out at the Cultural Heritage
different to those of a Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) in Amsterdam281. Simultane-
dye;  indicate records ously, dyeing experiments were performed by using fermented
that probably derive
from the archaeological woad vats; and a reference collection of dye plants and dyed
environment; *: the wool was established to optimize the interpretation of analytical
luteolin-apigenin-type results of prehistoric samples dyed with woad, red and yellow
found in Hallstatt dyes282. Based on the analytical results of prehistoric samples, re-
textiles is included in productions of Iron Age ribbons were made with materials and
the luteolin-apigenin-
type. A-H (second textile techniques (spinning, dyeing and weaving) which were
column) indicate type similar to the prehistoric techniques283. In addition, contempo-
of analysis and research rary textile art emerged inspired by the Hallstatt textiles284.
team and for literature
sources see page 470.
Tannins for dyeing brown and black

The presence of ellagic acid and other tannic acids, as detected

by HPLC-PDA, proves the use of tannins, although whether
these were used as dyes or as mordants remains unclear. It
is also not possible to identify the tannin plant. Barks, herbs,
leaves and galls may have served as sources of tannins. Archae-
ological finds of tannin-bearing pomegranates (Punica granatum,

280
‘Dyeing techniques of the prehistoric textiles from the salt mine of Hallstatt – analysis,
experiments and inspiration for contemporary application’, Austrian Science Fund (FWF),
Translational Research-Program [L 431-G02]. – Hofmann-de Keijzer, Van Bommel and Joosten
2005. – Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2005. – Hofmann-de Keijzer and Van Bommel 2009. –
Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013.
281
Joosten et al. 2006. – Joosten and van Bommel 2008.
282
Hartl 2012. – Hartl et al. 2015a.
283
Rösel-Mautendorfer, Grömer and Kania 2012. – Hartl et al. 2015b.
284
Hofmann-de Keijzer, Kern and Putz-Plecko 2012.

148
149
 Punicaceae) are known from pharaonic Egypt (from 1,500 BC)
where they could have been used as food, for dyeing and tan-
ning285. Among the oldest textiles in which tannins were de-
tected are those from the Bronze Age salt mines of Hallstatt (Fig.
84). Although brown colours are relatively easy to achieve with
tannins because they bind directly to the fibres, tannins have so
far rarely been detected in prehistoric textiles. The reason could
be that brown colours were simply obtained by using brown
sheep wool286. Tannins were mainly found in blue and black
textile fragments from prehistoric Hallstatt. The tannins were
therefore most likely used for the shading of blue or were possi-
bly combined with iron-containing materials to achieve black287.
The detection of ellagic acid together with other dyes such as
luteolin rather refers to its use as a mordant; in cases where no
indication was found of a mordant dye, it is most likely that the
dye did not survive the burial conditions288. It is also possible
that plants used for yellow or red dyes additionally contained
tannins.

Woad blue and shellfish purple

Plants that contain precursors of the blue pigment indigotin

were named indigo plants289. Already in prehistoric times, tech-
niques were developed to gain the blue pigment and to use it
as a vat dye for textile dyeing. If the blue pigment indigotin is
detected in a textile by itself or in combination with the red mi-
nor component indirubin, it can be concluded that the dyeing
is due to an indigo plant (Fig. 83 chromatogram and spectra).
Which indigo plant was used cannot be determined by chemical
analysis. Indigo derived from tropical and subtropical Indigofera
species (Fabaceae, or legume family) has been used in the Indus
Culture (Mohenjo-Daro, c. 2,300 – 1,700 BC) and was probably

Forbes 1964, 123.

285

Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 259.

286

Hofmann-de Keijzer, Van Bommel and Joosten 2005, 64. – Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2005,
287

923–926. – Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 156–157. – Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer

2013, 257, 372, 410, 412, 427, 471, 491.
Vanden Berghe, Gleba and Mannering 2009, 1918.
288

Cardon 2007, 335–408.

289

150
also known in Pharaonic Egypt290. The use of indigo seemed to
have only minor importance in the Roman Empire291. Even if
long-distance trade cannot be excluded, the use of indigo in pre-
historic Europe seems highly unlikely.

Woad (dyer's woad, Isatis tinctoria, Brassicaceae; Fig. 80) is na-

tive to the Caucasian steppes and from Southwest Asia to east-
ern Siberia. Due to cultivation as well as unintentional displace-
ment, it was spread as far as India, East Asia, North Africa and
most of Europe292: Blue-dyed plant fibres from the Neolithic
cave in France (de l'Adouste near Joursque, Bouches-du-Rhône)
are often regarded as the oldest European find of woad. Nu-
merous finds of woad are known from prehistoric Europe and
most of them date from the Iron Age. Imprints of five fruits of
woad were found on pottery from the settlement Heuneburg in
southern Germany (Hallstatt Culture, c. 6th to 5th century BC).
Woad fruits were present in a pot from the Iron Age Ginderup
in Denmark and in Iron Age deposits on the northwest coast
of Germany (1st to 2nd century AD). Parts of a woad plant were
discovered in the Late Hallstatt/Early La Tène period chief-
tain's grave at Eberdingen-Hochdorf. Archaeologists working
on a rural settlement site at Roissy293, north of Paris, found 104
woad seeds in a storage pit dated to the 5th or 4th century BC. As
they were found together with other cultivated plants, it is sug-
gested that woad was already cultivated and intentionally sown
in that period. The finding of parts of woad at Iron Age Drag-
onby (1st century BC to 1st century AD) proves that the plant was
available already in the Roman period in England. Before this
archaeobotanical evidence was available, it was already known
through Caesar’s report that woad was used by the Britons for
body painting (Caesar, B.G. 5.14)294. Pliny the Elder mentions
the same use by female Britons (Plin., Nat. Hist. 22.2–3). Textile

Indus valley: Böhmer 2002, 217. – Egypt: Germer 1985, 74–75.

290

Forbes 1964, 111–112.

291

Distribution: Hegi 1919, 4/1. – Iron Age finds, including map: Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013,
292

143–145. – De l'Adouste: Banck-Burgess 1999: 86. – Barber 1991: 227 – Cardon 2007: 374
– a critical consideration of this find is given in Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 143–144. –
Northwest coast of Germany and Heuneburg: Körber-Grohne 1967 – Körber-Grohne 1981. –
Ginderup: Jessen 1933. – Hochdorf: Stika 1999.
Zech-Matterne and Leconte 2010.
293

See also Van der Veen, Hall and May 1993, 367, 370.
294

151
 dyeing with woad is well documented in the Roman period; its
processing including subsequent vat dyeing is described in the
Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis295.

From dye analysis on prehistoric textiles, it is evident that dye-

ing with woad has been applied in Europe since the Bronze
Age; in the Iron Age it is one of the most frequently used dye-
ing techniques (Fig. 84)296. The oldest indigotin dyed find from
Hallstatt is dated to the Bronze Age (Christian-von-Tuschwerk,
1,500 – 1,200 BC)297 and from Scandinavia to the Iron Age (Re-
bild, 4th to 3rd century BC)298. Archaeological finds confirm that
the supposed indigo plant of the Bronze and early Iron Age in
Europe can only be woad.

Tyrian purple (Imperial purple, Royal purple, mollusc purple,

shellfish purple) was gained from the hypobranchial glands of
Mediterranean Muricidae (murex snails), especially from the
banded dye-murex (Hexaplex trunculus, syn. Murex trunculus),
additionally from the spiny dye-murex (Bolinus brandaris, syn.
Murex brandaris) and the red-mouthed rock-shell (Stramonita
haemastoma). The glands contain precursors of indigoid dyes
that – under the influence of light and oxygen – build 'purple
pigments' from reddish to bluish hues. This is due to the indi-
goid dyes indigoid dyes 6,6′-dibromo-indigotin (red), dibro-
mo-indirubin (red), monobromo-indigotin (red), indirubin (red-
dish violet), monobromo-indigotin (violet) and indigotin (blue)
which occur in different concentrations299. As these components
are insoluble in water it was necessary to prepare a vat for textile
dyeing.

295
Germer and Körbelin 2005; P. Holm. = Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis, Recepte für Silber,
Steine und Purpur, ed. O. Lagercrantz. Uppsala and Leipzig 1913. (Arbeten utgifna med
understöd af Vilhelm Ekmans Universitetsfond 13).
296
Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 141–147.
297
Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 269, HallTex 211.
298
Vanden Berghe, Gleba and Mannering 2009, 1919–1920.
299
Koren 2013. – Koren and Verhecken-Lammens 2013.

152
Recently, shellfish purple has been identified in three samples of
calcified textiles from 2nd century BC tombs at Strozzacapponi,
near Perugia, Italy300.

Mordants for yellow, red and black

The most important textile dyes for yellow (flavonoids) and

red (anthraquinones) are mordant dyes that need to be fixed on
the fibres by means of mordants. Both tannins and metal ions
can achieve this. The use of mordants containing aluminium,
iron or copper is easy to ascertain by element analysis for tex-
tiles that do not originate from archaeological contexts. This is
not the case with archaeological textiles, since the elements of
alumini­um, copper and iron additionally can penetrate the tex-
tiles from minerals or metals present near the textile in the ar-
chaeological context. Only in the case of two black textiles from
Bronze and Iron Age Hallstatt there is an indication that the el-
ement iron could originate from a mordant. Iron was detected
together with an ellagic acid-equivalent, pointing to the use of
tannins. Probably an iron gall black was used301.

The use of metal salt mordants is confirmed by Pliny (Plin., Nat.

Hist. 35.42)302. He describes how Egyptian dyers in the 1st cen-
tury AD managed to dye fabrics in different colour-shades in a
dye bath prepared from madder after pre-treatment in different
liquids. Alum was the most important mordant from antiquity
onwards. There is a term for alum in Egyptian hieroglyphics
and in cuneiform inscriptions and the Leiden Papyrus X and the
Stockholm Papyrus (end of 3rd or the beginning of 4th century
AD) contain several recipes for dyeing wool to create imitation
purples by using the 'Phrygian stone' (most probably alunite) as
a mordant303. It is not known whether alunit and/or alum shale
were already being used for textile dyeing during prehistoric
times in Europe. Other sources for aluminium are plants of the

300
Gleba 2014a, 152.
301
Hofmann-de Keijzer, Van Bommel and Joosten 2005, 59, 64. – Hofmann-de Keijzer et al.
2005, 924–925; 2013, 156–157. – Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 257, 491.
302
Germer and Körbelin 2005.
303
Cardon 2007, 21–39.

153
 Lycopodiaceae family (clubmoss) that accumulate aluminium
salts in the cell sap. The use of clubmoss as a mordant is proven
for Coppergate, York (9th – 11th century AD)304. Furthermore,
iron-containing mud from fens could have been used as mor-
dant. Copper and iron acetates possibly were made by treating
copper, bronze and iron objects with vinegar. Prehistoric dyers
could have used metal vessels for dyeing as well as added metal
objects to the dye bath. It is known from dyeing experiments that
plates made of copper, bronze and iron release the necessary
metal ions for mordant dyeing into the mordant or dye bath305.

Abundance of yellow dyes

Numerous plants contain yellow textile dyes (flavonoids) and

are therefore suitable for dyeing yellow. Some of them are de-
tected in prehistoric textiles (see Fig. 85 and 86). Interestingly, the
overwhelming majority of yellow dyes detected in prehistoric
textiles consist of the flavons luteolin and apigenin. Only in a
few cases the flavonols quercetin and rhamnetin have been iden-
tified306. Possibly the dyers preferably use plants that supply du-
rable yellows. Nowadays it is known that the flavon group – and
luteolin in particular – stands out among flavonoids as having
a better lightfastness than yellow dyes of the flavonol groups307.
Another explanation is that luteolin and api­­genin were degraded
more slowly than the other flavonoids due to the preservative
qualities in bog and salt environments308.

It is difficult to confirm the chemical fingerprint of any particu-

lar yellow-dyeing plant, since so many plants can be used as
flavonoid sources. If the main component in a historic textile is
the yellow luteolin and the minor component apigenin, weld
(Reseda luteola, Resedaceae, see Fig. 85) could be the source of
these flavons. Weld is native to the Mediterranean and West

Kenward and Hall 1995. – Hall 1996.

304

Edmonds and Hofmann-de Keijzer 2005. – Hundt 1959, 84–85.

305

Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 151–154. – Vanden Berghe, Gleba and Mannering 2009.
306

307
Cardon 2007, 171.
308
Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 152–153. – Vanden Berghe, Gleba and Mannering 2009;
1914.

154
Asia and has been spread as a cul-
tivated plant to Central Europe309:
finds of weld seeds are known in
Central Europe as early as the Ne-
olithic, in Switzerland, from the
Bell Beaker culture in Hungary,
from the Late Hallstatt/early La
Tène period chieftain's grave at
Eberdingen-Hochdorf, Germany,
from the La Tène period Fell-
bach-Schmiden, Germany and
from the Roman Age in Dragonby,
England.

In most of the prehistoric Hall-

statt textile samples310, luteolin is
the only dye or the main dye, with
apigenin as minor dye. Some-
times luteolin and apigenin occur
in equal concentrations or an api-
genin-equivalent is the main dye.
This can have various causes. In
prehistoric weld dyeings luteolin
could have originally occurred
in higher concentrations than
the apigenin but the luteolin de-
graded more quickly under con-
ditions in salt mine. It is also pos-
sible that luteolin and apigenin Fig. 85. Weld, Reseda luteola, is one of the oldest
were present in equal amounts cultivated dye plants reaching a height of 50 to 150 cm.
in the weld used during the Hall- The leaves, blossoms and stems contain
yellow dyes.
statt Culture. The higher content
of apigenin may also be ­attributed

309
Distribution: Janchen 1956-1960. – Archaeological finds including map: Hofmann-de Keijzer et
al. 2013, 151–152. – Switzerland: Lundström-Baudais 1978. – Körber-Grohne 1994. – Schibler
et al. 1997. – Hungary: Gyulai 2003. – Hochdorf: Stika 1995. – Fellbach: Körber-Grohne 1999.
– Dragonby: Van der Veen 1996.
310
Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 151–154, specific terms (e.g. in fig. 84): luteolin-apigenin-
type means that luteolin is the main dye and apigenin is the minor dye; luteolin-apigenin-type
means that luteolin and apigenin occur in equal concentration; apigenin-type means that an
apigenin-equivalent is the main dye.

155
 Fig. 86. Experimental dyeing with dye plants for yellow, performed by Anna Hartl,
BOKU Vienna. a Yarrow, Achillea millefolium. b Dyer's broom, Genista tinctoria.
c Scentless chamomile, Tripleurospermum inodorum, 1 wool dyed with plants, 2
flowering plants, 3 plant parts collected for dyeing.

to another plant that has been used alone or together with

weld. In addition to weld, other plants can be sources for ‘lu-
teolin-type’-dyeings, for example saw-wort (Serratula tinctoria,
Asteraceae) and dyer's broom (Genista tinctoria, Fabaceae, Fig.
86.b)311. Dyer's broom can only be identified as source for tex-
tile dyeing if genistein, a typical minor compound, is detected
next to luteolin and apigenin, but in prehistoric textiles, it can

Cardon 2007, 171, 178, 180. – Hofenk de Graaff 2004, 215.

311

156
be missing due to degradation. HPLC analysis of wool exper- Fig. 87. The detection
imentally dyed with yarrow (Achillea millefolium, Asteraceae, of the red dye purpurin
see Fig. 86.a) and dandelion (Taraxacum officinale, Asteraceae) in this Bronze Age
textile from Hallstatt
showed luteolin and apigenin, sometimes in the same ratio (HallTex 205) indicates
as in weld-dyeings312. Source for the ‘apigenin-type’ dyeings that rhizomes of
could be the scentless chamomile (Tripleurospermum inodorum, Rubiaceae species,
Asteraceae, see Fig. 86.c) which yield dyeings with the api- presumably bedstraw
genin-equivalent detected as the main dye in Hallstatt textiles313. species (Asperula spp.
Galium spp.), were
used for dyeing.
The yellow flavonol quercetin is detected in fragments from
Iron Age Denmark and Norway314. The detection of ­quercetin

Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 153.

312

Hartl 2012. – Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 153.

313

314
Vanden Berghe, Gleba and Mannering 2009, 1916–1917. – The detection of quercetin in
some Iron Age Hallstatt textiles mentioned in earlier publications cannot be upheld in the light
of recent interpretations, see Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 153.

157
 Fig. 88. Experimental dyeing with dye plants for red, performed by Anna Hartl, BOKU
Vienna. a Dyer's woodruff, Asperula tinctoria; b Wood Bedstraw, Galium sylvaticum,
c Lady's Bedstraw, Galium verum, 1 wool dyed with rhizomes, 2 flowering plants,
3 rhizomes collected for dyeing.

­ ithout any minor compound is of no use when the aim is

w
to identify the dye plant, since quercetin occurs in 60% of all
plants315. The detection of the yellow flavonol rhamnetin in tex-
tiles from Danish peat bogs and of a rhamnetin-equivalent in
Iron Age textiles from Hallstatt points to the use of buckthorn
species (Rhamnus sp., Rhamnaceae) in the Iron Age316.

Whiting 1981.
315

Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 154. – Vanden Berghe, Gleba and Mannering 2009, 1916.
316

158
Rare red dyes

Anthraquinones, the most durable red textile dyes that are

found in nature, are rare and occur mainly in the Rubiaceae
family and in dye insects. In non-archaeological textiles most of
these dyeing materials can be easily identified by their chemical
fingerprints. For archaeological textiles, however, this is not al-
ways the case. It is proven that the rhizomes of Rubiaceae were
used since the Bronze Age and that in the Iron Age the most
important red colourants were already known: bedstraw and
madder from the Rubiaceae family317, the dye insects kermes,
Polish and/or Armenian cochineal and possibly orchil, a dyeing
material obtained from lichens318 (see Fig. 84).

Rubiaceae for red

The detection of the red anthraquinone purpurin in Bronze Age

textiles from Hallstatt (Fig. 87) demonstrates that rhizomes of
Rubiaceae were already being used as dyeing materials in the
Bronze Age319. In one Iron Age textile beside purpurin the anth-
raquinones rubiadin and alizarin were detected. Dyeings with
the main dye purpurin (purpurin-type) are usually attributed
to bedstraw species (Asperula and Galium species) native to Eu-
rope, along with wild madder (Rubia peregrina)320 native to the
Mediterranean. Most likely the roots of bedstraw were used in
Central and North Europe (Fig. 88.b-c); they are also mentioned
as the main source of purpurin in Danish textiles from the Iron
Age321. In wool experimentally dyed with different bedstraw

317
More research is necessary to know whether anthraquinones which are detected in
prehistoric textiles can be assigned to certain Galium and Rubia species as the composition
and concentration of anthraquinones is not only influenced by the plant source but also by
the dyeing technique and the degradation of the dyes. Therefore in Fig. 84 not the plants
are mentioned but three dyeing-types. purpurin-type means that only purpurin was detected;
purpurin-alizarin-type means that purpurin is the main dye and alizarin is the minor dye; dye-
madder-type means that alizarin is main dye.
Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 159–161. – Vanden Berghe, Gleba and Mannering 2009, 1918.
318

Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 263–264, 299–301. – Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013,
319

147–150.
Böhmer 2002, 118, 122.
320

Walton 1988, 155.

321

159
 species beside purpurin, the anth-
raquinones rubiadin and alizarin
were detected322.

Dyeings performed with rhizomes

of madder (Dyer's madder, Rubia
tinctorum, see Fig. 89) are deter-
minable by the presence of two
red anthraquinones, alizarin as
the main dye and purpurin as mi-
nor dye323. The original distribu-
tion area of this ancient cultivated
plant is located in southeast Eu-
rope and southwest Asia. It was
used by the Egyptians, Greeks and
Romans; in the Roman Empire it
was cultivated in Italy and Gaul324.
It seems, however, that the culti-
vation of madder in other parts
of Europe did not begin before
the early Middle Ages325. Madder
was identified in Iron Age textiles
from Dürrnberg (Austria, 6th – 2nd
century BC), Denmark (Skærso,
1st century BC) and in Late Roman
Fig. 89. Madder, Rubia textiles from Norway, suggesting that either madder or the dyed
tinctorum, is one of the textile may have been traded long distances326. Beside madder,
oldest cultivated dye other Rubiaceae species seem to be used also in later periods,
plants. The red dyes
are gained from the because purpurin-type dyeings were found in Scandinavian
rhizomes, underground textiles (400 – 520/540 AD), in two Danish grave finds and in a
growing stems. tablet-woven band from a tunic found in the grave-mound at
Högom in Sweden327.

Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 147.

322

323
Böhmer 2002, 122. – Hofenk de Graaff 2004, 93.
324
Bender Jørgensen and Walton 1986, 185. – Cardon 2007, 119–121. – Hofenk de Graff 2004,
94. – Walton 1988, 154–155.
325
Hofenk de Graaff 2004, 94. – Ploss 1989, 8.
326
Bender Jørgensen and Walton 1986, 185. – Stöllner 2005, 169–170. – Vanden Berghe, Gleba
and Mannering 2009, 1920. – Walton 1988, 154–155.
327
Hofenk de Graaff 2004, 125.

160
Insect dyes for red

Other important anthraquinone dyes for red are derived from

female scale insects (dye insects)328, which could be collected
from different host plants. Kermes, mentioned in the Papy-
rus Graecus Holmiensis, is derived from kermes insects (Kermes
vermilio), which live on the kermes oak (Quercus coccifera, Fa-
gaceae) on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea (Fig. 90) and
contain kermesic acid as the main dye. Two other scale insects
of the old world provide carminic acid as the main component
(cochineal-type). Females of Polish cochineal (Porphyrophora
polonica) lived in Eastern Europe on roots of Caryophyllaceae
(carnation plants), especially on the perennial Knawel (Scle-
ranthus perennis) and were gathered during the Middle Ages
for dyeing purpose. The Armenian cochineal (Porphyrophora
hameli) was found in the region of Mount Ararat on the roots
of two different host plants, both grasses (Poaceae; also called
Gramineae). The differentiation of textile dyeings produced
from these cochineal insects seems to be possible by quanti-
tative analysis of the main and minor dyes in historic textiles
by HPLC329. Due to the degradation of minor components in
prehistoric textiles, the source of carminic acid cannot be de-
termined.

Dye insects were used to achieve certain dark shades of blue

and black in Iron Age textiles from Hallstatt. They contain a
red component similar to carminic acid330. Possible sources are
the Polish cochineal or the Armenian cochineal. Even without a
clear identification, however, these textiles prove far-reaching
trade relations, because these scale insects are not native to the
most probably production area of the Hallstatt textiles in Cen-
tral Europe331.

328
Böhmer 2002, 203–214. – Cardon 2007, 635–656. – Hofenk de Graaff 2004, 52–91.
329
Cardon 2007, 649. – Wouters and Verhecken 1989, 393–410.
330
Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 412, 491–492. – Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 150.
331
Grömer 2013, 93–94.

161
 Fig. 90. Mediterranean Kermes332 was found in Iron Age textiles from Dürrnberg in Aus-
kermes oak (Quercus tria, from Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois (Les Ronces) in France,
coccifera) with kermes from Altrier in Luxembourg and from Hochdorf and Glauberg
(females of the scale
insect Kermes vermilio). in Germany. Since kermes could only have been collected in the
After the opening of Mediterranean area, either the dye, the dyed yarn or the finished
the insect, the eggs are fabric must have been imported to Central and North Europe.
visible (top). In case of the textiles of Hochdorf, where local production is ev-
Image by Manuel idenced by the weaving technique used, whether kermes was
Alvarado, www. imported or dyed yarns from an imported textile were recycled
biodiversidadvirtual.org. is therefore subject to debate333.

332
Dürrnberg: Stöllner 2005, 169–170. – Sainte-Germaine-des-Bois: Milcent and Moulherat 2000,
307, 314. – Altrier: Rast-Eicher and Vanden Berghe 2015. – Hochdorf: Walton Rogers 1999 –
Glauberg: Balzer, Peek and Vanden Berghe 2014, 2–8. – The evidence of kermesic acid in a
Hallstatt textile is no longer sustainable: Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 150.
333
Walton Rogers 1999, 244.

162
Unknown components

In prehistoric textiles from Hallstatt and other sites many un-

known components are detected (Fig. 84)334. Among the compo-
nents found in prehistoric Hallstatt textiles is a red dye similar
to orcein, which may point to the use of lichens in the Hallstatt
period, a yellow component resembling crocetin and a red dye
that may belong to the anthocyanin dyes. Sometimes unknown
red dyes are found in significant amounts. Maclurin-equiva-
lents occur in Bronze Age textiles from Hallstatt, Pustopolje,
Bosnia-Herzegovina (1670 BC ± 120 years)335, Mitterberg, Aus-
tria (c. 16th century BC)336, Radfeld, Austria (11th/10th century
BC)337 and in Iron Age Hallstatt textiles338. The maclurin-equiv-
alent detected in the Bronze Age textiles is similar to a com-
ponent found in wool experimentally dyed with the roots of
purple gromwell (Buglossoides purpurocaerulea, Boraginaceae).
However, alkannin, the main dye of purple gromwell, was not
detected in any of these prehistoric textiles339. It is also possible
that these components originate from the archaeological envi-
ronment.

5.4 Textile dyeing in the Bronze and Iron Ages

In addition to the scientific investigations of original textiles and

the study of written sources, experimental archaeology serves to
enhance the knowledge in the field of prehistoric dyeing tech-
niques (Fig. 91)340. Dyeing experiments and dye analysis have
demonstrated how the entire colour palette of prehistoric tex-
tiles could have been produced. Blue was dyed with woad by
vat dyeing. Yellow dyes were obtained from various flavonoid
plants, and precious red dyes were acquired from rhizomes of

334
Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 150–154. – Vanden Berghe, Gleba and Mannering 2009.
335
Bender Jørgensen and Grömer 2012, 58. – Van Bommel, Joosten and Hofmann-de Keijzer
2013.
336
Grömer 2012, 31, fig. 1.2. – Van Bommel, Joosten and Hofmann-de Keijzer 2013b.
337
Walton Rogers 1998. – Van Bommel, Joosten and Hofmann-de Keijzer 2013c.
338
Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 413, 450.
339
Hofmann-de Keijzer 2013, 153–154.
340
Hartl and Hofmann-de Keijzer 2005. – Hartl et al. 2015a; 2015b.

163
 Fig. 91. Experimental bedstraw and madder and from dye insects. Element analyses
setup with various dried have been unable to determine if mordants were used to fix yel-
dye plants, dye bath low and red dyes. It seems that tannins have not been used for
and dyed yarns.
dyeing brown, but as mordants or in combination with iron to
obtain black colours.

Dyeing black in a bog pit can be considered as an ancient dyeing

technique341. In prehistory, dyeing could have been performed
using a similar method. The technique was applied to linen until
historical times in Poljčane (Slovenia), before a dyer settled near
the area in 1850. How was this dyeing method carried out? In
the autumn a dye pit was dug, which was filled with water, peat
(probably containing iron), bark, wood chips, ­‘Knopper’ galls342,
fresh walnut shells and alder catkins, all well mixed. The pit was
covered for months, stirring occasionally. During winter, the
women processed flax, spun, wove and sewed the garments that
were dyed in spring and summer. First, the garments were pre-
dyed repeatedly in ‘Knoppernwasser’, an extract prepared from
the galls mentioned above, for several times. Then this extract
was additionally put into the dye pit and the garments were im-
mersed overnight. During the day, they were dipped repeatedly
into the dye pit and dried between the dippings. This process of
dyeing overnight and dipping during the day was repeated four
times to obtain a deep black colour.

341
Mautner and Geramb 1932.
342
The German term Knoppern (singular: Knopper, f.) denominates a particular kind of oak galls
produced by the gall wasp Andricus quercuscalicis laying its eggs in developing acorns. Their
tannin content is believed to be particularly high, making them the favoured kind of galls used
for tanning.

164
 Fig. 92. Microscopic
image of a natural
brown and a white
woollen fibre dyed
with woad. Indigotin
aggregates are visible
as blue dots at a high
magnification. Dark
brown to black colours
were obtained by
dyeing brown wool with
woad blue.

The yield of direct and mordant dyes is increased by crushing

or pulverising the colouring material, by soaking and by heat-
ing. Dye baths that were not heated may have been prepared
in ceramic pots in prehistory. These could especially be used
for woad dyeing in fermented vats. Textiles that are dyed in
cold dye baths prepared with direct or mordant dyes had to re-
main there for a long time, days or even weeks. Heating would
shorten the time required for mordanting and dyeing.343.

The planning of a particular hue began with the selection of the

material to be dyed. If the intention was to obtain blue, green or
yellow woollen textiles, white wool was selected344. Particularly
dark black shades were obtained by dyeing pigmented brown
and black wool with woad blue. This procedure is known from
the Iron Age onwards (Fig. 92). A black Iron Age Hallstatt textile
made of pigmented wool was dyed with woad, red and yellow
dyes, tannins and probably iron containing material to achieve

343
The rediscovered historical methods for mordant dyeing include pulverising the dyeing
material, soaking it in water over night and heating it to about 80°C for one to three hours
depending on the type of material. The processes of pre-mordanting with alum as well as
the dyeing (direct and mordant dyes) can be completed within an hour when the dye bath is
heated to c. 80° C.
344
Hofmann-de Keijzer 2013, 146–147. – Ryder 2001, 230–232.

165
 Fig. 93. Microscopic iron gall black345. Indigotin on natural brown coloured wool was
images of woollen detected in a black fabric from Altrier (Luxembourg)346.
fibres from a Bronze
Age Hallstatt textile
(HallTex 211). It was Investigating woad dyed textiles by reflected-light and trans-
dyed with woad after mitted-light microscopy shows whether dyeing was performed
weaving, which caused after spinning or weaving. In both cases undyed fibre sections
undyed fibre sections. occur because either the vat or the oxygen could not penetrate
Indigotin aggregates are into these parts (Fig. 93). So-called indigotin aggregates are of-
visible as blue dots at a
high magnification. ten seen on dyed parts of woad-dyed prehistoric textile fibres347.
Dyeing of fabrics can be proven if threads show dyed and un-
dyed parts (Fig. 94). In places of densely superimposed threads,
blue dyeing was prevented. Yarn dyeing is to prove on densely
spun yarns that remain undyed in their centre. Although it is
impossible to proof the dyeing of fleece microscopically, it is
likely that this was common.

The materials and techniques for wool dyeing have already

been discovered in the Bronze Age348. Vat dyeing for blue was
performed with woad. Red was obtained from the rhizomes of
Rubiaceae, possibly bedstraw species. Plants provided the fla-
vonoids luteolin and apigenin for dyeing yellow and tannins
for dyeing and mordanting. Multi-stage dyeing for black was

345
Hofmann-de Keijzer, Van Bommel and Joosten 2005, 64. – Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2005,
924–925; 2013, 146, fig. 49d. – Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 491.
346
Von Kurzynski 1996, 41.
347
Bruselius Scharff and Ringgaard 2011.
348
Hofmann-de Keijzer and Van Bommel 2008, 113. – Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 142–159.

166
­ erformed by combining woad blue with yellow dyes, tannins,
p Fig. 94. Woollen
and probably iron gall black349. threads of a Bronze Age
textile (HallTex 211)
from Hallstatt showing
During the Iron Age, the use of woad, bedstraw, luteolin/api- dyed and undyed parts,
genin- and tannin- containing plants continued. The palette of suggesting that woad
red and purple was expanded by madder, scale insects, Tyr- dyeing was performed
ian purple and possibly orchil. In the case of madder and scale after weaving.
insects, which were not native to the places of the textile pro-
duction, trade of dyeing materials, dyed fleece, yarns or fabrics
have to be considered. The palette of yellow was enlarged by
buckthorn species and possibly saffron.

A yellow fragment from Hallstatt was dyed in a single pro-

cess with weld or another luteolin and apigenin yielding plant
(Fig. 96.1). Double dyeing for green350 by using a woad vat for
blue and another dye bath for yellow is known from Hallstatt
(Fig. 96.2), Dürrnberg and Denmark: Indigotin was detected
in combination with the flavonoid dye luteolin in Danish peat
bog textiles, indicating that green was the desired colour. A
large amount of time and effort was devoted to the manufac-
ture of bluish-black to black textiles. These hues were obtained
by double dyeing with woad and tannins or by shading woad
blue with yellow and/or red dyes, tannins and possibly iron-

349
Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 257.
350
Dürrnberg: Stöllner 2005, 169. – Denmark: Vanden Berghe, Gleba and Mannering 2009, 1918.
– Hallstatt: Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 157.

167
 Fig. 95. Bronze Age textile from Hallstatt (HallTex 110). Multiple dyeing processes
resulted in the black colour. Woad was used for blue and a luteolin and apigenin
containing plant for yellow; brown dyeing tannins were presumably combined with an
iron containing mordant to obtain iron gall black. Bottom: SEM-EDX spectrum of a fibre
from the black textile.

Fig. 96. Dyed Iron Age textiles from Hallstatt: yellow (HallTex 78), dyed with a luteolin and
apigenin containing plant such as weld (1). Green (HallTex 122), achieved by combining
dyeing blue in a woad vat and dyeing with a plant containing yellow mordant dyes
(2). Blue (HallTex 137), woad blue shaded with tannins, yellow and red dyes, possibly
including a red dye from orchil (3).

168
gall black351. This is known from Hallstatt (Austria), Eberdin-
gen-Hochdorf (Germany), Altrier (Luxembourg) and Norway.
The woad dyeings of Iron Age Hallstatt textiles were shaded
by tannins yellow and/or red dyes. Among these red dyes are
unidentified red dyes and dyes possibly originating from scale
insects and orchil (Fig. 96.3)352. The great emphasis on blue and
black shades in Hallstatt textiles suggests that these colours
were very popular for garments, as they provided a suitable
contrast to the polished and shiny bronze and iron jewellery.

6 Patterns and designs

The human inclination to adorn and decorate is universal – in
prehistoric times as well as today. This is perhaps most readily
apparent in the creative variety of decoration on ceramic ves-
sels, the most common legacies of pre-Roman times, which fill
many museum collections and countless books. Nevertheless,
modern people often imagine the fabrics of prehistoric people
(especially for clothing) as drab and unadorned. The attentive
reader in the first half of the 20th century, however, would have
already been taught an alternative view. Emil Vogt introduced
Stone Age textiles from Switzerland into discussion, including
ornate textiles from Wetzikon-Robenhausen353, in 1937. With
great care and attention, he described Neolithic twining, netting
and weaving techniques.

The colourful, sometimes checked textiles from the Iron Age salt
mines at Hallstatt354 have also been known for a long time: some
of them were recovered as early as 1849 and have been on exhi-
bition in the Natural History Museum of Vienna for more than
100 years.

351
Hallstatt: Hofmann-de Keijzer, Van Bommel and Joosten 2005, 59, 64. – Hofmann-de Keijzer
et al. 2005, 924–925; 2013, 156. – Hochdorf: Walton Rogers 1999, 243–245. Altrier: Von
Kurzynski 1996, 41. – Norway: Walton 1988, 153–154.
352
Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 412, 430, 414.
353
Vogt 1937, 52, fig. 84–86.
354
Hundt 1987. – von Kurzynski 1996. – Grömer 2013, 83–85.

169
 People have always been skilled in applying different techniques
to adorn, refine and improve the appearance of textiles, as the
following list of decorative techniques shows. For this purpose,
different coloured yarn material was used, as well as different
supplementary techniques, the addition of foreign materials
such as beads or metal, or decoration by sewing (embroidery).
In Central European Prehistory, decorative techniques that were
applied during weaving were generally preferred.

Even in prehistoric times, the design of textiles was bound to

the prevalent style of the time. Patterns that were produced on
textiles during the weaving process can also be found on other
groups of materials. It has even been suggested that textile de-
signs, for instance the structure that forms when making mats
and baskets, were amongst the earliest decorative designs that
then influenced all other areas. Gottfried Semper, a gifted ar-
chitect of the 19th century, who, among others, designed the
Natural History Museum in Vienna, remarked that textile art
is the primary art (‘Urkunst’) par excellence. In his comprehen-
sive two-volume work entitled ‘The style in the technical and
tectonic arts’ (Der Stil in den technischen und tektonischen Küns-
ten) he wrote that ‘all arts, not excluding ceramics, derive their
types and symbols from textile art, whilst textile art itself arises com-
pletely independent and builds its types of itself or borrows them
directly from nature’355. Considering the ‘braided band’ design
and patterns of angled hooks on the vessels of the middle Neo-
lithic (Lengyel Culture, mid-5th millennium BC), one is inclined
to agree.

Certain techniques such as embroidery, tablet weaving or differ-

ent supplementary techniques in weaving also allow for transfer-
ring designs typical to the taste of their time onto the fabrics, just
as they are found on ceramic vessels or metal objects356. Mutual
influence among crafts with their individual options and con-
straints of design can be observed for prehistoric times as well.

355
Semper 1860. Drittes Hauptstück. Textile Kunst. A. §4. ‘daß alle anderen Künste, die Keramik
nicht ausgenommen, ihre Typen und Symbole aus der textilen Kunst entlehnten, während sie
selbst in dieser Beziehung ganz selbständig erscheint und ihre Typen aus sich heraus bildet
oder unmittelbar aus der Natur abborgt.’
Grömer 2013, fig. 30. – Grömer and Stöllner 2011, fig. 3–4.
356

170
6.1 Weaving decoration: structure and spin patterns

The visual effect of structural patterns is produced by creating a

specific fabric relief through weaving techniques or the use of dif-
ferent yarns. The first design elements for structuring the fabric
surface are primarily the various binding techniques in weaving –
they clearly stand out from the smooth, regular surface structure
of a simple tabby weave. Simple design options include basket
weave with its cube-shaped structure and different twill variants
resulting in different diagonal structures. These, as well as repp
and tablet weaving, have already been discussed together with
the archaeological evidence for different types of looms.

Structural patterns on textiles also can be created by the use

of different kinds of threads. From Öhningen-Wangen in Ger-
many357, a late Neolithic linen web made of S-plied thread is re-
corded, which has a pattern effect caused by the use of some
thicker threads, 2 – 6 threads together at a time in warp and weft.
A fine wool textile with alternating one z-yarn and one plied
yarn (S3z) in one system was found in the Late Bronze Age set-
tlement at Staré Město (Czech Republic)358. The use of plied yarn
thus creates a fine ribbed surface.

A special, decorative pattern very characteristic of the Hallstatt

period is the spin- or shadow pattern (Fig. 97). This is possible
because differently spun yarns (s- or z-twist) have specific visual
effects; they appear lighter or darker depending on whether light
falls parallel or at an angle on the twisted fibres. By arranging
alternating groups of s- and z-yarn in a textile, a striped pattern
is visible under appropriate lighting. This sophisticated tone-on-
tone pattern is taken to the extreme by the use of s- and z-spun
yarns in both thread systems – the result is a fine checked pattern.

For the manufacture of spin patterns, the threads have to be spe-

cially prepared. Good quality raw material, preferably combed,
is needed to spin very smooth yarns to ensure that this special
effect comes out well. Moreover, yarn of different rotational ­ di-

357
Médard 2010, 206. Her pattern drawing shows a spin pattern of alternating S-plied and
z-single yarn in warp and weft. On the photos just S-plied yarns are visible.
358
Belanová-Štolcová 2012, 309.

171
 Fig. 97. Spin patterns rections (s- and z-yarns) has to be produced. Special care also
from Hallstatt, Early Iron has to be taken when warping, since the pattern is determined
Age. Top: in one thread by the grouped arrangement of the threads. The extra effort the
system, bottom: in both
thread systems. spin pattern required was taken into account, although this fine
patterning has no optical effect at a distance, but is only per-
ceived at close range. Spin patterns, however, are not only dis-
tinguished by their sophisticated aesthetic effect, but they also
enhance the cohesion of the weave due to the use of differently
twisted threads. Spin patterns thus stabilise the textile and coun-
teract rolling up and shape distortion.

Spin patterns were made with very sharply twisted single yarns
and used in tabby, basket and twill weaves. They are extremely
popular in the Early Iron Age359 and are often found in corroded

359
Banck-Burgess 1999, 53. – Bender Jørgensen 2005. – Grömer 2013, 81–83, fig. 28. – Gleba
2012, 228. – Möller-Wiering 2012, 131.

172
textile remains from graves as well as in the salt mines of Hallstatt.
Before this type of design experienced its heyday in the Hallstatt
period, experiments in the structuring of surfaces by using yarns
of different spin rotation had already been conducted in the Late
Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age. Examples360 were found at
Mühlbach-Hochkönig/Mitterberg or the Bronze Age parts of the
Hallstatt salt mine, both in Austria. Only one or two s-and z-yarns
alternate in most of these cases.

Spin patterns lose their importance in the La Tène period in Cen-

tral Europe, although isolated finds361 come from the salt mines
of Dürrnberg or Early La Tène period graves from Switzerland.
They almost disappear and are not at all common during the Ro-
man period in the Central European provinces362. In contrast, spin
patterns appear between 500 and 0 BC in Northern Europe and
remain common during the Roman Iron Age363.

At the Roman fort Vindolanda, founded in Britain c. 85 AD, a

striking juxtaposition of Iron Age and Roman textiles has been
observed. A high proportion of the c. 600 textile finds may be ar-
gued to be products of weavers working in Iron Age traditions.
They include checked and striped patterns achieved by contrast-
ing coloured yarns or yarns of contrasting spin directions364.

6.2 Weaving ornaments: colour patterns

Patterns on large-sized textiles

The pattern and design of prehistoric textiles primarily fol-

low the laws inherent in the craft: threads of different colours
quickly result in stripes when yarns of different shades alter-
nate in one thread system. This equally applies to dyed yarns

Cf. Grömer 2006b, fig. 6. – Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, Bronze Age catalogue
360

HallTex 217, 225.

Dürrnberg: Grömer and Stöllner 2009, 112. – Switzerland: Rast-Eicher 2012, 388.
361

See Grömer 2014, 33–35.

362

Cf. Mannering et al. 2012, 103–111. – Maik 2012

363

Wild 2012, 454.

364

173
 and ­different natural colours of sheep’s wool. A check pattern
inevitably arises when this principle is applied to both thread
systems. The choice of the sequence and the number of different
threads defines the appearance of the pattern.

Stripes as a decorative principle are known from the Late Neo-

lithic period. These early stripe patterns, however, are made as
pick-up weaving with floating threads and tone-on-tone (see
Fig. 106, page 186). Stripes made of yarns of different colours
are known from the Early Bronze Age. A striped linen textile
from a rich woman's grave from Franzhausen, Lower Austria365,
for example, dates to c. 2,000 BC (Fig. 200). The textile remnants
were found in a bronze head dress and form a fine repp struc-
ture of flax with stripe pattern, discoloured and greenish from
the corroded bronze (Fig. 98). Uniform groups of 6 strands of
dark brown plied yarn alternate with wider blocks of bright,
greenish brown threads. The fabric is very fine with 0.4 mm di-
ameter S-twisted plied yarns in both thread systems and a fabric
density of 17/7 threads per cm.

Bronze Age finds of colour patterns remain exceptions, but

patterned fabrics were extremely popular in the Hallstatt pe-
riod. They are no longer simply patterns with different natu-
ral shades, but colourful striped and checked designs with dyed
yarns that have been combined effectively. According to recent
dye analyses on the textiles from Hochdorf366 and Hallstatt367
(see chapter B5), weld was primarily used for yellow, woad
for blue and orchil for red, a dye that can be produced from li-
chens, amongst others. Valuable, imported dyes are also among
the colours used in the Hallstatt period, for instance the red col-
ouring of the kermes scale insects, native to the Mediterranean.
Various dyes and dyeing techniques were combined to achieve
certain hues. Both fleece and yarns were dyed, for instance for
striped or checked pieces. To achieve a homogeneous uniform
colour for monochrome cloths and garments it was easier to use
undyed yarns and treatment in dye baths after weaving.

Grömer 2006b, Grave 110.

365

Banck-Burgess 1999, 86–89. – Analyses by Walton Rogers 1999, 240–246.

366

Hofmann et al. 2005, 69–72.; 2013, pl. 2, fig. 55.

367

174
The checks of the Iron Age became a trope in reports on the Fig. 98. Early Bronze
barbarian tribes in Central Europe in the centuries before the Age linen fabric
Christian era. According to Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian with stripes from
Franzhausen in Austria.
of the 1st century BC: ‘The clothing they wear is striking – shirts
which have been dyed and embroidered in varied colours, and breeches,
which they call in their tongue bracae; and they wear striped cloaks,
fastened by a brooch on the shoulder, heavy for winter wear and light
for summer, in which are set checks, close together and of varied hues.’
(Diod., Hist. 5.30,1)368. The checks in particular are regarded as
typical for the Celts, and an allegedly unbroken tradition is said
to survive in the Scottish Tartans369. Checked patterns were,

Translation after: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5B*.

368

html (last accessed 31 August 2014).

The earliest example of a checked twill found in Scotland comes from a hoard with roman
369

coins from Falkirk (last coin dates to 230 AD). Wincott Heckett 2012, 437. Scottish clan
tartans are a relatively modern nationalist invention.

175
 however, in ­Central Europe popular even before the formation
of Celtic tribes in the Iron Age, as evidenced by colourful finds
from the Iron Age areas of the Hallstatt salt mines and the blue
and red checks on twill fabrics from the early Celtic princely
grave of Hochdorf. Pre-Etruscan peoples of Italy also appreci-
ated checks, as finds from the Villanovan necropolis Sasso di
Furbara in Central Italy (8th century BC) demonstrate370. Further-
more, there are a number of checked fabrics amongst the gar-
ments from the northern European bogs of the pre-Roman and
Roman Iron Age371.

Hallstatt period textiles from the eponymous site give us plentiful

insights into the particularly colourful textile art. Checks appear
here in different versions and colours (Fig. 99)372. Combinations of
colour and spin direction patterns as well as checked patterns on
twill are typical. Generous checks emerge from dyed warp and
weft threads, woven in larger groups of colour-matched threads.
This, for instance, can result in a high-contrast two-tone block
pattern of brown and black checks (Fig. 99.5). Another piece of
textile with a dark brown background in diamond twill was dec-
orated with bright triple stripes (Fig. 99.6). On another example,
olive green fabric in chevron twill with point repeat was deco-
rated by checks made with wide double stripes in one thread
system and a band of four thin strips in the other (Fig. 99.8).

Houndstooth and shepherd’s check (Fig. 99.9 – 10) are also no

modern inventions: they are formed by a colour change of groups
of three to six bright and an equal number of dark threads of the
warp and weft in twill weave. Through this weaving technique,
the small checks do not appear like the blocks on a chess board,
but have a characteristic pattern by optical extension of the cor-
ners of the checks. Different variants of these patterns are com-
mon in Hallstatt.

Interestingly, the checked and striped fabrics from Hallstatt are

always only designed with two contrasting colours. The slightly

370
Banck-Burgess 1999, Hochdorf: 54. – Sasso di Furbara: 45, 231.
371
Hald 1980. – Mannering et al. 2012, 104, fig. 3.9
372
Grömer 2013, 83–85.

176
Fig. 99. Checked and striped fabrics from the salt mines Hallstatt (4 – 10)
and Dürrnberg (1 – 3, 11 – 12), Iron Age.

177
 later checks from Dürrnberg373, in contrast, sometimes incor-
porate three colours. An example is the fine, blue-yellow shep-
herd’s check additionally adorned with red stripes (Fig. 99.12).
Coloured striped fabrics are known from Iron Age Hallstatt, and
in a wide variety from the salt mines at Dürrnberg (Fig. 99.1 – 3).
The striped, multi-coloured fabrics from this site – like the few
checked fragments – are designed usually as tabbies with vi-
brant colours, especially in the combinations yellow (natural
colour), blue and red.

Repp bands: decorating with coloured warp

The same decorative principle of block-wise colour change in

the warp was also used to make repp with colourful threads of
different shades of colour. The use of different coloured warp
threads is not very complicated, and stripes created through the
structure of the weave have been detected in large-size textiles
dating to the Neolithic period. Nevertheless, coloured patterned
repp bands are absent in the archaeological material from Cen-
tral Europe before the Hallstatt period.

The textiles from Hallstatt374 clearly demonstrate how even sim-

ple repp bands can let pleasing patterns emerge (Fig. 100). Dif-
ferent coloured warp threads determine the pattern by their ar-
rangement and sequence. The weft is uni-coloured; it cannot be
seen because of the dense arrangement of warp threads. Colour
patterned repp borders occur in different variants in Hallstatt: in
transverse and longitudinal stripes or as checked motifs in poly-
chrome design. Primarily yellow, green, blue and brown tones
are found.

The typical design of repp bands was also transferred back to

larger textiles. Fragments of a large warp-faced tabby fabric
made of wool were discovered in grave VI at the Hohmichele375,
showing the ribbed structure with a striped pattern caused by
the use of different coloured threads. Repp bands are not only

Stöllner 2002, pl. 6; 2005.

373

Grömer 2013, 85–87.

374

Hundt 1962, fig. 5, pl. 33–34.

375

178
discovered as textile finds, but also in contemporary representa- Fig. 100. Colour
tions. People were often represented in their (festive) clothes on patterned repp bands
the works of situla art (see chapter E). Incised bands and borders from the salt mines in
Hallstatt, Early Iron Age.
can often be identified at the hems of garments, which may indi-
cate repp by the dashes in the illustrations (e.g. Fig. 221.29 – 30).
It is evident from the finds from Hallstatt that coloured repp
bands were used to finish and reinforce textiles.

179
 Patterned tablet weaves

Tablet weaving is a tradi-

tional handcraft to make
patterned bands. Great cre-
ativity is inherent in the
craft, which manifests itself
in the many possibilities of
the pattern design. Essen-
tial for the design motif are
the choice of colours for the
warp, but also the way the
tablets are placed and the
direction of rotation during
weaving. The creative use of
this technology allows the
design of various decorative
motifs. Simple tablet woven
patterns are, for instance,
stripes. They arise when for
each tablet a different colour
of the warp threads is used.
By continuous rotation of
the tablets, a structure of
Fig. 101. Structure different coloured ‘strings’ arises arranged next to each other.
pattern from Cloak 2 This simple principle of decoration first appears at the end of
from Verucchio in Italy, the Middle Bronze Age in Europe, as a new find from Hallstatt
Early Iron Age.
testifies376 (Fig. 53). Striped design is further found in early Iron
Age bands from Hallstatt as well as from the ‘Prachtmäntel’ of
the Nordic Iron Age377.

Structural patterning is also a possible decorative principle in-

herent in tablet weaving. Cloak 2 from Verucchio in Italy has
a wide tablet woven border with a triangular pattern, formed
by changing the turning direction of the tablets. In addition,
it has stripes formed by tablets turned in opposite directions
(Fig. 101)378.

Grömer 2013, 87.

376

Schlabow 1976, e.g. fig. 119, Thorsberg. – Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012, fig. 6.7.
377

Ræder Knudsen 2012, fig. 11.2–11.5. – von Eles 2002, tav. XXI/1, XXII.
378

180
Fig. 102. Complex tablet weaves from Hallstatt and Dürrnberg, Iron Age.

181
 Fig. 103. Tablet Similarly, there are colour patterns that have been woven in a
weaving: producing complex manner. From the Iron Age onwards, the production
complex patterns by of complex motifs in tablet weaving technique was mastered379.
turning individual
tablets back and forth. Prominent examples380 can be found in the Hallstatt period elite
grave from Hochdorf and in the salt mines of Hallstatt or Dür-
rnberg. In most of the tablet weaves from other sites, including
the patterned one from Apremont in France, the original colour
has unfortunately not survived. Only the binding structure can
be reconstructed from these pieces. The recognisable changes
in the rotation patterns were most likely not only structural
patterns with uni-coloured yarns, but included coloured warp
threads to form a colourful pattern lost to us today.

The motifs of patterned tablet weaves from the Iron Age salt
mines in Hallstatt381 (Fig. 102) include meanders, filled triangles
and diamonds, which are repeated in sections. The patterns come

379
Pattern techniques from prehistoric Central Europe with catalogue: Grömer and Stöllner 2011.
380
Hochdorf and Apremont: Banck-Burgess 1999, 70, fig. 40–41. – Ræder Knudsen 1999.
– Hallstatt: Grömer 2013, 87. – Dürrnberg: Grömer and Stöllner 2011, 109–111. – Ræder
Knudsen and Grömer 2012.
381
For detailed descriptions of the reconstructions of the tablet weaves see Grömer 2005a.

182
to best effect by the choice of colours, which often includes a
yellow-beige colour pattern on dark, two-coloured background
(green and dark brown shades). The simple technique of tablet
weaving has already been discussed (see pages 104 – 107). For
complex designs such as the ones used for bands from Hallstatt,
the individual tablets are moved separately (Fig. 103). In one
stage of the work process, certain tablets have to be turned back
or forwards, before the weft thread is passed through the shed.
By flipping the tablets over, other effects may be created.

An example of a complex pattern of an Iron Age band from Hall-

statt (Fig. 104) provides a case in point. Reworking the pattern
showed that the meander and triangular motifs of the featured
band are a far cry from the simple basic ­rotational dynamics of
tablet weaving. The combination of different forward and back
rotations of the tablets at each individual entry testifies to the
spatial understanding and concentration on the part of the craft-
sperson. Today, reworking the pattern after written instructions
is not too difficult; errors can be repaired if there are accurate,
detailed instructions. These complex rotations necessary for the
patterns (in the complex band HallTex 123 there are more than
70 different rotation sequences), however, raise the question of
how this was done without written instructions as a memory aid
in prehistoric times. Were these complicated patterns planned,
the rotational sequences denoted and perhaps passed on with
the assistance of songs and rhymes?

Anthony Tuck notes in comparison with ethnographic evidence:

‘Fabrication processes of complex woven patterns require the commit-

ment to memory of a substantial amount of numerical and colour-re-
lated information. Virtually any pattern or design that is incorporated
into the weave of a textile can be reduced to numeric sequences, given
the structure of warp and weft. Modern observation of traditional
weavers in India and Central Asia suggests that this numerical in-
formation may have first emerged in the form of memorized, rhythmic
chants that allowed the weavers to both remember patterns and re-
produce them as frequently as required. Moreover, the linguistic and
poetic associations between weaving and singing preserved in several
Indo-European languages also suggest that these chants were, at some

183
 Fig. 104. Tablet woven point, sources of rhythmic or possibly metrical narration in their own
textile from Hallstatt, right’.382
Early Iron Age: pattern
for Hallstatt textile 123.
Another issue that arose from experiments to rework the tab-
let weaves from Hallstatt383 concerns the labour investment and
time needed to weave the bands (Fig. 102). By pure theoreti-
cal analysis of the pattern it would not have been possible to
­recognise that it took three times as long to produce band Hall-
Tex 123 than for the middle band (HallTex 186), and six times as
long as for the bottom band (HallTex 152). This could also indi-
cate how valuable the individual textile bands might have been.

Tuck 2006, 539.

382

Grömer 2005a, 88–89.

383

184
Particularly striking examples of tablet woven pattern come Fig. 105. Tablet
from the princely grave of Hochdorf384 (Fig. 105). The motifs of woven textiles from
these bands are strongly geometric, for instance opposing diag- the princely grave
of Eberdingen-
onal structures, angle hooks, meanders such as merlon mean- Hochdorf in Germany,
der diamonds, braided bands and swastikas, usually bounded reconstructions.
by diamonds. The patterns are usually arranged in zones, with
regular sequences, some with marginal limits. Some of the tab-
let weaves from Hochdorf were manufactured with a different
technique to the Hallstatt finds, as the tablet weaving special-
ist Lise Ræder Knudsen impressively demonstrated. Although
4-hole-tablets were used to produce them, only two holes were
actually stocked with thread, and the tablets were turned in op-
posite directions.

6.3 Floating threads in warp or weft

Simple tabby woven fabrics were decorated in pick-up weav-

ing with floating thread systems for a fine tone-on-tone relief
pattern already at the end of the Neolithic. The earliest textile

384
Banck-Burgess 1999, 125. – Reconstruction of the weaving technique: Ræder Knudsen 1999,
75–79. – Banck-Burgess 2012a, fig. 5.3–5.5.

185
 with a striped pattern in relief is known
from Wetzikon-Robenhausen, Switzer-
land385 (Fig. 106) and dates to the Late
Neolithic. The stripes on Textile 3 and
11 were made by additionally inserted
weft threads, which float over the tabby
woven base fabric in a ‘twill-like’ man-
ner. This gives the appearance of dense
horizontal stripes with relief effect in the
weave. These striped patterns were en-
tered by hand during the weaving pro-
cess.

A fine, 2.09 m long and 6.8 cm wide band

of woven flax has been found in Molina
di Ledro, northern Italy386, dating to the
Early Bronze Age (Fig. 48). This band
with a tabby base weave is probably a
belt which has been decorated in pick-up
weaving with a diamond pattern at the
ends. The decorative motif is repeated
Fig. 106. Wetzikon- on two segments of the ground weave and creates concentric loz-
Robenhausen in enges. During the fabric production, the pattern was designed
Switzerland: Late with floating weft threads, which zonally skip the warp. It has
Neolithic textile with
relief pattern. been demonstrated that simple sticks have been used to weave
the ornament.

A new way of weaving colour patterns appears in the Iron

Age – weaving with floating warp threads parallel to the
main web, a complementary warp-weaving. A solid weave
with repp-like surface made of black wool, a belt band, comes
from the Early Iron Age parts of the salt mines of Hallstatt387.
The weft of horsehair gave the textile stability (Fig. 24). The dec-
oration was first described as ‘brocade chess-board pattern’ in
reddish brown on black wool. Recent dye analysis revealed that

385
Vogt 1937, 32–33. Textile 3: 72–73, fig. 84–86. Textile 11: 73, fig. 108–109. – Médard 2010,
211, 224
386
Bazzanella et al. 2003, 161.
387
HallTex 20. First description Hundt 1959, 85–89, fig. 12–13, pl. 10, 26, 27. – Grömer 2013,
85–86, catalogue 339–341.

186
the pattern consisted of at least four different colours – today Fig. 107. Bands with
they are too dark to see them clearly. Some red and yellow com- floating warp threads:
ponents were found in the brown threads; green threads were Dürrnberg (1), Hallstatt,
Austria (2), Iron Age.
also dyed blue with woad. The 4.2 cm wide belt features a col-
our pattern with floating warp threads, a chequer board design
of reddish-brown, green and black threads in the centre of the
band. There are ten dark brown plied yarns with a higher den-
sity than the other colours on both sides next to the selvedges,
forming stripes (Fig. 107.2).

187
 Another band from Dürrnberg388, which was found wrapped
around a broken tool handle at its discovery in the salt mine (see
chapter D), was unfortunately lost in the turmoil of the Second
World War. Detailed descriptions, drawings and photos, how-
ever, suggest the tabby woven base fabric was ochre-coloured;
additional floating dark brown and green threads result in a
checkerboard and stripe pattern (Fig. 107.1). Wool was specified
as the base material.

For both bands additional warp threads in contrasting colours

have been used to complement the base fabric. These were wo-
ven in, creating a pattern, which appears in zones on the front
and the back side. Technically speaking, these Iron Age textiles
show a compound weave, a weave with three thread systems
(main warp, pattern warp and weft)389. The main warp can be
designed in different basic weaves (repp, tabby, etc.). The Iron
Age artisans were able to add decorations by the additional
thread system of the pattern warp. These threads form a con-
siderable colour contrast to the base fabric.
Fig. 108. Weaving a
band with floating warp Several practical tests have revealed that such fabrics can be
patterns. produced with different techniques. In the simplest variant, the

Klose 1926, 346–348, fig. 1: scheme of the pattern. – Photo of the fabric with wooden handle
388

see Kyrle 1918, fig. 60–61.

Terminology following Emery 1960, 163.
389

188
holes or slots of the rigid heddle had double threads (pattern
threads and yarns of the base weave) passing through them,
moved by means of little supplementary rods (Fig. 108). In an-
other weaving method for this pattern, a multiple shaft weaving
device is used, wherein the pattern threads are fixed to special
heddle rods and brought into the desired position. In weaving,
there are many possible ways to achieve a given pattern. Al-
though the pattern is created directly during the weaving pro-
cess, it almost looks like embroidery.

6.4 Inserted elements

Playfully incorporating decorative elements by knotting and

braiding in a twined or woven textile surface was already part
of the creative repertoire of the Stone Age. Various methods to
incorporate decorative elements during weaving of textiles have
been developed very early on390.

Weft wrap technique (‘flying shuttle technique’,

“Fliegender Faden”)

Among the many possible pattern techniques, one that also

works with floating threads, is the introduction of motifs by
means the weft wrap technique during weaving. These patterns
appear similar to embroidery. Johanna Banck-Burgess391, how-
ever, discovered upon close examination of some finds from
Hochdorf, that the pattern thread was added to the textile by
wrapping around the warp threads in the fabric during weav-
ing.

Sumptuous weaves in this technique were mainly found in late

Hallstatt period elite burials, such as the one from ­Hochdorf and

390
Médard 2010, 2012. – Rast-Eicher 1997. – Vogt 1937.
391
Banck-Burgess 1999, 55–63 detailed description of the technique. – Banck-Burgess 2012a,
142, 148.

189
 Fig. 109. Eberdingen-
Hochdorf, Germany:
tablet woven textile
from the princely grave
with a decorative motif
in weft wraps, late
Hallstatt period.

Grave VI from the burial mound Hohmichele392 near the for-

tified hilltop settlement Heuneburg. They underline the high
degree of skill involved in the textile production. The repp tex-
tile from Hohmichele, Grave VI, was organised in ornamental
zones, decorated by the weft wrap technique and finished with
tablet woven selvedges. The preserved fragment shows a band
of meanders with hooks as well as another decorated band with
double squares on their tips, in which a swastika was set; trian-
gles were woven into the interstices of this repeating pattern.
Fragments of tablet weaves were found on a red shroud from
Hochdorf, which was also decorated in the weft wrap tech-
nique.393 Diamonds and an element in the form of the letter Z
are visible (Fig. 109).

392
Hundt 1962, 206, taf. 36–39. Here described as embroidery. Detail photos see Banck-Burgess
1999, fig. 19–22.
393
Banck-Burgess 1999, fig. 58; 2012, fig. 5.11.

190
 Fig. 110. Late Neolithic
textiles with pile from
Switzerland. Zürich-
Mythenquai (1),
Twann-Bahnhof (2).

A particularly well known textile, considered a prime exam-

ple of the weft wrap technique, is the Bronze Age weave from
­Irgenhausen, Switzerland394. Recent research has demonstrated,
however, that the ornament was made as embroidery rather
than in weft wrap technique (see pages 201 – 202). This confu-
sion makes clear how similar the weft wrap technique and em-
broidery appear.

Incorporation of fringes and wool pile

The various techniques of creating pile go far back to the Neo-

lithic period395. Already the surfaces of various textiles in twin-
ing and matting technique were given a fur-like appearance

394
Rast-Eicher 2012, 381. – Vogt 1937, 76–90.
395
Médard 2010, 163, 164, 203, 214.

191
 by the incorporation of additional fibres. Pile was added to a
weave of linden bast from Zürich-Mythenquai (Corded Ware
Culture, dendrochronologically dated to 2680 BC). Pile binding
on woven or twined bast textiles not only increased the pro-
tection against the cold and wind, but also against rain. Late
­Neolithic and Early Bronze Age weavers incorporated pieces of
thread into their textiles in several creative ways, as examples
from Zürich-Mythenquai and Twann-Bahnhof suggest (Fig.
110). This is a technique also used for twined and plaited fab-
rics. The wetland settlements of northern Italy396 in particular
revealed many finds. Various twisted fringes knotted in textiles
were found on several Early Bronze Age textile fragments from
Lucone di Polpenazze.

Fringed borders on the textiles from Lucone di Polpenazze in

Italy are interpreted as having symbolic significance, as sug-
gested for fringed rectangles depicted in the rock art of the Val
Camonica397.

The insertion of additional wool pile, piles that were woven into
the textile to create a furry surface effect, is another design ele-
ment. An Iron Age find from Hallstatt398 (Fig. 111) incorporated
wool pile as loops during weaving. These form a pile on one
fabric side, whilst the other side of the fabric has a smooth plain
woven surface. The additional fulling of this olive green fabric,
decorated with a coloured repp band, was most likely intended
to increase the warming effect.

This incorporation of wool pile into textiles is a design principle

well known in the Nordic Bronze Age. It served as a so-called
‘Krimmerbesatz’, a decoration for hats or cloaks, easily visible for
instance on the man’s cloak from Trindhøj, Denmark399. Fine pile
units of two to three wool threads twisted and knotted together
were also stitched into the surface of domed hats which were
found in a number of men's graves. Were these hanging flocks

Bazzanella et al. 2003, Lucone: 188. Molina di Ledro: 170–171.

396

Bazzanella 2012, 208.

397

Grömer 2013, 79–80, Iron Age catalogue HallTex 163.

398

Bender Jørgensen 1986, 289. – Broholm and Hald 1940, 27–29. – Mannering et al. 2012, fig.
399

3.8.

192
and threads of wool meant to imitate fur? Was the reason for Fig. 111. Hallstatt,
this significant additional effort the need for warmer fabrics or Early Iron Age: fabric
was the decorative element in the foreground? with loops on one side,
matted surface and
sewn-on repp border.
Incorporation of metals Front and back.

People even used metal elements to beautify cloth in the course

of the various Bronze Age developments of textile decoration.
According to Peter Wells400, the sparkle or shininess of an object
can be an important aspect of attraction and be applied to hold
visual attention. The effect of glitter, especially of gold, dazzles
viewers who see them in bright light, may it be direct sunlight
or the light of a large fire. Metals reflect light, whereas textiles do
not – the interaction with light works in different ways.

In the Late Bronze Age, between the 12th and 9th century BC,
some finds of gold threads, which originally may have been

Wells 2008, 45.

400

193
 Fig. 112. Gold thread i­ ntegrated into textiles, appear in today’s Austria and Hun-
from a Late Bronze gary401. They represent remains from shrouds or clothing depos-
Age urn grave from ited together with the cremated remains in ceramic urns, as well
Vösendorf, Austria.
as in settlements and gold hoards.

Fine, delicate gold wires were discovered in two Late Bronze

Age urn graves from Vösendorf (Fig. 112). Since the finds were
rescued under difficult circumstances during the Second World
War, there are unfortunately no detailed descriptions or reports.
Perhaps these gold wires were once incorporated into a magni­
ficent cloth which was given to the dead as a grave furnishing.

A hoard from Óbuda in Hungary (Fig. 113) dating to the 11th

century BC contained gold threads (the base textile has disap-
peared), larger gold plates, gold hair fillets and gold discs. This
combination can be understood as remnants of a high ranking
person’s garments.

Vösendorf, Graves 10/VII and 11/VIII: Talaa 1991, fig. 33. – Óbuda: Barth 1988/89. – Várvölgy:
401

Müller 2012, 117–119.

194
In a recent Late Bronze Age hill fort excavation at Várvölgy in Fig. 113. Gold threads
Hungary, a gold hoard was found containing thin gold ribbons from Óbuda in Hungary,
produced by sophisticated technology. It is suggested that the c.1,100 – 1,000 BC.
heavily coiled bands were used on a garment.

Gold threads were also used as luxurious items to decorate

textiles of the wealthy strata of society in the Early Iron Age.
Hohmichele, Grave I402, contained an 11.5 cm wide fringed belt
interwoven with gold sheet strips. Fine, 0.2 – 0.3 mm wide gold
threads were also found in Grafenbühl403 (late Hallstatt period)
with impression marks that indicate a tabby woven base fab-
ric. The sharp folds recognisable on the strips speak for the use
of a very dense, slightly thicker repp-like fabric. The bends on
the gild strips from Grafenbühl suggest their use as brocading
pattern weft. Most likely, the stripes floated over several warp
yarns of the base fabric and thus achieved a complex pattern.

Hundt 1962, 211, pl. 1/4.

402

Banck-Burgess 1999, 39, fig. 10.

403

195
 The phenomenon of the use of gold threads is well known from
the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East404. Gold threads
were incorporated into fabrics, and gold bracteates or appliqués
were sewn onto garments by Assyrian or Babylonian gold
weavers. Early literary sources, written down at the beginning
of the 1st millennium BC, for instance the Old Testament (Exo-
dus 39.3) or the Homeric Epics, speak of gold textiles. The Odys-
sey praises the golden robe of Eos (Homer, Od. 14.468-502) and
in the Iliad (which historians date from the end of the 9th century
BC) hundreds of golden tassels on Athena’s aegis are mentioned
(Homer, Il. 2.530). The spiral ends from Vösendorf may be inter-
preted in this light.

The very thin and delicate gold threads were attached very care-
fully to the textiles. The finds from Vösendorf show that golden
strips were wound more or less loosely around an organic core
(which did not survive), in this case thicker cords. Sometimes
the golden strips were wound around broader elements – such
as textile bands or leather strips of 7 – 8 mm width (Óbuda,
Várvölgy). These could even have been woven in or attached to
the ready woven band (Fig. 113).
Fig. 114. Brno-Židenice
in Moravia: Early Iron The incorporation of metal rings into textiles during weav-
Age fabric with ing is first found on textiles dating to the Early Iron Age (Ha
metal rings.
C). A well-known find from Brno-Židenice405 of the Moravian
Horákov Culture was found in association with an inhumation
grave; hundreds of bronze wire rings were closely fixed to the
warp and weft thread system of thin, woollen plied yarn to form
patterns. The double weft wrapped the warp and led through
the rings (Fig. 114). Assemblages of rings packed densely to-
gether have also been found in contemporary graves from Mai-
ersch in Lower Austria406.

The ring decoration in the famous early La Tène grave of the ‘prin-
cess’ from Waldalgesheim deserves to be mentioned. Bronze wire
rings of different diameter and thickness, still in their original

Gleba 2008c.
404

Hrubý 1959, 33–37, pl. 6–7. Vilém Hrubý interprets them as fragments of chainmail, which is
405

rather doubted by Hans-Eckart Joachim (Joachim 1991, 117).

Berg 1962, pl. 5/2 (Grave 26), 21/1 (Grave 72) and 27/1 (Grave 86).
406

196
context through oxidation, have been preserved407. The threads Fig. 115. Late Neolithic
running through the rings were determined as S-twisted yarns of textile from Murten
0.4 mm thickness in black wool. The rings have apparently been in Switzerland, Swiss
National Museum (Inv.
arranged in various ornamental zones, woven or braided in. A No. A-11008). Original
band-like warp-faced tabby woven from black wool had dense and reconstruction.
rows of spirals wired in the middle and a series of transverse
bronze wire spirals at the outer edges. Another pattern zone was
made ​​of fine, parallel wire tubes connecting to rows of smaller
tubes arranged crosswise; they were also fixed with plied yarn
of black wool. Overall, the find is interpreted as part of a breast
adornment, which consists of several zones of patterns.

Incorporation of organic elements: beads or seeds

Organic materials that people found pretty and appealing

were also incorporated in textiles while weaving, leading over
to the discussion on appliqués. A combination of different
techniques can be found on the Late Neolithic example from
Murten in Switzerland408 (Fig. 115). Although it is unique in its

Hundt 1995, 141–147, fig. 104–106.

407

Vogt 1937, fig. 62–64.

408

197
 design, it gives good insights into the mind-set and creativity
of Stone Age craftspeople. They tried, unencumbered by tech-
nical norms, to combine the different groups of material and
manu­facturing methods to create something specific. In the
example from Murten, plaiting was employed to combine two
pieces of tabby woven fabric. The textile is decorated with seeds,
which were given openings by obliquely cutting the two ends.
The seeds were sewn to the textile with needle and thread, as
evidenced by the fact that at one point, a thread of the fabric
is pierced. Next to the two zones with seed embroidery three
stripes of patterning with floating weft are also visible.

Tabby woven fabrics with inserted organic elements (plant

seeds, Lithospermum) are also preserved from the Late Neolithic
and Early Bronze Age wetland settlements of Switzerland and
northern Italy. The textile remnant of Molina di Ledro, site Le-
dro A409, for example, is decorated with plant seeds; unfortu-
nately it is too fragmented to recognise a specific pattern.

6.5 Patterning with needle and thread

Creativity with needle and thread is almost endless. From the

Bronze Age at the latest, the art of sewing with different types
of stitches was already perfected (see pages 218 – 222). All the
­techniques of hand-sewing of pre-industrial times, even to this
day, were in principle already developed. The sewing of cloth-
ing can be traced back to the Palaeolithic, when predominantly
leather and skins were processed. What could be more natural
than to sew on decorative elements or to create patterns by
cleverly guiding a thread with a needle in a leather or woven
surface – to embroider?

Appliqués

The most impressive find of appliqués from very early times is the
25,000-year-old burial of two children from Sungir in ­Russia410,

Bazzanella et al. 2003, 168.

409

Bader and Lavrushin 1998.

410

198
c. 200 km east of Moscow. Thousands of bone beads were found Fig. 116. Hallstatt,
in the grave, which could be accurately reconstructed as parts of Grave 360. Watercolour
decorative attachments to clothing. painting of the Early
Iron Age grave context
and jewellery (only 150
Across times and cultures, bone, bronze and sometimes even of the original 3,000
gold objects were found in graves that may have served as bronze buttons are still
sewn-on decorative elements, i.e. as applied to clothes. It is im- preserved).
possible to deliver a comprehensive list in this context; three
beautiful Early Iron Age contexts will suffice as examples. Very
early on, especially precious finds came to light during the ex-
cavations in the Hallstatt cemetery, for instance during the ​​1846
to 1863 excavation campaigns by Johann Georg Ramsauer. His
reports are characterized by meticulous descriptions and doc-
umentation (Fig. 116) using water colour drawings. In the de-
scription of Grave 360 the excavator noted: ‘A skeleton four feet
deep in soil and firm gravel in a 7 feet long and 3 feet wide clay coffin
[…], the whole skeleton from the upper body until the pelvis covered
with ¼ inch sized bronze buttons, stuck to the bones. The whole corpse
must have been wrapped in an embroidered half-coat, which, after the
traces must have been of leather or an unknown fabric … [Comm.: the
enumeration of individual pieces of jewellery follows] … then

199
 the cloak embroidery with 3,000 bronze buttons.’411 This constitutes
a fine example of how a garment was decorated with thousands
of little bronze appliqués. From the old descriptions, however,
it unfortunately remains unclear whether the base carrier was
leather or textile.

The elite Grave X of Mitterkirchen also dates to the Hallstatt pe-

riod. In Burial Chamber 2, the grave of a woman, thousands of
bronze knobs were discovered covering the upper body and legs
(Fig. 137.3). These may also be interpreted as parts of a splendid
cloak (see pages 390 – 391).

The ceremonial garments from the princely tomb 89 in Veruc-

chio, Italy412 are of interest in this context. Rows of paired stitch-
ing holes were found on the semi-circular cloaks decorated with
tablet-woven borders around the edges. They appear to be the
traces of appliqués, as their diameter and the distance between
the two holes correspond exactly to the perforation present in
the bottom side of a series of cone-shaped amber knobs found
in the tomb. The cloak’s edges were presumably decorated with
the beautiful amber buttons. The decorative elements fell off
when the sewing thread, probably of plant fibre, disintegrated.

Embroidery and pattern sewing

Embroidery is a well-known phenomenon in the ancient Medi­

terranean, in Egypt or Archaic and Classical Greece (e.g. Ko-
ropi).413 In Central European prehistory embroidered patterns
are generally rarer than those directly created during weaving.
Recent research, however, has revealed more and more find-
ings: under the microscope, it is often possible to distinguish

Original records of J. G. Ramsauer in the year 1846: ‘Ein Skelet 4 Fuß tief in erde und auf
411

festen Schotter gelegen, in einem 7 Fuß langen und 3 Fuß breiten Thonsarg […], über den
Oberkörper bis Hüften um das ganze Skelet ¼ Zoll grohse Bronzknöpf an die Knochen
angeklept waren, muhs die Leiche in einen gestickten Halbmantel gehüllt gewesen sein,
welcher nach den vorhandenen Spuren von Leder oder anderem unbekannten Stoff gewesen
sein dürfte … [comment: this is followed by a description of the jewellery] … dann von der
Mantlstickerei bei 3000 Bronzknöpf.’ after Kromer 1959, 94.
412
Stauffer 2012, 245–247, fig. 10.4–10.6.
413
Egypt: Barber 1991, 121, 153, 159–162. – Greece: Spantidaki and Moulherat 2012, fig. 7.16.

200
 Fig. 117.
Reconstruction of the
decorated textile from
Pfäffikon-Irgenhausen
in Switzerland, Bronze
Age.

between an embroidery thread, piercing through the threads of

the weave and a wrapped or floating pattern thread, running
between the warp threads.

Several Early Bronze Age fragments of flax fabrics in tabby

weave with embroidered loops as pattern-forming elements
have been found in the pile dwelling of Molina di Ledro, North-
ern Italy414. Similar surface embroidery covers the sleeve and
neck opening of the Bronze Age blouse from a female oak coffin
burial at Skrydstrup, Denmark415.

The well-known patterned fabric of Pfäffikon-Irgenhausen416

(Fig. 117) from a Swiss lake dwelling was first published jointly
with Stone Age finds from Switzerland. Towards the end of the

414
Molina: Bazzanella et al. 2003, 170. ‘ricamo a festoni ’ = festoon embroidery. – Skrydstrup:
Broholm and Hald 1940, fig. 138; Mannering et al. 2012, 101.
415
Broholm and Hald 1940, 97, fig. 138.
416
Vogt 1937, 76–90, fig. 112–150. – Rast-Eicher 2003, 226–227; 2012, 381.

201
 20th century, the age of this unique piece was accurately deter-
mined by 14C-dating. With a calibrated date of 1685 – 1493 calBC
it can now be dated to the transition from the Early to the Mid-
dle Bronze Age. The textile, preserved in several fragments,
was manufactured in tabby weave with flax threads of 0.5 mm
diameter. It is patterned in a complex way, which gave rise to
many ideas as to how it had been produced. Emil Vogt, who
first described the textile in detail in 1937, suggested brocade,
patterned with floating threads, creating triangles and chequer
board motifs. He also included schematic drawings of the com-
plex way the threads were guided – they partly float in weft
direction, partly in warp direction, but also diagonally. The di-
rection depends on the different pattern zones, which are very
varied and complex. The pattern consists of large, filled trian-
Fig. 118. Glauberg in gles, separated by horizontal bands with broad checkerboard
Germany, Tumulus 1, pattern, surrounded by bands in small checks. It has been sug-
Grave 1. tabby textile gested that the textile had been decorated in a weft wrapping
with pattern threads in
plait-like structure, technique using floating threads (fliegender Faden). According
c. 400 BC. to the latest research, however, it is a piece of embroidery417, as
some of the threads had been pierced.

Recent investigations of the princely tombs at Glauberg418 (date

c. 420/380 BC) unveiled some new patterned textiles of interest.

Fig. 119. Dürrnberg,

Austria: twill fabric
fragment from the salt
mine with pattern, Early
La Tène period.

Rast-Eicher 2012, 381.

417

Balzer, Peek and Vanden Berghe 2014, fig. 6.

418

202
 Fig. 120. Embroidered
fabric from Nové Zamky
in Slovakia, La Tène
period.

In tumulus 1/grave 1 a distinctive fabric was found (Fig. 118)

among the other grave goods of the early Celtic warrior. It is a
dense tabby textile with a half-basket-weave border and decora-
tion of regularly situated pattern threads that show a plait-like
structure. It seems feasible, that this kind of pattern was made
with needle and thread after the fabric was woven.

Among the Iron Age textile finds from the salt mines of Dürrn­
berg/Hallein419 (Fig. 119) was a decorated fragment which also
gave a hint to its process of manufacture. It has a twill base
fabric with a coloured pattern showing S-hooks, carried out in
green, white and reddish brown threads. There was a central
pattern zone of merlon meander as well as triangles in reddish
brown and green in the spandrels. The way the threads were
guided also suggests embroidery as the technique rather than
weft wraps.

419
Von Kurzynski 1998, fig. 8.

203
 Fig. 121. Hallstatt salt A clear example of embroidery is the well-known textile that
mines: Early Iron Age had been stuffed into a leg ring made ​​of bronze sheet (see chap-
textile with decorative ter D), found in a early La Tène grave from Nové Zamky420 in
stitching.
Slovakia (Fig. 120). The tabby woven flax fabric has very dis-
tinct puncture holes in which some embroidery threads of red
wool are still preserved. Some gathering of the textile along the
stitches can be observed. It is certain that this is a piece of em-
broidery rather than a textile decorated in floating thread tech-
nique, because the threads in the latter technique would have a
smooth surface and the pattern threads would not leave large
holes. The pattern of Nové Zamky was described as an S-pat-
tern or as interlocking trumpet motifs. The embroidered motif
appears less angular than the strong geometric woven patterns.
The motif of the embroidery, the trumpet pattern, is typical of
the early La Tène art style.

Pieta 1992. – Belanová 2005, fig. 3, 4 and colour pl. 20.

420

204
Decorative stitching from the salt mine Hallstatt421 (Fig. 121) can
also be considered embroidery in the broadest sense. On a large
piece of textile, a rectangular part was carefully attached and
the seam on the front side was covered with slip stitches, which
were executed in two colours, blue and white, for a decorative
effect. The same textile also carries four rows of stem stitches on
the rolled hem, again in blue and white to match the decorative
design of the slip stitches.

The earliest embroidery known from Britain is a twill fabric in

a La Tène burial at Burton Fleming. The textile had an elabo-
rate border, which was composed of a band in plain weave with
closely packed weft alternating with a checked pattern created
on the intervening areas of twill by needle-inserted threads422. Fig. 122. Painted
pottery from
Herzogenburg in
Austria, Middle
6.6. Painting on fabrics Neolithic.

In many prehistoric cultures, the use of colour

pigments played a major role. It is one of the
oldest ornamental techniques; first traces of
the use of colour go back to the Neander-
thals. Various objects painted with patterns,
and especially the impressive cave paintings at
Altamira and Lascaux423, demonstrate the im-
portance of colour images even for Palaeo-
lithic people. The most common examples
of colour from archaeological contexts are
painted ceramic pots. In Central Europe,
the Middle Neolithic Lengyel Culture424 is
famous for shapely ceramics with sophisti-
cated incised and painted patterns (Fig. 122).
Red and yellow from ochre, white from calcite,
or kaolinite clays (titanium oxide) and black from
charcoal were used and applied in geometric motifs.

421
Grömer 2013, 88–89. – Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 115–116, Iron Age catalogue HallTex 64
and 153.
422
Crowfoot 1991, 119–120, 125.
423
Clottes 2003.
424
Urban 2000, 80–92.

205
 Coloured daub – remnants of house
walling – even suggests that the
dwellings were colourfully deco-
rated. A female figure from Falken-
stein in Lower Austria is decorated
with a painted pattern on the lower
body (Fig. 179).

It has sometimes been suggested

that the little clay stamps (pintadera)
found all over Neolithic Europe425
could have been used equally well
for printing cloth (textile or leather)
or for decorating human skin. From
Middle Neolithic, clay stamps with
Fig. 123. Clay stamps circular design and square criss-cross-pattern are known from
‘pintadera’ from Hadersdorf and Stillfried/Ziegelei in Austria (Fig. 123). The lat-
Stillfried-Ziegelei and ter stamp dates to the Lengyel Culture and on the face side still
Hadersdorf, Austria,
Middle Neolithic, remains of red pigments (red ochre ?) can be identified. This ob-
c. 4,500/4,600 BC. ject has been used to stamp circles with red colour. Pintadera
with more elaborate design can be named from early Copper
Age sites like Zwerndorf in Austria, Drama in Bulgaria or Cav-
erna delle Pollera and Arma dell’Aquila in Italy (Fig. 124). We
can see dots arranged in rows or zig-zag lines, sometimes ac-
companied with lines; spirals and lines composed to intricate
designs. The habit to use such stamps for decoration maybe
originated in the Mediterranean region.

There are plenty of reasons to suspect that clothing made of tex-

tile or leather might have been similarly adorned with painted
or printed décor. The smooth surface of a tabby weave is actu-
ally ideal as a base for painting. The lack of contemporary textile
finds with painting, however, means this idea cannot be sub-
stantiated.

Also the Iron Age Hallstatt Culture, for example, was strongly
inspired by colour. Strong contrasts, such as the black-red-
paint on ceramics are characteristic for this period426. In textile

Von Duhn 1927/1928. – Austrian finds: Lenneis et al. 1995, fig. 47/11. – Ruttkay 1993/1994.
425

426
E.g. Kern et al. 2009a, 121. – Urban 2000, 271, 274.

206
c­ raftsmanship, the design principle of strong, deep colours was Fig. 124. Clay stamps,
implemented by heavy treatment of base textiles in dye baths or early Copper Age,
weaving generous colour patterning with dyed yarns. Painted c. 4,300 – 3,900 BC.
Dietenberg, Austria (1),
fabrics have not yet been discovered among the numerous ex- Salmanovo, Bulgaria (2),
cellently preserved coloured fragments from the Austrian salt Drama, Bulgaria (3),
mines. It is easy to understand that the less well-preserved, min- Caverna delle Pollera,
eralized fragments of textiles from graves also did not reveal Italy (4), Arma dell’Aquila,
any painted colour. Italy (5), Zwerndorf,
Austria (6 – 7).

The lack of painted fabrics may be explained by the fact that any
possible applied paint dissolves under moist conditions where
textiles are preserved (such as in wetland settlements, swamps
or salt mines). Nevertheless, the researchers of the Centre for

207
 Textile Research in Copenhagen succeeded in finding evidence
of a painted textile in a recent analysis of Iron Age bog finds
from Denmark427. A complete rectangular cloth with a painted
pattern of wavy lines was discovered in Ømark in Denmark,
dating between 390 and 200 BC. Is this a singular find or an in-
dicator of substantial gaps in the archaeological evidence? We
do not know.

Recovery of painted fabrics is more likely under dry preserva-

tion conditions, for example from Egypt428 or Greece429. There
remain rare finds, most likely due to the state of research and
preservation. Most finds were unearthed on the Crimean penin-
sula, then belonging to the Greek Empire. The floral, ornamen-
tal or figural ornaments on clothing as depicted on Greek vases
could have also be achieved by other techniques, for instance
kilim techniques (tapestry weaves), which have been found in
graves of the 5th to 4th century BC, e.g. from the so-called royal
Tomb of Philip II at Vergina430. For these, coloured weft threads
are used which are only passed through the shed to the extent
the pattern requires.

7 Finishing of fabrics
The finishing of fabrics includes all steps of the production se-
quence that take place after taking the textile off the loom and
serve to enhance their quality431. They contribute significantly
to the appearance of the finished product. Different techniques
of finishing are employed depending on raw material and the
intended use. According to Klaus Tidow432, the former head of

427
Friendly comment by Ulla Mannering. Project ‘Textile and Costume from Bronze and Early
Iron Age in Danish collections’, painted textile mentioned in Mannering et al. 2010, 266.
428
Barber 1991, 145–146. The earliest painted textile is a pre-dynastic (first half of the 4th
millennium BC) cloth found in a tomb at el-Gebelein, Egypt. The plain weave was painted in
red, black and white with scenes of boating, hunting and funeral rites.
429
Pekridou-Gorecki 1989, painted textiles: 50, fig. 26. – See also Banck-Burgess 1999, 62–63.
Catalogue p. 227–229. Sites: Kerameikos, Koropoi, Lefkandi and Vergina.
430
Spantidaki and Moulherat 2012, 195–296, fig. 7.17.
431
Gleba and Mannering 2012, 17. – Cf. Wild 1970, 84–85; 1988, 57–58.
432
Tidow 2005.

208
the Textile Museum Neumünster in Germany, the most impor-
tant methods for treating wool fabrics in pre-industrial times
are teasing the surface, raising the nap, washing, fulling, drying,
trimming the surface and pleating. For linen fabrics, bleaching
and smoothing were common procedures. As Tidow empha-
sises, there is little evidence for finishing fabrics in Prehistory, as
there are few conclusive archaeological finds, pictures or writ-
ten sources.

For archaeological textiles, it is difficult to decide if visually rec-

ognisable features in their present state represent conscious steps
of finishing; they could have also arisen from use and secondary
use as well as from deposition and decomposition in the soil.

7.1 Finishing wool fabrics

According to medieval records and images, teasing the surface

was used to remove contaminants from the textile and compen-
sate for irregularities. This was achieved with an iron, twee-
zers-like teasing device. Tweezers are indeed sometimes found
in Iron Age graves433 as well, but these multifunctional devices
were most probably used for cosmetic or medical purposes. Ef-
forts to establish a direct relationship between textiles and twee-
zers have been unsuccessful for Central European prehistory.

By raising the nap, a fine fibre-pile was produced on the sur-

face of wool fabrics434 to make them both softer and warmer. The
device used for this process is either the head of the cultivated
teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) or a brush with needles, as shown on
a Roman wall painting from Pompeii435. In the Roman world,
the raising was also done with a board covered with hedgehog
skin. The hackling board discussed on pages 72 – 73 (Fig. 31)
would also serve this purpose. Subsequently, the raised nap was
trimmed with shears until it was even.

433
E.g. graves from Dürrnberg: Pauli 1978, 260–261.
434
Goldmann 1990.
435
Cf. Wild 1970, 180.

209
 Fulled wool textiles are characterised by a strong surface com-
pression and felting. Sometimes such characteristics can be
traced on archaeological finds. Whether this surface structure
was induced deliberately by fulling or occurred accidentally
by use, perhaps also during the storage in the ground, must be
determined separately for each individual piece. Among the
Bronze Age and Iron Age textiles from the salt mines of Hall-
statt, some pieces appear to have been deliberately fulled436.
Their surface is fulled so strongly that the woven structure is
no longer clearly visible (Fig. 125). Further fulled textiles are
known from the Early Bronze Age site Unterteutschenthal in
Germany, from Castione dei Marchesi in Italy or from the gar-
ments of the Nordic Bronze Age437.

The first step in the fulling process438 is the addition of a full-

ing agent such as fuller's earth (hydrated aluminium silicates)
or stale human urine to clean fat from the wool. The woven
material then needs to be kneaded, stomped and pounded in
wet and warm conditions until the surface is matted and con-
densed. The degree of fulling can be intentionally controlled,
and depends on the intensity of the fulling process. The tex-
tile shrinks during fulling, as the wool fabric is compressed in
both the warp and weft directions; resilience and abrasion re-
sistance is thus enhanced. The fabric becomes denser, thicker,
water resistant and very durable. Fulled wool textiles are still
worn throughout Central Europe, especially in inclement
weather. Most popular are the ‘Loden’ cloaks of the Alpine ar-
eas in Austria439.

Fulling is also evidenced in written sources from Roman times,

as the separate profession of the fuller (fullo)440 existed. These
craftsmen played an essential role in the textile economy – both
in refining newly woven clothes and in the care and mainte-

Grömer 2013, 80–81, e.g. HallTex 95 or 223.

436

Unterteutschenthal: Schlabow 1959, 118–120. – Castione: Bazzanella 2012, fig. 8.12. –

437

Denmark: Broholm and Hald 1940, 17, 27; Mannering et al. 2012, 97–102.
Barber 1991, 216–217. – Schlabow 1974, 187. – Tidow 2005, 370-371. – Wild 1988, 57–58.
438

See for example ‘Lodenwalke Ramsau’: http://www.lodenwalker.at/cms/index.php?id=40

439

(last accessed 20 June 2014).

Detailed in Flohr 2013.
440

210
nance of used clothes. A tomb stone from the Roman period Fig. 125. Fulled textile
(1st century AD) found in Sens, France441, shows the activity of from the salt mines in
a fuller graphically. He stamps a fabric with his feet in a square Hallstatt, Early Iron Age,
with surface detail.
tub. Behind him hangs a cloth drying on a pole.

Real felt is not based on fulling woven textiles, but made di-
rectly from loose fibres without spinning and weaving. Felting
is about matting wool or hair together into a stable fabric442.
­Evidence for felt from the Central European Hallstatt Culture
was found at the cave sanctuary Býčí skála in Moravia443.

According to Tidow444, the next step in the process is stretch-

ing and drying the washed and fulled cloths to get them back
into a uniform length and width. As is the case for pressing,
stretching and drying is conceivable for prehistory but cannot
be detected. A first-century wall painting from a fuller’s shop

441
Wild 1970, fig. 73.
442
See Barber 1991, 215–216.
443
Cf. Rast-Eicher 1995, 168–169.
444
Tidow 2005.

211
 in Pompeii depicts a clothes press. Garments were compressed
between boards that could be screwed down.445

The Verucchio textiles446 provide the first possible evidence for

pleating in Europe447. A ceremonial garment in the shape of a
long sleeveless tunic with open sides and curved lower edges
(Object A), made of balanced wool twill, possesses a remark­
able structure. On the surface of the garment, a regular system
of folds in both directions could be detected under a strong lat-
eral light. The folds form small rectangles of about 4 by 3 cm
and have been deliberately made. As the pleats run over the­
­tablet-woven borders, it seems certain that the pleating was
done after the garment had been finished. When pleated, the
garment must have looked quite different than it does today. Its
shape was optically minimised and it would have looked more
like a chiton448 than a wider fitting sleeveless tunic.

7.2 Finishing linen fabrics

Linen fabrics were treated by bleaching and smoothing.

Smoothing was done in order to give the fabrics a shiny and
plain surface. Smoothing with rounded smoothing stones pro-
duces an even, closed surface. Smoothing pieces of glass have
been detected in north-western Europe at the times of the ­Roman
­Empire449 (Fig. 126). Smooth polished pebbles can just as well be
used for smoothing, although finds of such pebbles in archaeo-
logical contexts are rarely interpreted in this light.

In the literature so far, only one find of a smoothing stone has

been found in the context of textile work: finds from the rock
shelter of Mühltal I450, Germany, an overhanging rock in a gorge,

Croom 2002, 24–25, fig. 4.

445

Stauffer 2012, 249–250, fig. 10.10 and 10.11 (pleated pattern).

446

The complete shirt from Tarkhan in Egypt, c. 3,000 BC, made from fine spliced linen, is the
447

oldest pleated garment known so far. Barber 1991, 147, fig. 5.2.
Chiton is a generic term for a Greek tunic, more fitted to the body than the Roman tunica. See
448

Cleland, Davies and Llewellyn-Jones 2007, 32, 200–201.

Wild 1970, 84–85. – Gostenčnik 2014, 83–84.
449

Cf. Grote 1994, part I/1, 141–149; part I/2, pl. 101,3.
450

212
indicate a seasonally used space – amongst others as well – for Fig. 126. Smoothing
textile work. The Late Bronze Age Layer 6 contained a weav- piece from
ing tablet, a fragment of a ceramic spindle whorl and a smooth- Magdalensberg in
Austria,
ing stone made of a small pebble, probably from chert. It was c. 50 BC – 50 AD.
ground down on all sides to a cube with rounded edges and
polished well. Charcoal from Layer 6 is 14C-dated to the period
between 1,400 – 1,075 calBC.

In general, however, neither the process of smoothing nor

the subsequent bleaching is yet well attestable for prehistory.
Bleaching is no longer visible on the original textiles themselves
after a long period in the ground. Unbleached linen looks grey.
Bleaching of linen with natural means451 is a procedure that
was practiced in Central Europe until well into the 20th cen-
tury. The traditional method of bleaching linen to give it a
white appearance was laying it out on meadows and spraying
it with water during the summer months. The gentle release of
ozone from the greenery bleaches the textiles slowly. A similar
method was used in the early 20th century in Upper Austria,
as an ethnographic example of bleaching linen from the farm
Riweinhof in Alberndorf shows (Fig. 127). How far back into
history this technique extended, however, is unknown.

Hess 1958, 298–299.

451

213
 Fig. 127. Bleaching 7.3. Washing and Dyeing
laundry at Riweinhof
in Alberndorf in In addition to these special finishing methods for wool and linen,
Austria. Painting from
the local museum dyeing, described in chapter B5, can also be listed amongst the
Gallneukirchen, c. 1910. finishing techniques.

Washing textiles is a process that today is seen as common and

necessary. Literary evidence from Ancient Greece and the Ro-
man Empire explains the tools, implements and detergent in-
gredients452 needed for washing. Archaeological indicators for
washing and/or dyeing workshops453 include washing equip-
ment such as water supply, basins, heating, drains, drying ar-
eas and workbenches. In addition, dyestuffs, mordants and
tools such as pounders or grinders are necessary. Many ancient

452
Barber 1991, 240, 274. – Pekridou-Gorecki 1989, 52–53.
453
Alberti 2007, 59–61, fig. 9.1.

214
­ editerranean sites are generally accepted as probable, if not
M
certain examples of places for washing and dyeing, as they con-
tain large-scale equipment for the treatment with liquids. The
best-known sites are Pompeii, offectoria VII.ii.11 (Italy, 1st cen-
tury AD), Barcelona (Spain, 2nd century BC) or Athribis (Egypt,
Roman period). In Roman times, the fuller (fullo, working in a
fullonica)454 is responsible for the maintenance of used clothes –
he washed and degreased clothes with alkaline chemicals, re-
moved stains and pollution and polished the surface so that gar-
ments felt smooth and looked regular. There is evidence for lead
tags (tesserae)455 from the Roman Provinces Noricum and Panno-
nia, which state names, professions, numbers and signs, names
of colours and garments, wages and prices – some of them re-
ferring to the fullonicae. An interesting detail is the occurrence of
the words fullo and the names of colours together on tags used
in fulleries, such as those found in the hoard of Kalsdorf in Aus-
tria. This combination indicates that a fullery did also offer dye-
ing of garments or re-dyeing of faded clothes.

Washing of wool and textiles is hard to recognise in prehis-

toric Central Europe, because large- or even medium sized im-
plements for treatment with liquids have not be identified so
far. Traditionally, the mere washing of clothes has not required
large, industrial-type establishments as described above.
There is just indirect evidence for washing, which is dyeing.
It is necessary to remove the lanolin (wool fat) from the fibres
for the dyeing process to be successful. Removing fat means
washing – treating with potash (potassium carbonate, K2CO3)
or soap (Soapwort, Saponaria officinalis L.)456. Pliny the Elder
(Nat. Hist. 19.18) mentions that liquid obtained from the root of
soapwort was used for washing wool and made it whiter and
softer. There were also various clays used for cleaning, such as
Fuller’s earth that has been found in Pompeii. Pliny (Nat. Hist.
35.196 – 198) describes several types of clays used for cleaning
and whitening textiles457. Dyeing is proven for Central Europe

Flohr 2013. – Wild 1988, 57–58.

454

Gostenčnik 2013, 75–76. – Radman-Livaja 2013.

455

Archaeological evidence for potash in a jar at Tell Beit Mirsim: Albright 1941 – 43, 59. –
456

Soapwort: Karg and Märkle 2012, tab. 1.

After Gleba 2008, 77.
457

215
 at least from the Middle Bronze Age onwards (see chapter B5).
If washing wool was known, we may also assume that textiles,
especially garments, were occasionally washed – if only to pro-
long their use. We know that garments were used for a very
long time, since marks of repair, mending and patching are
common features of prehistoric textiles.

8 Sewing and tailoring

(Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer)

Fig. 128. Sewing

needles from different Fabric, leather or fur pieces have been sewn together with nee-
Early Iron Age graves at dle and thread since the origins of clothing in the Palaeo­lithic.
Hallstatt, Austria. Complete garments are rarely found, and the preserved tex-
tile pieces are usually very small. Nev-
ertheless, many of these finds indicate
that a range of different sewing tech-
niques were used at the time. The old-
est Central European textile finds with
stitching are from the Neolithic period
in Switzerland. Textile finds with hems
were found in Wetzikon-Robenhausen,
Feldmeilen-Vorderfeld, Lüscherz and Vinelz.
Two textiles joined edge to edge by a seam were
found in Zürich. Sewn-in fringes appear on fabrics
from Zürich and Twann.458 The most spectacular sewn
leather and fur garments are associated with the find of
the Iceman.459 Since organic materials are preserved only
under special conditions, insights into sewing techniques are
limited. More information is provided by Bronze Age garments
found in Danish oak coffins, where complete clothing ensembles
were found in Borum Eshøj, Muldbjerg, Storehøj, Trindhøj and
Skrydstrup (Denmark).460 For the Bronze Age in Central Europe the
finds from Hallstatt (Austria)461, Molina di ­Ledro (Italy) and Irgen-

Médard 2010, see 168, 192–219, 238–239.

458

Egg and Spindler 2009.

459

Broholm and Hald 1940. – Mannering, Gleba and Bloch Hansen 2012, 89–118.
460

Hundt 1959, 1960, 1967, 1987. – Rösel-Mautendorfer 2011. – Grömer et al. 2013.
461

216
hausen (Switzerland)462 as well as the Iron Age finds from Hall-
statt463 and Dürrnberg (Austria)464 are most important for the
investigation of sewing techniques. Sewing was not only used
to connect pieces of fabric or to fix hem edges, but also served
as an ornament (see pages 198 – 205) with decorative stitching
and embroidery.

The addition of trimmings and other decorative elements such

as bronze knobs and decorative buttons is one of the tasks of
the seamster or seamstress. Furthermore, the repair of fabrics,
stuffing and patching did play a large role in the field of sewing
technology.

8.1 Tools

The most important tool for sewing is the needle. In prehis-

toric times, needles were made from bone, antler, bronze and
iron, and are, unfortunately, rather rare. The sewing needle
with eye465 is a technical achievement, that accompanied hu-
mans since the Palaeolithic period, although one can sew with
a ­needle without an eye as well. Neanderthals most likely
knew how to sew, and for certain anatomically modern people
of the Upper ­Palaeolithic. It can be assumed that holes were
made ​​with awls and that needles with notches for clamping
the thread were in use. Bone needles with an eye from Grub-
graben near Kammern (Austria) and from Petersfels in Hegau
(Germany) prove that sewn leather and fur clothing was used
at least since the Gravettian at around 20,000 BC. In the Stone
Age, needles and awls were produced from bone, and needles
made of bronze were added in the Bronze Age. Late Bronze
Age bronze needles were found, for example, in Möringen
(Germany). Hallstatt period bronze needles were discovered
in Hochdorf (Germany) and Hallstatt (Austria) (Fig. 128). The

462
Bazzanella et al. 2003.
Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 99–117. – Harris 2012, 61–97.
463

Stöllner 2002. – Grömer and Stöllner 2009, 105–157.

464

Finds of needles: Grub-Kranawetberg: Natural History Museum Vienna, research by Walpurga

465

Antl-Weiser. – Petersfels: Stradal and Brommer 1990, 7. – Möringen: Bernatzky-Goetze 1987,

pl. 106. – Kundl: Lang 1998, pl. 34. – Manching: von Kurzynski 1996, 16, fig. 16.

217
 needles are of different lengths and thicknesses. A very fine
needle from Hochdorf, for example, with a length of only 1.7
cm, was probably used for sewing very fine fabrics. Late Iron
Age needles are known from Kundl in Tyrol (Austria), and
iron sewing needles from Manching (Germany).

Evidence for tailored garments was found among Bronze Age

textiles, especially in the finds of blouses from Jutland (see pages
230 – 232). Amongst the textiles from Hallstatt are fabrics dating
to the Middle Bronze Age that have been cut obliquely or in an
arc to the direction of the threads. The textiles were cut with
knives or blades at that time. Both stone and metal blades are
suitable for this task, but the cutting has to be done on a hard
surface, for example on a wooden board or a flat stone. From
the Late Iron Age onwards the newly invented shears could be
used for cutting fabric. The earliest finds of iron scissors date to
the La Tène period (Fig. 28), for instance from the Austrian sites
Mannersdorf or Pottenbrunn.466

8.2 Types of stitches in prehistory

Some textile, leather and fur finds with stitches, seams and
hems date back to the Neolithic period. The few stitched textile
finds from this period have been sewn with different types of
stitches:467 The running stitch was used on a textile find from
Çatalhöyük in Turkey to fix a hem, for example; a complete gar-
ment, dating to about 3,000 BC, was found in Tarkhan in Egypt.
All seams and hems of the long-sleeved tunic were sewn using
the overcast stitch or hem stitch. The same is true for Neolithic
textile finds from Switzerland with whipped hems. These three
types of stitches are also most commonly found in the prehis-
toric archaeological material and are the simplest stitches in
sewing by hand.

Finds of shears: Mannersdorf: pers. comm. Peter Ramsl: In seven men's and four women's
466

graves a total of twelve shears were found. – Pottenbrunn: Ramsl 2002, 86-87. ‘… these
tools for cutting appear from phase Lt B1 in graves of the Iron Age north of the Alps.’
Barber 1991, 129 (Çatalhöyük), 147–148 (Tarkhan). – Médard 2010 (Switzerland).
467

218
Overcast stitch468 (Fig. 129) and hem stitch469 show the same
stitch pattern and are executed in the same way, by stitching
over the edge of the fabric and thus securing the different lay-
ers of fabric. However, the stitches serve a different purpose,
one for joining fabric surfaces, the other for hemming. Whilst
the hem stitch is clearly named after its function, overcast stitch
refers to the type of execution. In Lorna Knight’s ‘The Sewing
Stitch and Textile Bible’, overcast stitch is described as a stitch
for hand sewing, which is used to clean up edges and prevent
fraying. It is also used to connect non-fraying fabric pieces. Sim-
ple hem stitch consists of a series of small, oblique stitches that
attach a hem470. Examples of overcast stitch can be found on the
leather clothing of the Iceman (see p. 341 – 347). Bronze and Iron
Age textile finds also show overcast stitch and hem stitch as the
most common variants. It is used for sewing fabrics together,
attaching hems and applying borders or patches. It is known
primarily in northern European finds of tunics and trousers of
the Iron Age.471 Overcast stitch is worked very tightly to cre-
ate a decorative pattern in the Early Iron Age. This variant is
named trailing stitch.472 Worked alternately in blue and white,
this stitch adorns the edge of an attached patch on a Hallstatt
period fabric (Fig. 121).473

Running stitch (Fig. 129) is also used for textiles in Hallstatt.

The simplest of all stitches occurs when the needle passes al-
ternately over and under the base fabric at regular intervals.474
In the Sewing Stitch and Textile Bible this stitch is described as
a simple row of stitches in which the thread forms a regular,
dotted line. Short stitches form a seam, and longer stitches
serve as basting stitches to temporarily hold two textiles to-
gether475. Unlike the Neolithic example from Çatalhöyük, this

468
De Dillmont 1886, 9. – Knight 2008, 37. – Morrell 1987, 33. – Rösel-Mautendorfer 2011; 2013,
100–101.
469
Morrell 1987, 33. – Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 100–101.
470
Knight 2008, 37 (overcast stitch), 33 (hem stitch).
471
Schlabow 1976. – Möller-Wiering 2011. – Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012, 149–181.
472
Butler 1979, 33. – Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 101.
473
Mautendorfer 2005, 47. – Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 385–387.
474
de Dillmont 1886, 5. – Gillow and Sentance 1999, 172. – Morrell 1987, 32. – Rösel-
Mautendorfer 2013, 101.
475
Knight 2008, 28.

219
 Fig. 129. Different
types of stitches used
in prehistory, with stitch type is used as a decorative stitch in the Early Iron Age.
examples from the
salt mines in Hallstatt, A textile find from Hallstatt shows a row of running stitches
Bronze and Iron Age. in a contrasting colour to the fabric as an ornament worked
parallel to the actual seam (Fig. 129).476 An extraordinary find
in terms of the sewing technique is the embroidered La Tène

476
Hundt 1960, 139–142. – Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 354–356.

220
textile from Nové Zamky (Slovakia). It shows a diamond- or
trumpet-shaped embroidery motif that has been achieved by
using running stitches of different lengths (Fig. 120).477

Optically similar to running stitch is back stitch.478 In contrast

to the broken row of running stitches, back stitch shows a con-
tinuous line, which is achieved by stitching back the needle.
A Neolithic find from Schaffis (Switzerland)479 shows such a
row of back stitches in the fabric. However, this was not sewn
onto the finished fabric, but worked in during the weaving
process by regularly wrapping the weaving thread around two
warp threads. After the selvedge, two weaving threads were al-
ways wrapped with a kind of back stitch to fix the threads and
then the weaving was continued in tabby weave. This exam-
ple shows that this stitch has possibly been developed from a
wrapping technique. In prehistoric times, however, this stitch
is very rare. In some cases, it is difficult to determine whether
one is dealing with back stitch or stem stitch, because the back
of stem stitch always shows a back stitch. A textile with multi-
ple stem stitch rows at the hem is known from Hallstatt.480 This
edge is usually interpreted as a decorative seam, but if this sel-
vedge was connected to another textile, it is possible that rows
of back stitches were sewn and the edges were hemmed after-
wards.

Bronze and Iron Age textiles from Hallstatt were sewn with stem
stitch (Fig. 129).481 It is a linear stitch, in which the thread lies
­either to the right or to the left of the needle. The stitch is worked
at a slight angle, with the next stitch always starting halfway up
the last stitch. Colourfully designed stem stitch rows appear to
have been decorative motifs for selvedges.482 Embroidery with
combinations of stem, back, running and a kind of cross-stitch
adorn the famous Bronze Age ‘art textile’ of Irgenhausen (Swit-
zerland) (see Fig. 117).

477
Belanová 2005, 177–179. – Pieta 1992, 52–65.
478
Butler 1979, 71. – Morrell 1987, 32. – Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 102.
479
Barber 1991, 135–136. – Vogt 1937, fig. 92.
480
Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 385–387.
481
Butler 1979, 43. – de Dillmont 1886, 43. – Knight 2008, 102. – Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013.
482
Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 385–387.

221
 Blanket stitch or buttonhole stitch483 (Fig. 129) is sewn along the
selvedge, with each stitch intertwined with the previous one.
To achieve this effect, a loop is formed under the needle and
the needle is pulled through, so that the thread remains along
the edge. A textile from Molina di Ledro in Italy is embroidered
with blanket stitches.484 Blanket stitches are also quite common
in the Hallstatt salt mines.485 Some of the textile remains from
the Bronze Age site Christian-von-Tuschwerk (Hallstatt in Aus-
tria) have seams that have been fixed with blanket stitches over
the entire width of the seam. The edge of a textile from the Early
Iron Age Kilbwerk (Hallstatt in Austria) was sewn together
and finished with another piece of fabric with a dense row of
tailor's buttonhole stitches.486 Unlike the Bronze Age finds the
thread was pulled from the opposite direction around the nee-
dle, which results in a knotted edge, just as is common in hand-
sewn buttonholes today.

For completeness, chain stitch487 (Fig. 129) should be mentioned

here, too, although it does not occur in Central Europe before
the Middle Ages (for example, on the Bayeux Tapestry). It does
appear, however, in 14th century BC Egypt. The tomb of Tut-
ankhamun contained a tunic and another textile fragment from
the 18th Dynasty, which are embroidered with chain stitches.488
Chain stitch is used both as a fill stitch and to stitch in line. The
thread is first formed in a loop and then the needle is passed
through the fabric at the beginning of the loop like in the run-
ning stitch and thus fixes the end of the loop. The next stitch is
inserted at the end of the first loop, forming a shape similar to a
chain link. The top side of the stitch row shows a chain and the
back shows a straight, closed stitch line.489

See Bridgeman and Drury 1978, 315, 317 for a definition and description of the technique of
483

this stitch. – Butler 1979, 123. – de Dillmont 1886, 42. – Knight 2008, 31. – Peter 1926, 57. –
Rösel-Mautendorfer 2011. – Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 102–103.
Bazzanella et al. 2003, 170.
484

Mautendorfer 2005, 43, fig. 4 (Bronze Age), fig. 5 (Hallstatt period).

485

See Butler 1979, 127 for technical details of the stitch. – Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 102–103. –
486

For the find: Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 421–422.

Butler 1979, 166. – Gillow and Sentance 1999, 178–180.
487

Stradal and Brommer 1990, 14–15 (Bayeux Tapestry). – Barber 1991, 159–162 (Textiles from
488

Tutankhamun’s grave).
Gillow und Sentance 1999, 178.
489

222
8.3 Seam and hem types in prehistory

Connections between at least two pieces of fabric are referred

to as seams; they are usually located on the inside of a textile
object. Hems, on the other hand, are used to overcast selvedges
and are therefore found on the edge of the textile object. Finds
of simple seams are known from the Neolithic, for instance from
the garments of the Iceman, who died over 5,300 years ago in the
Ötztal Alps. The garments were made of tree-bast, grass, leather
and fur. The garments of leather and fur were sewn with over-
cast stitches490 done with sinew.

Top seams (top sewing)491 regularly occur on textiles from Hall-

statt, wherein the fabric edges are bound together with overcast
stitches (Fig. 130). After the work, the fabric edges lie together
when the seam is opened out. This seam is used on large tex-
tiles as well as for the attachment of an edging braid. Various
edge types can be connected492: two edges that have been over-
stitched, two cut edges, two turned edges, one overstitched
edge with a woven selvedge, two woven selvedges, one cut
edge and a woven selvedge. There are two basic ways to ex-
ecute this seam: one can either place the two layers of fabric
together and bind the edges with overcast stitch; the second
possibility is to arrange the fabric edges so that they abut and
can be sewn together in this position. It is almost impossible to
tell the difference from the finished seam. The oldest sample of
a top seam was found in Zürich (Switzerland).493 In this Late
Neolithic find, two textiles were placed edge to edge and sewn
together with overcast stitch.

Egg and Goedecker-Ciolek 2009, 62. – Spindler 1995.

490

Kania 2010, 95. – Morrell 1987, 8, 21.

491

Cf. Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, see catalogue for: neatened edges: HallTex 55 (IA),
492

pp. 372–373; two cut edges: HallTex 133 (IA) pp. 465–466; two turned edges: HallTex 141
(IA), pp. 474–475. HallTex 44 (BA) pp. 254–255; neatened edge with woven selvedge: HallTex
43 (IA) p. 362; two woven selvedges: HallTex 124 (IA), pp. 453–454; cut edge and woven
selvedge: HallTex 163 (IA), pp. 494–495.
Médard 2010, 239.
493

223
 Another type of seam on Hallstatt textiles is the whipped
lapped seam. For this seam, two layers of fabric are taken to-
gether, one over the other, and stitched along the width of the
seam. Such a seam has been sewn over with overcast stitch on a
Bronze Age textile from Hallstatt.494 On HallTex 286 (Fig. 136),
dating to the Iron Age, the layers of fabric were joined using
blanket stitches (buttonhole stitches).495 Evidence of overlay-
ing fabric edges when sewing pieces together was also found
on Bronze Age Danish blouses.496 The cut edges were laid over
each other to make a seam at the centre of the shirt’s back, which
were then secured with overcast stitching, unlike the Hallstatt
textiles where the thread was worked across the entire width of
the seam.

Apart from simple seams, counter hem seams were found in

Hallstatt as well. In this type of seam, the cut edges are folded
and fastened wrapped into each other. Through this clasping
of the edges a clean and strong seam emerges (Fig. 130).497 This
seam is similar to the flat fell seam, which is still common to-
day. The two seams differ in terms of the use of stitches. Linear
stitches such as running stitches, back stitches or stem stitches
were used for making a flat fell seam. For making a counter hem
seam, the fabric is fixed on both sides with overcast stitches in-
stead. Flat fell seams are very durable and are therefore particu-
larly used, for example, for the inner side seams of blue jeans
today. Flat fell seams are today worked by machines in the fol-
lowing way: the two layers of fabric are folded into each other
and fixed by two parallel seams. While line stitches (running,
back- and stem stitches) were known in the Iron Age, the seams
on the Iron Age Hallstatt-Textiles were worked as counter hem
seams with overcast stitches. In Hallstatt the counter hem seam
is often used to combine weaves of different types or colours.498
Finds of body lice in the seams of a Hallstatt textile indicate that
the find is clearly the remains of a piece of clothing and can serve

494
Bronze Age HallTex 238/1: Gengler 2005, 140–14. – Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013,
296.
495
Iron Age HallTex 286: Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 556–557.
496
Broholm and Hald 1940. – La Baume 1955, fig. 89. – Hald 1980, 159.
497
Mautendorfer 2005, 43–44. – Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 104–105.
498
E.g. Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 496–497 (HallTex 164), 529–530 (HallTex 195).

224
 Fig. 130. Different
as evidence for the use of the counter hem seam for making gar- types of seams with
ments.499 The counter hem seam was also a feature of the Dürrn- examples from Hallstatt
and Dürrnberg, Iron
berg textile finds.500 Age, and the Thorsberg
seam.
Iron Age finds501 from Dürrnberg (Austria) (Fig. 130), from Hul-
dremose (Denmark) and Damendorf (Germany) are known for
their openwork seams, using a special form of looped stitches.
They constitute, apart from their function to join fabric elements,
also a very decorative pattern. This stitch also adds stretch and
flexibility to the item.

Hallstatt Textile 32: Hundt 1960, 137–138. – Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and Reschreiter
499

2013, 127–128.
Objekt A256: Stöllner 2002, pl. 15.
500

Damendorf: Schlabow 1976, fig. 248. – Dürrnberg: Stöllner 2002, pl. 373. – Huldremose:
501

Mannering, Gleba and Bloch Hansen 2012, 106, fig. 3.9.

225
 A special feature is the Thorsberg seam.502 In contrast to the
usual connection of a double layer of fabric, the folded edges of
the fabric are also sewn in this textile, creating an extremely du-
rable seam by connecting four layers of fabric.

A further type of seam is the gathering, for which the textile is

drawn together with one or more rows of running stitches. An
example of this is a torn-off sleeve with attached tablet-woven
band from the Dürrnberg salt mines,503 in which the width of
the sleeve was adjusted to the length of the band by gathering.
Another find of a slightly gathered fabric comes from Nybøl in
Denmark. The Bronze Age grave find with a width of 9.5 cm
and a length of 97 cm has four parallel rows of running stitches.
Perhaps a pleated effect was desired, or the fabric had to be ad-
justed to a smaller size.504

Decorative seams are used exclusively for ornamental design

and have no functional, connecting function. Decorative seams
are characterized by the conscious use of coloured sewing
threads, often in contrast to the colour of the fabric. Clear exam-
ples of decorative seams were found on two related textile finds
from Hallstatt, in which a row of running stitches was worked
parallel to the seams. In addition to the seams also stitch lines
may have been used as decorative elements. Examples of such
seams are the two-coloured seams on finds from Hallstatt.505

Two types of hems can be found (Fig. 131): hems folded twice
and hems folded once, with one edge neatened. Not only the
cut edges were neatened in prehistory, but selvedges were also
folded, handled and strengthened by a hem. The hems are usu-
ally attached with hem stitches, but running stitches and blanket
stitches are also common.

On the textile finds from Hallstatt salt mine there is a noticeable

difference in the working of hems between the Bronze Age and
the Iron Age. During the Bronze Age, most hems were worked

502
Kania 2007, 279. – Schlabow 1976, 76–77.
503
Rösel-Mautendorfer 2009, 115–117. – Grömer and Stöllner 2009, 115–117.
504
Bergerbrant, Bender Jørgensen and Fossøy 2013, 247–267.
505
Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 385–387 (HallTex 64), 484–485 (HallTex 153).

226
with blanket stitch or overcast stitch over the entire width of Fig. 131. Different types
the hem as whipped hems. This type of finishing hems was of hems from the salt
already evident in the Neolithic period, as shown by finds at mines of Hallstatt in
Austria: Bronze and
Wetzikon-Robenhausen in Switzerland.506 A special feature are Iron Age finds.
the Bronze Age textiles from the Christian-von-Tuschwerk/
Hallstatt in Austria. The hems are designed differently and
the edge itself is often additionally reinforced. Many hems are

506
Hallstatt: Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 106. – Wetzikon-Robenhausen: Médard 2010, 168, 226.

227
 fixed with blanket stitches or overcast stitches over the whole
width of the hem. On one piece of textile, a hem attached by hem
stitches was reinforced along the outer edge by overcast stitches,
which reach into the centre of the hem. On another piece, a cord
was sewn onto the hem for reinforcement.507 Those textiles are
mainly made of coarser and stronger fabric. Due to the specific
context and signs of wear, they have been interpreted as ‘haul-
age cloths’.

Hems of Iron Age textiles from the salt mines in Hallstatt were
exclusively fastened with hem stitches; no hem edges were
found that resemble those of the Bronze Age, when textiles
were fixed over the entire width of the hem with stitches. In
two cases508 the hem has been worked with a line stitch: one
is a Bronze Age find, with a row of stem stitch, and the other
is an Iron Age find, which has running stitch. Most fragments
of hems are parallel to warp or weft. However, there is also a
round hem, a hem at an oblique angle relative to the direction
of the threads of the fabric, and a hem that is worked around
a corner, extending from a straight piece of thread over the
corner to an oblique piece. These details allow insights into
cutting techniques. In the Early Iron Age, textiles with round
hems and perhaps armholes or angular finishing lines can be
expected.509

Tidying of seam allowances may, however, be undertaken for

technical reasons, as in hems. Where the remains of stitches are
found on the outer edges of hems, this is not a hem but the tidy-
ing of a seam, in other words it is part of the seam. In most cases
only threads belonging to a seam are present, and rarely does
the attached fabric survive. The remains of stitches on the edges
of woven borders also point to a previously attached cloth.510

Similarly, we know bands which were used to finish hems, since

several ribbons fixed to textiles are part of the Hallstatt textile
collections. For example, a 22 cm long, tablet woven band sewn

Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 274 (HallTex 216, BA).

507

Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 250–251 (HallTex 26, BA), 353–355 (HallTex 34, IA).
508

Mautendorfer 2005, 44–45. – Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 111–112.

509

Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 106.

510

228
together in circular fashion might have served as the end of a Fig. 132. Affixed
sleeve511 (Fig. 132). borders and
representations of
borders on Iron Age
From the Dürrnberg salt mines512 a torn sleeve with tablet wo- images: Hallstatt, A
ven band attached is known (Fig. 130 and 132.2). In contrast to (1), Dürrnberg, A (2),
the finds from Hallstatt, where the edges of the fabric and the Sopron Várhely, Hu
border were sewn together with overcast stitches, this band was (3 – 4), Situla Vače,
attached with running stitches, in which one stitch on the band Slo (5).
alternates with one stitch on the weave. Further evidence for rib-
bons that have been sewn onto textiles can be found in contem-
porary works of art. On the bronze figurine from Idrija pri Bači
in Slovenia (Fig. 228) and on images adorning situlae (Fig. 132
and 221) braids can be recognized at the hems of sleeves and
garments.513

511
Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 451–452 (HallTex 123).
512
Rösel-Mautendorfer 2009, 115–117.
513
Mautendorfer 2005, 47–48.

229
 8.4 Examples of prehistoric dressmaking patterns

Information on dressmaking patterns and cutting techniques

in prehistoric times can be inferred from a few preserved gar-
ments. Some of them exhibit considerable skill and refinement.

The Copper Age Iceman from the Tyrolean Alps514 (see pages
341 – 347) had garments with interesting sewing details, but also
interesting cutting and design details. All items of his clothing,
including the leggings and the fur cap, were sewn together with
overcast stitches.

The upper body wear, a kind of jacket, was composed of rectan-

gular pieces of goatskin. The assembling of the clothing using
strips of different coloured materials is visually striking. The se-
lection of animal skin strips of colours ranging from bright to
dark makes this jacket a very decorative piece of clothing. To
what degree sewing the jacket from narrow pieces of fur might
have been an advantage for fitting the garment to the body can
no longer be evaluated today. An indication that the joining of
strips had an impact on the fit can be observed on the Iceman's
loincloth, which is approximately 1 m long. It is put together of
tailored, slightly fitted, cut goat leather strips, again assembled
with overcast stitches. With this sewing technique, the loincloth
fits better to the body shape than if cut from a whole piece.

Sensational discoveries from the Nordic Early Bronze Age

(15th – 13th centuries BC) come from Muldbjerg, Trindhøj, Borum
Eshøj, Skrydstrup and Egtved in Jutland/Denmark. Complete
clothing was found in oak coffins from these sites.515 Both men's
and women's garments often have multiple seams. While the
men's wrap around garments are mostly composed of multiple
pieces that had been cut, the centrepiece of the women's blouses
are made from a single piece of fabric (Fig. 191). Sewing and cut-
ting techniques of these pieces of upper body wear is very inter-
esting. The shape stands out from the wrapped and belted gar-
ments, such as the men's coats from Trindhøj and Muldbjerg

Egg and Goedecker-Ciolek 2009, 73–88. – Spindler 1995.

514

Hald 1950; 1980, 67–69 (men's coats), 67–69, 95–97 (women's skirts), 92 (blouse). –
515

Mannering, Gleba and Bloch Hansen 2012, 96–102. – Nienholdt 1961, 1.

230
or the women's skirts from Borum Eshøj or Skrydstrup. Analy- Fig. 133.
sis showed that the Bronze Age blouses from Borum Eshøj and Reconstruction of the
Skrydstrup were tailored specifically to ensure a certain fit. The Thorsberg trousers by
Katrin Kania. Although
approximately rectangular material of the female blouse was cut astonishingly tight,
crosswise from both sides in the lower third, then folded towards the trousers allow full
the middle and sewn together. The remaining material was folded mobility for the wearer.
down and sewn together with the lower fabric tube. Some of these
blouses have been extended with additional fabric strips. The top
fold was cut in horizontally for the neck opening (Fig. 191). The
seams were worked with overcast stitches, wherein the fabric lay-
ers were overlaid without neatening and stitched together. Due to
the structure of the fabric the seams were durable and functional.
This kind of processing may indicate that this type of clothing
was originally made ​​of leather, fur or felt. In contrast to textiles,
these materials do not fray and therefore do not need to be neat-

231
 Fig. 134. Simplified
dress pattern for Iron
Age trousers, according
to findings from
Thorsberg and Marx-
Etzel, Germany.

ened. The neckline and sleeve hems of the woven material were
stitched. The neckline of a blouse from Borum Eshøj was finished
with two rows of blanket stitches; the sleeve ends were worked in
a similar way516.

In addition to the Bronze Age blouses, some Iron Age garments

also have remarkable dressmaking patterns. A pair of leggings
to be worn under other garments and a pair of leggings as outer-
wear, both made of wool (Fig. 214), are known from the Vedrette
di Ries glacier (Rieserferner) in South Tyrol in Italy517. While the
right legging of the undergarment was stitched together on the
inside with simple overcast stitches, the inside of the left legging
had a narrow strip of plaited fabric inserted. It is possible that
this thin band had an impact on the fit due to the oblique thread
direction, since fabrics with oblique thread direction are always
more elastic than those with straight thread direction.

The weave type of the textile has further influence on the elastic-
ity of the material and thus on the fit. An impressive example of
such considerations when tailoring are the trousers from Thors-
berg in Germany518. The long, narrow trousers with attached
socks have a rather unusual cut, which is designed so that it
takes the leg muscles into account, lies on the body like a second
skin and stretches slightly during motion (Fig. 133).

Hald 1980, 69–71, 84–85.

516

Bazzanella et al. 2005, 151–160. – Gleba 2012, 224, fig. 9.3.

517

Möller-Wiering 2011, 48–53. – Schlabow 1976, 76–77. – Technical considerations about the
518

trousers and their fit can be found in Kania 2007, 277–290. – Nienholdt 1961, 7–9.

232
In contrast, the breeches of Marx-Etzel in Germany519 are very Fig. 135. Tunic of
wide trousers, which were worn gathered at the waist with Reepsholt, Germany,
many folds. The dressmaking pattern is technically interesting dimensions and basic
form.
because the main piece consists of a single, roughly rectangular
piece of fabric. A wedge was inserted from below for the crotch
and folded up, then the sides of the fabric were folded towards
the centre and the trousers were sewn together (Fig. 134).

Amongst the Iron Age garments worn on the upper body, the
Thorsberg520 tunic again stands out (Fig. 210). The long-sleeved
tunic does not have stitched side seams, as would be usual, but
instead has bands on the side edges, which served to close the
garment. This raises the question of whether considerations on
the (tight) fit have led to this unusual side seam solution.

Deviations from the usual dressmaking patterns can also be

observed on the tunic from Reepsholt in Germany521 (Fig. 135).
The wide tunic has integrated sleeves, while the other tunics
either have sleeves sewn on or are sleeveless.

519
Schlabow 1976, 79–80. – Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012, 161.
520
Möller-Wiering 2012, 42–48.
521
Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012, 162. – Schlabow 1976, 73–76.

233
 In addition to complete garments, some textile fragments, such
as the ones from the Hallstatt salt mines, can be used to in-
fer dressmaking patterns. The comparison of textile fragments
with Iron Age representations shows that many of the de-
sign elements such as dividing seams, curved hems and bor-
der lining can also be found in the archaeological material.
Three different groups of such details were actually found:
sewn border lining, curved or inclined tailored hems and el-
ements composed of several pieces of fabric. All three groups
have been recognised on Iron Age representations more or less
­frequently522.

An example of such a textile fragment, which could be inter-

preted as a piece of clothing because of the stitching, is a very
coarse, tabby woven fabric, which was recovered from Iron
Age Hallstatt (Fig. 136.1)523. Despite the coarseness of this tex-
tile, it represents important steps of finishing a textile object:
dyeing, stitching and surface treatment. The textile was dyed
with rhizomes of a Rubiaceae species and woad; today the fab-
ric appears brown with a reddish hue524. The textile also has a
heavily felted surface, either through use and wear or through
an intentional fulling process. Intentional fulling results in a
waterproof surface. A waterproof surface would optimize this
garment in addition to the warmth provided by using a coarse
and heavy fabric for a cape. A closer look offers interesting
insights into sewing techniques, which are an important step
as well, as sewing forms a functional item out of a plain fab-
ric as taken from the loom. The two pieces of the same fab-
ric are joined together in a very special way. The seam runs
about 2 cm parallel to the edge of one part of the fabric. The
second part was slightly eased and fixed with blanket stitches,
sewn from the inside of the object with a 1.1 – 1.2 mm thick
thread of matching colour. The stitches are only visible on the
plain inside of the object. On the outer edge of the fabric the
seam has fringes inserted every 2 cm. The single fringe is put
through a loop and pulled down. They differ a little in colour
from the main weave and appear darker. The thread diameter

Rösel-Mautendorfer 2011.
522

Hallstatt Textile 286: Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 556–557.

523

Hoffmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013, 135–162, 148

524

234
Fig. 136. Hallstatt textile with fringes (1), depiction of Hooded Spirits (2).

235
 of the fringe is like that of yarns of the main weave (1.4 – 1.8
mm). On the second part of the object there are also remains of
a seam and inserted fringes. Possibly other parts were sewn in
the same way525.

The position of the seams and the even rows of fringes as well
as the adjustment of the thick, soft and warm fabric with felted
surface and the exclusive dye lead to the interpretation that this
fragment is the remnant of a specific product, and that the fin-
ishing steps were intentionally selected. Maybe the fabric was
part of a garment, i.e. a hood, such as the one we know from a
depiction of Hooded Spirits (Genii cucullati) from Housesteads
in England (Fig. 136.2) or the bronze figurine from Trier in Ger-
many526. The fulled surface and the warm, thick and windproof
fabric would serve that purpose perfectly.

8.5 Prehistoric pictorial sources of seams and hems

Further information on tailoring and sewing is provided by pre-

historic representations of people in their clothes. While sewing
is not always necessary to produce a three-dimensional textile
garment from a two-dimensional textile – some corded skirts,
wrapped skirts, cloaks and loincloths do not need a seam – in
most items of clothing nevertheless seams are needed to obtain
the desired garment shape. Depending on the level of abstrac-
tion, details like seams, attached bands and ribbons can some-
times be identified in prehistoric human images (Fig. 132)527.

On the majority of human representations,528 a wide variety of

garments can be differentiated, but only few show evidence of
seams and hems. Especially in the Early Iron Age, human rep-
resentations are often so elaborate and detailed that technical

Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 556–557. – Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 115–116.

525

Genii cucullati from Housesteads/Great Britain: Birkhan 1999, 246, fig. 366. – Figurine from
526

Trier: Birkhan 1999, 359, fig. 677.

Mautendorfer 2005, 41–54.
527

Dobiat 1982. – Eibner 1997, 129–132; 1980, 63, 65–66. – Nebelsick et al. 1997, 125, fig. 46.
528

236
information on sewing may be extracted. Abstract and rather Fig. 137.
geometrically rendered human representations from the Early Representations of
Iron Age (Fig. 221) were found on pottery vessels from Sopron sewn-on buttons
on Iron Age pictorial
(Hungary), Kleinklein (Austria), Nové Košariská (Slovakia) sources: vessel from
and from southern German sites, for example Kirchenreinbach, Sopron, Hungary (1),
­Reichersdorf, Pettenhofen and Dietldorf. Figures with a triangu- situla from Este-
lar garment represent the largest group. Benvenuti, Italy (2). –
Grave find with bronze
buttons, Mitterkirchen,
Above all, the decorations and designs inside the figures maybe Austria (3).
point to textile details. Patterns, bindings, dividing lines, or-
naments with circles and lines could be evidence for the fab-
ric structures and their ornaments. Comparisons with finds
from Hallstatt show that contemporary textiles have the same
patterns (see chapter B6). There are also hints to which sew-
ing techniques were used. Hatched, narrow, parallel limited
areas could represent attached braids, as they are well known

237
 Fig. 138. in the ­archaeological material from Hallstatt529. Other garments
Representations of are decorated with dots or circular rings, which may represent
seams on Iron Age decorative bronze buttons sewn onto the garments530 (Fig. 137).
pictorial sources:
garments assembled Such bronze buttons are known, for example, from the luxuri-
of various parts on a ous coat of Mitterkirchen in Upper Austria and from graves of
vessel from Sopron the cemetery in Hallstatt.
Várhely (1), compared
to a composite textile Other human figures show strongly divided triangles, which
from the salt mines in
Hallstatt (2). may represent garments composed of several pieces of fabric
(Fig. 138). Again, there are examples for such pieces in the ar-
chaeological material from Hallstatt531. Later representations,
such as the early La Tène fibula from Dürrnberg (Fig. 223) or
the figuratively decorated scabbard from Hallstatt (Fig. 175 and
222) also give evidence for seams and braids.

Grömer 2005b, 24–25. – Mautendorfer 2005, 47–48; 2007, 266–267.

529

Kromer 1959. – Mautendorfer 2007, 267–268. – Pertlwieser 1987, 64.

530

Mautendorfer 2005, 49–50.

531

238
8.6 Patches and repairs Fig. 139. Patched piece
of fabric from Hallstatt,
An important task in the context of sewing is also the mending Early Iron Age.
of clothes. There is evidence from as early as the Neolithic pe-
riod for patches and darns. In addition to the original seams of
the clothes of the Iceman, which are done with sinew, there are
neatly done repairs with a double z-plied yarn of animal hair
and rather coarse ones with grass and tree-bast532. Repairs can
be found furthermore on the textile finds from Hallstatt. One
piece of textile had a rectangular patch sewn on (Fig. 139); it
was attached by taking the pattern of the original material into
consideration. A Bronze Age find shows a plain woven darn
next to the seam533. Amongst the northern European bog finds

Egg and Goedecker-Ciolek 2009, 62.

532

Mautendorfer 2005, 43, pl. 10.

533

239
 there are some patched garments534. For example, the early medieval tunic
of Bernuthsfeld in Germany has no fewer than 45 irregular shaped patches
of different sizes, making it seem as if the majority of the patches were the
starting material for the garment. That means, recycled material formed the
basis of the garment. The Iron Age cloaks of Damendorf and Dätgen (Ger-
many) have also been repaired with several patches.

Some sewn textiles from prehistoric Hallstatt were obviously in secondary

use. Some of the seams still seem to have originated from the first process-
ing and are most often finished with smooth, same colour stitches. Next to
these, the same textile finds also show coarse and uneven stitches, often
worked with stronger and differently coloured threads. These cases are sec-
ondary seams, and they provide good evidence for recycling and reworking
of textile material, for whatever function.

Sewing technology forms the link between the textile surface and the worn
garment, making it an integral part of textile processing. Investigations of
seams and hems lead to important insights into applied techniques and craft
knowledge; further, they allow researchers to draw conclusions about the
way textile garments looked like and how they were worn on the body.

Schlabow 1976, 72–73, fig. 149 (Bernuthsfeld), fig. 76, (Damendorf), fig. 83 (Dätgen). –
534

Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012, 161 (Dätgen, Damendorf).

240
 C Textile craft
in prehistory

Textile hand craft, which was an important part of the

daily workload for thousands of years, has become
completely irrelevant to modern life. Today, textiles
for clothing or other purposes are produced by the
mechanisms of global market economy in low-wage
countries, and textile craft in Central Europe is only
carried out in the high-priced segment of the arts and
crafts or exercised by individuals purely as a hobby.
 Only in the rarest cases is a larger part of the work process
accomplished by a modern person in the Western World. A
jumper may be knitted from purchased yarns, or perhaps wool
fleece is felted creatively. Only very few people spin, dye, or
weave and have the capability to produce everyday objects.
Typically, clothing and textiles today are bought cheap and
disposed of quickly. This has become possible by the dramatic
loss of value that textiles have experienced. This detachment of
textile from craft work stands in stark contrast to the situation
in earlier times.

In the depths of history, it quickly becomes apparent that textile

production shaped the lives of people in the past. Even today,
proverbs and figures of speech provide a window into the past,
in which textile production was omnipresent. For instance, we
refer to ‘the distaff side of the family’ or a ‘dyed-in-the-wool’ conser-
vative, a drunken man ‘weaves his way down the road’ and ‘shut-
tles back and forth’.535 Let us track back 2000 years.

We are well informed about Roman textile production536,

thanks to written records. Textiles were already produced
en masse, and a specialized craft profession had emerged, in-
cluding fullers, tailors, weavers, etc. Textiles were produced at
home, or in workshops such as dyeing and fulling mills, and
distribution and sale were undertaken by cloth merchants. The
Igel Column537 provides interesting data on the latter. Through
papyri, we even know about apprentice contracts,538 wages and
prices. In an ancient version of a ‘global market economy’, tex-
tiles could be manufactured in Egypt, for instance, and deliv-
ered across the Roman Empire to Judea, Central Anatolia (Cap-
padocia) or even to the province of Britannia for the military.
Clothing, soft furnishing, yarn and prepared raw materials

Kind comment by John Peter Wild, Manchester, Great Britain, Jan. 2014. German examples
535

include e.g. „der Geduldsfaden reißt“, „der Handlungsfaden einer Geschichte wird weiter
gesponnen“ or „man macht blau“.
Cf. Droß-Krüpe 2011. – Gleba and Pásztókai-Szeőke 2013. – Wild 1970.
536

E.g. Bender Jørgensen 1992, 132–133, figs. 160–165.

537

Droß-Krüpe 2011.
538

242
were traded and exchanged into every corner of the Roman
Empire, and even as far as India and Central Asia.539

Valuable written sources such as these are much sparser for

the centuries before the Roman occupation in Central Europe.
The Roman writer Livy (Liv., 21.31.8) indicates that the Gallic
tribe of the Allobroges, residents of eastern France, supplied
the army of Hannibal with warm clothes during the Second
Punic War (218 – 201 BC).540

How was the textile production in Central Europe organized

all those millennia ago, from the Stone Age to the Iron Age?
Were textiles produced at home, or were there craft specialists,
and what do we know about the people who worked in the tex-
tile trade, about the places in which they produced and lived?

1 Levels of production: household,

specialised and mass production

The development of agriculture and animal husbandry at the

beginning of the Neolithic period revolutionized many tech-
nological and social developments. In relation to textile craft,
during the Neolithic the technological and material bases were
created which in principle remained valid until today541. Wool
and flax still play an important role today, even after the inven-
tion of synthetic fibres. The spindle and the mechanics of the
loom were, in all simplicity, already perfectly designed in the
Neolithic, and most spinning and weaving machines still work
according to the same basic principles. In the Neolithic, we have
the first evidence for weaving on the warp-weighted loom.
Since this is large, heavy, and not an easy device to transport,
especially in its mounted state, its use seemed to depend on per-
manent settlements. For the nomadic lifestyle of the Palaeolithic

See Droß-Krüpe 2013.

539

After Timpe 1981, 54.

540

The basic spinning procedure as well as the basic weave types still exist today, even the main
541

sewing techniques.

243
 and Mesolithic, the warp-weighted loom made little sense, and
neither did the cultivated fibre plant flax (Linnum usitatissimum).
Flax is a demanding and high maintenance crop and already
presupposes developed agriculture. In principle, however, the
processing of plant fibres – especially grass and bast – originated
long before the Neolithic542. The nomadic hunters and gatherers
of Central Europe already knew the various technologies of bas-
ketry, braiding, knotting, twining and netting. During the Neo-
lithic and the Bronze Age, the long fibres of flax were worked
into fine fabrics, but methods of working wool with its shorter
fibres developed especially in the course of the Bronze Age. In
the Early Iron Age, extremely fine yarns were spun and further
processed. This change has to be seen in connection with suc-
cesses in sheep breeding543.

In the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age weaving of large-scale

fabrics on the warp-weighted loom included just simple tabby
weave and its variants like repp. In addition to looms for large
textiles, equipment for weaving bands can be found from the
Neolithic period. In contrast to the loom, which was fixed in
place, the weaving of bands is mostly a mobile technique that
can be carried out at different locations if necessary. Most band
weaving techniques are based on the principle of raising and
lowering thread systems similar to the manufacturing princi-
ples on the warp-weighted loom. It is unknown whether rib-
bon weaving first developed and the system was then further
developed for large-scale fabrics or vice versa. Tablet weaving
emerged in Central Europe in the Middle Bronze Age – a tech-
nique that made complex patterns possible and that experienced
its first heyday in the Hallstatt period.

After the invention of weaving in the Neolithic period, differ-

ent methods were used to decorate fabrics. A creative repertoire
of applying and inserting decorative elements was developed.
Sewing on elements and designs with floating weft threads are
techniques that had already been applied in the Late Neolithic
and the Bronze Age. A special fondness for striped and checked
fabrics can be observed in the Iron Age. Even sophisticated

542
Cf. Bender Jørgensen 2013b. – Rast-Eicher 2005. – Soffer et al. 2000.
543
Cf. Rast-Eicher and Bender Jørgensen 2013. – Ryder 1982; 1992.

244
t­ echniques such as spin patterns were very popular with cre- Fig. 140. General devel-
ative Hallstatt Period craftspeople. In Central Europe, these pat- opment of weaving and
terning techniques have their roots in the Bronze Age, as does decoration techniques
from the Bronze to the
both dyeing and twill. First experiments to expand the loom Iron Ages in Central
with ­multiple shafts for the manufacture of twill are known Europe.
from Middle Bronze Age finds in the salt mines of Hallstatt.
Complicated weaves on multi-shaft looms were particularly
popular in the Hallstatt period to produce high quality fabrics
with ever finer yarns. At the end of the Iron Age, tabby became
popular again, woven on simple, single-shaft looms. Compared
to the Hallstatt period the number of loom weights in the settle-
ments decreases, probably due to the introduction of a new type
of loom in Central Europe – the two-beam loom.

245
 Noticeable improvements in preparing the raw material and
in spinning itself – especially in the yarn qualities achieved –
went hand in hand with the refinement of weaving techniques
from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. In the Bronze Age, wool
fleece was taken from primitive sheep and usually processed
complete with kemp and woolly hair. Yarns made of well pre-
pared wool fleece can be observed in the Hallstatt period. The
fine, well-sorted and combed fibres lie parallel like a combed
top (Kammzug) and thus give the yarn a certain shine. Only
with thread material of such fine quality could spin- or shadow
patterns be produced in the Hallstatt period.

This brief overview of prehistoric textile craft (Fig. 140) shows

that we need to move away from a primitivist perspective. Was
it only the lonely textile worker in her dark cabin who created
all these products, or can we paint a different picture of the
craftspeople involved in textile production? How was textile
craft organized?

Following a general theoretical model by Eva Andersson-Strand

from the Centre for Textile Research in Copenhagen, the level
of textile production (Fig. 141)544 can be seen as developing from
household production in its simplest form over various stages
of specialization until mass production began. Household pro-
duction, however, never lost its importance. The following con-
siders, whether this theory can also be applied to the prehis-
tory of Central Europe. For this purpose, the definition of An-
dersson-Strand will be cited in the introduction of each s­ ection,
followed by a discussion of the level of development consid-
ered possible for the prehistory of the study area.

In the absence of written sources, only a synopsis of the various

archaeological sources, the finds from settlements and graves
in Central Europe as well as our knowledge about the social or-
ganization at the time, can provide information on this subject.
The textiles themselves provide important information on the
state of development of textile craft.

For definitions of household production, household industry, attached specialist production

544

and workshop production for trade, see Andersson 2003a, fig. 1.

246
1.1 Household production Fig. 141. Characteristics
of household produc-
As defined by Eva Andersson-Strand household production is tion, household indus-
try, specialization and
characterized by the fact that goods are primarily produced for mass production from
domestic requirements (Fig. 141). The demand for raw materials Eva Andersson-Strand.
is ensured by home production or trade with near neighbours.
Household production also assumes that craft knowledge and
skills are widespread within the community. Textile craft was
probably organized as household production in the rural vil-
lage communities of Stone and Bronze Age Central Europe545.
Textile tools appear on a regular basis in households of the Lin-
ear Pottery Culture by c. 5000 BC. Bronze Age settlements in
Switzerland were examined in detail and the location of tex-
tile tools such as spindle whorls, loom weights or needles was
mapped. In the Late Bronze Age villages of Greifensee-Böschen,
Eschenz-Insel Werd and Zug-Sumpf, several houses with loom
weights were detected. Researchers interpret these findings to
mean that this kind of work took place in a domestic setting and
there are no signs yet of a significant specialization in weaving546.

545
Cf. Médard 2012, 370.
546
After Rast-Eicher and Reinhard 1998, 286.

247
 The rather simple textiles of the Stone and Bronze Age, many of
which were made ​​in tabby weave, suggest that these basic tech-
niques have been commonly mastered and practiced. Like other
things in daily demand – food sourcing, making and repairing
tools etc. – textiles were probably mostly made ​​by those per-
sons or households who needed the products. The farmhouses
and village communities were essentially self-sufficient in those
early periods. Economic models could be developed based on
outstanding research on Swiss lake dwellings from the Stone
and Bronze Age, which show how the annual work of farmers
might have looked and how self-sufficiency worked547.

Household production in the sense defined above was, of course,

widely distributed throughout prehistory, the Middle Ages and
the modern era, especially in rural areas, in addition to other
forms of production.

1.2 Household industry

Household industry is a further stage of production ­(Fig.

141). According to Andersson-Strand, household industry
is still organized at the level of a household, but a surplus is
produced that goes beyond mere subsistence. The additional
goods emerging from household industry can then be used for
exchange and trade. Craft production is not conducted on a
full-time basis, but production is slotted in when time can be
spared. How can this model be applied to craft production in
prehistory? Economic and social data emerging from certain
prehistoric societies are important: from the Bronze Age in
Central Europe at the latest, trade and exchange with a range
of different goods is attested. There are various gradations of
trade and exchange, from barter trade within the neighbour-
hood to long-distance trade548. Especially in terms of bronze
and its components copper and tin, as well as in terms of the
metal products produced from it, ‘real’ trade is conceivable,
that is the exchange of standardized goods, which can be en-
sured by casting bronze products. The Early Bronze Age ring

See Schibler et al. 1997.

547

548
See theories and models in Lang and Salač 2002.

248
and rib ingots (Fig. 142) such as the ones from Perschling in
Lower Austria549 are frequently found in large numbers – up to
several hundred items in a single find. These appear in iden-
tical forms all over Central Europe and a kind of weight stan-
dardization could even be detected. From an economic point of
view is therefore possible to speak of a means of payment be-
fore money. Traders, who moved from village to village with
their goods, were probably a common sight from the Early
Bronze Age onwards. Archaeologists are even able to recon-
struct trade routes.

Societies became more and more stratified during the Bronze

Age, although the roots of this social development can be
traced back to the Copper Age. From the Early Bronze Age on-
wards, craftspeople, farmers and warriors can be clearly differ- Fig. 142. Hoard of ring
entiated in Central Europe550, since specific objects were found ingots from the Early
in their graves. Traders, for example, can be indirectly inferred Bronze Age settlement
of Perschling, Austria.
through trade goods, such as Baltic amber. According to these The approximately 250
economic and socio-political considerations, it is quite conceiv- bronze ring ingots weigh
able that Bronze Age textiles produced in household indus- 51 kg altogether.

549
Krenn-Leeb 2006, fig. 6–7.
550
For the social structure of the Bronze Age and the economic factor bronze, see Kristiansen
and Larsson 2005. – Urban 2000, 140–142. – Vandkilde 2007.

249
 try were traded via a bartering system551. The clearest evidence
for this assumption comes from the site Hallstatt in Austria’s
Salzkammergut region. Salt mining is attested in Hallstatt552
from the 15th century BC, the Middle Bronze Age, at the latest.
It is the oldest salt mine in Europe, and operates to this day.
The intensive research on mining (see pages 304 – 307) brought
clear evidence that the entire mining process was highly orga-
nized, and that a strict division of labour prevailed. For exam-
ple, there were miners specialized in breaking salt and others
for transporting it out of the mines. The current state of re-
search suggests that at the salt mining centre of Hallstatt, large
parts of the population were directly involved in the mining
operation and thus their working capacity for the manufacture
of other everyday products was probably minimal during the
Bronze and Iron Ages. In addition, space for arable land is lim-
ited by the topographic position of the site in an alpine area at
a lake surrounded by steep slopes (Fig. 143).

It is therefore to be expected that food and everyday goods that

were manufactured in other contemporary settlements, as well
as some of the mining equipment, was traded in and brought
to Hallstatt from the surrounding areas in exchange for salt.
For the time period between the 15th and 12th century BC, there
is evidence that wooden handles of picks used in the Hallstatt
salt mine Christian-von-Tuschwerk came from outside the
valley or region553. Wood analysis demonstrates that the com-
monly used knee-wood handles (Knieholzschäftungen) were
made of oak wood derived from the northern Alpine foreland
(with a southern border along the north shores of Traunsee
and Attersee lakes), a distance of at least 40 km to Hallstatt.

It is also quite conceivable that many of the excellently pre-

served textiles found in the salt mines were not produced in
Hallstatt itself, but were imported instead. The manufacturing
sites may have been located in the Upper Austrian Alpine foot-

Intensive textile industry including trade is known in the Mediterranean region at the same
551

time, for instance the palace economy at Knossos, Greece. Cf. Harris 2012. – Killen 2007. –
Militello 2007.
552
For a comprehensive discussion, see Kern et al. 2009a. – Kowarik and Reschreiter 2011.
553
Grabner et al. 2007.

250
hills. Plenty of resource-rich areas with pastures for sheep or Fig. 143. Hallstatt in
arable land for growing flax and dye plants are located there. Austria, topographic
In the future, isotope analysis of wool554 may substantiate evi- position of the salt
mines and the
dence for the circulation of textiles and the raw materials used cemetery.
in their making. Household industry is the most likely produc-
tion level, in particular for the Bronze Age.

554
For finds from Denmark and methods of analysing, cf. Frei et al. 2009. – von Holstein 2013. –
Frei 2013.

251
 1.3 Attached specialist production

The next level of production is specialization, of which there are

different forms. Specialization may include individuals, groups
of people, villages or regions. These may provide special prod-
ucts based on particular raw materials, local conditions or man-
ual skills. Specialization can be carried out part-time or on full-
time basis, throughout the year or seasonally555.

Eva Andersson-Strand defines specialist production for textiles

as follows (Fig. 141): The work of the specialist is done on a full-
time basis, and technical skills and knowledge are extended in
order to create higher quality products. The persons involved
in specialist production are often dependent on a patron, who
feeds and supplies them. Goods produced in this way can now
also serve as precious gifts or for exchange. A further feature of
this production level is the complete control and authority over
the craftsmen the patron exercises, including their expertise and
the training of further specialists working for him.

In the Mediterranean area, the available written sources attest

to such specialization from quite early on. Administrative re-
cords of the Mycenaean kingdoms of Crete and the Greek main-
land (15th to 12th centuries BC), written in Linear B script on clay
tablets556, yield information on two broad categories of textiles.
First are fine cloths produced in specialist weaving workshops,
made with high levels of labour division within the workforce.
Second are domestically produced textiles, acquired by the pal-
aces through taxation. Similar systems were also in use in ar-
chaic Greece, where within the household (oikos), the residence
of an aristocrat, high status women and their female servants
(amphipoloi) were responsible for weaving557. Textile production
of a household played an important representative role for aris-
tocrats, but clothing was also a valuable asset for gift-giving and

For theoretical considerations on the different forms of specialization, see Costin 1991, 4–43.
555

E.g. from Pylos: pe-ki-ti-ra ‘combers of wool’; ri-ne-ja ‘linen workers’; a-ke-ti-ri-ja ‘decorators of
556

cloth’; a-pu-ko-wo-ko ‘head band makers’; ra-pi-ti-ra ‘sewing woman’; Del Freo et al. 2010. –
Killen 1985; 2007. – Militello 2007. – Rougemont 2007, 48.
557
For considerations on the oikos economy in archaic Greece and the importance of textiles,
see Barber 1991, 283–298, Wagner-Hasel 2000, 105–107 (textiles as mementos and duties),
141–148 (weaving duty).

252
votive offerings to the gods. High levels of specialization in the
area of the Villanovan and Etruscan civilizations can be inferred
from various finds and features. These include the textiles of
Verucchio558, the special grave goods such as spindles and dis-
taffs made from precious materials such as bronze, silver, amber
and glass, as well as depictions of textile work, exemplified by
the tintinnabulum (bronze sheet rattle) from Bologna (Fig. 147) or
the wooden throne from Verucchio. These finds substantiate the
idea that women with high social status were practicing textile
craft (and had the permission to do so)559. Such developments
occurred under the patronage of elites and were motivated by
the need to produce status markers and prestige goods like tex-
tiles. The display of luxury goods as seen in the archaeological
record is closely mirrored in the behaviour of warrior aristoc-
racies in the Homeric poems, reflecting the ideological system
underlying the behaviour, beliefs and values of Orientalizing
Medi­terranean elites. In Italy between the 10th and the 7th cen-
tury BC, part of the textile production shifted from making sub-
sistence products to the manufacture of non-essential, luxury
and surplus goods.

What was the situation in Central Europe? Is it possible to

assume a higher production level than household production
or household industry in pre-Roman times? Consulting the
archaeological material, finds and findings of the Early Iron
Age in Central Europe appear more than striking560. In contrast
to the Bronze Age, elaborately produced fabrics are now pre-
ferred over simpler weaves. These are high-quality fabrics, made
with large expenditure of time and employing special skills.
Sometimes they are very complicated pieces whose production
exceeded the abilities of the average craftsperson and required
a specialist. Examples include the textiles in the princely grave
of Hochdorf or those from the Early Iron Age parts of the
Hallstatt salt mines561. One can find an incredible creativity,
reflected by the use of different patterns, weaves (see chapter

Cf. von Eles 2002, 192–234. – Stauffer 2012.

558

Cf. Gleba 2007; 2008a, 190–194; 2013, 2–3, 9–11.

559

Cf. papers in Gleba and Mannering 2012. – Grömer 2012. – Smolenice-Molpír: Belanová-
560

Štolcová 2012, 312.

Hochdorf: Banck-Burgess 1999, 2012a. – Hallstatt: Grömer 2013, 81–87.
561

253
 B) and colours. We know complicated tablet-weaves, complex
weave types such as diamond twill, dyeing with imported dye-
stuffs such as insect dyes. The fineness achieved in the yarns and
fabric density evidence an enormous amount of work. This pic-
ture of Hallstatt textiles leads one to think of a specialized form
of production, because the production of such pieces requires
persons who had the time, skills and know how to create these
representative products. The precious textiles must have been
valued and appreciated within the community, but in addition,
resources to produce them must have existed (especially a sur-
plus of work time, but also other expenses for imported dyes,
etc.). However, this can only be seen in the context of a complex
social development that allowed or encouraged this more elab-
orate work on the production of textiles.

For the Central European prehistory, the following scenario

is possible: the Early Iron Age was marked by great social
changes562, caused, in part, by the availability of a new mate-
rial – iron. Not only were the various craft technologies affected
by the changes, but the entire social fabric of the time. The soci-
ety was hierarchically structured even more than before. Those
at the top of the hierarchy can be traced in ‘princely tombs’ and
represented themselves by an extravagant lifestyle. This is likely
to have favoured the splendour of the textile art of the Hallstatt
Culture, which has to be interpreted in the context of the con-
temporary culture of representation. Again, the precious textiles
from the princely grave of Hochdorf can be quoted as an exam-
ple. Perhaps status definition and the visualization of social sta-
tus was achieved through textiles and clothing. Contemporary
archaic Greek epics attest that the visual potency of a person
‘charis’ is also tied to their clothing563.

It is therefore quite possible that in the Central European Hall-

statt period we see for the first time the products of specialists
in the textile crafts, even if this is supported only by the textiles
themselves, and not by written sources. The patrons mentioned
in the definition of specialization given by Andersson-Strand,
for which such quality products were made, could have been

Kristiansen 1991, 19–20. – Urban 2000, 227–229. – Vandkilde 2007.

562

Wagner-Hasel 2000, 152–163; 2006.

563

254
members of the Hallstatt period nobility. Therefore, we can sug-
gest a specialized textile production, especially for the Early
Iron Age elite, and possibly for the wealthy as well564. To what
extent an exchange of products and labour took place within the
community, or whether a supra-regional resource exchange ex-
isted, is not clearly ascertainable for the textile sector. Nor do we
know whether the relevant specialists were completely exempt
from every-day activities and other duties within the commu-
nity. However, the complex textile products are a clear indica-
tion that a non-negligible expenditure of working time, highly
specialized knowledge and expertise was invested in their pro-
duction in the Hallstatt Culture.

It is also possible that some of those products were made in the

surrounding countryside, while others had to be imported over
long distances (which may be verified by the use of exotic raw
materials such as dyestuffs or exotic weaving or patterning tech-
niques and designs). Textiles circulated not only through trade
but were also an important part of the gift exchange system and
formed an essential part of the dowry565. Gift exchange was prac-
ticed among the elite members of communities and involved
luxury items, including textiles, garments and jewellery, as well
as implements that held symbolic values, such as spindles and
distaffs. Unfortunately, it is not possible to estimate the quantity
of production that was the work of specialists and the quantity
that was carried out in household production. Both modes of
production developed alongside each other. There is little doubt
that textile manufacture was practiced at all levels of society and
was one of the most labour-intensive occupations.

564
See also Rast-Eicher 2008, 190.
565
For exchange, textile trade and gift giving see Gleba 2013, 12–14. – Mauss 1954. – Wagner-
Hasel 2006.

255
 1.4 Workshop production and large-scale
industry for trade
The last stage of specialization conceivable for prehistory is work-
shop production for trade and large-scale industry for trade. Ac-
cording to Andersson-Strand (Fig. 141), the modes of workshop
production turn out standardized, simple and mass-produced
goods quickly and directly for the market. This is based on a
developed economy with solid customer circles. The goal is a
large output of goods produced with the cost per unit reduced
to a minimum by production efficiency. For the next step in tex-
tile production, large-scale industry for trade, production takes
place on a full-time basis and exclusively for sale. It requires
capital investment and extensive product distribution.

Certainly, the latter production form is attested in the Roman

period566. Earlier evidence for workshop production is known
from the Mediterranean world. The textile production in the
Mycenaean Palaces of the 14th and 13th centuries BC seems to
have been state-controlled. In the Linear B tablets of Crete,
flocks of hundreds of ewes, rams and wethers are mentioned,
with a calculated amount of 100,000 animals under palatial con-
trol. This means a total of about 10,300 units of wool per year, i.e.
52,000 kg, processed by thousands of workers, and a production
of about 5,000 – 7,000 pieces of cloth, 10 kg each.567

Is there evidence for workshop production in prehistoric Cen-

tral Europe? In Austria, we know of more than 600 textiles from
the La Tène period salt mines at Dürrnberg near Hallein568, plus
other finds from graves at various sites569. The research on salt
mine textiles from Dürrnberg revealed that the fabrics differ
greatly from those of Early Iron Age Hallstatt.

The Dürrnberg textiles no longer show that exuberant creativity

of fabric qualities, weave types and patterns that characterize

Cf. Bender Jørgensen 1992, 130–133. – Wild 2003.

566

See Killen 1985, 108.

567

Von Kurzynski 1996 and catalogue in Stöllner 2002. – See von Kurzynski 1996, 35–36, for
568

notes on standardization.
Grömer 2012.
569

256
the textiles from Hallstatt. Simpler, clearer forms now prevail:
patterns are mostly stripes (vertical warp stripes), fabric struc-
tures include tabby weaves, basket weaves and, less frequently,
simple variants of twill570. Even with the thread diameters and
weave densities, a certain standardization can be noted. These
are still high quality products, but compared with the textiles
of the Hallstatt period they can be produced faster and more
easily. A loom for weaving tabby is set up more quickly than
one for weaving twill, and weaving tabby is faster, as the spe-
cific sequence of lifting and lowering the heddle rods does not
have to be considered. The same is true for the patterns: vertical
stripes arise during weaving without further action when the
warp yarns are defined and set accordingly. When producing
checked patterns, the weft yarns have to be counted and groups
alternated. The differences in the textiles are remarkable, as the
finds from Hallstatt and Dürrnberg originate from the same re-
gion (they are 55 km apart from each other as the crow flies), and
the settlements and salt mines from Dürrnberg are just slightly
younger than those of Hallstatt and also partly overlap in terms
of chronology. In addition, at both localities, the same preserva-
tion conditions are present in the refuse layers of the salt mining
operation. Wealthy communities who were heavily involved in
the European trade and maintained cultural contacts in all geo-
graphic directions inhabited both sites.

It is apparent from the Dürrnberg textiles that an efficient pro-

duction with a maximum output was desired, although a few
specially decorated pieces are amongst the finds, too. The special
structure of the Dürrnberg production and trade centre571 has
probably favoured this mode of production. The Dürrnberg en-
compassed, apart from a well-organized mining industry, sepa-
rate workshops for various products (e.g. wood and bronze ob-
jects, glass and iron goods, jet arm rings etc.) in the settlements.
An extensive net of economic connections enabled the distribu-
tion of the goods produced. If one compares all of the recorded
textiles of the Late Iron Age from Austria, Moravia and Slova-
kia572 to the research results from Dürrnberg, the result is a uni-

570
Stöllner 2005, fig. 6.
571
Brand 1995. – Stöllner et al. 2003, 123–126, 152–155.
572
Belanová 2005; 2007; 2012. – Grömer 2012.

257
 form impression, despite different contexts and different uses
of individual pieces. This development towards standardized
mass-produced goods with only a few different types of weaves
(usually simple tabby weave, standardized weave densities and
thread sizes) is also observed in the La Tène grave finds of the
area. A similar picture emerges from the textiles found in Swit-
zerland dating to the middle La Tène period573.

Furthermore, standardization and functionalization are both

apparent from the work equipment. From the La Tène period
onwards, more and more spindle whorls were made from bro-
ken pieces of pottery that were rounded and pierced (Fig. 39).
The individual, creative forming and ornamentation of a whorl
is no longer important. Instead, the purely functional aspect of
the spindle is emphasized, and this is a further indication of
mass production. Standardization of tools indicates that they
were produced on a larger scale than before (and less carefully).
This corresponds to the intensification of textile making activi-
ties and a demand for the appropriate equipment. In addition
to the standardization of the old implements, certain new tools
make their appearance during the La Tène period, indicating
new techniques. Iron shears are one example, revolutionizing
the way raw material was collected, maybe hand in hand with
the development of sheep breeds with non-shedding fleece574.

Similar dynamics are noticeable in other material groups or crafts

of the La Tène period. Pottery, for example, which like the tex-
tile industry is usually considered a conservative craft, was also
produced within the household from the Stone Age onwards.
Archaeological ceramic analysis targets various elements such
as the shape of the vessels, the mode of decoration and the pro-
duction technique. These analyses form the common ‘tool-kit’
for archaeologists, as ceramics are, at least numerically, the most
significant finds in Central European prehistory. Pottery pro-
duction in the Hallstatt period in Austria and its neighbouring
countries can be described as labour-intensive individual pro-
duction, which, in comparison to Bronze Age pottery produc-
tion, looks slightly cluttered and ‘baroque’ in both shape and or-

Rast-Eicher 2008; 2012.

573

Cf. Gleba 2013, 6. – Ryder 1992, 137.

574

258
namentation, but also of high quality575. The potter’s wheel was Fig. 144. Ceramics of
introduced from the middle of the La Tène period,576 and the the Early Iron Age
mode of production shifted from household to mass produc- (1, hand-made) and the
Late Iron Age (2, wheel-
tion. This had notable repercussions on pottery forms and dec- thrown).
oration (Fig. 144). Vessel forms that could be quickly and easily
fabricated using the potter’s wheel were now preferred. Decora-
tion is limited to grooves, lines and ridges that were worked into
the surface whilst turning the wheel. The vessels were thus stan-
dardized and functional, and especially in the case of fine goods,
of excellent quality. A similar development can also be observed
for the ancient art of wood craft, as woodturning comes up in
the La Tène period.

Is this a manifestation typical of the Late Iron Age period? Had

society developed so far, have crafts become so specialized, that
even traditional household techniques like pottery and textile
manufacture had changed to mass production?577 The full tran-
sition to mass production would mean the separation into dif-
ferent professions with full-time employment in the various sec-
tors, specialized workshops, etc. The archaeological sources can
provide no certainty, but it is conceivable that in the La Tène

For a short introduction to the pottery of the Hallstatt period, see Nebelsick et al. 1997,
575

65 – 70. For representative pottery, see 116–122. – Urban 2000, e.g. 281, fig. on 271.
Cf. Neugebauer 1992, 94–98.
576

See also the reflections in Rast-Eicher 2008, 188– 189. – For specialization and mass
577

production in pre-Roman Italy, see Gleba 2007, 75.

259
 period in Central Europe the first manifestations of workshop
production for trade emerged besides the household industry.
The Romans expanded this mode of production towards a large-
scale industry for trade as they expanded their Empire around
the turn to the Common Era578.

The Roman trading outpost at Magdalensberg in Austria (c. 50

BC to 50 AD)579 is located at the interface of the Central Euro-
pean Iron Age and the Roman advance towards the Danube in
what later became the province of Noricum. Here, merchandise
was sold in wholesale quantities from all over the Mediterra-
nean. In addition, workshops organized by the merchants′ staff,
or at least in close cooperation with the workshop owners, were
occupied with the manufacturing of different goods. The textile
tools and lead tags (tesserae plumbeae) found at the site give a
good glimpse of the textile workshop production and trade in
this period. There is a very extensive collection of textile imple-
ments from the site, which represents virtually every aspect of
manufacture. The large level of the production can also be seen
by the total amount of tools, e.g. 1,070 spinning implements (in-
cluding spindle whorls, hooks, distaffs and complete spindles),
about 200 loom weights and 373 needles. As sewing or mending
was one of the main activities in the Magdalensberg textile busi-
ness, shears were also needed for tailoring; the presence of tai-
lors is confirmed by graffiti on the walls of a warehouse and on
lead tags (e.g. the term sutor on graffiti with reference to cloaks).
As suggested by Kordula Gostenčnik the number of textile tools
implies that many of the inhabitants on the Magdalensberg must
have earned their living working in the textile business.

In the Roman Empire, mass production can be found in all the

provinces, with special products of each region for the Roman
market. For the province of Noricum, today in Austria, differ-
ent wool fabrics and high quality iron products are mentioned
in written documents. According to Diocletian’s Edict on Max-
imum Prices580, dating to AD 301, various wool garments were
exported from Noricum; specified are birrus Noricus den. decem

Cf. Gostenčnik 2012. – Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012, 169–170. – Wild 1970.
578

Cf. Gostenčnik 2013, 62–66, fig. 4.2–4.5.

579

Lauffer 1971.
580

260
milibus; banata Norica duplex den. viginti milibus; fedox Noricus op-
timus den. decem milibus; singilio Noricus den. mille quingentis (Ed.
Diocl. 19, 47.55.59; 33,24). In listing the enigmatic banata and fe-
dox, the Edict echoes old regional traditions of clothing.

For the Iron Age of course we do not know, what percentage of

the required textiles were made by specialists or in mass pro-
duction. Here it can only be said that in addition to the house-
hold industry attested in prehistory, higher levels of produc-
tion are also conceivable.

To sum up, textile crafts were focused on the domestic sphere

in the Neolithic and Bronze Age. As items of consumption,
textiles ranged from the necessary to the luxurious. The pro-
duction of staple goods was localized in household production
from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. An interesting aspect is the
production of luxury items for status display and gift exchange
(maybe long-distance) between elites581. This led to the devel-
opment of highly specialized and skilled craftsmanship and an
exchange network, which included resources and object circu-
lation (e.g. special dyestuffs such as insect dyes, tablet woven
items, fine qualities and patterned items). Hallstatt period tex-
tiles such as examples from Hallstatt or Hochdorf have to be
seen as the work of specialists. In the Late Iron Age, the de-
mand for goods by a growing population in large centralized
settlements led to a development of more organized modes of
production, such as workshop production, and trade in these
necessary products582.

581
Wagner-Hasel 2000 and 2006.
582
Cf. Gleba 2013, 1.

261
 2 The sociology of textile
crafts
After general considerations on craft organization, more socio-
logical questions emerge. Who were the people that produced
the textiles, what was their gender, their age, and what relation-
ships did they have with each other? It is also interesting to ask
for whom certain products were made: who owned the elabo-
rate and expensive textiles, and who was allowed to use them?
To use modern terminology, not only the producers, but also the
consumers of textiles are a group of people that require closer
examination. Again, the absence of written sources allows only
a vague picture to emerge. The available archaeological sources
must be checked with special care as to their consistency. In the
following, we restrict our investigations to the Iron Age of Cen-
tral Europe, as we have here the best sources that can be evalu-
ated; the focus is back on the territory of today’s Austria.

In prehistoric times, the dead were equipped with the things

that they needed for a life in the hereafter. Graves and cemeter-
ies are therefore a significant source for addressing a range of
different research questions. The social status of a person within
a community can be inferred from grave goods and jewellery.
Jewellery and metal components of clothing also give infor-
mation about what the person wore at the funeral (see pages
324 – 326); here we are confronted by persons as consumers and
users of textile products.

Concerning the textile crafts, there are other interesting mes-

sages in the graves. Whether specific devices were added only
to certain groups of people in terms of age and gender can be
investigated. Tools for the textile sector are spindle whorls,
needles, loom weights and spools, as well as shears and knives.
In different periods from the late Bronze Age to the La Tène pe-
riod and in different regions of Central Europe, it seems that
there were certain rules as to which and how many tools were
given to the dead as grave goods. Particularly in the eastern
Hallstatt area, but also in the inner Alpine area, spindle whorls
are typically found in women’s graves. But what do these tools

262
 Fig. 145. Spindle whorl
with Gallo-Roman
inscription from Autun
in France , 1st century BC.

in the grave mean583? Does a spindle whorl in a grave indicate

that the buried person exercised this craft, and others didn't?
Alternatively, are spindle whorls perhaps the symbols of a spe-
cific status, a social role or a symbol of womanhood in general?

Spindles may be so much a symbol of the feminine that they had

acquired an erotic connotation. Reference to Late Iron Age finds
from France can be made with a wink. Whatever prompted the
people, they have left spindle whorls with distinct Gallic and
Gallo-Roman inscriptions584. A taste of the sayings: moni gnatha
gabi buđđutton imon – ‘come on, girl, take my kiss’ on a spindle
whorl from Saint-Révérien or geneta vis cara? – ‘dear girl, do you
want?’. The spindle from Autun also calls for nata vimpi curmi da
– ‘pretty girl, give [me] beer’ (Fig. 145). Did the spindle serve as
a gift of love? In Roman times, the spindle was presented at the
wedding as a symbol of the duties of a woman585. Spindles also
were associated with sexuality and conception from Late Medie-
val times onwards586. Even in Central European folklore, similar
thoughts can be found, for instance when in the Alpine region
wooden distaffs were decorated with love symbols or carved

583
Cf. comments in Gleba 2008a, 171–174. – Lipkin 2013.
584
After Birkhan 1997, 1091–1092. – Lambert 2002, 323. See also http://www.
asnc.cam.ac.uk/spokenword/g_autun_sens.php (last accessed 15th Jan.
2015).
585
Cf. Barber 1991, 283–298; 1994. – Cottica 2007. – Larsson Lovén 2007. –
Stewart 2003.
586
Stewart 2003.

263
 with the initials of lovers, a tradition that continued into the late
19th century587.

However, this humorous digression into the erotic symbolism

of a craft tool should not blind us to other aspects. Does a tool
in the grave indicate a high or low status in society? Perhaps the
devices in the graves do not reflect the everyday reality of a per-
son’s workload, but rather a religious and symbolic meaning.
This is partly considered for the pictorial representations of tex-
tile work. For the following considerations, it is now assumed
that the tools in the graves have something to do with craft ac-
tivities of the deceased.

Iron Age art588 offers many more or less detailed illustrations of

people and their clothes, especially on works of situla art and as
decorations on pottery, on statues and figurines as well as hu-
man-shaped brooches (for details see pages 395 – 398, 409 – 412).
Scenic representations found on the pottery of the eastern Hall-
statt area and situla art give insights into stories that take us to the
imagination of Iron Age people (or only the upper class?). There
are scenes of music and dancing, processions, parades, drinking
scenes, wagon rides, hunts – as well as images of textile work.
The familiar scenes can be found on a bronze rattle plate from
Bologna, Italy, the back of the wooden throne from Verucchio,
Italy, and on a conical shaped vessel from Sopron, Hungary. In-
terestingly, no other crafts are represented by the contemporary
artists of Central Europe. There are no images of bronze casting,
woodturning, carving bone or making pottery – crafts, which
similar to the production of textiles, constituted significant work
in the everyday life of Iron Age people.

The next question is therefore who is actually represented in the

textile scenes. Were they (female) craft specialists or just ‘house-
wives’ in their daily duty? As far as gender is identifiable, only
women are shown engaged in textile work. Elizabeth Barber
and Alexandrine Eibner589 have dealt with the symbolic and

587
Cf. Grieshofer 2004, 125–129 with examples from Switzerland, eastern France, Austria and
Italy, also from Romania and the territories of the former Yugoslavia.
588
Huth 2003. – Lucke and Frey 1962. – Reichenberger 2000. – Turk 2005.
589
Barber 1991, e.g. 358–359, 372–373. – Eibner 2000/2001.

264
r­ itual importance of the textile craft. They analysed Iron Age
figures from Central Europe and related them to grave finds
from the same area. To interpret them, they also considered and
compared written and pictorial sources from ancient Greece. In
antiquity, textile work was one of the noblest and most import-
ant responsibilities of women, as also described in the Homeric
epics (Homer, Il. 6.490–493)590. The symbolism that inhabits a
spindle in ancient Greece and Rome not only connects the item
to the status of the mistress of a house (the spindle is also the
symbol of the married woman), but also marks it as an attribute
of female deities. Textile crafts had their own place in mythol-
ogy591. For our research questions, it is especially important that
detailed scenes of various textile processes are recognizable in
the images: spinning, sectional warping, weaving.

Written sources, reports by ancient authors592 on late Iron Age

communities of Central and Northern Europe, offer almost
no starting points for our questions. Technical descriptions of
crafts in general and textile production in particular were not
an issue that would have excited ancient authors or interested
their readership. Even today, different things of everyday life
are mentioned in general reports, newspapers and magazines,
but not the exact description of each step of production, which
is assumed to be known. Ancient historians rather described
what appeared unusual to the authors and their readers, and
a person with spindle or a loom was certainly not unusual, as
they were present everywhere. Products that were important
for business did, however, received some attention – coats in
the textile sector, for instance.

2.1 Consumers – people using textiles

For the most part, for our particular questions, archaeological

sources only allow us insight into the more affluent part of the
Iron Age population in Central Europe. In temperate Europe,

590
Cf. Barber 1991; 1994. – Wagner-Hasel 2000.
591
Cottica 2007, 221–225. – Larsson Lovén 2007.
592
For reports of ancient historians on crafts of the Iron Age, see Timpe 1981. For textile
production and dyeing 54–55.

265
 textiles are only preserved in graves when sufficient metal items
(jewellery, large bronze objects) are present, onto which they
can corrode (see pages 23 – 24). In ‘poor’ graves without metal
grave goods, usually no fabrics have been preserved. Textile
preservation is therefore restricted to the graves of the wealthy
middle class and the rich. Particularly splendid and elaborately
crafted fabrics are preserved in the metal-rich princely graves
such as Hohmichele or Hochdorf, Germany593. We are thus well
informed about the exquisite textiles of the upper class. La Tène
period textiles from graves in Switzerland often have finer qual-
ities of cloth associated with precious objects. In these cases, the
textile quality expressed through thread count seems to be a
marker of the social status of the deceased594.

Images of textile products also occur on objects in Iron Age art;

they show garments in particular and how they were worn.
They are – if you will – a picture from a consumer’s perspec-
tive. Situla art in particular595 provides richly decorated rep-
resentations of men, women and – rarely – children in their
(best?) costumes: men with tunics, long coats and various hats,
swallowtail doublets and trousers, women with long dresses
and veils. Again it must be remembered that it is primarily the
upper class that is shown, assuming that these are not purely
symbolic-mythological scenes. There are certainly no pictures
of everyday life of the general population (see pages 329 – 332).
The very detailed account of the chequered fabric patterns, the
belts, bands and ribbons, with which the dress was decorated,
are particularly striking on the works of situla art. This in turn
can be set in context with the exquisite textiles from the Iron
Age part of the salt mines in Hallstatt596 – they actually appear
to be very realistic.

The high quality, elaborately patterned textiles from the salt

mines in Hallstatt thereby raise the question whether these re-
flect the clothing of the general population of the rich ­mining

Hochdorf: Banck-Burgess 1999, 2012a and b. – Hohmichele: Hundt 1962.

593

See Rast-Eicher 2012, 389.

594

Frey 2005. – Lucke and Frey 1962. – Turk 2005.

595

Grömer et al. 2013, with reference to other researchers such as Hans-Jürgen Hundt and
596

Katharina von Kurzynski.

266
community of Hallstatt. The fabrics were brought into the
mines as rags, where they served various functions after their
first use as garments (chapter D), e.g. as binding material. Re-
cent studies on the skeletal remains of the Hallstatt cemetery597
in the high valley suggests that a large part of the local popula-
tion was active in the salt mining industry. In comparison with
other contemporary burials, the cemetery of Hallstatt is charac-
terized above all by its wealth. It is not surprising that the tex-
tiles found in Hallstatt sometimes are very exquisite. Can the
findings of fine and patterned textiles from the Iron Age parts
of the Hallstatt salt mine be interpreted to the effect that they
were available to a broader (and in comparison to other Hall-
statt communities generally more affluent) population?

Unfortunately, for the most part our sources are silent regarding
other settlements. It is only noticeable that the wealthy graves
with metals also contain the finest fabrics in the whole area of
the Hallstatt Culture. Of the patterns, only the spin direction
patterns are preserved due to the lack of recognizable colours
in metal corrosion preservation. As consumers of the fine and
intricate textiles of the Hallstatt period in Central Europe, only
the wealthier strata of the population and the elite have so far
been identified. The textiles that were used by the poor, how-
ever, are difficult to grasp.

The Villanovan textiles from graves at Verucchio, Italy, are, as

Annemarie Stauffer598 mentions, a testimony to sophisticated
weaving methods and patterning techniques. Complex tablet
woven borders, spin patterns, sewn on amber buttons and exqui-
sitely shaped garments of high quality cloth show a high degree
of skill in making garments. Moreover, dyestuff analyses give a
clear idea of colours used and preferred by the contemporary ar-
istocracy. The various garments from the princely tombs reflect
social importance as well as individual wealth; they are symbols
of status and identity.

597
Skeletal remains: Doris Pany in Kern 2009a, 136–141. – Grave goods: Kern et al. 2009. –
Kromer 1959.
598
Stauffer 2012, 10–11.

267
 Fig. 146. Sopron- 2.2 Producers – people involved in textile
Várhely in Hungary, handcraft
Tumulus 27. Conical-
necked vessel with
spinning and weaving An important sociological aspect relates to those persons who
scene, Early Iron Age. were employed in the textile crafts. As already mentioned, the
Iron Age people of Central Europe have sometimes depicted
textile work in their art.

Very well known, and shown in almost every scientific and

popular book on prehistoric textiles, is the ‘urn of Sopron’
with a spinning and weaving scene. This Hallstatt period con-
ical-necked vessel was found in Tumulus 27 of the cemetery

268
­ opron-Burgstall (Várhely)599, Hungary (Fig. 146), in the grave
S Fig. 147. Pictorial rep-
of an 18 to 20-year-old woman. It did not contain the crema- resentations of textile
tion, as the term ‘urn’ used repeatedly in various publications crafts in the Iron Age.
suggests, but was a container for drink. The young woman re-
ceived many grave goods: more vessels completed the dinner
set, whilst jewellery, glass beads, a bronze neck ring and a harp
brooch constituted the personal objects in the grave. It is very
revealing that the woman did not only have the vessel with the
spinning and weaving scene in her grave, but also specific tools
for this craft: two ceramic whorls are the remains of her spin-
ning tools. The wooden spindle shaft and the spinning material
of wool or flax are unfortunately gone.

The ornaments on the conical-necked vessel now deserve closer

examination: several persons images are incised into the neck of
the vessel (Fig. 146 and 147); the woman at a large warp-weighted
loom dominates the scene. In addition, we see a woman with a
spindle and two women with hands raised – a hint of a dance?
A fifth, smaller (male?) figure is situated right next to the loom
holding a lyre. The entire composition reveals that spinning and
weaving was done by women, in a charming, atmospheric (per-
haps mythological) scene with music and dance.

599
Eibner 1980, Burial mound 27: 133–141, pl. 224–236.

269
 Equally famous is the bronze plate rattle (tintinnabulum) of Bo-
logna, Arsenale Militare necropolis ‘Tomba degli Ori’, ­It­aly600,
dating to c. 630 BC. This object is decorated on both sides with
scenes in which women do textile work. More details of the
work process can be found: On one side of the rattle, two women
seated on throne-like chairs dress their distaffs for spinning; in
the register above a woman is standing with spindle and dis-
taff. On the other side of the object, different activities are shown
which belong to the sphere of weaving. At the bottom, two
women are busily weaving a starting border necessary for the
warp-weighted loom, i.e. a basic activity for textile production.
Above, a lady is shown sitting on a throne and operating the
warp-weighted loom, while another woman hands her a vessel,
probably with wool in it. Again, all depicted persons are female.
Not only spinning and weaving, but also preparing the (wool)
fleece and weaving a starting border for the warp-weighted loom
were therefore accomplished by women (Fig. 147).

The throne from Verucchio, tomba del trono, has been dated to
the end of the 8th or the beginning of the 7th century BC. The
scenes carved on the inside of the back rest illustrate the cycle of
textile production including wool washing, spinning, weaving
and ­finally, garment manufacture601. All persons involved seem
to be women.

Another important piece of evidence for the gender of the textile

craftspeople can be interpreted from the graves – on the assump-
tion that the tools were added because of real life activities. The
grave goods, in general, reflect the importance of textile making
and a desire on the part of the living to show that the deceased
had been involved in this essential task602.

Statzendorf in Lower Austria603 may serve as an example here.

Dating from 800 – 600 BC, it is a typical cremation cemetery of
the rural periphery in the Kalenderberg group of the Eastern
Hallstatt area. The cemetery contains 373 graves, most of which

Morigi Govi 1971. – Cf. Gleba 2007, 72, fig. 11.1; 2008a, 28–30.
600

Gleba 2007, 72.

601

Cf. Lipkin 2013.

602

Rebay 2006.
603

270
(90 %) are cremations. The dead were usually equipped with Fig. 148. Statzendorf,
numerous vessels, which formed part of a drinking and dining Austria: Early Iron Age
set for the life after death. The animal bones found partially to- Grave A089 with spin-
dle whorls. The grave
gether with knives in the graves represent the remains of food has a low social index.
offerings. Personal objects are jewellery and remnants of cloth-
ing accessories such as pins, brooches, glass beads, belt hooks
and bracelets. As tools, spindle whorls, needles, knives and
whetstones were included in the graves; male graves contained
weapons such as axes or spears. Twelve percent of the graves
in Statzendorf contained textile tools – if the sex of the buried
individual could be determined, it was always a female burial.
Archaeologist Katharina Rebay-Salisbury, who analysed this

271
 cemetery, conducted social index calculations in order to bet-
ter understand the social rank of the persons buried within this
cemetery. She attempted to assign each grave a value accord-
ing to the quality and quantity of grave goods (e.g. the number
and size of vessels, number and type of metal objects including
the metal weight etc.) as well as the labour expenditure put into
the construction of the grave. For evaluating the textile crafts,
it is interesting to see that spindle whorls and needles occur in
both ‘poor’ and very ‘rich’ graves, including the grave with the
top social index of 100. Through this cemetery, at least, it can
therefore not be verified that textile tools were associated with a
particular social group. The number of spindle whorls also does
not help here. In grave A089 with low social index, for instance,
four spindle whorls were found (Fig. 148), and in richer graves
sometimes only one.

The Hallstatt period cremation graves of Uttendorf in Pinzgau

(Salzburg), dated to the 8th century BC,604 revealed ten very rich
women’s graves that contained sets of loom weights – enough
for a small loom. These are in part manufactured and decorated
very exquisitely; some of them were made of stone (serpentine).
These loom weights can already be classified as luxury goods
and characterize the status of these women; in poorer graves
such loom weights do not occur. Interestingly, the textile tools
show traces of the effects of fire. It is therefore likely that in the
ritual cremation of the dead body a complete loom was burnt
together with the dead woman on the funerary pyre. Finally,
the loom weights with traces of fire were placed as a grave good
next to the urn in the grave. These findings however are excep-
tionally, since this burial custom is normally restricted to the
areas south of the Alps.

Not only spindle whorls and loom weights, but also ceramic
spools and metal distaffs were found in the Hallstatt pe-
riod cemetery of Frög in Carinthia605. The latter are especially
­unusual finds east and north of the Alps. Many other examples
of the addition of textile equipment to graves could be listed.
The fact is that, especially in the Early Iron Age in women’s

Moosleitner 1992.
604

Tomedi 2002, 159–162.

605

272
graves, ­textile tools are quite common in both cremation and
inhumation graves. At the end of the Iron Age, textile tools are
generally found much less frequently in graves than in the Hall-
statt period. La Tène examples of graves with textile equipment
such as needles, spindle whorls, loom weights and the newly
invented shears include burials at Pottenbrunn, Lower Austria,
and Dürrn­berg near Hallein, Salzburg606.

Who were these persons, buried with textile tools? The interest-
ing thing is that the spindle whorls and loom weights are usu-
ally placed in women’s graves. Only in a few exceptional cases,
does such a device appear in a man’s grave. In Pottenbrunn,
grave 565, a 55 to 60 year-old man was buried wearing a bronze
and silver finger ring and he had a spindle whorl in the grave.
What does this mean? Is a spindle whorl in a man’s grave an ap-
preciative or derogatory commentary on this person’s activity,
or is it a neutral way of marking that this man pursued spinning
activities? Does such a grave furnishing emphasise the skill in
exercising the craft and therefore its importance to the commu-
nity?

Furthermore, it should be noted that the images and the graves

only illustrate a specific part of the workflow in textile produc-
tion (Fig. 15): according to these sources spinning and weaving
is attributable to women in Iron Age. But what about the other
production steps, such as shearing sheep, treating flax, comb-
ing wool, dyeing, and cutting or sewing the fabrics? Not all of
these are found on contemporary depictions. Other than spin-
ning and weaving devices, only sewing needles and shears of
various sizes are represented in graves. These sewing and cut-
ting tools are rare, and, moreover, they occur in the graves of
both men and women. Shears are versatile tools for textile work.
They are useful for a range of different activities, starting with
shearing sheep and weaving – from cutting threads to finish-
ing the textile, hanging and cutting the suspension of the loom
weights – and finally, for cutting and sewing the finished fabric.
In addition, there is also the possibility that needles and shears
were used for working other materials, for instance leather. We
therefore have no direct archaeological evidence of the sex of the

606
Pottenbrunn: Ramsl 2002. – Dürrnberg: Penninger 1972, e.g. pl. 2, 3, 11, 14.

273
 persons who were responsible for the shearing of sheep, for the
preparation of the raw material flax, for dyeing, tailoring and
sewing. It is relatively clear only for spinning and weaving, that
these activities were (mostly?) carried out by women.

The social status of these women is also not precisely known.

As in the Greek oikos economy, there may be high status senior
women (as those very rich women from the graves of ­Uttendorf
in Pinzgau), who produced high quality products together with
their servants – perhaps similar to Penelope and Andromache
from the Homeric epics607. But who were the people of the ‘gen-
eral population’ buried with textile equipment, such as the ones
we find in every Hallstatt period cemetery? Were these poor
women who had to spin for their upkeep or were they ‘house-
wives’, who, in addition to their daily duties of food prepara-
tion, childcare and other household activities, also did some tex-
tile work ? It is significant here that not every woman had textile
tools in her grave, so the addition is perhaps a sign of a certain
status, or possibly points to the aptitude in the craft608 exhibited
by these women – especially when several spindle whorls were
added in the grave.

It should further be mentioned that the frequent occurrence of

shears in men’s graves can also be interpreted sociologically.
For Antoinette Rast-Eicher,609 shears as grave goods, especially
in men’s graves from the 2nd half of the 4th century BC, indi-
cate a social and economic change. The invention of shears for
sheep shearing goes hand in hand with the breeding of sheep
with continuously growing wool. These sheep of mixed wool
without natural fleece shedding could be kept in large herds
and the fleece could be cut quickly. The quantity and quality of
wool from these breeds clearly rose significantly, as a raw ma-
terial that was also appropriate for sale and trade. According to
these reflections, Rast-Eicher considers the shears in rich graves
(especially male burials) as an attribute of a herd owner. The
wealth that the large flocks of sheep embodied is also evident
in the writings of Roman authors, for instance when the ancient

Cf. Barber 1994, 153–154, 207–231. – Eibner 2000/2001, 108–110.

607

Social status of women in the textile industry, see Gleba 2008a, 174–175. – Lipkin 2013.
608

Rast-Eicher 2008, 156. – See also Gleba 2012, 234–235.

609

274
historian and geographer Strabo (c. 63 BC to AD 18) mentions
that tributes were paid in sheep (Strab., Geogr. 11.10.).

2.3 Textile craft organisation – division of

labour?
Considerations as to the gender of the textile craft workers leads
to the question of the organization of the craft and the division
of labour. As household production, textile craft is just one of
many activities that were done when no other, more urgent
tasks (agriculture, acquisition of food and water, etc.) had to be
undertaken. Before the invention of sheep shearing in the La
Tène period, wool was recovered by plucking in spring, when
the long-haired coat of early sheep breeds naturally fell out after
the winter610. The individual steps of plucking, sorting, spinning
and weaving were probably not always carried out sequentially,
but also side by side. Spinning with a hand spindle is also an
excellent ‘side-activity’ when walking great distances, caring
for animals, babysitting, etc. Can we tell whether all the steps of
production from raw material preparation to spinning, weaving
and sewing were in the hand of one person (of one woman?)
or whether in the Iron Age different (groups of) people were
­responsible for different parts of the workload?

In general, textile crafts are based on various, always repetitive

and sometimes tedious procedures, some of which are more
time-consuming than others. The processing of fibres to mate-
rial that can be spun lasts between days and weeks, depending
on the raw material; that is, whether it is wool or flax respec-
tively. Spinning is also very time consuming and takes weeks
or months, while weaving a textile from the required amount
of yarn proceeds more quickly; even that, however, requires
days to weeks611. The cutting and sewing of a garment as the last
step in the production sequence (if the piece of cloth is not used
directly from the loom), can then be accomplished relatively
quickly compared to the time spent for raw material prepara-
tion, spinning and weaving.

Barber 1991, 29–30.

610

Cf. Andersson 2003b, 46–48. – Andersson Strand 2010. – Pfarr 2005.

611

275
 Within the workflow, there are also activities that require spe-
cialized knowledge. Various decorating and colouring tech-
niques or tablet weaving with its complex patterns cannot be
­accomplished easily without a learning phase and practice. On
the other hand, there are also activities in which even small
children can help, such as cleaning and plucking of wool. Is
there any archaeological evidence that can tell us how many
people worked together or whether we have specialized work-
ers for specific production steps? Again, we encounter major
challenges in the absence of written sources, but we can turn to
the grave evidence on this topic. Interestingly, in some graves
there are ‘tool kits’, sets of multiple tools that are functionally
related.

Grave 56 of Uttendorf in Pinzgau, Salzburg612, for instance, is

characterized as a very rich woman’s grave by the exquisite jew-
ellery (six brooches, finger and arm rings, belt plate, necklaces,
etc.). In addition, a set of tools comprising seven stone loom
weights, one spindle whorl and an iron knife was discovered in
her grave. This represents a sufficient kit for making thread, cut-
ting and weaving. Another example comes from the cemetery of
Frög613, Carinthia, Tumulus 159, grave 1, with a spindle and four
spools for winding the spun yarn.

The cemetery of Statzendorf614, Lower Austria, has probably

been most intensely studied in terms of craft kits. Most spindle
whorls were found in the graves together with multi-functional
knifes or sewing needles. Particularly noteworthy is the rich
woman’s grave A014 (Fig. 149), in which six spindle whorls and
a needle box were laid down beside her feet. A knife was found
next to her right hand. The devices for making yarn, cutting
and sewing, were considered important enough to be added to
the grave-furnishing by the members of this wealthy woman’s
community.

Moosleitner 1992, 42.

612

Tomedi 2002, pl. 76.

613

Rebay 2006, 2007.

614

276
 Fig. 149. Statzendorf,
Austria: Early Iron
Age Grave A014 with
high social index.
Only the relevant
selection of tools and
textile equipment
from the grave is
shown.

What evidence do the craft sets provide, in relation to the orga-

nization of the craft?615 We sometimes find multiple tool sets to-
gether in one grave, including tools for spinning, weaving and
sewing. These devices point to the whole textile production
process from its beginning (spinning) to its end (sewing). This
may mean that the entire workflow was in the hands of only
one person – in these cases at any rate; but usually we find only
one textile tool per grave. Can we then assume that just this one
activity (such as spinning) was carried out exclusively by the
person in the grave?

See also Lipkin 2013, 26–27.

615

277
 A certain level of cooperation can be assumed for the Iron Age,
so that single individuals did not have to conduct all necessary
activities by themselves. Finds of textile tools and their contexts
in settlements underline this interpretation. From the Hallstatt
period, several findings of looms are known: they are indicated
by rows of loom weights and in some cases, additionally by stake
holes that supported the wooden frame structure. The looms
reach widths of up to three or four meters, such as the ones from
Hafnerbach (Fig. 150) or Kleinklein, both in Austria616. The warp
of the loom of 3.70 m width from Kleinklein in Styria was strung
with 107 loom weights. This in turn had a (still measurable) total
weight of at least 118 kg! When weaving on such a large loom,
the lifting and lowering of the shafts required moving a con-
siderable proportion of this weight – 60 kg for each shaft of a
two-shafted loom. Nowadays, this would correspond to a very
excessive workout in a gym. Considering the width of the loom,
mounting these heavy shafts in their respective weaving posi-
tion would have required the work of at least two people. The
passing of the weft thread through the shed is much easier with
a more than 3 m wide loom when several people are working
together. This kind of teamwork, several women weaving at the
same time on a loom, is shown repeatedly on Greek vases617.

On the textiles themselves, when they were found in good con-

dition, a trained eye may spot information as to whether several
persons worked together. Danish bog finds, like the big cloaks,
were analysed by Margarethe Hald618, who found that the weft
threads in these textiles often cross each other, shifting from one
row to the next right in the middle of the textile. It is possible
that several weft bobbins were in use at once and that several
women were weaving simultaneously, passing the bobbins
to each other as they met somewhere in the middle and then
changing the shed. Unfortunately, we do not find such complete
Iron Age cloths in Central Europe, but through close analysis on
the bigger fragments of textiles found in Hallstatt, Austria, such
weft-crossings could be detected.619 Another hint for the organi-

Kleinklein: Dobiat 1990, 50–58. – Hafnerbach: Preinfalk 2003.

616

Barber 1994, fig. 3.6. – Pekridou-Gorecki 1989, fig. 2.

617

Hald 1980, 152, fig. 139–140.

618

Grömer and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, Iron Age catalogue, e.g. HallTex 104.
619

278
sation of work is provided by other details on the textiles. In the Fig. 150. Remains of a
salt mines of Hallstatt, a number of woven fragments with seams loom of 4 m width in
were found. Some of the sewing threads are made with the same situ, from the Early Iron
Age settlement of
wool as the weave620, which may indicate that the weaving and Hafnerbach, Austria.
sewing was carried out by one person with the same wool. Per-
haps the yarn for the seam was just taken from the hem of the
textile itself. In the latter case, the spinner/weaver and sewer of
the cloth may not have been the same person. The same can be
said for the textiles where the sewing threads are different from
the woven fabric.

Research on the division of labour naturally goes hand in hand

with considering the level of production, be it household indus-
try, specialization or mass production. The more advanced the
level of production was, the more likely is a distribution of the
different steps of the production process among different per-
sons. For now, the organization of the textile crafts cannot be as-
sessed with certainty for pre-Roman times, but at least some form
of cooperation must have existed. It is also not clear whether the
groups of people working together, which are attested at least
for the teamwork on large looms, were recruited from family

620
Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 107–108.

279
 Fig. 151. Roman lead members621 or other pools of people. The actual distribution of
tags from Austria with different production steps on different groups of people can also
names of textile occu- presently not be resolved on the basis of current research.
pations (highlighted in
red).
Specialised textile professions are first tangible in the northern
Alpine provinces in the Roman Imperial period. Lead tags (tes-
serae plumbeae) (Fig. 151)622 from the Magdalensberg and Flavia
Solva in Austria, as well as from Siscia in Croatia, mention pro-
fessional titles such as ‘fullo’ for fullers and ‘sutor’ and ‘excisor’
for tailors. Lead tags were used by textile craftspeople as labels
for wool, cloth and garments entrusted to the care of fullers and
dyers. Whether a division of labour for textile work was already
in place in the Iron Age is unsure, but it is certainly possible.

3 Sites of production
In the settlements from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, textile
production is mainly traceable through archaeological finds of
equipment and tools. These have already been mentioned in this
chapter. Especially for the early periods, it is assumed that tex-
tile crafts took place as household production, so they are linked
to the houses. From the Iron Age, we expect that the production

For theoretical considerations, see Costin 1991, family based industries, 15.
621

Gostenčnik 2012, 78-81. – Martijnse 1993. – Radman-Livaja 2013.

622

280
of textiles was carried out by specialists or in early mass pro- Fig. 152. Reconstruc-
duction. In this chapter, the question of the places of production tion of the Iron Age set-
for textiles in the first millennium BC in Central Europe will be tlement of Schwarzen-
bach, Austria. Planning
addressed. and construction:
Wolfgang Lobisser
In Iron Age Central Europe, we know of four different types of VIAS, Vienna Institute
settlements: isolated farmsteads, small villages (Fig. 152), low- for Archaeological Sci-
land settlements in the countryside and central settlements. The ence. – Living History
performance, European
latter were usually founded on hilltops, with fortifications such Science Night, October
as ditches, ramparts and walls. These were the seats of the nobil- 2007.
ity, which exercised some control over the local resources, trade
and thus over the population. Special sites were also important
transport hubs for long-distance trade, as at the Heuneburg623 on
the upper Danube in Germany. In the middle La Tène period,
town-like settlements, the oppida, emerged.

Imagine a scene of everyday life in an Iron Age village – children

playing, men and women pursuing the various daily chores:
fetching water, cooking, making tools, possibly even building or
repairing a house – and of course textile work is also performed.

Spinning fibres into thread is a lengthy process, and it would

have been conducted whenever possible: when walking long
distances, supervising children, fetching water or herding sheep.

623
Kimmig 1983.

281
 The spindle and a small stash of spinning material could be car-
ried easily, and the spinning process can be interrupted at any
time. Weaving on the loom, in contrast, is an activity that is likely
to be tied to a particular place, usually the house. The rock art
researcher Emmanuel Anati detected two warp-weighted looms
under the loom representations of the Val Carmonica624 in north-
ern Italy, which are carried by two people. Is the warp-weighted
loom a device that was brought from one place to another in
its mounted state at will, for example when the weather was
nice to the outside, and back in when it started to rain? W. Haio
Zimmermann doubts this view, as the warp-weighted loom is
a construction of multiple parts, which, mounted with warps
and weights, is only held together be its own weight when lean-
ing at an angle against a wall. The warp-weighted loom would
be too instable in the mounted state, too heavy and unwieldy
to be carried around. We may therefore consider weaving on
the warp weighted loom as a static activity. Devices for weav-
ing bands, however, could easily be brought into the open air in
good weather, as could be done with sewing work.

The archaeological traces that we find mirror the dynamics of

the described activities. Whorls are found where they were
stored or where they were lost during handling: in the house,
but also outdoors in the whole settlement or even in the sur-
rounding fields and meadows. The loom is bound to its place
in or leaning against the house, perhaps in the open air under a
shed roof. The settlement refuse, the unnecessary or broken ob-
jects, lost artefacts left behind when abandoning a house, form
the ‘cultural layers’ that provide the research base of settlement
archaeology. A review of findings from various Iron Age set-
tlements on the territory of today’s Austria and Slovakia625 re-
vealed that every settlement of which larger parts had been ex-
cavated included textile equipment such as spindle whorls and
loom weights. Even needles and, from the La Tène period on-
wards, shears were discovered.

Anati 1994. – Zimmermann 1988, 31–32, fig. 5 and 6. See also here for a discussion on
624

carrying warp-weighted looms and Emmanuel Anati’s research.

See Belanová-Štolcová and Grömer 2010. – Belanová-Štolcová 2012.
625

282
The modern excavations and researches at Göttlesbrunn in Fig. 153. Göttlesbrunn,
Lower Austria626 (Fig. 153) unearthed one of the smaller low- Austria: map of the
land settlements. The village was inhabited between the 7th and ­Early Iron Age settle-
ment with finds of tex-
6th centuries BC, and like the cemetery of Statzendorf already tile tools marked in red.
presented, belonged to Kalenderberg group, a local group of the
Hallstatt culture in Lower Austria and Burgenland. In this set-
tlement, houses and workshop units were identified – those pits,
utilitarian buildings, etc., which, taken together, form a farm-
stead. In most of these workshop units textile tools were found.
This suggests that for most members of the settlement, textile
work can be presumed.

A central place of the Late Iron Age in Austria was the Dürrn-
berg near Hallein627, a salt trading centre, market place and pro-
duction site with the main settlement dating from the 6th to the
1st centuries BC. Many finds, especially numerous textiles from
the salt mine, date to the early La Tène period. Many cemeteries

626
Griebl 2004.
627
Stöllner 2002, 2005.

283
 and settlement sites from the Dürrnberg include equipment for
textile work such as spindle whorls, loom weights, needles and
shears628. Also the settlement areas were systematically inves-
tigated. Mapping groups of finds, the spatial development of
the settlement was elucidated and the organization of this site
by traces of workshops and production areas. In addition to the
salt mining, which forms the foundation of the economy on the
Dürrnberg, evidence of the production of luxury objects such
as jet bangles and metal jewellery can be found in the early La
Tène layers. Throughout the duration of the settlement, the pro-
duction of food and wood was also essential to the inhabitants
of the Dürrnberg, just like metalworking, pottery production
and textile work. The salt trade at local and regional level fos-
tered contacts to Bavaria and the neighbouring regions towards
the north west, to the southern Alpine region and later, even to
Bohemia and the Germanic areas. The mapping identified sev-
eral workshop areas on the settlement of the Dürrnberg, which
could be indicative of specialization or workshops. Bronze cast-
ing, for instance, was most likely conducted on the Ramsaukopf,
a smaller hilltop just northwest of the main residential area,
whilst the final assembly of bronze and gold objects was carried
out in workshops in the southern part of the settlement, for ex-
ample the glass production. In addition to these special work-
shops, it is now interesting to investigate the distribution of tex-
tile tools within the settlement. Loom weights, spindle whorls
(during the La Tène period mainly made of broken pieces of
pottery), sewing needles and shears could be documented in
all excavated areas and in almost every house. Houses were
built in log cabin technique, as demonstrated in the Ramsautal.
Does this distribution prove that textile work was conducted as
household production, as was the case in Göttlesbrunn? Can it
be accepted that a major production site such as the Dürrnberg
did not have textile production for trade – mass production or at
least household industry? So far, no appropriate special work-
shops for the mass production of textiles has been identified.
The textiles themselves, however, indicate that weaving was al-
ready operating at a large scale, as set out at the beginning of
this chapter. Maybe this large-scale production was spread over
the whole settlement.

Brand 1995, with further references. Map of the textile tools: fig. 84.
628

284
The Hallstatt period hillfort of Smolenice-Molpír in Slovakia
(second half of the 7th to beginning of the 6th century BC) can
clearly be identified as a centre of textile production. Numerous
loom weights have been found, and the number of recovered
and analysed spindle whorls (Fig. 154) amounts to 2,100 pieces629
and is thus considerably higher than in other contemporary set-
tlements. It is particularly striking that the 200 loom weights
from the hilltop settlement are frequently decorated with spe-
cial ornaments (Fig. 60). As usual in the Hallstatt culture, there
are very small whorls with only 3 g, the average weight is 16 g
and only a few whorls weigh more, up to 60 g. Similar distri-
butions of spindle whorl weights have also been found in other
Hallstatt settlements in Austria. Light spindle whorls produce
fine yarns (0.1 to 0.7 mm), which mirrors the fineness of con-
temporary textile qualities. The textile finds from the Iron Age
parts of Hallstatt salt mines, testify this630. According to Tereza
Belanová-Štolcová631, the hillfort of Smolenice-Molpír with its
rich collection of finds of local as well as foreign origin demon-
strates that the settlement played a significant role in long-dis-
tance trade. The textile tools indicate that fine textiles and cloth-
ing of high quality could have been produced at the site and
served to represent the power and status of its inhabitants. The
enormous number of spindle whorls suggests that spinning was
in the hands of specialists, who were occupied with this activity
on a full-time basis. They could have worked for a patron, who
desired to have the best quality products, not only for himself,
but also for gift exchange and trade.

The special position of Smolenice-Molpír aside, is there further

evidence for differences in the textile production in the various
settlement types? Were textile products made in central settle-
ments, with inhabitants of high social status, different from those
in rural lowland communities, inhabited by people of lower so-
cial status, who focused mainly on farming and domestic crafts?

A separate discipline of science, sociology, deals with such

­issues. It approaches general human behaviour and all aspects

629
Belanová 2007, 41–43. – Belanová-Štolcová 2012, 311–312.
630
Grömer 2013, 56–58, fig. 17 on the right.
631
Belanová-Štolcová 2012, 312.

285
 Fig. 154. Smolenice-
Molpír, Slovakia: spindle
whorls from the Early
Iron Age hillfort.

of social life. According to the theories of sociologist Immanuel

Wallerstein,632 there are differences between the centres of a
community and the peripheries – to put it bluntly between city
and countryside. In the Iron Age, the centres are the (fortified)
hilltop settlements, whilst rural villages provide the periphery.
Wallerstein considered that everyday products were made in
the periphery, whereas in the centres, lucrative products were
made for trade. Raw materials and goods for daily needs must
be imported from the peripheries. Can this model be applied
to the textile production of the Iron Age? To investigate this
question, the striking findings of loom weights were chosen as
objects to examine. In some cases, loom weights were found in
rows on the floor, showing how the loom was left when leaving
or destroying a house.

As already emphasized, looms of up to 90 cm width, looms be-

tween 1.20 and 1.90 m width and looms of 3 to 4 m width can be
distinguished during the Hallstatt period (see pages 114 – 117).

632
Wallerstein 1974, 301–305.

286
Is there a difference between the loom widths of smaller settle-
ments and central settlements? When the 3.70 m wide loom was
discovered 40 years ago on the hilltop settlement of Kleinklein633,
it was the first finding of its kind. Such a large loom surely was
built to create a very exceptional textile and was operated by sev-
eral people. The researchers had to assume that such a complex
device and the special fabrics produced should be interpreted
in terms of specific tasks (possibly in the ritual sphere). Was this
textile intended for the residents of this princely seat, an elite
family buried in huge round barrows near the settlement? The
images on Greek vase paintings spring to mind – high status
women working together on oversized looms.

Recent research has shown that such large looms for the pro-
duction of wide, elaborate weaves were not restricted to central
places634, but were also present in smaller lowland settlements
such as in Hafnerbach in Lower Austria. The loom found in
this location has a width of about 4 m. No significant difference
has been identified so far between the textile tools and weav-
ing equipment from smaller lowland settlements and hilltop
settlements. The discoveries of textile tools testify that textiles
were produced anywhere in the Iron Age in Central Europe, be
it as household industry or within a more specialized form of
production. Individual settlements such as Smolenice-Molpír,
where, compared to the ‘normal’ settlements, a multiple of the
standard textile equipment was found, are likely to have been
centres of textile production of the time. Perhaps a workshop of
Hallstatt era textile specialists was located here.

Next to working space another important resource needed for

weaving is light, especially when weaving complex patterns. So
far, this has not been a topic in research on Central European
material. Some recent investigation, carried out for the site of
Olynthus in Greece635, shows the potential. By studying the do-
mestic assemblages Olynthus, the role of natural light in the se-
lection of a space suitable for weaving also has been explored as
well as artificial lighting. The studies demonstrated that access

Dobiat 1990.
633

Belanová-Štolcová and Grömer 2010. – Preinfalk 2003.

634

Moullou 2013.
635

287
 to light is a key to the choice of room for weaving. Weaving
should not only be thought of as day-time activity using natural
light, but also with artificial light such as oil lamps or torches.
The story of Penelope, working on the loom at night, is literary
evidence for that. Readers of the Odyssey will remember that
Penelope held her suitors at a bay for over three years while she
wove a cloth, unravelling secretly at night what she wove each
day (Homer, Od. 2.94-110).

4 Conclusion

After the detailed description in chapter B of the different tech-

niques that lead from the raw material to the finished product,
further consideration is given here as to the level of production,
the sociology of the craft, the organization of labour and the
places of production. Again, many issues can only be touched
upon by way of example. There is no linear, continuous develop-
ment from the simple to the complex; the simpler textiles do not
disappear in the light of more complex production techniques.
The various proposed levels of production – household produc-
tion and household industry, specialization and mass produc-
tion may well have coexisted. Some products and findings of
the Hallstatt period suggest that they were produced in special-
ization, while for the La Tène period the quality and appearance
of standardised weaves indicate the beginning of mass produc-
tion. In the Iron Age, as well as in much later times, household
production of textiles remains an important part of the overall
volume of production and never quite disappears even in the
industrial era up to the Second World War.

Whenever we want to approach the craftspeople behind the ar-

chaeological objects, we quickly reach our limits: crafts in gen-
eral and textile crafts in particular were of little interest to an-
cient historiography. Archaeological finds from the Neolithic to
the Iron Age are almost all we have available to shed light on
the organization of the textile crafts, of the people working in
this sector and their lives and workplaces. Especially numerous
are our sources from the end of prehistory in the Iron Age. The

288
woman with the spindle in the Iron Age and in the Mediterra-
nean world, especially in ancient Greece and Rome, becomes a
topos, an ideal image. Spinning and weaving are not only simple
crafts, but they symbolise feminine virtues and ideals.636 Weav-
ing also becomes a metaphor for destiny; the divine female spin-
ners Klotho, Lachesis and Atropos spun the threads of life, mea-
sured and cut them. Many ancient myths revolve around wom-
en’s textile arts based on this analogy.637

From pictorial representations and objects found in the graves, it

seems that spinning and weaving in the Central European Iron
Age were carried out primarily by women. Whether sheep shear-
ing, dyeing, fulling, tailoring and sewing were also amongst the
female tasks is uncertain. It is also unknown whether the indi-
vidual steps of production were split between different people
or groups of people, or if indeed different textile professions al-
ready existed, as they did later in Roman times. Textile work
was an important part of the daily workload, and the necessary
steps of production were a familiar sight in the everyday life of
every prehistoric population. In each village, even in the larger
population centres, one would have encountered someone with
a spindle in the hand, producing threads. One could admire the
craftsmanship of those who wove intricate pieces of tablet wo-
ven bands. The loom was a normal household appliance and the
colourful splendour of the freshly dyed yarns and fabrics – hung
out and stretched to dry – enlivened the scene.

636
Barber 1994, 232–256. – Eibner 2000/2001. – Larsson Lovén 2013, 122–124.
637
For the metaphorical meaning of weaving, see e.g. Vogelsang 1986.

289
 D From clothes to
household textiles:
fabric use in prehistory

In a public outreach programme on ‘Iron Age Tex-

tiles’ at the Natural History Museum in Vienna, par-
ticipants were asked which roles textiles might have
played in the life of prehistoric people. The first idea
associated with textiles was always that they were
probably used for making clothes.

291
 After considering this question in contrast to the purposes tex-
tiles serve today, a discussion broke out as to whether carpets,
blankets and cleaning cloths, or even curtains, pillowcases and
mattresses were conceivable for the ‘primitive’ pre-Roman soci-
eties.

Considering the prehistoric textile remains from Central Europe

more closely, versatility in the use of textiles can be scientifically
proven. The shape of complete objects reveals something about
their former function, e.g. as item of clothing, transport bag etc.
Most archaeologically recovered textiles, however, are not com-
pletely preserved, but are at best torn, and most often only frag-
ments are recovered. Frequently, only a few square centimetres
are preserved, for instance when they are attached onto metals
(see preservation of textiles, pages 20 – 32). Apart from the over-
all appearance, various technological criteria as well as the ar-
chaeological contexts are essential for the interpretation of frag-
mented textiles.

Criteria in terms of textile technology include the structure of a

weave, the fineness and the density of the weave, and the thick-
ness of the threads. The raw material from which the fabric is
made also plays a major role in its use, as each type of raw mate-
rial has very specific properties638. These were known to prehis-
toric people through generations of use and they knew very well
how to exploit them. Linen, for example, is very durable and re-
sistant to abrasion; the wet fibre is even more tear-resistant than
the dry fibre. The smooth surface of the fibre has cooling prop-
erties. Linen is absorbent and absorbs moisture quickly, but just
as quickly dries again. In the use as a garment, this supports the
climate control system of the body in hot temperatures. In con-
trast, wool has temperature-regulating properties and is there-
fore very good for warm clothing, especially when using bulky
yarns producing a very thick fabric. Wool fibres are stretchable,
flexible and elastic. Another property of wool is its flame resis-
tance. An important feature of wool is also that it can be felted:
wool fibres can be processed without spinning and weaving and
turned into a felt fabric. Weaves can further be altered by fulling,

Properties of flax: Eberle et al. 1991, 14–15. – Harris 2010, tab. 18.2. Properties of sheep
638

wool: Eberle et al. 1991, 20–21. – Harris 2010, tab. 18.2.

292
which changes the properties of the textiles; they become thicker
and denser, therefore water resistant and warmer. Other raw
materials used by prehistoric people to make textiles include
other animal hair such as goat hair or the tail hair of the horse,
the latter mainly used to improve form, stiffness and stability of
textiles. Different functions thus required different properties,
which in turn demanded different choices and careful planning
at various stages of textile production.

In addition to the overall appearance of the weaves and their

technical characteristics, context is crucial for a functional inter-
pretation of prehistoric textiles639. Archaeological findings usu-
ally encompass an analysis of the context in which the textiles
(or other artefacts) were recovered640. Contextual information is
gained by the specific monitoring of an excavation, for exam-
ple by documenting the spatial relationship of the findings to
each other. The spatial location of the finds within a feature,
for instance in a grave, a house, etc. is also observed. Import-
ant ­archaeological evidence and findings are further remains of
walls, floors, and discolorations of the soil; their extent, thick-
ness, consistency, etc. is documented three-dimensionally in
all details, using photos, tachometric recording, plans and de-
scriptions. The context of the artefacts is particularly import-
ant for the interpretation of fragmented textiles. Shapeless rags,
­recorded directly next to a skeleton, are most likely remnants of
the clothing or maybe shrouds. Textile remains similar in weave
type and quality that were found in a settlement between the
planks of a log building, they can probably to be explained in
view of their context as sealing material.

Archaeological textile fragments that adhere directly to other

objects, for example when they are attached on metals, are in-
vestigated using micro-stratigraphic641 methods. These deter-
mine the exact location of the textile in relation to the associated
artefact. A textile fragment located right next to a knife blade
and in turn covered by wood is most likely to be interpreted
as the remains of the interior textile lining of a wooden sheath.

639
See Gleba and Mannering 2012, 3–4. – Harris 2012.
640
Eggert 2001, 46–99. – Hodder 1987. – Renfrew and Bahn 2005. – Roskams 2001.
641
See Hägg 1989, 431–435.

293
 On the other hand, textile residues located at the pelvis bone of
a skeleton on the inside of a belt buckle, i.e. the side facing the
body, are most probably parts of a belted garment.

1 Clothes
A significant portion of the textiles produced in prehistoric so-
cieties was probably used for clothing. The history of clothing
is described in the next chapter. Various sources are combined
to create a picture of the costume development from the Stone
Age to the Iron Age in Central Europe. Preserved garments of
textile and leather, image sources (Fig. 155), written sources (for
the Late Iron Age), as well as decorative objects, metal dress ac-
cessories and the location of costume components in graves all
contribute to our interpretations. That clothing – in addition to
the primary purpose of protection against weather conditions
such as heat, rain, snow, wind, etc. – already had many other
functions in prehistoric times, such as representation or mark-
ing of group membership, is amply demonstrated by examples
of intricately designed prehistoric textiles.

The finds of complete Bronze and Iron Age garments from north-
ern Germany and Denmark642, where not only bog bodies were
found, but also magnificent robes apparently deposited in bogs
as offerings, are especially numerous. One such site is Thorsberg
in Germany, a famous place of sacrifice of the 1st to 3rd centuries
AD. Among the organic offerings are 24 wool fabrics, including
famous ‘ostentatious cloaks’ (Prachtmäntel).

From the pre-Etruscan Villanova Culture, particularly from

­Verucchio in Italy, a number of Iron Age garments of different
shapes are known643. Regrettably, apart from the ‘leggings’ from
Vedrette di Ries, Italy644, no complete Iron Age garments have
been recovered or could be reconstructed from Central Europe.

Cf. Broholm and Hald 1940. – Mannering et al. 2012. – Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012. –
642

Schlabow 1976.
Stauffer 2012. – von Eles 2002.
643

Bazzanella et al. 2005; 2012.

644

294
 Fig. 155. Images on the
Situla of Vače in Slove-
nia, Iron Age.

The stock of materials obtained, however, provides clear insights

into the technical achievements of the time. Some technical de-
sign elements for cutting and sewing, for instance from the salt
mines in Hallstatt645, are useful for reconstructions. Nits and lice
of the human body louse (Pediculus humanus corporis) ­discovered

Rösel-Mautendorfer 2007; 2013.

645

295
 in textiles from Hallstatt646 lead to the conclusion that the gar-
ment pieces were actually worn, because body lice are bound to
their human habitat. The lice are of no further significance to the
reconstruction of historical costumes, but they deliver further
insights into the everyday circumstances of life for prehistoric
people.

From the Hallstatt textiles, we are able to detect careful re-

source-management in form of mending and patching of tex-
tiles (see pages 239 – 240). The Iron Age cloaks of Damendorf
and Dätgen (Germany)647 have also been repaired with several
patches. Usually it can be deduced that the fabrics a garment is
made of, was woven for this purpose (primary function). There
are also hints for secondary use. A famous example for a gar-
ment made entirely from patches is the tunic from a bog body
from Bernuths­feld648 in Germany, dating between the 7th and 9th
century AD. Recycled material formed the basis of the garment.
It is a heavily worn tunic with sleeves which was patched out of
45 pieces of wool cloth, consisting of twenty different fabrics in
nine different weave type.

2 Textiles in funerary practice

Textiles played an important role in funerary rituals. This in-
cludes on the one hand the clothes worn on the body by the
dead, and on the other hand, we can expect funerary shrouds,
with which some bodies were covered or wrapped prior to
burial. Traces of a shroud have been recovered in tomb 3 at Os-
teria dell’Osa, Italy, 9th century BC, identified by the rectangle of
small bronze rings and buttons that were probably sewn onto the
edge of the cloth (Fig. 156)649. Sometimes brooches or pins were
discovered in ‘unusual’ places in inhumation graves, for exam-
ple a fibula at the feet of the deceased in grave X of ­Nebingen,

Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and Reschreiter 2013, 127–128, fig. 41; HallTex 32, 34, 40,
646

292. – About body lice: Buxton 1947.

Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012, 161.
647

Farke 2001, 129–136.

648

Bietti Sestieri 1992, fig. 3a.391. – Gleba 2012, fig. 9.6.

649

296
Germany650. This can be interpreted to mean that brooch held
together a cloth that wrapped the body. Even with cremation
burials the cremated remains were sometimes wrapped in a tex-
tile or the urn was covered651. This expresses a very careful han-
dling of human remains. In Iron Age Italy, linen in particular
was used to wrap cremated bones in the burial ritual. This prac-
tice is also described by Homer for the burials of Hector and Pa-
troclus (Iliad 34.796 and 23.254), which is assumed to have been
adopted by the elites throughout the Mediterranean during the
Iron Age, e.g. attested to in Vetulonia or Veio, Italy.

Particularly during the Iron Age, it was customary to wrap grave

goods in pieces of cloth, ‘pack them’, so to speak. Specifically,
swords and other weapons were often heavily wrapped in the
late Hallstatt and early La Tène periods. In the cemetery at Hall-
statt, it was documented that for some swords the iron blade
was directly wrapped in textile bands652 (Fig. 157). Recently, in
Matran, Switzerland, a sword was found in an early Hallstatt
period grave. The adherent organic layers in direct contact with
the iron surface of the sword blade were identified as wood and Fig. 156. Traces of a
shroud (bronze rings,
probably a thin layer of leather from the scabbard; the entire ob- highlighted in green)
ject had been wrapped in a tablet-woven band of 2 cm width653. from Osteria dell’Osa
in Italy, 9th century BC.

650
Banck-Burgess 1999, chapter 1.2.2.
651
Fath 2012, 72–73, fig. 1. – Gleba 2014b, 136–141.
652
Kern 2005, 8, fig. 10.
653
Rast-Eicher 2012, 384 and fig. 19.7.

297
 Not only were more or less narrow textile bands used to cover
weapons, but larger fabrics were also used. In the case of Ge-
meinlebarn, an early La Tène warriors grave654, a larger piece of
finely woven tabby was folded carefully over the scabbard of
the sword (Fig. 158). In this case, the weapon was placed next to
the right side of the deceased with his right hand lying on the
scabbard together with the mineralized textile remains. Interest-
ingly, there was also an imprint of human skin from the wrist of
the warrior.

Unfortunately, we usually do not know whether the packaging

material, the pieces of cloth, was made specifically for this pur-
pose (primary use) or whether they were old, recycled textiles655
(secondary use). It is also unknown which kinds of beliefs have
led to a concealment of the dead and their grave goods. Perhaps
there was a taboo forbidding the placement of bare metal in the
Fig. 157. Cremation grave. Maybe the burial goods were covered to render them
grave at Hallstatt with
invisible at the entrance into the otherworld. Practical reasons
a sword wrapped in
fabric. Location in the could also have led to this custom, for instance textiles soaked
grave and detail, with grease and oil could have been wrapped around iron ob-
Early Iron Age. jects to prevent corrosion.

Preinfalk and Preinfalk 2014, 45–48.

654

The textiles from Hochdorf were produced especially for this burial. Banck-Burgess 2012a,
655

142–143.

298
In northern Germany (Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Fig. 158. Scabbard from
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) between 500 and 150 BC, a warrior’s grave at
very open, veil-like weaves (Schleiergewebe) were found in the Gemeinlebarn in Austria
with textile cover and
graves656. They are very fine loose tabbies with 0.2 mm thread imprint of human skin,
diameter and have a very low cover factor. Usually they were Late Iron Age.
used as cover or wraps of different grave goods in cremation

Banck-Burgess 1999, 34, fig. 6–8.

656

299
 graves. Those veil-like fabrics can perhaps be interpreted as spe-
cial weaves for the dead.

We are especially well informed about textiles in the late Hall-

statt period chieftain’s grave of Eberdingen-Hochdorf an der
Enz, Germany657. This grave offers very good preservation con-
ditions for organic materials due to its numerous metal finds. In
the burial mound measuring roughly 6 m in height and with a
diameter of 60 m, an approximately 40-year-old man was buried
around 550 BC. The rich grave offerings and the great expen-
diture of labour put into this burial identify the deceased as a
member of the Hallstatt Culture elite. The deceased was bur-
ied with magnificent jewellery items such as a gold neck ring
and bracelet, amber beads, several brooches to close the gar-
ment (fibulae of bronze and gold) and a gilded sheet belt. His
shoes and the dagger were also decorated with gold fittings. A
hat made ​​of birch bark completed the outfit. Everyday objects
(nail clipper, razor and comb) should perhaps ensure a neat ap-
pearance after death. A quiver with arrows and an axe, a lance
and an iron knife constituted the weaponry set. Some of the
items were placed together on the wagon box of a four-wheeled
wagon. The physical welfare of the prince had also been taken
care of. The grave contained a huge bronze cauldron imported
from the Mediterranean for 500 litres of liquid, originally filled
at two-thirds with mead. An extensive feasting and drinking
set secured that the prince could host banquets after death. In
the same grave were found nine drinking horns, decorated by
golden ribbons, a golden drinking and scooping bowl and, piled
onto the wagon, the eating utensils with three bronze serving
dishes and nine plates. One of the most spectacular finds, how-
ever, is the 2.75 m long ornate bronze couch (klinē), on which the
deceased was placed to rest.

The splendour of the grave goods, which should ensure a good

life for the prince after death, is underscored by the textile
equipment. Although the textiles were only preserved as small
fragments, the textile archaeologist Johanna Banck-Burgess658

Biel 1985. – Banck-Burgess 2012b.

657

Banck-Burgess 1999. Wall tapestry 120–121, floor covers 124, couch 97–98; for the entire
658

assemblage see added maps. – Banck-Burgess 2012a.

300
s­ ucceeded in reconstructing the specific use of the various weave
fragments in painstaking detail (Fig. 159). The burial chamber
was completely lined with textiles. Fabrics were spread on the
floor as a floor cover; at one point, there was also an animal
skin. The walls of the wooden grave chamber were decorated
with wall hangings in richly varied compilation, over which the
drinking horns were hung. Precious tablet woven bands with
complicated patterns adorned the wall hangings of twill, which
were fastened with iron hooks onto the wall. Bronze fibulae also
served to drape the wall cladding.

Several organic layers were discovered on the bronze couch,

which were identified as mattresses, pillows, blankets or other
decorative fabrics. The layer directly above the couch included
two hemp bast weaves over a striped textile, on which a mat-
tress was placed. The mattress cover was made of fine hemp
repp filled with badger hair and small parts of plants. A small
mat made of grass, covered with a burlap cloth made of bad-
ger hair, served as a pillow for the dead, judging by the loca- Fig. 159. Reconstruc-
tion of the find under the head of the deceased. On top of the tion of the textiles
in the Early Iron Age
cushion layers, a wool cloth of twill weave was draped in many princely grave at
pleats, as well as several layers of a very fine fabric. Further- Eberdingen-Hochdorf
more, most of the objects in this grave were originally wrapped in Germany.

301
 in textiles, even the wagon and the wheels were covered. Simi-
larly, the large bronze cauldron was wrapped in many precious
materials. This rich textile equipment in the grave of Hochdorf
not only gives us plenty of insights into the burial customs, but
possibly also into the every-day use of textiles.

3 Soft furnishings: wall hangings,

cushions and similar items

Which roles did textiles play in addition to their function as

Fig. 160. Mirror of clothes in the daily life of prehistoric societies? We know con-
Castelvetro in northern
­Italy: representation temporary figurative representations, mainly from the Iron
of a bed with mattress, Age works of situla art659, in ​​sufficient realism to recognize de-
Iron Age. tails. An interesting scene illustrating ‘household textiles’ was
found on a decorated bronze mirror
from a cremation grave of the
5th century BC discovered
in Castelvetro di Modena
in northern ­Italy660 (Fig.
160). On the back of
the mirror, various
scenes are arranged
in a circle, amongst
which a sex scene
is most notable.
The bed on which
the couple enjoys
the pleasures of love
is very comfortably
equipped. It has a bed
frame with ends deco-
rated with birds’ heads and
is fitted with a mattress.

Lucke and Frey 1962. – Turk 2005.

659

Lucke and Frey 1962, pl. 21–22.

660

302
 Fig. 161. Megalithic grave
of Leuna-Göhlitzsch in
Germany with the
representation of a wall
hanging, c. 3,000 BC.

Preservation conditions for textiles, which belonged to the inte-

riors of homes, are worse than hopeless in Central Europe, but
such ‘household textiles’ do appear as part of the grave furnish-
ings. Wall hangings, floor coverings, mattresses and pillows,
such as the ones from the Hallstatt chieftain’s grave from Ho-
chdorf described above, were probably not only used for the
tombs of the dead, but also made life more pleasant for the liv-
ing, especially of course for the wealthy classes661. Household
textile accessories were common features of wealthy homes in
contemporary cultures, for instance in the homes of the Etrus-
cans and Greeks662.

The Greek historian Polybius reported that the Celtic tribe of the
Boii in the eastern Alps and northern Italy, like other tribes at
the beginning of the 2nd century BC, used straw beds, on which
bed sheets and blankets were spread (Polyb., Hist. 2.17)663. In
general, the interior of the residential and official buildings of
the leading social class of the Iron Age must therefore not be
thought of as primitive. Situla art further shows neatly shaped
turned wooden furniture: shelving, benches, seats (thrones)
and beds (see, e.g., Fig. 155 or 176). Without these wooden fur-
nishings or textile products, it is difficult to imagine life in mud
brick, log or pit houses.

Banck-Burgess 2012a, 2012b.

661

For images of mattresses on Etruscan sarcophagi, see e.g. Massa 1989, 36–37.
662

After Birkhan 1997, 1055. For bed sheets and blankets, cf. Strabo, Geog., 4.4.3.
663

303
 Mats used for floor coverings and wall hangings are known in
Central Europe from the Neolithic period. Mats woven from
grass, reeds, etc. were found, for instance, in the Swiss lake
dwellings664. Of particular interest to the interior design of this
very early time is the megalithic grave of Leuna-Göhlitzsch in
Germany665 dating to the Late Neolithic (c. 3,000 BC). Inside the
stone tomb, an engraving was found, once painted in red and
black, which most likely represents the interior of a house (Fig.
161). A bow and a quiver of arrows are hanging on the wall and
a wall covering can be seen, apparently consisting of a mat with
twill structure. Such plaited structures have also been found on
a Middle Neolithic mat imprint from Michelstetten in Austria666
(Fig. 73).

4 Sacks and bags for transportation

Woven fabrics have been, and continue to be, used for contain-
ers. From the settlement Hornstaad/Hörnle I at Lake Constance
in Germany, dating to the Late Neolithic at c. 3,800 BC, we know
of a small purse made of tabby woven flax. It is the simplest
­basic shape of a bag, which consists of a round piece of cloth and
a drawstring to gather the fabric at the edge667.

Interesting evidence for the use of textile containers for salt haul-
ing comes from the Bronze Age salt mines of Hallstatt668 (Fig.
162), where textiles played an important role in the workflow
of the mining organization. Salt production can be traced back
to the Neolithic period c. 7,000 years ago by the finds of stone
axes and antler picks. The mining processes date to the Mid-
dle Bronze Age at the latest, from c. 1,500 BC, but the economic
heyday of salt production was during the Early Iron Age. The
salt trade brought great wealth to this rather inhospitable and

Rast-Eicher 1997.
664

Müller-Karpe 1974, pl. 499, A1. – Sherrat 1998, 118.

665

Grömer 2006a, fig. 13.

666

Müller 1994, fig. 4.

667

Kern et al. 2009a. – Kowarik and Reschreiter 2011. – For haulage textiles see Grömer,
668

Reschreiter and Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 121–125, fig. 40.

304
r­ emote area at the foot of the Dachstein Mountain in the Alps.
This is also reflected by the rich grave goods of the world fa-
mous cemetery in the Hallstatt high valley, which became epon-
ymous for the Hallstatt period, the early part of the Pre-Roman
Iron Age c. 800 – 400 BC.

How may we imagine the salt mining, and what roles did textiles
play within the production process? Giant mining halls were
built in the Bronze Age (Fig. 162), where salt layers were fol-
lowed up to a depth of 120 meters underground. Small chunks
of salt (Hauklein) were severed from the walls and the ceiling
with picks and placed in leather carrying bags before they were
packed into textile sacks or hauling bands and brought through
the vertical shafts leading to the surface. A part of the way led Fig. 162. Bronze Age
over wooden stairs such as those discovered at the site of Chris- salt mining at Hallstatt.
Artist’s impression by
tian-von-Tuschwerk. Through the scientific dating method of Dominic Gröbner,
dendrochronology, the staircase was found to have been built scientific advice by
in the mountain around 1343/1344 BC669. It is the oldest wooden Hans Reschreiter.

669
Reschreiter and Barth 2005.

305
 staircase in Europe. The haulage textiles filled with chunks of
salt were drawn with ropes of lime bast through the chutes from
the mine to the surface, from where the salt could be distributed
further.

The textiles that have been interpreted as functional elements in

the mining-operation, such as carrying sacks or haulage cloths,
were found as fragments in a special archaeological context. A
site within the salt mine, the location of a shaft leading from the
salt exploitation gallery to the surface, was identified as a ‘fill-
ing station’ (the place where the salt was transferred from the
leather bags used in the mine to textile sacks for further trans-
port). The textiles (Fig. 163) have uniform characteristics: they
consist of very dense, strong weaves that were made in tabby
weave from woollen threads 1.5 to 2.5 mm thick. Sometimes the
surfaces are felted (by fulling?), which makes the fabric more
resistant to wear. The edges of the bags are reinforced, either by
starting borders or strong rolled hems designed to add stability,
or by hemmed buttonhole stitches. There are many indications
that the haulage textiles were made specifically for this purpose.
However, we do not know their exact form; that is whether the
textiles were sewn as sacks or used as simple blankets, filled
with salt and tied up670.

The textiles played an essential role as transport containers in

the organization of work of the Bronze Age salt mines of Hall-
statt. Interestingly, the production strategy changed in the Iron
Age. Large salt slabs are removed now, whereas the small-sized
lumps of salt that were much sought-after in the Bronze Age re-
main in the mountain as residue. The woollen haulage sacks or
cloths that constituted an important link in the transport chain
for centuries are no longer in use. Nevertheless, numerous ­textile
remnants are also found in the Iron Age parts of the salt mine,
but they have to be interpreted differently.

Plenty of evidence for the use of textile sacks and bags comes
from the Roman period, both from archaeological finds as well
as from epigraphic and iconographic sources671.

Both possibilities are discussed in Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and Reschreiter 2013, fig. 40.
670

Linscheid 2011. – Wild 2003, 38–39.

671

306
 Fig. 163. Hallstatt,
Bronze Age salt mines:
remnants of woollen
transport sacks.

5 Recycling: binding material, bandages,

packaging material, caulking material

The finds from the Iron Age salt mines of Hallstatt (East Group,
c. 9th to 4th centuries BC) and the slightly younger Dürrnberg672
(late 6th to 3rd/2nd centuries BC) provide insights into the resource
management of the 1st millennium BC. Textile production is very

672
Dürrnberg: Stöllner 2002; 2005. – Hallstatt: Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and
Reschreiter 2013, 130–134.

307
 time-consuming and thus expensive. The evidence for targeted
recycling of waste textiles shows that textiles were much appreci-
ated as raw materials and fully exploited till the end.

The textiles from the Iron Age salt mines are sometimes very
fine, of high quality and beautifully patterned. To a large extent,
they probably represent the remains of garments, torn into small
shreds and left behind in the overburden of the mountain. At
the time of their discovery, (the first textiles were found in the
salt mine of Hallstatt in 1849), the question already arose as to
whether these pieces of fabric could have come from the work
clothes of the miners. However, it is clear for the Iron Age min-
ing in Hallstatt at least that the miners were working in large
Fig. 164. Dürrnberg- mining halls, not in narrow tunnels, so that the risk of tearing
Hallein, site Hinterseng: clothes while working was not very high. Current research673
patterned band in sec-
ondary use, wrapping ­assumes that textiles were gathered above ground, i.e. specifi-
a broken tool handle, cally collected in the settlement outside the mine and brought
Iron Age. into the mountain as consumables. Interestingly, even today,

Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and Reschreiter 2013, 130–134. – Reschreiter 2005, 14. –

673

Stöllner 2005, 161, 171. – Von Kurzynski 1996, 33.

308
a­ lthough salt is mined with the latest technology, the custom of Fig. 165. Hallstatt, Early
having a ‘rag box’ (‘Fetzenkiste’) around remains common. Here, Iron Age salt mines:
modern miners gather used pieces of textiles to take into the textiles tied in a knot.
mines and use as necessary, for example to clean the pneumatic
hammers and other tools.

Pieces of textiles torn into strips are also known from prehistoric
Hallstatt and Dürrnberg. Some pieces of cloth are knotted ­­(Fig.
164 and 165), and sometimes two textiles are tied together by a
knot; there are also knots of bast material674. These material re-
mains were apparently used as makeshift bandage material. A
particularly impressive example of the kind comes from the site
of Hinterseng/Dürrnberg675: an elaborately coloured patterned
fabric band was discovered there in the middle of the 19th cen-
tury, which was knotted around a broken tool handle (Fig. 164).
The primary purpose of this beautifully designed piece of ­textile

Stöllner 2002, fig. 12 and pl. 4/1375, 5/1674. – Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and Reschreiter
674

2013, 130–134.
Kyrle 1918, fig. 60. This find remains lost since World War II. In the Dürrnberg salt mines
675

many repaired tool handles were found, for instance at the site Ferro-Schachtricht. Stöllner
2002, pl. 109, 111, 140 or 178.

309
 work was probably in the area of​​
clothing, but it was finally – to use
a modern term – recycled and used
for repair work.

Cords and ropes of various types

of tree bast and grasses were used
as binding material in the Hallstatt
and Dürrnberg mines. If those
were not readily available, strips
of cloth, leather strips or young,
elastic twigs were apparently also
used676. Most likely, the fabric
scraps were used for several hy-
gienic and/or sanitary purposes in
the mountain, as cleaning rags or
for cleaning hands and face, possi-
bly also as a kind of ‘toilet paper’.
Conclusive evidence for the lat-
ter use has not yet been found, al-
though human faeces are frequent
finds in the salt mines. It is note-
worthy that direct evidence for the
use of fabric for medical purposes
has been recovered at the Dürrn-
Fig. 166. Dürrnberg berg. At the Ferro-Schachtricht site a bundle of cloth was dis-
near Hallein, Austria: covered, which looked inconspicuous during the archaeological
wound dressing for a excavations. On closer examination, it turned out that this soft,
finger, Late Iron Age.
light-coloured linen fabric was rolled up in the form of a finger
and fixed in this form with bast (Fig. 166). It is probably an 11
cm long finger bandage, a wound dressing for a finger. Plant
remains were found within the bundle, and although they have
not yet been fully analysed, they may have served to stop bleed-
ing or to promote wound healing677. The medical usage of linen
bandages is also described in Roman times678 by Galen in De fas-
ciis, while Pliny the Elder (Nat. Hist. 19.21) states that the nap
of linen cloths, especially that which comes from ships’ sails,

Cf. Kern et al. 2009a, 64–65. – Stöllner 2002, e.g. pl. 9–10.
676

Stöllner 2002, pl. 200, 354; Nr. 2817; Textile catalogue 23.
677

After Gleba 2008a, 68.

678

310
is used as a medicine. This, again, documents the recycling of
textiles.

A number of textile remains have been discovered in the copper

mines of Mitterberg/Mühlbach in the Austrian Alps dating c.
1,600 BC. Interesting clues as to the use of ‘recycled’ textiles in the
Bronze Age are documented by one well-known piece. Accord-
ing to the old records, the textile was found in the Bronze Age ore
mining site within an insulating layer679. This protective insula-
tion was intended to prevent ground water from above penetrat-
ing the part of the copper mine in which work was being carried
out. For this purpose, a wall of wooden planks was erected across
the pit to half the height of the shaft, which was supported by a
stone and sand fill. The textile rags, along with moss, served as
caulking material stuck between the clay-lined wooden planks.

The use of textiles as caulking material for boats is a well-known

phenomenon of the 1st millennium AD. Various textile types were
found, for example, between the planks of the Nydam boat from
a bog in southern Jutland, Denmark, which is dated to c. 310 – 320
AD.680 Apparently, no special type of fabric was produced for
caulking; only reused material was employed for this purpose.

Another very different kind of secondary use of fabrics is the

production of La Tène arm and leg rings, made from hollow
sheet bronze. Sets of leg rings occur in pairs in female inhuma-
tion graves of the early and middle La Tène period, especially
in Lower Austria, Moravia and Slovakia681. To stabilize the thin
sheet of metal, the hollow rings were formed around a filling of
clay, sand, wood, or even around firmly twisted pieces of textile
(Fig. 167). The filling was designed to protect the shape of the
hollow object during manufacture and wear. The textiles recov-
ered from the rings are usually fully organic and well preserved.
The textiles used are always tabby woven fragments of flax; it
is natural to assume the recycling of waste textiles for this pur-
pose.

679
Klose 1916, 35, fig. 45–46.
680
Möller-Wiering 2011, 93–94.
681
Finds from Lower Austria: e.g. Müllauer and Ramsl 2007. – Finds from Moravia and Slovakia:
Belanová 2005; 2012, 314–320, fig. 15.11–12.

311
 A particularly beautiful example of leg rings is the set from
Grave 9 from Nové Zamky in Slovakia682. In the two hollow
rings around the ankles of the buried woman several fragments
of a tabby woven fabric were discovered, which were decorated
with red wool embroidery (see Fig. 120). Slovakian researchers
also discuss the possibility that the textiles worn in rings on the
body may have had an additional symbolic function. Whether
the idea of ​​‘recycling’ rags was important or whether perhaps
the filling of rings with textiles had magical-ritual connotations
is difficult to decide.

There is also ample evidence for textile recycling in prehistoric

graves, as not every piece of fabric can automatically be inter-
preted as a remnant of the deceased’s clothing. The wrapping
of grave goods (see above) was mainly an Iron Age custom:
in particular, weapons such as swords, daggers or knives were
wrapped. These textiles are often only preserved in a mineral-
Fig. 167. Mannersdorf/ ized state. It is therefore rather difficult to decide whether the
Leithagebirge, Austria:
leg rings from the Late corresponding fabric pieces were made specifically for this pur-
Iron Age Grave 217 pose, or whether used textiles were prepared for the wrapping.
with textile filling.

Pieta 1992.
682

312
6 Technical use and utilitarian textiles:
scabbards, belt linings, interlinings

Textiles also were used for ‘technical’ purposes, as when some-

thing had to be bolstered or covered with cloth, which is a
practice that continues today. A find from Berg/Attergau683 in
Austria, for instance, illustrates that the magnificent Iron Age
sheet bronze belts were padded on the inside and covered with
fabric to ensure a good fit. Excavation and subsequent conser-
vation revealed the following (Fig. 168): The sheet bronze belt

Fig. 168. Berg im Atter-

gau, Austria: Original
parts and diagram of
the belt construction.
Reconstruction by Wolf-
gang Lobisser, VIAS.

683
Trebsche et al. 2007, 65–67, fig. 101.

313
 was found in the cremation grave of a 30 to 50-year-old indi-
vidual buried under a Hallstatt period burial mound; organic
remains still adhered to the belt. During the minute examination
and study of microstratigraphy in the restoration workshop, it
was found that the sheet belt had a lining comprised of several
organic layers; strips of thick bark were found directly under
the metal. This inside of the belt was lined with a multi-layered
fine twill weave. The fabric was wrapped around the edge of
the plate, where it was covered on both edges with a leather
strip and fastened by means of small wooden nails. Other sheet
bronze belts spanning the body, for example from the cemetery
Fig. 169. Horath, Ger- of Hallstatt684, also show rows of holes along the edges. These
many: Reconstruction
of the textile and attest that the belts were fixed to or lined with organic material;
­leather linings of a Late conceivable materials include leather or, as in the case of Berg
Iron Age scabbard. im Attergau, bark or textiles.

Kromer 1959, e.g. Grave 255 (pl. 36) or Grave 459 (pl. 75). – Cf. Kern, Lammerhuber and
684

Schwab 2010, belt plate from Grave 367 and 459.

314
Further examples of the use of fabrics for technical purposes
are offered by the finds of textiles in the context of weaponry:
textiles for the construction of sword and dagger sheaths were
used from the Bronze Age685. These were used both as external
linings, such as for the finds from Kosel, as well as for interlin-
ings, such as for a find from Friedrichsruhe (both Northern Ger-
many, Bronze Age Montelius III). There are also finds of Hall-
statt sword sheaths, such as from Gomadingen-Steingebronn,
that were made ​​from double wood shells with fabric wrapping
(probably drenched with adhesive). The remains of a lined
wooden scabbard of a La Tène sword from Horath, Germany,
show yet another possibility. The scabbard consisted of sev-
eral layers of wood, iron sheet metal and an organic upholstery
made of leather, linen fibres and tree bast, with an innermost
layer of linen fabric (Fig. 169).

Technical secondary use can be postulated for the fabric from

the Urnfield hoard of Sublaines, France. The textile was found
inside the socket of a bronze axe, leading Hans-Jürgen Hundt686
to assume that the textile served as plugging material to fix the
wooden shaft securely to the metal socket. Similar finds of fab-
rics wedged into the socket of socketed tools are known from
England and Scotland, from Late Bronze Age contexts.687 Tex-
tile and leather pieces were also used in the Iron Age mines
at Dürrnberg, to wedge the picks (Bergeisen) into the wooden
shafts688. About 12 × 4 cm large, rectangular leather or fabric
strips were inserted into the forked shafts to attach the metal
blade on this interlining.

Even for pottery production, woven textiles as well as mats

sometimes served technical functions. Mat imprints were found
on the bottom of Neolithic pots at Michelstetten in Austria and
­Hódmezővásárhely-Kökénydomb in Hungary689. From the lat-

685
Kosel, Friedrichsruhe: Bender Jørgensen 1986, 229. – Ehlers 1998, 181–182, 194–195. –
Gomadingen: Zürn 1987, fig. 32. – Horath: Haffner 1976, 230, fig. 62.
686
Hundt 1988, 261.
687
England: Sommerleyton: De Roche 2012, 446. – Scotland: Nydie mais, Fife and Pyotdykes:
Wincott Heckett 2012, 432.
688
Stöllner 2002, e.g. pl. 120 (textile) and pl. 190 (leather).
689
Austria: Grömer 2006a. – Hungary: Richter 2010, fig. 34.1–34.4. – Poland: Bender Jørgensen
1992, fig. 110.

315
Fig. 170. Textile imprint ter location, as well as from Bilce Złote in Poland, imprints of
on a briquetage-frag- tabbies were found. In these cases, the imprints were not added
ment from Erdeborn to the unfinished vessel as a decoration, they just appeared, be-
in Germany, beginning
of the 1st millennium cause the vessel was put on a mat or textile by the potter during
BC (1). Experiments: manufacture; therefore, the fabric or mat is a technical imple-
Cross-section of a ment.
vessel with textile and
crystallized salt (2). The flexibility and elasticity inherent in textiles was exploited
Reconstruction of the
briquetage-furnace (3), when they were used at the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age
crystallized salt from salt production site in Erdeborn in Germany690. There, ceramic
the heating process (4). vessels (briquetage) were filled with brine, and heated until the
water evaporated and the salt could be harvested. Sometimes,
traces of textiles were found inside the vessels (Fig. 170.1),
where they might have been used in the production process of

Ipach 2015. – Ipach, Scherf and Grömer 2014.

690

316
the­ ­vessel or for the production of the salt – to serve as a layer Fig. 171. Use of textiles
­between the vessel and the salt clump. The textile traces are on in prehistoric Europe
one hand coarse tabbies, like one coarse veil-like textile and according to archaeo-
logical finds.
on the other hand a twill fabric. The experiment proved (Fig.
170.2 – 4), that if the brine is heated in a vessel covered with tex-
tile, the salt crystallizes along the textile structure (Fig. 170.2).

317
 7 Conclusion
The archaeological context and the specific characteristics of
prehistoric textiles provide many clues as to their former use
(Fig. 171). Not every piece of woven fabric that has been found
in a prehistoric grave or salt mine served as clothing. One can
also distinguish between primary and secondary function of
textiles. Most often, the primary function would be the use of
new fabrics for clothing, but textiles for industrial and technical
use might also have been produced primarily for this function.
Hints of secondary uses (recycling or reuse until the final wear)
are found mainly in the textiles from the salt mines, but also
from graves, e.g. when they are used in La Tène arm rings. On
page 240 we pointed out that we also know garments made of
recycled material, which means we can trace here secondary use
as well.

The functional interpretation of textile residues further demon-

strates that textiles played a role in every area of human life – as
clothing, as household textiles, soft furnishings and as aids in
various activities – in the domestic, ritual and religious spheres,
in grave rituals as well as sacrifices.

Another important use of textiles – for sails and ship rigging –

has been omitted here, as this study focuses on the largely land-
locked Central Europe. This use was, however, of importance
throughout the prehistoric Mediterranean world, even for the
Etruscans, as well as in Scandinavia691.

Cf. Gleba 2012, 283–234. – Möller-Wiering 2007.

691

318
 E Clothing in
Central European
Prehistory

The use of clothing is deeply rooted in human be-

haviour, and is one of those types of behaviour that
clearly distinguish us from animals. It is not known
exactly what factors in the evolution of humankind
caused us to cover our body with clothes. Was it
purely the obvious, to meet the body's need for pro-
tection against cold, heat or other influences?

319
 The sense of chastity (or shame) – for the development of clothing
as allegorically reported in the Bible – was surely not the reason.
This only occurs after the covering of the body has become an
ingrained habit and the contrast between ‘naked’ and ‘clothed’
comes to consciousness, leading to nudity being perceived as im-
moral. Did the custom of clothing derive from wearing hunting
trophies or from camouflage when stalking wild animals? It is not
clear whether the natural hair cover all over the body assumed
for previous species of mankind – similar to our closest relatives
the chimpanzees – disappeared after the advent of clothing or
whether the introduction of clothing is a result of the loss of the
hair. Does the development of clothing reflect the interaction be-
tween biological and behavioural cold adaptions subsequent to
the expansion of humans to colder climate areas? The question
of when the first forms of clothing appear therefore is an exciting
one. Using DNA analysis to trace the evolutionary split between
head and body lice, researchers recently concluded that body lice
evolved from head lice approximately 190,000 years ago. This
means that the use of clothing can be traced back at least this far.692

The term clothing is also more than complex. In modern terms

it encompasses everything that people use to cover their bodies.
In a broader sense, clothing also includes headgear and foot-
wear, jewellery and accessories, since they all shape the overall
appearance of a person693. Archaeological research on costume
and clothing generally deals with the evaluation of jewellery
and clothing accessories made ​​of metal (especially belt compo-
nents, pins and brooches)694. Recently, a useful analytical cate-
gorisation for the study of dress in prehistoric archaeology has
been established by Marie Louise Stig Sørensen695. She distin-
guishes between cloth, i.e. the textile itself, and clothing, that is
the garment constructed from cloth. Items of clothing together
with belts or brooches, i.e. dress fittings, footwear, headgear and
in the broadest sense, even hair and beard style, are subsumed
under the term ‘costume’.

Hunting theory: Koenig 1978. – Cold adaption theory: Gilligan 2007. – Body lice: Bower 2010.
692

Cf. Eicher and Evenson 2015, 2–27. – Reich 2005. – For definitions in ethnography, see
693

Cordwell and Schwartz 1979. – Feest and Janata 1989, 161–163.

E.g. Pabst-Dörrer 2000. – Ramsl 2002, 2011, 2014a. – Wels-Weyrauch 1994.
694

Definition of clothing and costumes in archaeology after Sørensen 1997; 2010.

695

320
When attempting to write the history of clothing before the Ro-
mans, one encounters limitations all too quickly. Very few com-
plete prehistoric garments are preserved, which only allow spo-
radic insights into the costume of individual regions or certain
narrow time periods. With the interpretation of human images,
one has to question whether accurate pictorial representations
of contemporary costumes were at all the intention of the image.
Written sources, which may shed light on the names of certain
garments, their production or their function, are not available
except for the latest Iron Age. This chapter presents the sources
and evidence that archaeologists can use to reconstruct prehis-
toric clothing, and the aspects of source criticism that have to be
considered.

1 Sources for the history of

pre-Roman costume

1.1 Complete garments

The complete garments from Bronze and Iron Age in Northern

Europe are all too enthusiastically embraced by writers of cos-
tume history, as if the full range of prehistoric clothing could be
reconstructed from these few pieces696. The alternative picture
given in older books about costume history is that pre-Roman
‘savages’ are represented with fur and skins slung over their
bodies.

It is essential to note here that complete pieces of garments are

rarely obtained, and they come from different time periods, cul-
tures and regions of prehistoric Europe. In addition, they derive
from different find contexts, such as from graves or sacrificial
deposits. This raises the question of whether it was everyday
clothes or special pieces that were put into graves or sacrificed.
Even with relatively complete ensembles that have been pre-

696
E.g. Lenning 1982. – Bruhn and Tilke 2004, e.g. pl. 21, Bronze Age to Roman. – Leventon
2008, 38–39, 43. – Thiel 2000, with references and further sources.

321
 served in rare cases, one must always bear in mind that even
these may be missing significant parts through selective preser-
vation conditions. Iron Age bog finds in northern Europe, for ex-
ample, consist of only the organic raw materials that stem from
animals, not from plants. We are thus well informed about var-
ious garments made ​​of leather or wool fabrics, but largely igno-
rant of linen fabrics from these cultures. It is quite conceivable
that the Tollund Man697, strangled and dumped in a bog during
the 3rd century BC, who was found wearing only a leather cap
and a leather belt, might in fact have been wearing a linen tunic.
The exact shape of this garment could theoretically differ sub-
stantially from contemporary woollen outerwear.

Only rarely has a prehistoric person in full costume been as im-

mediately and directly encountered, such as the Iceman, found
3,210 m above sea level in the Ötztal Alps in Southern Tyrol in
1991698 (Fig. 12). An unfortunate victim of either an accident or
a hostile act, this Copper Age man’s garments and belongings
have survived in the ice since c. 3,300 BC. Due to his accidental
death, his costume is an important example of mountain equip-
ment used during Alpine crossings at that time.

A counterpart to the Stone Age alpine equipment of the Iceman

is an ensemble discovered a year later, on the verge of the melt-
ing snow field of the Vedrette glacier in the Tyrolean Alps at
2,850 m altitude699. Here were found two pairs of leggings, leg
warmers made ​​of wool as well as socks and scraps of leather
shoes. Again, this is warm, functional clothing for the alpine en-
vironments, in this case dating to the Iron Age between the 8th
and 6th century BC.

However, the garments of the Iceman represent a specific, iso-

lated case of clothing worn by a prehistoric man during his life-
time, found and observed in context. A large part of the com-
plete garments or costume components with textile residues,

Van der Sanden 1996, 20. – Van der Plicht et al. 2004, 482–483. – Cf. Mannering et al. 2012,
697

104.
698
Spindler 1995. – Spindler et al. 1995.
699
Bazzanella et al. 2005.

322
however, are derived from burials, which warrants a few critical
methodological remarks.

What about the bog bodies700? In Northern Europe, especially

in northern Germany, Denmark and Ireland, people originating
from different periods were discovered during peat digging in
the 19th and 20th centuries. They ended up in the bog for a variety
of reasons, whether accidental victims on their way through the
bog, as intentional burials or, as is often assumed, they were the
subject of the death penalty or human sacrifice.

Less than half of the bog bodies are equipped with clothes, but
this is partly due to differential preservation conditions (page
28) or incomplete recovery. If garments were found with a bog
body, the persons were not always dressed correctly. Some
garments were found wrapped around the body, at other times
the clothing was deposited under the head. The garments of the
bog bodies could in principle represent clothing worn during
their owner’s lifetime, but for those people who came into the
bog through certain rituals, such as the victims of sacrifice and
punishment, their clothing might have been specially selected.
This in turn might have expressed a certain status in society
(that of a human sacrifice or criminal, for example). The same
might apply in the cases where the person’s head was partly or
completely shaven, as for example the Yde Girl or the ‘Wind-
eby Girl’701, who ­according to recent DNA analyses was actu-
ally a male; both bodies date to around the time of the birth of
Christ.

Complete items of clothing are also known from offerings with-

out associated human sacrifice. Between the 1st century BC and
the beginning of the 5th century AD members of the West Ger-
manic tribe of the Angles offered various objects into the Thors-
berg Moor, Germany702. The offerings consisted of weapons,

Mannering et al. 2012. – Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012. – Schlabow 1976. – For a
700

summary on the bog bodies, see Van der Sanden 1996, clothing: 120–134, hair: 164,
circumstances of death: 154 – 165, interpretations: 166–181.
Gill-Robinson 2006. – Windeby and Yde: Van der Plicht et al. 2004, 485–486. – Van der
701

Sanden 1996, 32.

Schlabow 1976, 23, cloaks and tunics: 61–70, fig. 109–130, trousers 76–77, fig. 162–174,
702

wraps 89–90, fig. 226–231. – See also Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012.

323
 Opposite side: shields, horse harnesses, clothes, wooden objects, tools and
Fig. 172. Upflamör jewellery. Amongst the most outstanding finds were a Roman
south of Reutlingen, cavalry mask, Roman helmets, coins and objects marked with
Germany. runes. Among the textiles found in bogs there are a number of
Reconstruction of the
burial with over-long garments among the deposited offerings: five splendid cloaks, a
needles and leg spirals tunic, two pairs of trousers and two pairs of leg wraps.
connected by chain
links, 14th century BC.
1.2 Textiles in graves

Although conditions are unfavourable for the preservation of

organic material in the moist central European climate, textile
remains are sometimes found in graves, preserved through con-
tact with metal (see Fig. 9). Textiles preserved in such a way are
usually very small in size and the surface structure often is only
preserved as an impression in the corrosion layer. Nevertheless,
they are an important source of information about prehistoric
textiles. Through detailed observations of the find contexts, the
role the textiles played in the grave may be evaluated, for in-
stance if they were part of the garment of the deceased, a part
of the shroud, or wrapped around an object703. It is important to
decide if the garments in the grave represent the clothes worn
during lifetime, or if they constitute a special costume for the
dead704, which was made only for the funeral.

In a study of the jewellery from Middle Bronze Age female buri-

als in Central Europe, the prehistorian Bert Wiegel705 found that
the rings exhibited strong signs of wear. It can therefore safely be
assumed that this was a costume worn during life. This means
that these people wore their rings in their lifetime and took them
to their grave. According to Ulrike Wels-Weyrauch706, however,
other evidence of jewellery and costume elements from the same
time period suggest that they should, at least in part, to be re-
garded as costumes for the dead. She argues that the ‘Beinberge’
(rings or cuffs with spiral ends) worn on the legs and connected

Compare Gleba 2012, 230; 2014b.

703

Sørensen 1997; 2010, 55.

704

Wiegel 1994, 165.

705

Wels-Weyrauch 1994, 59, fig. 55–56C. – Cf. Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and Mückler 2012,
706

139–140.

324
by a chain of links could have hardly be worn
during lifetime, as they make it impossible
to walk. Similarly the extra-long pins which
are frequently found in that period do not ap-
pear particularly advantageous and practical
in everyday life (Fig. 172).

The large textiles found in the princely tombs

of Verucchio in Italy707 shed some light on
this question as well. Two cloaks were found
in tomb 89. Traces of wear, such as holes left
by the fibulae, prove that they had been used
previously. Numerous paired stitches were
documented on the left shoulder of cloak 1,
demonstrating that they were clearly not wo-
ven exclusively for the burial.

Ultimately it cannot be proven if the objects

in a grave were part of the personal prop-
erty of the dead and used during their lives,
or if they constitute gifts from relatives and
friends708. This applies as much to pottery
grave gifts as to the jewellery. It is clear, how-
ever, that the grave goods, including the cos-
tume, mirror what the community wanted to
express about the sex, the age and the status
of a person.

What do we know about the clothing mate-

rials of the living? The textile remains from
the Neolithic and Bronze Age lake dwell-
ings or the textile finds from the salt mines of
Hallstatt and Dürrnberg could (among other
uses, see chapter D) represent remnants of
clothing. Direct evidence that textile pieces
from these contexts were formerly worn as
clothing was found in the form of unwanted

707
Stauffer 2012, 249.
708
For methodological considerations, see Kurz 1997, 125–130. Clothing is there considered to
be personal property in real life.

325
 parasites clinging to the textiles of the Hallstatt salt mine. In sev-
eral cases, the rags were recognised as former garments through
the discovery of nits and human body lice709. The body louse is
a parasite adapted to humans and lives most comfortably at hu-
man body temperature, preferably in the hair or clothing. The
body louse is therefore only found in textiles that were in direct
contact with the human body. It is currently thought that the
textiles from the Iron Age areas of the Hallstatt salt mine were at
least partly used as clothes before their secondary use; whether
as everyday attire or special costume is uncertain.

In addition, insights can be gained as to raw materials of the

textiles, their structures, qualities, patterns and colours. For in-
stance by comparing the data from the Hallstatt salt mine with
the textiles of culturally similar and contemporary cemeteries,
such as those from the eastern Hallstatt area710, it is apparent that
they have the same range of weaves and subtleties. Although
colour patterns can no longer be preserved due to the unfavour-
able preservation conditions by metal corrosion in graves, it is
possible to observe patterns produced by spin direction. These
matches indicate that the textiles used during a person’s lifetime
were similar to those in the grave. The local Hallstatt popula-
tion, however, might not be typical in the sense that it was most
likely a wealthy community based on salt mining and trade, as
is inferred from the rich grave goods found in the Hallstatt cem-
etery. Similarly the textiles preserved in the Hallstatt graves also
represent more affluent people. Under conventional conditions
textiles are only – if at all – preserved in graves with sufficient
metal objects, so that textiles have the chance to corrode onto
them. Again, this is certainly not the poorest sector of society.

1.3 Clothing accessories and jewellery

from graves
Before the invention of press studs, zippers and Velcro, cloth-
ing was fastened in a variety of different ways. These devices

Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and Reschreiter 2013, 127–128; HallTex 32, 34, 40, 292. – For
709

lice, see Ryder 2003.

Compare Belanová-Štolcová 2012, 310. – Bender Jørgensen 2005. – Grömer 2012, 43–44.
710

326
are referred to in archaeology as dress fittings, dress fastenings
and clothing accessories. These include belt buckles, buttons,
brooches and pins. Clothing accessories are designed according
to the characteristic style and design of the period, as they serve
a decorative purpose in addition to their practical function. They
sometimes even carry a symbolic content711. The symbolism may
be inherent in the material, the shape, and the motives of the
decoration or even in the positioning of the object on the body.

Archaeological costume research is primarily concerned with

the evaluation of jewellery and clothing accessories made ​​of
metal712, because finds of textiles in graves are so rare. Certain
conclusions about the costume can be drawn from the position of
dress elements, especially when the objects are positioned on the
body according to their function as fasteners. Metal components
such as belts, pins and fibulae in graves without textile preser-
vation indicate which part of the body was belted, and where
the clothes were held together by pins or fibulae (Fig. 173). The
appearance of the corresponding piece of clothing (upper gar-
ment, tunic, cloak, dress, etc.) has to be inferred by comparison
with pictorial sources or exceptional preserved finds. The anal-
ogies are frequently borrowed from geographically or chrono-
logically distant places, which is of course problematic. Due to a
lack of other evidence, the Neolithic and Bronze Age garments
from Central Europe are most often reconstructed from the Nor-
dic costumes from oak coffin burials as a reference, even though
they belong to a completely different cultural context.

The interpretation of the positioning of the metal items in graves

presents other problems. In rich graves there are often more
dress elements present than strictly needed. They may at times
be found in the correct location, but at other times may not have
had a functional role as garment fasteners (Fig. 242)713. This can
lead to confusing costume reconstructions714. In each individ-
ual case close observation of the objects in the grave is required

This is particularly well researched in ethnography, e.g. Feest and Janata 1989, 161–164.
711

E.g. Pabst-Dörrer 2000. – Wiegel 1994.

712

E.g. the cemetery of Münsingen, Switzerland, where surplus fibulae were found in a number
713

of graves. Hodson 1968, 56–63, Grave 122, 132, 140, 149, 157, 161, 168 or 184.
E.g. Negroni Catacchio 2007, fig. 8–10.
714

327
 Fig. 173. Cemetery of Hallstatt, Early Iron Age: Watercolour painting of grave findings
from Johann Georg Ramsauer’s documentation in 1846.
328
to decide which dress accessories fastened clothing, which
may be considered as grave gifts and which ones had other
functions, for instance to fasten shrouds.

1.4 Pictorial sources

Pictorial representations of people in prehistoric times

occur in many variants. This is just a short overview;
detailed explanations can be found in the sections on
the individual periods. Various types of idols, figu-
rines and stelae made ​​of clay, stone, bone, ivory or
metal provide sources with the greatest time depth.
Human images reach as far back as the Palaeolithic pe-
riod, with one of the most famous examples being the
Venus of Willendorf715 (Fig. 174) dating to c. 29,500 BC.

Ceramic figurines made in Central Europe and the famous

stone stelae from the alpine areas of northern Italy and
western Switzerland and France are particularly significant
for the Neolithic716. There are very few human representations
from the Central European Bronze Age717, but in the Early Iron
Age figurative art occurs more frequently, for instance as metal
figurines or monumental stone statues such as the Glauberg Fig. 174. Venus of
Warrior718. Iron Age fibulae with human representations com- Willendorf, Austria,
plete the inventory of available pictorial sources. c. 29,500 BC.

Anthropomorphic images on pottery, found in the Stone and

Iron Ages, provide another source of evidence. These images are
executed in the typical decorative techniques of the time, such as
incision (Fig. 175), relief, painting or impression. Iron Age sheet
bronze objects were also decorated with human figures, both in
punching and repoussé as well as using a chasing technique.

Female figurine found in Willendorf, Lower Austria. Most recently: Antl-Weiser 2008.
715

E.g. Hansen 2007. – Müller-Karpe 1974, pl. 602–603. – Wininger 1995, fig. 7–9.
716

Bronze Age figurines with depictions of clothing are known from the Nordic Bronze Age
717

(Broholm and Hald 1940, fig. 192–193) and from Hungary, Romania and Serbia (Müller-Karpe
1980, pl. 326–327).
Exhibition catalogue Glauberg 2002, fig. 70–71.
718

329
 Fig. 175. Sword scab-
bard from Hallstatt,
Grave 994, Early La
Tène period.

Prehistoric human figures sometimes provide immediate and

direct insights of clothing. They may also be misleading, as they
may not reflect everyday life, but instead may be standardised
iconographic motifs, be influenced by religious aspects or repre-
sent extraordinary situations. Even if they depict everyday life
sceneries, they are only snapshots and say more about the lan-
guage of images than about the clothing of everyday life719. The
attention to detail, with which clothing accessories and jewel-
lery are depicted, varies depending on the intention of the artist
when creating the image. It is necessary to take into account lev-
els of abstraction, as well as the individual skill of the artists and
the representational limits of the material in which the image
is executed. These are crucial to the interpretation of pictorial
sources.

Particularly well-known are the pictures on bronze buckets,

called situla art, which serve as good examples for the interpre-
tations of human representations. The situlae (the Latin word for
bucket) were used as wine containers, and are found between
the Po River in northern Italy and the Danube between the 6th
and 4th century BC720. The situla art was created following Medi-

E.g. Paetz gen. Schieck 2013. – Schierer 1996, 6–8.

719

Frey 2005. – Lucke and Frey 1962. – Turk 2005.

720

330
terranean models and shows detailed figu-
rative friezes of processions and musicians,
chariot drivers and competitors, riders and
warriors, hunting and sacrifice scenes. Sit-
ulae were not the only bronze objects deco-
rated with these picture scenes; other types
of vessels such as cists (cylindrical bronze
buckets), trays and lids as well as belt plates,
belt buckles or helmets were likewise deco-
rated. It is tempting to see the typical Hallstatt period
attire in the wealth of detail represented in situla art,
particularly when it comes to representations of
clothing. However, Etruscan pictorial sources
were generally used as models for situla art,
although local traits may be detected.

How can these pictures be interpreted? As

the situla from Kuffarn in Lower Austria
was found in a grave in 1891 (Fig. 176), Father
Lambert Karner from the nearby Göttweig
monastery interpreted the images in a lecture
to the Anthropological Society in Vienna as fol-
lows:

‘… the whole scenery is, in my view, a funny story set

in a pub. Slowly and ponderously the landlord swings
two empty situlae, walking to the cellar to refill them.
In contrast to the fat landlord, the thin waiter pours the
guest a drink with a laughing face and the little boy that
looks up to him is just waiting for the moment in which the
hat falls from his head … ‘ 721
Fig. 176. Situla of Kuffarn in Austria, Iron Age.
Drawing of the ‘tavern scene’ described by
Father Lambert Karner.

Sitzungsberichte, Monatsversammlung der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien am 15.

721

Dezember 1891. Vortrag von Pater Lambert Karner. Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen
Gesellschaft Wien XXI, 1891, [68] – [71]:
’… die ganze Scenerie ist, nach meiner Ansicht, eine lustige Wirtshausgeschichte. Der
behäbige Wirth schwingt zwei leere Situlen, er geht in den Keller, um sie wieder zu füllen. Im
Gegensatz zu dem dicken Wirthe schänkt der dünne Kellner mit lachendem Gesichte dem
Zecher ein, und das Büblein, das da emporschaut, wartet auf den Augenblick, in welchem
ihm der Hut vom Kopfe fällt …’

331
 Today the scene is interpreted as a princely royal household in
which an enthroned member of the elite is represented. Otto
Hermann Frey722, a specialist for situla art, sees general repre-
sentations of the lifestyle of the Early Iron Age nobility in the
situla images. According to the dissent interpretation of Chris-
toph Huth723, however, the representations do not reflect an ev-
eryday or festive reality, but rather cosmological ideas. As such,
they served the glorification of the dead as well as the religious
legitimation of claims to power. Whether representing mytho-
logical transfiguration or presentation of the ‘high society’, the
content of the images does not reflect everyday scenes among
the general population. Instead, festive activities, most likely of
the elite, are represented. Thus, the clothes shown on the situlae
are most likely festive costume, possibly of the upper class, and
probably incorporate symbolic elements.

1.5 Written Sources

Apart from a few dedications written in the Etruscan alphabet

by the Raeti and Venetians, inhabitants of the south alpine area,
there are no indigenous written sources from Central Europe724.
In the Late Iron Age, however, there were repeated contacts
­between the Greeks (and later the Romans) and the ‘barbarians’
living towards their north; i.e. people who did not speak the
Greek language and, in the ears of the Greek, only stammered.
Writings of ancient ethnographers and historians such as Po-
sidonius (135 – 51 BC) or Diodorus Siculus, who wrote a ‘uni-
versal history’ in 54 AD, include reports on these northern bar-
barians. The Roman general Julius Caesar, for example, detailed
the steps he had taken during the 58–51/50 BC campaigns in the
Gallic (now French) regions in his famous Commentarii de bello
gallico, which are read in Latin in humanist schools in Austria
to this day.

Lucke and Frey 1962.

722

Huth 2005, 522–527.

723

Urban 2000, 323–325.

724

332
Reports of ancient authors sometimes discuss the clothing of
peoples living towards the north725 at the threshold of writ-
ten history. It is very tempting to use precisely those written
sources to reconstruct clothing and lifestyle of the Late Iron
Age population of Central Europe. In doing so, the following
considerations are important: What was the intention of the
writer of the report726? Was the aim to provide the most accu-
rate description possible about the Celts? Were individual items
of clothing mentioned to stereotypically label a group regard-
less of what was actually worn in everyday life? Today, clichéd
descriptions would mention the sari for Indian women or the
Dirndl for ­Bavarians. For the Romans, it is particularly the trou-
sers that differentiate northern peoples as ‘gens bracata’ (people
wearing trousers) in contrast to ‘gens togata’ (people wearing the
toga). Were platitudes used in the writings to convey a sense of
the alien, barbaric and primitive to the readers? Julius Caesar
used his commentarii, which include descriptions of people and
­geography, for political purposes. He wanted to stress the im-
portance of his campaigns and the benefits of conquering these
peoples. The emphasis on wildness, strangeness and savagery
was used to justify Roman rule.

2 Clothing through the ages

Based on the considerations above, it is obvious that it is not
possible to provide a comprehensive overview of clothing be-
fore the Romans. Also everyday clothing of the entire prehis-
toric population cannot be reconstructed. Examples of garments
from specific regions, cultures and social classes may, however,
be highlighted.

In the following sections, an attempt will be made to interpret

archaeological textile finds in terms of the history of costumes,
based on the existing source material and with considerable
caution. As in this book as a whole, the focus here is on textiles

725
For a summary, see von Kurzynski 1996, 68–71.
726
For considerations on source criticism, see e.g. Fuchs and Oltrogge 2013.

333
 from the Neolithic to the Late Iron Age in Central Europe727. The
invaluable finds of complete garments from Northern Europe
will also be discussed, as these are exceptional sources of infor-
mation, at least for that region. It should be emphasized that
only shadowy outlines can be sketched. The present work is not
intended to be a comprehensive identification key for prehis-
toric clothes, since the current source material does not allow
definitive conclusions.

Due to the lack of literacy, which denies us a glimpse on the

names of items of clothing in most cases, standard modern En-
glish terms are used to describe the pieces, such as tunic, man-
tle/cloak, trousers and blouse. It is important not to imagine
these garments too much like the modern forms. A Bronze Age
‘blouse’ does not have a button tab, but is more like a T-shaped
shirt to slip on. Similarly, a ‘mantle’ or ‘cloak’ does not have any
sleeves, and describes blanket-like coats, wraps and covers.

3 Neolithic
Let us begin our discussion with the Neolithic period from the 6th
millennium BC. It is the time in which people in our region first
became sedentary, lived in fixed settlements (villages), farmed
and practiced animal husbandry – a way of life that in principle
is still in existence today. The first indications of spinning and
weaving in Central Europe exist from these early farming cul-
tures in the form of spindle whorls and loom weights.

In this period evidence for clothes is extremely rare. Although

we have a complete costume ensemble from the Iceman, re-
mains of clothes and textile fragments are otherwise few and far
between. Pictorial representations illustrate the appearance of
clothing – at least for those garments that Neolithic people felt
appropriate to represent on ritual figurines and anthropomor-
phic stelae. In this part of human history, metal was rarely used,
and when it was, only in limited quantities. Bone dress elements

Primarily Austria and neighbouring countries Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic,
727

Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia.

334
in graves, however, can sometimes be used to help our under-
standing of clothing.

3.1 The first farmers in the Early and

Middle Neolithic
The first farmers of the Neolithic in Central Europe represented
humans in the form of small, highly stylized ceramic figurines728.
The figurines of the Linear Pottery Culture (Fig. 180.1 – 5)
c. 5,500 – 4,900 BC are usually found in settlements and are usu-
ally highly fragmented. The figurines are often ostentatiously
decorated with angle, meander or triangle motifs. The same
kind of incised decoration is found on pottery at the same time,
so it appears familiar to the potters and was part of their skill
set. It is difficult to identify clothing items on these figurines;
angular designs are a frequent decorative element on the back
of the figures, often interpreted as a costume element or as the
representation of the ribs. A well-known representative of this
type is the figurine from Bicske, Hungary (Fig. 180.3). Some
incisions on the figurines may perhaps be interpreted as tops
with V-neck, others as leg wraps (both feet are shown, indicat-
ing separate leg covers). A grave find from Hainburg-Teichtal
in Austria729, dated c. 5,100 BC, sheds a light on such a garment
type, as shell beads were found around the knees of a 2 – 2.5 year
old child. It also had a row of beads around neck, waist and both
elbows. Did the child wear a tunic-like shirt with elbow-long
sleeves and kind of leg covers, decorated with beads around the
knees (Fig. 177)?

The makers of the small statuettes paid great attention to detail.

The Linear Pottery figurines show some interesting hairstyles
(Fig. 180.4–5), for example the ‘curly head’ of the female figure
from Eilsleben, Germany. On the head of the Ostheim figurine,

728
Hansen 2007, pl. 498–509. – Kalicz 1998, fig. 5. – Lüning 2005, 213–268 with images. The
very abstract images are here interpreted as realistic and a direct representations of clothing
and sewn decorative elements, which is controversial.
729
Krenn and Krumpel 2008, KG Hainburg an der Donau. Fundberichte aus Österreich 47, 2008,
21–22. – Umgeher-Mayer et al. 2011, 7, fig. 9–10. Thanks to Alexandra Krenn-Leeb, UHA
Vienna, for the permission to use the photos, who prepared a monograph about the site of
Hainburg/Teichtal.

335
Fig. 177. Early Neolithic also from Germany, the incised lines might represent braids that
burial of a two-year-old were pinned to an exquisite hairstyle at the top and back of the
child from Hainburg- head730. Are there other sources that tell us more about this cre-
Teichtal in Austria.
ative manner in dressing the head? Hair combs and shells were
found, for instance, in contemporary cemeteries in Bavaria731
(Fig. 178 left), where they were found in the head area and were
most likely part of elaborate and artistic hairstyles. The small
shells were possibly worn in a hair net or sewn onto a cap.

Engelbrecht, Kühltrunk and Ramminger 2003, 317–323.

730

Nieszery 1995, examples with clothing accessories in the head and pelvic areas: pl. 13, 26,
731

50, 52: Aiterhofen-Ödmühle Grave 32, 68 and 139, 143.

336
The ‘Sickle God’ from Szegvár-Tűzköves in Hungary732 is a well-
known example of a Tisza culture clay figurine. It is interest-
ing in this context because of the belt around its waist. Other
than the belt, this idol and another like it from the same site are
‘nude’.

A few human representations were found among the incised

decorations on pottery733 of the Linear Pottery Culture and Mid-
dle Neolithic cultures. One of the rare examples is an abstract
human composed of two opposing triangles from Hausen in
Germany, dated to c. 5,100 BC (Fig. 180.1). This type of represen-
tation is seen more clearly on the ‘beaker of Murr’ in Germany
(Fig. 180.14) from the Münchshöfen Culture c. 4,000 BC. Again
we see two triangles, but this time with a clear head, arms and
legs. This form of representation may indicate a simple belted
garment that was gathered at the waist, as shown by the sig-
nificant drapery. This kind of dress could have served well as
an everyday garment. Such a garment fits the findings from the
Linear Pottery graves in Bavaria and Upper Austria, where shell
fasteners are sometimes found in the pelvic area, indicating a
belted item. In Aiterhofen-Ödmühle, Germany, for example
(Fig. 178), spondylus shell belt closures with v-shaped angles
were found in male graves, whereas females were buried with
round mussel belt plates. The dress elements made of bone from
the Middle Neolithic also show an emphasis on the waist, such
as the ornate belt decorated with about 50 studs in the grave of
an adult woman from Haid in Austria734 (Fig. 178).

From the Middle Neolithic, the Lengyel Culture c. 4,900 – 4,300

BC, a large number of ceramic female figurines are known from
Austria, Hungary and Moravia. These figurines are, however,
consistently unclothed, which is unfortunate for clothes re-
search. The figurines are frequently discovered in the circular
ditches of sacred sites, which might point to their use in ritual.
The figures might represent ancestors, priestesses or godlike fig-
ures; perhaps they served as votive figures for various ceremo-

Csalog 1959. – Korek 1987. – Trogmayer 1992.

732

Examples from Sondershausen and Murr in Neumaier 1996, fig. 26 and pl. XVI.
733

Haid, Grave 75. Kloiber et al. 1971, fig. 6. – Lenneis, Neugebauer and Ruttkay 1995, fig. 44.
734

337
Fig. 178. Early and Middle nies or rites. Interestingly, they are usually found (intentionally
Neolithic graves with cos- or accidentally?) broken735.
tume components.
Left: Aiterhofen-­Ödmühle
in Germany, right: Haid Among the few figurines that provide further details as to their
in Austria. hair, jewellery and clothing, the ensemble from the circular ditch
system of Sé, Hungary736 (Fig. 180.7 – 10) is particularly striking.
Researchers have discovered more than 130 mostly fragmented
statuettes, some of which include representations of loincloths,
aprons and belts.

A rather common hairstyle of the Lengyel figurines (Fig. 180.10)

is hair combed back from the face to the back, with pronounced
receding hairlines, which are rendered as three interlocking
curved lines at the hairline. The lines at the back of the head
and on the back, arranged as parallel zigzag lines, either indicate
loose, wavy or curly hair, or possibly braids. As far as it is pos-
sible to ascertain from these fragmentary figures, the hairstyle

735
See e.g. Kalicz 1998 or Hansen 2007, 319–320 for interpretations.
736
Kalicz 1998, fig. 30–37.

338
seems to be typical of females which are recognizable by the in-
dication of breasts737.

Particularly noteworthy is the painted figurine of Falkenstein

in Lower Austria738 (Fig. 179). The hair is painted in black and
there is a red (copper?) necklace with twisted ends. The red
line around the waist can clearly be identified as a belt. For the
black ornamentation in the leg area different interpretations are
possible: it could be explained as body paint or even tattooing,
but possibly also as a painted garment such as a loincloth or a
painted dress.

The language of art of the Lengyel Culture is marked by colour.

This is evident on magnificently painted ceramic vessels, painted
in white, yellow, red and black (Fig. 122); the fineness of design
is unparalleled. There are also indications that the walls of the
houses were painted in a similar way as paint residue was iden-
tified on the clay plaster. It is therefore conceivable that clothes –
whether made ​​of leather or textile – were decorated with colour.
Moreover, if we accept the case of the figure from Falkenstein, it
would have been a belted, tight fitting garment, as the body con-
tours are clearly visible. Whether the figure of Falkenstein wore
a coloured piece of clothing or body paint, she definitely made a
statement of creativity, which reflects the symbolic realm of rit-
ual figurines (votives, ancestral representations, etc.) rather than
the representation of everyday clothing and decoration. Fig. 179. Figurine from
Falkenstein in Austria,
Middle Neolithic.
3.2 Late Neolithic – Copper Age

In the 5th millennium BC the Vinča Culture is widespread in

Serbia, western Romania, Hungary and south-eastern Bosnia.
The ceramic figurines739 from the time between 4,500 and 4,300
BC are well known; they consist of mostly standing female fig-
urines with large, protruding eyes and a triangular face (Fig.
180.11 – 13), which some researchers interpret as a mask. In the
late Vinča phases, seated figurines also occur. Without wanting

E.g. figurines from Strelice (CZ), Unterpullendorf (A) and Sé (HU) Hansen 2007, pl. 512–514.
737

Lenneis, Neugebauer-Maresch and Ruttkay 1995, 100.

738

Hansen 2007, pl. 246–249. Chronology: fig. 200–202. – Müller-Karpe 1974, pl. 449.
739

339
 Fig. 180. Neolithic human figurines with garments: Sondershausen, Germany (1), Nerkewitz,
­ ermany (2), Bicske, Hungary (3), Ostheim, Germany (4), Eilsleben, Germany (5), Falkenstein,
G
Austria (6), Sé, Hungary (7 – 10), Vinča, Serbia (11 – 13), Murr, Germany (14), Arco, Italy (15), Stone
stelae from southern France (16 – 18), Ceramic figurine from the Ljubljana Bog, Slovenia (19), Stone
stelae from Sion, Switzerland (20 – 23). Not to scale.
340
to over-interpret these sometimes richly ornamented statuettes,
it is striking that their silhouette is usually composed of a tight
fitting top and a skirt or a belted dress, fitting the body shape
closely. The top has a V-neck and various vertical lines. This
could either represent the front opening of a garment similar to
a caftan, or it may represent panel seams. Perhaps, however, this
element is simply about decoration.

If these lines do actually constitute functional items of the cloth-

ing – as a garment openings and various composite parts – they
would be of the same basic construction type of an item of cloth-
ing with front opening known from the composite garment of
the Iceman c. 3,300 BC (Fig. 185).

A ceramic figurine dating to the end of the Neolithic from the

Ljubljana Moor in Slovenia (Fig. 181.2)740 represents this even
more precisely. The figure is shown with a long, open front robe
with long sleeves. The front opening is ornamented with squares
with cross-hatching filled with dots. This representation could –
if it indeed represents a contemporary robe – be interpreted as
a decorative ritual dress. On the other hand, just this kind of
button – square buttons made of bone with incised crosses and
dots – is known from the Bell Beaker Culture in Central Europe,
for instance from Giengen in Germany741 (Fig. 181.1). The Lju-
bljana figurine might represent a garment that was open at the
front and was closed with buttons and cords at the chest level.
On the figurine, this fastening principle was perhaps shown in
an accentuated way with enlarged buttons.

The Iceman

In Central Europe, the only complete ensemble of stone age

clothing is the ensemble of the Iceman, found in the Ötztal Alps

740
Korošec & Korošec 1969 dealt with the chronology and typology of finds from the Ljubljana
Moor. She dates the figurines (pl. 1) to period Ig I (Laibach Vučedol Culture, c. 3,000 – 2,500
BC). After the decoration and finds of Bell Beaker buttons with the same decoration pattern
as on the figurine, a dating to period Ig II is equally conceivable (Bell Beaker Culture, c.
2,400 – 2,200 BC).
741
Seidel 1995, 34.

341
 Fig. 181. Bell Beaker in Southern Tyrol742 at c. 3,210 m above sea level. The Iceman
buttons from Giengen was fully clothed at time of death c. 3,300 BC and lay face down
in Germany (1), figurine on a large stone block. As the ice that had covered him for five
from the Ljubljana Bog
in Slovenia (2), Late millennia melted, the head and back first became visible and
Neolithic. Different vulnerable to wind and weather. The garments of the chest and
scales. stomach area as well as on the legs are thus better preserved.
When the ice mummy was recovered in 1991, he was still wear-
ing parts of the leggings and shoes on his feet. The other clothes
were fragmentary and found scattered all over the site. They
were restored in the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in
Mainz in painstaking detail and examined together with other
objects and the mummy itself by an international team of ex-
perts. The bearskin cap was not discovered until a year later
when further excavations of the site were carried out.

The clothing of the Iceman included the following items (Fig.

183): the leggings, one for each leg, were made ​​of goat skin, for

Egg and Spindler 2009. – Fleckinger 2011, 23–27. – Spindler 1995, for clothing see 153 – 170. –
742

Wininger 1995. http://www.archaeologiemuseum.it/en (last accessed 9th May 2014).

342
which the sections were stitched to-
gether finely with animal tendons743.
In principle they are two individual
leggings, which came up to the thigh
to a height of around 65 cm and were
held with double straps on a belt ​​of
calf leather. Deer fur straps were
sewn on the foot of the leggings to
prevent them from slipping when
walking. These in turn were held in
place by the shoes.

In addition to the leggings, the Ice-

man wore a loincloth made ​​of goat-
skin. When dressing, this was slipped
between the legs, drawn up to the
waist and passed under a belt, the
ends then hung down freely to the
knee level. Such combination of leg-
gings and loincloth is reminiscent of
certain recent styles of Native Amer-
ican clothing. Iceman’s loincloth was
stitched together with overstitch us-
ing animal sinews and long, narrow
goat leather thong; it is about 33 cm
wide and was originally about 1 m
long.

The belt that held both leggings and

loincloth was originally about 2 m
long and 4 to 4.8 cm wide and was
worn wrapped twice around the body. A pouch in the belt con- Fig. 182. The Iceman.
tained and kept dry various tools such as an awl, a flint scraper Reconstruction by
and other flints as well as a tinder fungus. This finesse in itself Kennis.
highlights the ingenious and well thought out design of every
detail in the Iceman’s clothing.

The shoes deserve special attention as they are composed of a

sophisticated three-layer construction with exterior shoe, inte-

743
Egg and Spindler 2009.

343
 Fig. 183. The Iceman: rior shoe and padding (Fig. 184). The oval-shaped sole is made
layers of clothing: of brown bear fur with the hair side turned inwards. The upper
leggings, loincloth, part consists of red deer fur. Inside, closest to the foot, a net of
shoes, upper garment,
cap, grass cloak. lime bast cord is fixed to the sole with two wide leather straps.
Since the upper leather is secured by the same slots but offset,
on the sole, a gap of approximately 1.5 cm is formed between
the net and the upper leather. In this space a layer of hay was
inserted, which served as thermal insulation and padding. Both
the internal net and the upper leather are attached to the sole
with leather straps. The ankle opening was wrapped with cord
of bast to finish it in the upward direction and to prevent water
getting in. The shoe design is understood through the impres-
sive reconstructions by Anne Reichert; these have been tested
in practice.744 In fact, it was found that the shoes are very func-
tional, comfortable and warm; in rainy weather, however, they
were not waterproof. The leather strap that runs across the sole

Reichert 2013, 95–96, fig. 6.31–6.34.

744

344
constitutes a kind of ‘profile’ and prevents slipping on stony Fig. 184. Reconstruc-
ground. tion of the Iceman’s
shoes by Anne
Reichert. Left: interi-
The upper body of the Iceman was covered by a caftan-like up- or construction with
per garment made ​​of goat skin (Fig. 185), which was worn with twined nets.
the fur side out: When it was made, light and dark fur strips
were assembled in a pleasing manner with fine seams. The gar-
ment is now highly fragmented and the back and shoulders are
especially poorly preserved, so it remains unclear just how the
sleeves were designed. It was probably worn open at the front
or held together with a belt, as there are no alternative closing
devices.

A hemispherical cap of bearskin served as headgear and was

worn with the fur side out. It had been stitched together from sev-
eral pieces of fur and two leather straps were used as a chin strap.

In addition to the clothing and clothing components made of

fur, there are a number of items of plant materials. Parts of a
twined textile of Alpine grass were discovered, which are either
interpreted as fragments of a grass cloak (Fig. 186), a resting mat
or a rain cover worn over the head, and their interpretation re-
mains controversial.

The pair of leggings have clear traces of use-wear and plenty of

scuffs. The upper garment was equally used for a long time, indi-
cated by dirt on the inside and significant traces of perspiration.
The garments were originally sewn together with animal tendons

345
 Fig. 185. The Iceman: in fine stitches, but they show multiple marks of repair, some-
upper garment times with hasty bast cord or grass stitching. All in all, the Ice-
made of goatskin. man’s clothes are a very functional ensemble, which prove how
well equipped this person was to the high altitude environment.

Another find from the alpine region is evidenced for this type
of clothing. In 2003, parts of further leg coverings were discov-
ered under a melting glacier on the site of Schnidejoch745 in the
Bernese Alps in Switzerland at an altitude of 2,756 m. They are
leggings of similar type to those of the Iceman, made of leather
pieces sewn together neatly with lime bast. Remains of one-
piece shoes have also been discovered.

Suter, Hafner and Glauser 2006, 499–522.

745

346
 Fig. 186. Grass cloak of
the Iceman according
to the exhibition at the
Museum of Archaeolo-
gy in Bolzano, Italy.

Finds from Lake Dwellings

Our knowledge about garments of the late Neolithic is signifi-

cantly enhanced by the discoveries from the waterlogged lake
dwellings of northern Italy, southern Germany and Switzer-
land, where textiles made from plant materials were found746.

746
For Switzerland, see e.g. Médard 2010; 2012. – Rast-Eicher 1997. – Northern Italy: Bazzanella
et al. 2003; 2012. – South Germany: Feldtkellner and Schlichtherle 1987.

347
 A wide variety of textile craft products was unearthed in the
Neolithic lake dwellings including plaited baskets and baskets
made in wickerwork, sieves, fish traps made in twining tech-
niques, various knotted nets and mat-like basketry of coarse
and fine quality. These findings clearly show the extent to
which textile products from plant materials were present in all
areas of daily life.

Among the identifiable clothing components747 from the Late

Neolithic in Central Europe are shoes from plant material (Fig.
187). The settlement of Allensbach on Lake Constance in Ger-
many included the remains of various sandals made of lime bast
worked in basketry techniques. Fragments of bast sandals were
also found in Sipplingen on Lake Constance as well as at Lake
Zurich and Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

Of particular interest to textile research are the cone-shaped bas-

kets, made water repellent with pile of oak and lime bast that
have been found in Hornstaad and Wangen on Lake Constance
and dating to c. 4,000 to 3,200 BC. They have the appearance
of conical hats, although they are usually found incomplete
Fig. 187. Different
shoes of the Neolithic (Fig. 188). This form of hat is known from later periods as well,
period. Reconstructions for example from the hat made of twigs from the Bronze Age
by Anne Reichert. lake-dwelling of Fiavè in northern Italy748 and the conical hat

Feldtkellner and Schlichtherle 1987, hats: fig. 2–3; shoes: fig. 5–8. – Experimental
747

Archaeology see Reichert 2013, 86–89, hats: fig. 6.13–6.20, shoes fig. 6.24–6.25.
Bazzanella et al. 2003, 146–147.
748

348
made ​​of birch bark of the ‘Celtic prince’ from Hochdorf749. Other Fig. 188. Reconstruc-
larger textiles in twining techniques and plaiting with similar tions of Neolithic hats
pile from the Swiss lake-dwellings might have belonged to capes from Seekirch and
­Wangen in Germany.
that functioned as rain protection. Overall, the fabrics made of Model: Moriz Mauten-
plant fibres in various twining techniques are so fine that they dorfer. Reconstructions
could easily have served for clothing purposes alongside woven by Anne Reichert.
textiles.

Late Neolithic stone stelae

The art of the Neolithic offers more imposing and monumental

pieces than small figurines and carvings on pottery. Large stone
sculptures750 representing humans are known from the Copper
Age (Fig. 180).

The stone stele of Arco IV, South Tyrol, dating to the first half
of the 3rd millennium BC, is particularly interesting. It shows a
woman with a veil artfully draped around the head, shoulders
and upper body (Fig. 180.15). This veil is fitted with round deco-
rative elements at the hem and is held in place with a wide head-
band, which is additionally decorated with spirals around the

Biel 1985, 44–45.

749

For monumental statues see Bocksberger 1978. – Müller-Karpe 1974, pl. 602–603. – Pedrotti
750

1995. – Wininger 1995, 128.

349
 ears. Copper spirals are known from the beginning of the Cop-
per Age, for example those recovered from Stollhof in Austria,
dating to c. 4,000 BC751. Other stelae from Southern Tyrol, from
the sites of Arco and Laces, show that the back was covered by a
garment element composed of long rectangular strips. This may
be interpreted as analogous to the clothing of the Iceman, as a
fur tunic or coat. Both a belt and leg wear are sometimes de-
picted in the hip region, which is structured with wide stripes.

Amongst the best known carved stone representations of people

are the stone stelae from southern France and western Switzer-
land (Fig. 180.16 – 18), which were made in the 3rd millennium
BC, slightly after the time of the Iceman. Men and women can
be distinguished in the representations by breasts and the addi-
tion of male attributes such as bows and arrows as well as battle
axes. These stelae most likely represent high-ranking persons or
ancestors. In the male statues, stunning belt buckles and shoul-
der straps across the right shoulder representing a baldric are
interpretable as clothing components. Below the abdomen, the
body is only represented schematically, and the legs and toes
are indicated by vertical bars. The belts are sometimes decorated
with a herringbone pattern, which might indicate a textile ori-
gin. For women, broad necklaces and striped cloaks are striking
(Fig. 180.16). These suggest heavy drapery rather than garments
composed of stripes. Again, images of belts and jacket-like up-
per garments occur. Markes or lines next to the legs suggest
some kind of clothing below the abdomen.

Other stone stelae, for instance the stelae representing ab-

stract human figures excavated in Sion-Petit Chasseur in Val-
ais, ­Switzerland and dated to the end of the 3rd millennium BC,
are even more difficult to interpret in terms of clothing (Fig.
180.20 – 23). The stelae of Sion have no obvious indication of sex,
such as female breasts, so the gender is assigned via recogniz-
able objects and attributes. Those monuments that are provided
with daggers, battle axes or bows and arrows are interpreted
as male; the anthropomorphic stelae with necklaces, belts with
looped ends and belt bags are viewed as female representations.
The abstract design of the stelae hardly permits statements

Urban 2000, 102–103.

751

350
about the clothing; at best, belts are discernible. The figures do,
however, show rich ornamental patterns in the areas that should
obviously be covered by clothing (especially clothing of the up-
per body). These patterns correspond in turn to the ornamental
schemes of contemporaneous ceramics of the Bell Beaker Cul-
ture. There are attempts to connect the representations on the
stelae with patterns on textiles752. Above all, such patterned tex-
tiles as shown on the representations have been in use in the
Early Bronze Age in northern Italy. A specific example is the
2 m long linen band from Molina di Ledro, which is decorated
by two woven rhombic patterns at one end (Fig. 48).

We do not know very much about how clothes were fastened in

the Neolithic period. Various forms of belt buckle appear again
and again from the Linear Pottery to the Bell Beaker Cultures, es-
pecially in the Corded Ware Culture around 2,700 – 2,500 BC753. Fig. 189. Bone hook
from Franzhausen in
A bone hook was found in the waist region of a male’s grave Austria, Late Neolithic
from Franzhausen in Austria (Fig. 189)754. Corded Ware Culture,
and reconstruction.

752
Rast-Eicher 2005, 125–126, fig. 19.
753
For a summary of belt fasteners, see Peška 2001.
754
See Neugebauer-Maresch 1994, fig. 6/4. Grave Verf. 1301. The copy was made ​​by Wolfgang
Lobisser within the framework of the project ‘The Neolithic period in Traisental’ (FWF, project
number P18131-G02, Daniela Kern).

351
 Different designs of buttons made of ceramics or bone appear
now and then in the Late Neolithic of Austria, Bavaria, Czech
Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland and Hungary755. We do not
know exactly what purpose the numerous buttons in Bell Beaker
graves served. They may have been clothes fasteners or purely
decorative trimmings. The textile researcher Antoinette Rast-
Eicher succeeded in finding a button hole756 on a textile fragment
from Switzerland dated to c. 2,600 BC.

3.3 Neolithic clothing: conclusion

Which materials were used for clothing during the Neolithic?

Woven textiles are known from the Linear Pottery Culture, but
only as impressions of tabby woven textiles. Although textiles
preserved from the Neolithic period (for instance from the Late
Neolithic lake dwellings of Switzerland and southern Germany)
are usually no larger than about 15 cm wide bands757, one can
assume from layers of loom weights that larger fabric widths
were also achieved. These would be suitable for the production
of woven garments. In general it can be stated that textile pro-
duction during the Neolithic was largely focused on plant fi-
bre758 processing. Based on the available evidence, it was only
during the Bronze Age that the manufacturing of clothes from
wool became prevalent in Central Europe.

Until the 1990s, it was assumed that woven clothing was pre-
dominant during the Neolithic because of the textile and tool
­evidence, particularly the spindle whorls and loom weights
found along with early farming cultures. The discovery of the
Iceman in 1991 changed this picture dramatically. A completely
preserved ensemble of garments of a person from the Neolithic
period was discovered – without a single woven clothing item!
The Iceman wore tanned furs and skins as well as fabrics of
grass and bast, made in netting and twining techniques. Perhaps

755
Swiss finds: Rast-Eicher 2005, fig. 18. – Bell beaker finds: Kern 2006, with a list of known
sites.
756
Rast-Eicher 2005, fig. 17.
757
Wininger 1995, 181–182, fig. 51.
758
Cf. Médard 2010. – Rast-Eicher 2005.

352
this is because he was hiking wearing high alpine equipment.
Just like today, in the Neolithic different climatic conditions and
the changing seasons required various forms of clothing. The
obvious differences between the footwear of the Iceman and the
light bast sandals from the lake dwellings emphasise this fact.

An array of garments made of leather, fur and plant fibres of

various kinds was in place in the Neolithic. The latter are sup-
ported by ample evidence, especially from the pile dwellings in
the area around the Alps. Plant fibres were processed in various
techniques such as plying, twining and braiding of fine yarns
and fabrics. Weaving did not necessarily play the main role in
the design of garments. However, it is important to stress that
the technical bases for the production of woven clothing were
developed in the Neolithic period (see chapter B).

It also should be noted that although there are plenty of hu-

man representations from the Neolithic – engravings on vessels,
clay figurines and large stone sculptures – we must recognize a
high level of abstraction in them in addition to the expression
of symbolism. This means that representations of clothing can-
not perhaps be taken as direct evidence for the appearance of
­garments759.

4 Bronze Age
From the Bronze Age onwards, the increasingly frequent use
of metal – especially bronze – provided ample opportunities
to adorn clothing. An increasingly differentiated social system
emerged between c. 2,300/2,200 and 800 BC, in part through
the use of bronze. New craft techniques evolved, and this was a
time of many innovations in textile production (see chapter C).

We find evidence for clothes in different regions of Bronze Age

Europe, and we must consider, of course, that they come from
different cultures. The various kinds of sources – complete gar-

As a negative example, the clothing reconstructions in Milicevic 1984 may be cited, which
759

interpret every detail of the figures in a naturalistic way.

353
 Fig. 190. Women’s costume from Borum Eshøj in Denmark,
dendrochronologically dated to 1344 BC.
354
ments from the graves of the Nordic area in Denmark, dress
accessories in tombs in Central Europe and figurines from the
Balkans and Carpathian area – represent challenges in terms of
interpretation.

4.1 Garments of the Nordic Bronze Age

The complete garments recovered from oak coffin graves in Den-

mark and northern Germany enable the identification of con-
crete differences in the clothes of women, men and children760.
The burial and grave goods indicate that we are dealing with im-
portant members of society. The oak coffins are dated by dendro-
chronological investigations of the tree rings to the time between
1,468 and 1,266 BC761; the great majority of oak coffins date be-
tween 1,390 and 1,340 BC, which represents a narrow time frame.

In general, the Bronze Age garments are of coarser wool fabrics

and made in tabby weave. Although the individual garments
appear to be of a relatively monotonous brown hue due to their
preservation in the soil, decorative textile items such as cord
embroidery or the incorporation of metal elements have been
used to visually enhance the textiles. In part, the garments show
strong traces of use, so it is assumed that they were also worn
during the lifetime of the deceased – whether as every day or
festive costume can no longer be determined.

Women’s clothing from oak coffins

The women's graves usually contain an ensemble consisting of

a blouse and a long skirt reaching to the ankles. The latter has
a rectangular shape and is gathered and held at the hip with a
­woven belt. The upper part of the skirt is folded and thus par-
tially obscures the belt. The skirt is long and drags on the ground.
Some of the finely woven belts from northern European graves

760
For the garments of the Nordic Bronze Age generally, see Bergerbrant 2007. – Broholm and
Hald 1940. – Hald 1980. – Mannering et al. 2010; 2012, 97–102; 2015. High quality images
can be found on the website of the National Museum Copenhagen: http://oldtiden.natmus.dk
(last accessed 8th May 2014).
761
Randsborg and Christensen 2006, 115–117.

355
 are decorated with elaborate tassels at the ends. Leather shoes or
sandals complete the attire. Long, elegant coiffuring of hair was
apparently typical for women who wore the skirt-blouse com-
bination. The hair was frequently covered by a sprang hairnet
(Fig. 190)762.

The fitted women’s blouse of the Bronze Age deserves special

­attention (Fig. 191). It was made ​​especially efficiently from a
rectangular piece of cloth; a few cuts through the fabric and two
seams on the back and under the arms were sufficient to shape
the garment. In some items, more strips of fabric were joined as
an extension at the hip. The neck and the shoulders are some-
times finished with stitching and embroidery, with the blouse
of Skrydstrup, Denmark763 as an example. The analyses of Hans
Christian Broholm and Margarethe Hald have revealed that
the cut, the dimensions and also the sewing techniques of these
blouses were derived from leather and fur processing technol-
ogies.

A particularly interesting ensemble comes from the grave of a

16 – 18 year old woman who has become known as the ‘Egtved
Girl’ (Fig. 192). A female’s blouse, a corded skirt, a woven belt
with tassels and a large spiral-ornamented and spiked bronze
plate were found in a c. 1370 BC grave from Denmark. The
young woman wore woollen shoes on her feet. The corded skirt
is a garment that looks extremely extravagant in both produc-
tion and appearance to today's viewers. A solid waistband was
produced in repp, from which cords of 38 cm length hang down
in close succession. The skirts cords are formed by a fringe ex-
tended along the length of the repp waist band and were held
together at the bottom with other cords. This skirt is wide
enough to allow it to be wrapped around the waist twice, so that
a relatively dense garment is created that nearly reached to the
knees. Remnants of such corded skirts were found in further 30
graves in Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein. The cords were also
sometimes adorned by bronze sheet metal tubes, such as the one

Sprang is a technique used to produce textiles by lifting and lowering parallel stretched
762

threads, consequently interlinking, intertwining or interlacing these threads. This produces a

net-like, elastic braid, highly flexible and stretchable, a characteristic equally useful in clothing
and for other purposes (bags etc.). Cf. Seiler-Baldinger 1994.
Broholm and Hald 1940, 88–95.
763

356
from the burial of Ølby in Denmark.
It has recently been demonstrated that
corded skirts were an arena for indi-
vidual craftspeople to display their
personal taste and skill764. Contempo-
rary figurative depictions of this gar-
ment come from Itzehoe (Beringstedt)
in Germany, and Grevensvænge and
Fårdal in Denmark765; the latter in the
form of a knife handle, the others are
bronze figurines.

The corded skirts have inspired a

range of interpretations as to their
function, origin and symbolism766.
Elizabeth Barber even goes back to the
Palaeolithic to search for the origin of
these garments, which she traces to
the Venus figurines such as the one
from Gagarino in Russia. Inga Hägg767
sees precursors of the corded skirts
in some bast fabrics of Neolithic lake
shore settlements. Representations of
ornamental aprons on statuettes of the
Neolithic Lengyel and Vinča Cultures
also contribute to interpretations (e.g.
Fig 180.8). Fig. 191. Dress pattern
of a Bronze Age wom-
No dress pins were found at the shoulders of women’s graves an’s blouse.
of the Nordic Bronze Age in Denmark. The use of a tailored
blouse that stays close to the body makes an additional fasten-
ing unnecessary. Cloaks appear to be uncommon in women’s
oak coffin burials from the early Nordic Bronze Age. Only in
later times is a fibula sometimes found, which shows that a cloak
was added to the costume just as in men’s graves. Otherwise,
various accessories such as big belt disks and combs worn at the

764
Fossøy and Bergerbrant 2013.
765
Cf. Broholm and Hald 1940, fig. 192–193.
766
Barber 1991, 256–257, fig. 11/5. – Hägg 2006, 111.
767
Hägg 2006, 111.

357
 belt completed the appearance of women.
Furthermore, Bronze Age women loved to
adorn themselves with neck, arm and fin-
ger rings.

Men’s costume from oak coffins

Two different forms of clothing are

known for men from Northern Eu-
rope, both of which were supple-
mented by a cloak and cap. Men wore ei-
ther a wrap-around garment worn around
the waist, or a loincloth, such as the one from
Borum Eshøj (Fig. 193).

A special clothing item of the Nordic Bronze

Age is a men’s garment worn like a mini
wrap-around dress (Fig. 194). Complete
garments have been found in Trindhøj
and Muldbjerg, Denmark. The cloth was
wrapped under the arms around the up-
per body and held on the body diagonally
over one shoulder by leather straps on
the two upper corners of the fabric. Due
to the short length of the wrap-around this
Fig. 192. The garments garment only covered the torso, hip and thigh to just above the
of the Egtved Girl from knee. The garment was designed as an approximately rectan-
Denmark, c. 1370 BC. gle, which was composed of several pieces of textile. An experi-
Blouse and string skirt.
mental reconstruction of this garment768 made ​​it clear that a high
level of comfort and flexibility was achieved by the arrangement
of the various pieces of textile.

An oval-shaped cloak was used in Scandinavia, placed on the

shoulders in a self-supporting way. For the cloak of Trindhøj,
the Bronze Age crafts people used a thick, felted woollen fabric,
which additionally incorporated c. 10,000 wool pile stitches to
achieve a fur-like appearance.

Broholm und Hald 1940, 147, fig. 188.

768

358
Footwear in the form of foot wraps
and leather shoes as well as vari-
ous forms of caps complete the en-
sembles. The example of a round
cap with pile stitches (Krimmer-
besatz) is worth mentioning. This
cap has a hemispherical shape and
consists of three layers of felted
and stitched fabric; hundreds of
threads were knotted onto the out-
side. There were also hemispher-
ical caps with pile stitches made
of heavily felted textiles in several
layers that obscure technical and
constructional features. Simpler
caps are undecorated, constructed
of small pieces of woven cloth
sewn together.

Textile fragments similar to the

Muldbjerg wrap-around were
found on a male bog body from
Emmer-Erfscheidenveen, in the
Nether­lands, dated to 1,370 – 1,215
calBC769. They are sewn and
hemmed with darker yarn than
the cloth. A sheep-skin cap and
a shoe made of deer skin were
found in direct relation. Fig. 193. The grave of a
man from Borum Eshøj
Dress pins are repeatedly found in men’s graves, always a single in Denmark, dendro-
chronologically dated
one that was probably used to fasten the cloak. The belt is indi- to 1348 BC.
cated by a belt hook that can be found in the pelvic area. Other
components of men’s graves of the Nordic Bronze Age include
toiletry items that serve body and hair care (razor and twee-
zers) and underline the value of a well-groomed appearance.
The ­appearance of men is completed by weaponry of varying
composition, including swords, daggers, axes or spears. Metal
ornaments such as individually worn arm rings or one or two

769
Comis 2003, 193–196. – van der Plicht et al. 2004, 482 and 487.

359
 Fig. 194. Bronze Age gold wire hair spirals are rare in men’s graves and may have to
men’s clothing from be understood as symbols of status and rank.
Northern Europe: wrap-
around garment, cloak
and cap.
4.2 Evidence for Bronze Age clothing
in Central Europe
Complete garments from the period between c. 2,300 and 800
BC are absent in Central Europe. The textile fragments that have
survived stem mainly from the northern Italian lake-dwellings
or the Bronze Age salt mines of Hallstatt, and give us an ap-
proximate idea of ​​ cloth qualities in this region. Amongst them
are primarily simple and coarse fabrics, but also some finer flax
or wool fabrics in tabby weave; dyed fabrics or twill sometimes
occur, but decorated pieces are rare. At the end of Bronze Age,
gold threads were found, pointing to the luxury textiles used by
the wealthy.

In South-Eastern Europe a technically complete woollen tex-

tile was found in Pustopolje, Bosnia and Herzegovina770, where
it was used as a shroud in a male grave (Fig. 195). Recent 14C
dates suggest a date of 1,495 – 1,435 calBC. The textile is 3 × 1.7
m in size and rectangular; it was woven in plain tabby with repp
starting and end borders. The textile is best described as a blan-

Benac 1986. – Bender Jørgensen and Grömer 2012, fig. 4. – Car 2012.
770

360
ket but may have been used as a draped garment, held in place
by pins and belt. It does not show any evidence of tailoring.

Pictorial representations of people are almost absent from this

period. Small clay figurines from the Middle Bronze Age, how-
ever, were found in South Eastern Europe, in Hungary and the
areas of Serbia and Romania (Fig. 196)771. In their expressive-
ness, exuberant décor and level of abstraction, these figurines
are similar to the ones known from the Neolithic in this area.
The Romanian figurines in particular are only realistic in part,
and probably have to be interpreted in terms of cult and ritual.
Fig. 195. Large textile
In the cemetery of Cîrna in Romania, they are frequently found from Pustopolje in
in urns, and, when an age classification of the cremated bone Bosnia and Herzegovi-
has been attempted, the figurines occur primarily in graves of na, Early Bronze Age.
children. Since the figurines resem-
ble adults with pronounced hips, it is
rather obvious that the figurines do not
represent the deceased. It seems that
these human representations are no
children’s toys, but idols or images of
gods772.

Some general observations about the

nature of the clothing can be made,
however, regardless of whether the
pieces are to be interpreted as cultic
or profane. The overall silhouette of
female figurines of the Middle Bronze
Age displays a tight top and a wide,
flaring skirt. Feet and footwear are
not visible. Patterns in the chest area,
which can easily be identified as typical
contemporary ornaments (Fig. 208), are
striking in statuettes from Hungarian,
Serbian and Romanian find spots. A
heart-shaped pendant as shown on the
figures can also be found in the cem-
eteries of the region. But how do we

771
Kovács 1977, 58–59. – Müller-Karpe 1980, pl. 326, 327.
772
Müller-Karpe 1980, 689–693.

361
 Cîrna

362
interpret the lush decor of the ‘skirt’ such as the one seen on Opposite side:
the figurines from Cîrna? This kind of decoration mirrors typi- Fig. 196. Middle Bronze
cal contemporary sets of motif, which are also found on pottery Age figurines from
and bronze objects of the same region773. Hungary, Serbia and
Romania.

Textile finds from the northern Italian lake-dwellings, particu-

larly from Lago di Ledro, and the splendid Swiss textile from Ir-
genhausen, radiocarbon dated to 1685 – 1493 calBC, are more or
less richly decorated774. Dyed fabrics and twill weaves do ­occur,
although the majority of Bronze Age textiles are produced in
tabby. The fabric from Irgenhausen with triangles and checker­
board design to some degree mirrors the décor system of the
Klicevac figurine – despite the fact that it was found in a differ-
ent part of Europe.

A rich source of information on Bronze Age costume in Central

Europe is offered by the Early to Middle Bronze Age necropoles
in which several metal clothing components were placed in the
graves. In contrast to the subsequent Urnfield Culture, necrop-
oles contain inhumation burials. Therefore, the exact location
of the objects in the grave is generally known, and can provide
clues to the clothing used in the grave. As mentioned above, it
is not clear whether the clothing in the burials represents daily
attire, summer or winter clothing, or dress for special occasions,
or specific costume of the dead. A difference between richer and
poorer grave furnishing is noticeable, which suggest a certain
stratification of society. The fact that this status is acquired not
only through merit, but also inherited, is evident from the fact
that some child burials already display a certain level of wealth.

In the framework of this book, there is not enough space to dis-

cuss fine details of chronology, typology and spatial distribu-
tion of the individual jewellery and costume components. These
have been dealt with at length in many scientific papers and no
doubt there are many regional peculiarities of note. However,
certain basic trajectories may still be recognized in the Central
European Bronze Age, for instance certain rules by which the

773
Müller-Karpe 1980, pl. 317–320, 324–325. Jewellery, metal objects and decorated ceramics
comparable to the figurines.
774
Bazzanella et al. 2003. – Vogt 1937.

363
 ornaments were placed on the body, as well as combinations of
individual costume items.

Early Bronze Age

In the Early Bronze Age of Central Europe between c. 2,200 and

1,600 BC, the metallic dress accessories especially emphasise the
head, neck and chest area of women775. The dress accessories in
Bronze Age men’s graves, in contrast, are much more modest.
Rich women’s costume jewellery in the hip area is known from
Bavaria, where tutuli (bronze tubes), cones, spirals or bronze
sheet rolls were used to decorate a belt or even a piece of gar-
ment around the neck.

An Early Bronze Age male grave from Sion, Petit Chasseur,

Switzerland776, is extraordinary (Fig. 197). Small bronze tubes
were located in the front and at the back of the body, indicating
where a border or reinforcement of a textile has originally been.
Pins seem to have closed the garment, which made it possible
to reconstruct how the textile was worn. In this case the recon-
struction was based on the wrap-arounds known from Bronze
Age.

The large Early Bronze Age cemetery of Franzhausen I in Lower

Austria777 serves as an example from the Danube region. Its
more than 700 inhumation graves allow plentiful insights about
population, social ranking and of course about clothing com-
ponents and jewellery. Both men and women wore neck rings,
ornamental pins, arm rings and finger rings. Whereas men nor-
mally only have one pin in the chest area, women are equipped
with two decorative pins and arm rings. Children received the
same ornaments as adults, only in a smaller version. The men
were equipped with weapons such as bronze and stone axes;
boys of the elite also had daggers. It is an interesting social state-
ment that even children were buried with the representative
­artefacts of adults. This indicates that wealth and status need

775
Cf. Seidel 1995. – Sørensen 1997, 100.
776
Bocksberger 1978, fig. 28. – Rast-Eicher 2012, 382–383.
777
Cf. Neugebauer 1994, 80–89, fig. 36–41. – Neugebauer and Neugebauer 1997.

364
not have been acquired personally, but that once acquired, it Fig. 197. Early Bronze
had repercussions on the family and was inherited. These chil- Age grave find from
dren were privileged and intended to take up higher responsi- Petit Chasseur in
­Switzerland.
bilities within the community778.

Particularly striking is the headdress of women in the form of

headbands or leather caps, of which the ornate bronze metal
strips are still preserved. Decorated sheet metal pieces also partly
lined the neck segments of the dress. In some cases, many small
snail shells were sewn onto the garment. Studded rings were
used for the elaborate hairstyles of women and girls. Bronze or-
naments, and bone and stone beads were popular as jewellery
items. The metal ensemble of the women of high status can be
well demonstrated by reference to two graves from Franzhau-

778
Children in historical times were normally encouraged to take over functions of the adult
world as quickly as possible. Sofaer 2006b, 87–96.

365
 sen. The woman in grave 747 (Fig. 198) wore a leather cap that
was lined with spiral pendants. As in other women’s burials,
the hair was held together with bronze spiral rings. At the neck-
line the robe was decorated with sheet metal applications. She
further wore a neck ring (Ösenhalsreif) as well as massive arm
and finger spirals. Two large pins with disc heads were found
at the shoulders, which most likely held a cape or cloak at the
­shoulders.

The rich woman from grave 110 was buried with a similar set of
jewellery and costume components, but had an even more elab-
orate and conspicuous headdress (Fig. 199 – 200): a bronze cap
ornament with bronze boss decoration. It consists of bent sheet
metal strips held together with U-shaped bronze parts. The
Fig. 198. Franzhausen, headpiece has a front- and backside (the first marked by a hu-
Austria: Early Bronze man representation), so it is thought to have been worn with its
Age Grave 747 with
bronze objects and long side facing to the front. Within this elaborate bronze head-
­reconstruction. dress the remains of a striped textile were found (Fig. 98), which
Model: Andrea Krapf.

366
probably belonged to a veil or other textile head cover attached Fig. 199. Franzhausen,
to the headgear. Austria: Early Bronze
Age Grave 110 with
bronze objects and
reconstruction. Model:
Middle Bronze Age Susanne Mayrhofer.

An in-depth analysis of jewellery and metal dress accessories

from the Middle Bronze Age Tumulus Culture in Central Eu-
rope, that is found across Hungary, Bohemia, Austria and South-
ern Germany779, observed a trans-regional pattern of costume, in
which women are regularly equipped with two large pins in the
shoulder/chest area (Fig. 201); it is rare that only one pin is en-
countered in women’s graves. The question is whether different
numbers of pins reflect a different style of clothing (different cut,
different silhouette) or whether a similar garment was simply
put together in another way.

Sørensen 1997. – Wels-Weyrauch 1978, 1994. – Wiegel 1994, 165–218.

779

367
 Fig. 200. Franzhausen, Some wealthy Middle Bronze Age female burials include mas-
Austria: Excavation con- sive sheet bronze spirals (Beinberge) that covered half the lower
text of Grave 110 with legs. Bronze rings worn on both upper and lower arms are also
elaborate headdress.
often found in the graves. The small, perforated decorative trim
pieces (tutuli) are exclusively found in the pelvic area of female
burials. The leather scraps sometimes found on their back in-
dicate they were attached to some carrier material. There are
also wide sheet bronze belts. Rich jewellery on neck and chest in
female graves may sometimes appear outstanding (wheel pen-

368
dants or spiked disks Fig. 202, heart shaped pendants Fig. 208),
for example the massive spiked disks found in a grave in Win-
klarn, Lower Austria780.

In isolated cases, a special headdress can be reconstructed from

the metal constituents of Middle Bronze Age burials. Some-
times small fabric remnants are found which indicate a veil that
was fastened with small bronze pins; at times a bonnet or cap is
assumed. A representative headdress was, for example, found
in one of the largest Middle Bronze Age necropoles of Central
Europe, Pitten in Lower Austria781. For the women, most richly
adorned with bronze items and buried within this necropolis,
a prominent position in society can probably be assumed. Two
graves of 30 to 35-year-old women are at the top of the social
pyramid, each carrying a magnificent diadem with neck plate.
The ornamentation on these outstanding objects with bow and Fig. 201. Middle Bronze
Age dress fittings and
­spiral decoration is an allusion to ancient Mycenaean art, which jewellery from wom-
was formative for the European craft style of the middle 2nd mil- an’s graves in Southern
lennium BC. ­Germany and Austria.

Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and Bender Jørgensen 2013, 222–224.

780

Urban 2000, 180–184, with figures.

781

369
 Middle Bronze Age male
graves782 normally only had
one belt hook and a single
pin as clothing accessories.
The pin is up to 35 cm long
and located on the chest.
The garment can thus be re-
constructed as a belted robe
closed by a pin over the
chest – the massive pins sug-
gest a cape or cloak of coarse
material.

Late Bronze Age (Urnfield

Culture)

A recently discovered grave

from Grundfeld in Ger-
many783 offers a glimpse on
Late Bronze Age clothing.
In the inhumation grave of a
Fig. 202. Middle Bronze woman were found a necklace, bracelets and anklets as well as
Age jewellery assem- remains of a garment, covering the upper body and reaching to
blage from Winklarn, the legs. The garment was made of a simple tabby cloth. Around
Austria.
the neck, small beads of different colour were attached for dec-
oration. Remains of a belt were found around the hips. The belt
was made of a textile band, which was lined with tree bast to
stabilize the item. Additionally the belt was adorned with nine
big bronze buttons.

However, in the Late Bronze Age Urnfield Culture the dead

were typically no longer interred in inhumation graves; rather
the bodies were cremated and the remains deposited in urns.
What kind of changing beliefs were behind this burial rite is not
entirely clear784. For the reconstruction of clothing the new cus-
tom of cremation involves the problem that the exact location

Wiegel 1994, 179–180.

782

Bartel and Voß 2005, fig. 50–52.

783

Rebay-Salisbury 2012.
784

370
of the dress elements on the body can no longer be analysed.
From Neolithic onwards, no other prehistoric period is as diffi-
cult for textile research as the Late Bronze Age. The location of
the dress elements in graves does not allow any conclusions on
the way garments were worn. The bodies were either cremated
with their clothes or in a special costume for the dead. Either
way, the clothing is not accessible to us. Unburnt dress acces-
sories and jewellery, however, were also added to the graves as
grave gifts; they were either deposited in the urn or in the grave
pit that contained the urn and other funerary vessels.

Characteristic jewellery sets785 that indicate certain clothing cus-

toms for Southern Germany and Austria can be worked out
as following: Belt hooks and pairs of pins were still worn by
women in the Urnfield Culture, just as in the preceding Early
and Middle Bronze Age and the subsequent Hallstatt period,
maybe worn on the shoulders. Female burials with just one pin
are known from the late Urnfield period. In addition to the var-
ious belt components only one fibula is present in male graves,
which could have closed the chest area of the garment or cloak
at the neck, in analogy to the preceding and succeeding times.

4.3 Bronze Age head coverings and shoes

Considering all the Bronze Age costume components in Central

Europe – from head to toe – only sparse information is avail-
able for headgear and shoes. A Bronze Age headdress is unique
amongst the finds from the salt mines of Hallstatt786. A cone-
shaped fur hat was discovered in the Hallstatt-Grünerwerk site
(Fig. 203), which was sewn together of several parts with careful
stitches. The hat was worn with the fur side inward. This piece
can most likely be interpreted as a specific part of the clothing of
Bronze Age miners.

Another conical headdress, made from branches, is known

from the Bronze Age lake-dwelling Fiavè in northern Italy (Fig.

Lochner’s contribution in Neugebauer 1994, 194–223.

785

Popa 2009, 102.

786

371
 204)787. This piece also has a narrow brim, which typo-
logically transforms the cap into a brimmed hat. It
is a headgear of a relative complex structure, con-
ical with a narrow brim, located about 1 cm
above the lower margin. The brim was prob-
ably intended either as decoration or as a
reinforcement of the circumference of the
headgear. For the making of the spi-
ral structure, a framework was made
of pine twigs, sectioned at the sides,
straightened and bent in a circle. The
framework was covered by a compact
and continuous spiral coiling of twigs.
This headgear is interpreted as a pres-
tige or ceremonial object (helmet).

A vessel in the form of a shoe dating to the Late

Bronze Age has been found in Unterhautzenthal in Lower
Fig. 203. Cone-shaped Austria788, which gives us some insight into the footwear of the
hood from the Bronze time. It has the shape of an ankle-high boot (Fig. 205). The areas
Age salt mines in of the toes and the instep are deco-
Hallstatt.
rated by strokes which may in-
dicate the folding of the leather
or the lacing, which is actu-
ally characteristic for all
shoes made of one piece
of leather.

The discovery of a
leather shoe is reported
from much further
north. The shoe
comes from a bog at
Buiner­veen789 in the
Netherlands, and is
radiocarbon dated
to the time between Fig. 204. Conical headdress from Fiavè in
northern Italy, Bronze Age.

Bazzanella et al. 2003, 146–147.

787

Lauermann 1991, fig. 2.

788

Groenman-van Waateringe 1974.

789

372
 c. 1,500 and 1,300 BC.
It is made from an oval
piece of leather; a leather
strap is threaded into
slits close to the cut
edge, it can be pulled to
gather the leather over
the instep. This type of a
shoe can be worn either
on the right or left foot
without differentiation.
Experiments790 suggest
that the shoe was en-
closed with a wide strap
fed across the sole and
which thus held the shoe
Fig. 205. Late Bronze Age boot vessel to the bottom of the foot.
from Unterhautzenthal in Austria.

4.4 Interpretation
of Bronze Age sources
in terms of costume history
Archaeologists can analyse Bronze Age jewellery and dress
­accessories in terms of regional and temporal differences. Shapes
and styles, as well as the combinations of certain clothing acces-
sories and jewellery items, change during the Central European
Bronze Age. In the period between c. 2,200 and 1,600 BC, jewel-
lery and clothes fasteners worn in Bohemia and Hungary were
different from those of the Danube region of Lower Austria.
Likewise, the shape and decoration of the jewellery changed
in every region from the Early to the Late Bronze Age. Never-
theless, certain general patterns can be worked out as indicated
above791. The basic features include the head and chest (shoul-
der) area as main body areas to display jewellery and several
ways of belting the robe. These features are the same in the vari-
ous regions of Central Europe. Does this mean that the basic de-
sign of the garments was similar in design and cut and only the

790
Personal comment from Anne Reichert, 2010.
791
Sørensen 1997, 100. – Wels-Weyrauch 1978, 1994.

373
 (metal) accessories were subject to changes of fashion that allow
us to assign specific types to a particular time or region?

Women’s costume

What did the women’s costume look like? What can we deduce
from these rule-based basic sets known from Bronze Age graves
in the Danube region? The length of the clothes can be indirectly
traced by the clothing accessories on the arms and legs. It might
be assumed that the representative ornaments worn on arms
and legs were not completely covered by a cloth, because they
were made to be seen. The skirts or dresses were probably not
floor length. The rings on the upper arms may indicate that, at
least at times, short sleeved garments were worn. Or were the
upper arm rings simply worn over a long sleeve?

The Early Bronze Age findings from Großgmain, Austria, pro-

vide interesting insights to answer the question of the sleeve
length792. A wide arm spiral was discovered on the forearm of a
woman’s grave, on which remnants of both the skin of the de-
ceased and a medium-fine tabby woven textile were found (Fig.
206). The skin remains of the deceased indicate that the sleeve
reached just above the mid-forearm, and that the arm spiral was
partly slipped over the sleeve.

Bert Wiegel’s793 observations of funerary finds of the Danube

­region demonstrate that the shafts of the pins were bent in dif-
ferent ways and thus adjusted to individual needs by those who
wore them. Interestingly, some pins were found in the graves
with the tip pointing upwards, towards the head, some down-
wards. Does this reflect the way they were used during life?
What kind of garment could have been closed by these Early
and Middle Bronze Age pins? The shafts of these pins are some-
times very thick, averaging a diameter of 5 to 7 mm. Fine textiles
would have probably been destroyed by the multiple piercing
with such thick pins. It is thus quite conceivable that coarser

Grömer and Höglinger 2010, fig. 20.

792

Wiegel 1994.
793

374
­ aterials such as capes and cloaks were fastened with such pins
m
(Fig. 207).

Do the few ritual figurines from the Balkans dressed in long

belted dresses reference the appearance of contemporary gar-
ments? The jewellery pieces worn in various positions around
the neck would match the illustrations (Fig. 208). A complex
pattern is further known from the cloth from Pfäffikon-Irgen-
hausen, Switzerland794, which can also be found on the figu- Fig. 206. Early Bronze
Age spiral arm ring from
rines. However, important dress elements – the pins with which Großgmain, Austria,
the upper garments were fastened – are usually missing on the with mineralised tex-
human representations. These shoulder dress accessories are tiles and human skin.

794
Vogt 1937, 76–90. – Rast-Eicher 2012, 380–381.

375
 regularly found in the graves, but were not represented on the
figurines.

According to these considerations, the Bronze Age representa-

tions and the finds from the graves do not completely line up.
Perhaps what is found in the graves is a festive costume or a
dress for the dead, and what is depicted on the figurines is a
dress reserved for ritual functions. Could the typical women’s
costume of the Early and Middle Bronze Age be the blouse and
skirt combination known from Northern Europe? Earlier Bronze
Age textile research frequently combined the ensembles such as
the one from Franzhausen or Winklarn in Austria with garment
Fig. 207. Damage by a forms known from the oak coffins of the Nordic Bronze Age (see
thick pin shaft to tex- Fig. 198) to reconstruct complete costumes795. The two pins were
tiles of different quali- interpreted to mean that the cloak was pinned to the blouse.
ties. Reconstruction of
the Early Bronze Age It should be noted, however, that in the Nordic Bronze Age
disc pin found at Franz- the cloak was neither fixed by two pins, nor worn by women,
hausen in Austria. ­according to complete grave ensembles.

795
See e.g. the reconstructions in Neugebauer 1994, fig. 41.

376
An alternative interpretation of the custom of closing a garment
by means of two pins, which appears around 2,000 BC in Cen-
tral Europe, is that a new type of garment was introduced – per-
haps a tubular dress draped around the body, similar to the pep-
los of the Iron Age.

Important findings for the difficult interpretation of dress shapes

are known from Schwarza in southern Thuringia796, where not
only the metal dress components, but also the textiles have been
preserved in the Middle Bronze Age barrows. Again, pairs of
pins were found at the shoulders in women’s graves. Analy-
ses confirmed that the paired pins held together a rough cloth,
­although whether that of a peplos or a cape or cloak is unfortu-
nately unclear. Underneath the cloth, an undergarment was ap-
parently worn (a woman’s blouse such as the ones known from
the Nordic Bronze Age?). With the Thuringian finds, we have a
connection between the Nordic clothing elements and the finds
from the Danube region, by the coarse fabrics that have been
fastened with paired pins on the shoulders.

The grave finds from Winklarn in Austria797 (Fig. 202 and 209)
acted as a model to take up the challenge of recreating the cos-
tume of a wealthy Middle Bronze Age woman. She was buried Fig. 208. Ceramic
with jewellery and dress fittings that appear almost theatrical, ­figurine from Babska in
such as a wide belt of bronze, extremely long pins and a collar Hungary (1), compared
to a Middle Bronze Age
consisting of fourteen spiked bronze pendants. A series of dif- heart-shaped pendant
ferent sources emphasize what her clothing might have looked from Asparn/Zaya,
like: the placement patterns of jewellery in Bronze Age graves Austria (2).

796
Feustel 1958.
797
See Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and Bender Jørgensen 2013.

377
 Fig. 209. Experimen- from Central Europe, Bronze Age iconography, the textures of
tal reconstructions of Bronze Age textiles, including a group of completely preserved
Middle Bronze Age garments from Denmark, and general tailoring principles. Each
costumes, based on the
grave of Winklarn of these sources has its own rules and pitfalls. The variants of are
in Austria. educated guesses rather than factual certainties.
Model: Sandra Fellner.

Men’s costume

But what about male costumes? The pattern observable in the

Central European graves, consisting of a belt and a single pin
worn on the chest fits much better to what is known from the
Nordic Bronze Age. Some of the textile remains from the Bronze
Age part of the salt mine of Hallstatt798 in Upper Austria are very
similar in design to those of the Nordic tree coffins – even the
arched seams of the men’s wrap-arounds and the finishing with
buttonhole stitches are the same. Perhaps the Nordic men’s cos-
tumes were also common garment forms in Central Europe.

798
Grömer 2013. – Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013. The textiles from the Bronze Age parts of the salt
mine of Hallstatt are partly interpreted as remnants of clothing and partly as woollen sacks.

378
5 Iron Age
The Iron Age in the Danube region (between 800 – 15 BC) over-
laps with the written history of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
This era is characterised by the production of iron as the most
modern and advanced working material, and by a very com-
plex and differentiated social system with a high degree of craft
specialisation. Textile crafts in the Central European Iron Age
display a variety of techniques, patterns and colours. The inno-
vations of the Bronze Age peak in the Hallstatt period (Early
Iron Age, 800 – 400 BC) before simpler, mass-produced textile
types began to prevail during the La Tène period (Late Iron
Age, 400 – 15 BC) in the northern and north-eastern Alpine re-
gion – a harbinger of the Roman standardized production (see
chapter C).

The available sources for reconstructing the history of Iron Age

clothing are more plentiful than for previous eras in various
parts of Europe. Again, it has to be emphasised that different
types of sources come from different cultural groups and allow
different interpretations. In contrast to the Bronze Age, figura-
tive representations increase during the Iron Age, especially in
the area of ​​the eastern Hallstatt Culture. Direct encounters with
prehistoric people are again made possible through their graves.
After a time of almost exclusive cremation in the Urnfield Cul-
ture, the rite of inhumation is gradually reintroduced during
the Hallstatt period. At the very end of the Iron Age, however,
do ancient authors report directly on aspects of Celtic clothing.
Moreover, only a few complete Iron Age garments have been
found in Central Europe. Concrete examples of Iron Age gar-
ments have been discovered in the bogs of North Germany and
Denmark.

5.1 Complete Iron Age garments from Northern

Europe
The complete garments and ensembles from the pre-Roman and
Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe represent a special trea-
sure of European prehistory. Widely published in the major

379
 publications of Margarethe Hald and Karl Schlabow799 during
the 20th century, they now offer a tangible insight into the gar-
ments of the pre-Roman peoples at the edge of the Roman Em-
pire, who were previously often imagined as ‘primitive’. The
quality of the garments, their richness in shapes and forms, and
their ­diversity of patterns are astonishing.

The circumstances of their discovery – the pieces were fre-

quently discovered during peat cutting in the bogs – formerly
led to a somewhat uncertain dating. In early publications, they
were commonly classified as belonging to the Iron Age. Some
of the pieces that were first thought to date to the pre-Roman
Iron Age, such as the tunic of Bernuthsfeld, had to be correctly
placed in the early Middle Ages800.

The fact that such well-known findings still offer surprises has
recently been proven by researchers at the National Museum in
Copenhagen and the Centre for Textile Research, who are cur-
rently reanalysing and evaluating the Danish bog finds801. New
radiocarbon dates and dye analyses have been performed on the
textiles, so that we now have a clearer picture of the age and
original appearance of the garments. Many of the known finds,
such as those from Huldremose, Borremose, Elling or Tollund
were confirmed to date between the 4th and 1st centuries BC. Iso-
topic tracing802 hints at the origin of some of those important ob-
jects. The finds from Thorsberg in Northern Germany also have
been the focus of a research project803. The Thorsberg place of
sacrifice includes the discovery of long, narrow trousers with
attached booties and five superb cloaks, one tunic and two pairs
of calf wraps.

799
The following descriptions of finds are based on this literature: Danish finds: Hald 1980. –
Mannering et al. 2012, 104–114. – Mannering 2015. – Finds from Schleswig-Holstein and
Lower Saxony: Möller-Wiering and Subbert. – Schlabow 1976.
800
New dating of bog finds: Mannering et al. 2010, 261–268. – Van der Plicht et al. 2004.
801
Mannering et al. 2012. – Van der Plicht et al. 2004. New data and high quality images from
the National Museum Copenhagen: http://oldtiden.natmus.dk
802
Frei et al. 2009. – Frei 2013.
803
Möller-Wiering 2011. – Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012.

380
Garments for the upper body: tunics and cloaks

Shirt-like tunics804 (‘Kittel’), sleeveless or with attached long

sleeves, are frequent finds. The construction of the tunic, such
as the one from Oberaltendorf in Germany, is usually very sim-
ple: rectangular pieces of cloth were sewn together at the shoul-
ders and sides. The tunic was held with a belt around the waist.
A very well preserved tunic is known from the Thorsberg Bog
(Fig. 210). It was made ​​from a 58 cm wide fabric in fine wool
lozenge twill with reinforced selvedges; two larger pieces with
95 cm length were used as front and back parts. The tunic was
sewn together at the shoulders, fitted with a slightly rounded,
carefully finished neckline and long sleeves of 58 cm. It was not
closed at one side from the sleeve downwards, but could be fas-
tened by cords at a distance of c. 5 cm.

Square to rectangular textiles with careful finished edges

served as cloaks in the pre-Roman and Roman Iron Age, as they
appear in images of defeated Germans on Roman victory col-
umns805. According to these pictures, the cloak was placed over
the shoulders and closed with a fibula on the right shoulder.
The edges of the cloaks were worked very sumptuously, with
up to 18 cm wide tablet woven bands. This is attested by the
most prominent examples, the splendid cloaks (‘Prachtmäntel’)
from Thorsberg and Vehnemoor in Germany dating to the 4th
century AD. As both the original finds and the Roman picto-
rial sources demonstrate, they were also adorned with fringes.
The cloaks sometimes measure a surprising size of up to 3 m
in length and 1.8 m width. One of the two complete cloaks,
which were wrapped around the bog bodies of Hunteburg in
Germany (dated around 300 AD), had this size. With such a
length the cloaks were folded over and worn doubled up. They
thus offered better protection against rain, wind and snow, and
could be used for many different purposes, for example as an
additional blanket. The cloak of Dätgen, Germany, is smaller
with dimensions of 1.62 by 1.46 m.

Cf. Schlabow 1976.

804

Schlabow 1976, 48–49.

805

381
Fig. 210. Tunic and trou- Leg wear
sers from the Thorsberg
Bog, Germany, 4th Different types of trousers are known from the pre-Roman and
century AD.
Roman Iron Ages of Northern Europe806. Long tight trousers
were found in Damendorf, short loose trousers in Marx-Etzel
(all in Germany). The trousers from Marx-Etzel were made ​​from
one piece of diamond twill, which was cut and sewn firmly.
They are the simplest form of trousers. All other trousers were
composed of several different tailored parts. The form has little
in common with the usual cuts of men’s trousers in the Western
fashion today. A remarkable feature is that early trousers are
without a side seam. Each leg is wrapped by a piece of fabric
with the seam pointing towards the inside of the leg. A square
base piece is inserted for the required width at the buttocks. To
have a comfortable fit, the base piece must follow the rounding of

806
Kania 2007. – Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012. – Schlabow 1976. – van der Plicht et al. 2004
(dating).

382
the body. Sometimes wedges were inserted for the construction
of Iron Age trousers or cuffs attached. The well-known trousers
from Thorsberg (Fig. 210) are even fitted with belt loops. This
singular piece of clothing is a pair of long, tight trousers with at-
tached booties. The study of the pattern cutting of the Dätgen807
trousers, however, obtained that the cut differs from the other
wool trousers found in Northern Germany, which have a more
developed cut. It is more similar to linen trousers from Egypt
and Syria (6th to 7th century AD).

In addition to trousers, there are foot wraps, which were

wrapped around the calves to protect against cold and wetness.
Two 1.05 m long and 10 cm wide woollen bands of twill were
found with a bog body at Damendorf, dating to the first centu-
ries AD. At the time of discovery, the deceased was stripped
of all clothes and only covered by a cloak. The other items of
clothing, the trousers, the foot wraps and shoes were found tied
up in a bundle at his feet. We thus do not know how exactly
the foot wraps were worn. The foot wraps from Søgårds Mose,
Denmark, however, dating to the 2nd century BC were found at
the legs of a bog body. The shins of the body were wrapped
in bandages of 36 by 27 – 31 cm made of twill, which were tied
with two woollen cords. Different types of shoes made ​​of cow
leather808 served as footwear in the Iron Age in Northern Eu-
rope, and have also been recovered in the bogs. Tunic, trousers
and cloaks are attributed to men’s clothes, even if not all of them
were found with male bog bodies. The finds from Thorsberg809,
for instance, were deposited as offerings in the bog.

Skirt, tube dress ‘peplos’ and various capes

Clothes from the Ruchmoor near Damendorf in Germany rep-

resent what girls would have worn in the past. The finds were
found near a 14-year-old girl discovered in a bog and included a
woollen skirt of 30 cm length. It is worked in tubular form with
a base circumference of 1.65 m and was strongly gathered at the

807
Zink and Kwaspen 2015. – Egyptian trousers: Kwaspen 2013.
808
Cf. Groenman van Waateringe 1974. – Mannering et al. 2012, 109, 112, fig. 3.17.
809
Möller-Wiering and Subbert 2012. – Schlabow 1976.

383
 waist; the way the skirt stuck out from the waist of the wearer
created a bold silhouette. In addition to this skirt, a cape made
of deer fur was found near the bog body. According to the bog
specialist Wijnand van Sanden, the garments of Ruchmoor date
to the 9th century BC810.

Women’s clothing is known mainly from the Danish

bogs. This includes scarves and capes worn with the
fur side inwards. Particularly interesting are tubu-
lar garment pieces that are categorised either as an-
kle-length skirt or peplos dress depending on the
length. These garments are either made of square
pieces of cloth sewn together at the sides or
worked in tubular form on a two-beam loom. The
most famous example of such a tubular garment is
the peplos from Huldremose (Fig. 211), which was
discovered in a Danish bog, but unfortunately not
in situ on a woman’s body. The way the garment
was worn was reconstructed by Margarethe Hald811
through analogy to the Greek peplos as follows: the tu-
bular garment was folded, fixed at the shoulders with
fibulae and belted. In fact, we do not exactly know
how the find from Huldremose was worn; alterna-
tive interpretations are equally likely.

Not only was the famous dress found at Huldremose

(Huldremose II, 180 – 50 calBC812), but also a com-
plete dress ensemble dating somehow earlier (Hul-
dremose I, 192 – 61 calBC). It consists of a checked
woollen skirt of 81 cm length, gathered at the waist,
a scarf and a fur cape (Fig. 212). Various hair nets
as parts of female clothing are also known from the
Danish bogs.

Fig. 211. Bog finds A tube-dress pinned directly at the borders to cre-
from Huldremose (II) in ate the neck and arm openings was found in a grave at
Denmark: tube dress Hamerum, Denmark, 1st century AD (Fig. 213). Unfortunately,
‘peplos’, 180 – 50
calBC.

Van der Sanden 1996, 167.

810

Hald 1980, 358–365.

811

Mannering et al. 2012, 105, fig. 3.9 and 3.11.

812

384
no remains of the buried person except an elaborate coif-
fure were preserved, but the burial is interpreted as be-
longing to a young female. The dress was made of bal-
anced 2/2 wool twill of red colour, is 95 cm long and
146 cm in circumference and may have reached to the
knees of the deceased person813. The textile is most
likely woven on a warp-weighted loom, and the
starting and finishing borders were sewn to-
gether to form a tube. At each shoulder the
front of the cloth is gathered with the back.
How both parts were kept together cannot be
determined, because no (metal) pins are pre-
served. On top of the dress and around the
back a more fragmented textile was found
(second fabric), as well as a third fabric in
the area of the knees. The use and shape
of both cannot be determined.

5.2 Evidence for Early Iron

Age clothing in Central
Europe
Let us now turn our attention from the north-
ern European region with garments dating to
around the beginning of Common Era to Cen-
tral Europe at the beginning of the 1st millen-
nium BC.

Complete garments

What is the situation in the Central Euro-

pean Iron Age in terms of complete, intact
garments? In 1734 a clothed prehistoric body
was discovered preserved in salt during a visit to a
sink work in the Hallstatt salt mine. A chronicler writes: ‘… seen Fig. 212. Bog find
a strange corpse of a dead man, who presumably and to judge by his ap- from Huldremose (I) in
pearance must have been trapped and buried more than 400 years ago, ­Denmark: skirt and fur
cape, 192 – 61 calBC.

813
Mannering and Ræder Knudsen 2013.

385
 Fig. 213. Woman’s completely grown together with the mountain, but one still sees parts
grave from Hamerum of his upper garments, and also some shoes on his feet …’814. This ‘Man
in Denmark, in Salt’ was most likely an Early Iron Age miner. He was, after
1st century AD.
having been recovered from the mine, buried in the Christian
cemetery of Hallstatt – what a loss for scientific research! Simi-
larly, the salt mummies discovered in 1577 and 1616 in the salt
mines of the Dürrnberg are no longer available. Unfortunately,
we can therefore no longer speak of completely ­preserved gar-

Weekly report (Werkerfaszikel, Wochenbericht) from the salt mine Hallstatt, 1734, 13th
814

week, 1st quarter. Cited after Barth 1989, 9. ‘… einen nadierlichen Cörber von ainem Toten
menschen gesehen, welcher muedtmaslich und deme ansechen nach, vor mehr als 400
Jahren mueß verschidtet sein worden, massen Selbiger in das Gebirg föllig verwachssen,
doch sicht man noch von seinem rockh etlich flöckh, wie auch die S.V. Schuech an denen
füeßen …‘

386
ment ensembles found directly on the
body for Iron Age Austria.

A few single pieces of clothing are,

however, available for study from Cen-
tral Europe. Parts of work clothes, var-
ious caps and shoes815 have been recov-
ered from the two salt mining locations
of Hallstatt and Dürrnberg.

From the Vedrette di Ries glacier (Rie-

serferner Gletscher)816 on the border
between Italy and Austria we know of
two pairs of leg warmers (over-and-
under-leggings) made of goat wool, as
well as a pair of sewn woollen socks
and remnants of shoes made of leather.
The ensemble dates to the period from
the 8th to the 6th centuries BC. It was
found high in the Tyrolean Alps on the
edge of a snow field, where they were
left by Iron Age people over 2,500 years
ago. These pieces, incredibly important
to the Central European costume his-
tory, are exhibited in the South Tyrol
Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano,
along with the Neolithic Iceman. They are evidence for body Fig. 214. Vedrette di
attire most probably adjusted to cold periods. Ries, South Tyrol in Ita-
ly: Iron Age leg warm-
ers ‘under-leggings’,
The leg warmers (Fig. 214) have a common basic design, but 8th – 6th century BC.
differ in little details. They each consist of tubes of woollen fab-
ric with a seam on the side. At the bottom end a tab is incorpo-
rated, which draws on the instep and protects this part of the
foot from the cold, even when wearing shoes. The edges of the
lower part of the protective and warming tabs are reinforced;
the edges of the under-leggings are hemmed with a twill band.
In each case a cord has been found in the area above the heel.
The cord was used to securely attach the legging to the foot. The

Cf. Barth 1992. – Stöllner 2002.

815

Bazzanella et al. 2005; 2012.

816

387
 over-leggings are 55 cm long and 16 cm wide, and consist of
dense, thick, woollen material in herring-bone twill. A carefully
stitched patch of thin woollen cloth was found at the height of
the knee on the left legging. The under-leggings are 62 cm long
and 16 cm wide, with a slight conical shape, and are made in
tabby weave. The right under-legging has a simple side seam,
while the left one incorporates a 1.5 cm wide ribbon in diag-
onal plaited braid consisting of two parts of different colour
sewn together; the lower part is grey, the upper part brown. The
obliquely elastic construction of this band lends elasticity to the
narrow leg tube made in tabby weave. A good fit is thus just as
ensured as an easy slip through.

The socks (‘inner shoes’) (Fig. 215) were made from twill fabric
of beige brown to grey wool; the fabric is felted on the inside and
outside. The weave is somewhat finer than that of the over-leg-
gings. On a very well preserved sock it can be recognized that
it was composed of ten different parts, including the sole. The
sole is reinforced by additional pieces of fabric sewn onto the
inside; on the outside, patches of dark brown woollen twill are
fixed to the toe and heel area. Where the foot slips in, the sock
can be closed by a lateral flap to which a band is sewn; the flap
and band can be wound around the ankle joint.

A number of Iron Age cloaks and capes of different forms are

known from the pre-Etruscan Villanovan Culture (c. 1000 – 700
BC), in particular from Verucchio, Italy, dating to c. 700 BC817.
The ceremonial garments from Tombs 85, 89
and tomba del trono include two large, semi-cir-
cular cloaks with a size of about 260 by 80
cm. They are twill woven with spin pat-
terning and carry broad, decorative
tablet woven borders, which
were added to the gar-
Fig. 215. Vedrette di ment after the comple-
Ries, South Tyrol in tion of the ground
Italy: Socks sewn from weave. Due to
wool fabric, 8th – 6th
century BC. their semi-circu-

817
Stauffer 2002, cloak 1: fig. 64–65, cloak 2: fig. 72–73, cape: fig. 77–78. – Stauffer 2012,
discussion about the term tebenna: 251.

388
lar shape, these tebennae are considered to be the prototype of
the Roman toga. Some further more or less complete garments
were found as well. Garment 3 is woven with four curved edges
and a neck opening in the central part and a size of 103 by 105
cm; it might have been worn like a long shirt or a tunic with
short woven-to-shape sleeves.

Design of Early Iron Age textiles

We are generally very well informed about the appearance of

textiles during the Hallstatt period in Central Europe, which
constitute the material basis of clothing. Numerous textiles
have been recovered from graves. The princely tomb of Hoch-
dorf, Germany818, plays an important role for textile research.
An analysis has revealed various splendid textiles, which were
prepared especially as grave goods for the Celtic prince. These
are mainly in red and blue; imported dyes, such as the red of the
scale insects (Kermes vermilio) have also been used. The resource-
ful textile craftspeople not only used sheep’s wool or flax, but
also badger hair and hemp bast. The materials from the royal
grave are characterised by their high quality and decoration of
various checked patterns, weave types such as diamond twills
and tablet woven bands. The gorgeous patterns including swas-
tika or meander motifs suggest connections to the Mediterra-
nean civilisations south of the Alps, although the production
was probably carried out locally.

The salt-preserved textile finds from Hallstatt, Austria819, were

left behind in the mountain after having been used in a number
of different functions (see chapter D). Twill weaves were par-
ticularly popular, along with tabby and basket weaves, which
were dyed and decorated. Stripes and checks are indeed char-
acteristics of this period, although they are not found on every
textile. Far more common are spin patterns that form a very
­exquisite type of tone-on-tone décor effect. Colourful tablet wo-
ven bands and repp borders are further characteristics of the
Hallstatt period. It should be emphasised that strong, dark co-

818
Banck-Burgess 1999.
819
Grömer et al. 2013. – Hundt 1987. – von Kurzynski 1996.

389
 lours like shades of blue and black were preferred and achieved
through dying. The bronze jewellery, bright and shiny when
polished, must have created a nice colour contrast. It is also in-
teresting that there is much evidence for tailoring, particularly
in Hallstatt (see chapter B). Panels of fabric were cut and then
sewn together. The careful trimming of the edges was especially
emphasised, not least for practical reasons in order to increase
the durability and wear-resistance of the garments.

Grave finds

As is the case for the Central European Bronze Age, the graves
of the Iron Age offer an important source of information when it
comes to interpreting the clothing that was worn on the last jour-
ney of the deceased. For this purpose, only costume items and
accessories in their original context are used. The funerary rites
of the Hallstatt period include both cremation and inhumation.
Frequently, as in the cemetery of Hallstatt, the richer graves (e.g.
those equipped with bronze vessels) are cremations820.

Particularly impressive are the finds in the elite burial mound X

of Mitterkirchen in Upper Austria821, one of the earliest graves
from the eastern edge of the western Hallstatt Culture to con-
tain a ceremonial wagon. Two grave chambers and a pit burial
dating to the 7th century BC (Ha C) were discovered in this
imposing burial mound. Chamber 1 contained vessels of the
drinking and feasting set, such as cups, bowls, plates and large
storage vessels in addition to an ornate ceremonial wagon, on
which a woman’s body was laid. This kind of burial with wagon
was reserved for the elite of the Hallstatt period. The double
burial of a 30-year-old woman and an 18-year-old man was dis-
covered in Chamber 2. Here, the excavators found a striking
context (Fig. 216): the woman’s skeleton, clearly the more im-
portant person in the grave after her equipment, was covered
with thousands of little bronze buttons in the upper body and
leg regions. Between the knees and toes they were lined with
a double zigzag row of tiny bronze rings. Among these metal

820
Cf. Kern et al. 2009a, 130–133. – Kromer 1959.
821
Pertlwieser 1987, 55–70.

390
trimmings, remnants of leather and animal hair were preserved
through oxide penetration, which suggest a flamboyant cloak
made of leather, and perhaps in part made of fur. In addition,
this rich woman wore a spiral headed pin, five pairs of bronze
rings above the ankles, amber necklaces with multiple rows of
bronze and amber beads, which may have once belonged to a
magnificent bonnet.

Leaving the level of the richest burials, one is faced with a large Fig. 216. Grave X, Burial
number of graves quite handsomely equipped with jewellery822. Chamber 2 from Mitter-
kirchen in Austria, Early
Although there are numerous variants and combinations of dec- Iron Age. Context draw-
orative and costume elements in Hallstatt period graves, some ing and reconstruction
general patterns can be discerned: men are frequently equipped of the cloak.

Rebay 2007, 134–156.

822

391
 with a long pin on the chest or shoulder and an element of a belt
(belt hook, belt plate or sheet bronze belt), which characterises
the ‘civilian’ costume823. They also appear together with spear-
heads and swords or daggers in warrior graves. Some protective
gear such as helmets may also complete the set.

The most important metal item used in the Iron Age as a clothes
fastener is the fibula824. In principle, it functions like a safety
pin. In addition to their practical purpose as fasteners they were
flashy jewellery and subject to fads of fashions, more or less like
the design of pins changed during the Bronze Age. The shape
and ornamentation of fibulae can be studied to reveal cultural
connections and chronological trends. The spatial and temporal
distribution of the fibulae will not be discussed in detail in this
book; here, we are interested in the positioning on the body in
which these clothes fasteners appear in the graves.

Female graves are often difficult to compare with each other

because of their extraordinary wealth and variety. Except for
the abundance of grave goods, there are few general patterns
or common denominators. In Hallstatt period women’s graves
paired fibulae or pins are commonly encountered in the upper
body/shoulder region. Most clothes fasteners are symmetrically
arranged left and right of the shoulders. Sometimes the two fib-
ulae are also arranged in parallel on the right shoulder. Further
jewellery such as bracelets or anklets, hairpins and various neck-
laces completed the ensemble. Belts in the form of belt fasteners
or belt plates825 emphasised the waist.

The shape of the fibulae is subject to regional variation. The cem-

etery of Hallstatt826 (Fig. 217) contained numerous fibulae with
double bronze spirals as the main body and sheet metal ­rattling
pendants, combined with sheet bronze belts in rich graves. Many
finds from the rich burials give us an impression of splendour,

823
E.g. Hodson 1990. – Kromer 1959.
824
For an overview on types and stylistic development of fibulae in different times and cultures,
see Müller et al. 1994, 411–607.
825
Pabst-Dörrer 2000, pl. 3, 4. – Hallstatt: Kromer 1959, plates.
826
Kromer 1959. – Hodson 1990. – Kern, Lammerhuber and Schwab 2010.

392
Fig. 217. Woman’s grave from Hallstatt with belt plate and spectacle fibulae, Early Iron
Age. Watercolour painting from Johann Georg Ramsauer’s documentation of the
cemetery excavations in 1846.

393
 as do the 19th century watercolour paintings, which illustrate the
positions and contexts in which the items were found.

When several fibulae were present in one grave, they could

have in principle also belonged to several garments. The shapes
and sizes of the fibulae found within a grave may vary, which
possibly indicates under and over garments of different cloth
qualities (coarse and fine ones). In the late Hallstatt period in
Northern Württemberg827 the woman’s costume consisted of up
to three fibulae; in addition to the symmetrical pair at the shoul-
ders, a smaller third fibula is found in the centre of the chest.
This most likely reflects the custom of wearing an under and
over garment, fastened at the neck.

Overall, it can be noticed that there is a tendency towards in-

creasingly smaller forms of fibulae as the Iron Age proceeds, in
tandem with finer and finer textile qualities. The spectacle fibula
of the early Hallstatt period are still very coarse and have very
thick pins (which are better suited to fasten coarse fabric mate-
rials); in the late Hallstatt and especially in the La Tène period
there are very lightweight and delicately designed small fibu-
lae with tiny catch plates. These are ideal for fine fabrics, since
thicker pins would damage the textiles (see Fig. 207).

In addition to fibulae and belts, there are also other clothing fas-
teners. We know some examples of buttons made ​​of ceramic or
deer antlers from the Hallstatt period. These are usually serrated
or star-shaped and occur mainly in southern Moravia, Lower
Austria and Slovakia. Austrian sites in which such buttons have
been found include Leopoldsberg near Vienna and Unterpar-
schenbrunn828 (Fig. 218). Compared to fibulae, buttons are very
sparse. The button as a primary means of fastening clothes ap-
parently did not become popular until the Middle Ages, al-
though it appeared again and again from the Stone Age onward.
Because no buttons have been found in grave contexts, it is un-
clear what exactly had been fastened with them. The buttons all
stem from archaeological excavations in settlements, where they
were lost by the people who wore them.

827
Müller et al. 1994, 441.
828
Griebl 1996, 95–114. With further examples from Slovakia.

394
The clothing fastened by fibulae as we know it from graves can- Fig. 218. Early Iron
not be directly related to contemporaneous illustrations, as un- Age ceramic and antler
fortunately no pictures of garments with fibulae can be identi- buttons from Austrian
sites: Leopoldsberg/
fied from the Early Iron Age in Central Europe. Even buttons Vienna (1), Unter­
in the correct position to fasten a garment are never shown on parschenbrunn (2),
images. What the garments might have looked like, which were Horn (3).
represented by the clothing components in the graves in situ,
will be discussed below.

Pictorial sources for clothing

Figurative art829 of the Hallstatt Culture is generally not very

naturalistic. From the western Hallstatt area representations of
clothed people are rare, while several images are known from
the eastern Hallstatt area. Sets of small ceramic figurines were
found, for example, in Gemeinlebarn or Langenlebarn in Lower
Austria. They were most likely arranged in scenes on small cere-
monial wagons or conical necked vessels (Fig. 219). The various
human and animal figurines told a story inaccessible to us today.
The human figurines are flat like a wooden board. Women are
represented with breasts and dresses with wide swinging skirts,
the hem reaching only up to the knees. Most figurines from Cen-
tral Europe, however, represent people without clothes.

More human representations have been found in the area of the

Kalenderberg Group at the north-eastern edge of the Alps (in
Lower Austria, Burgenland, western Hungary, Slovakia), which
belonged to the eastern Hallstatt Culture. In the 7th century BC,
it was customary to decorate pottery with elaborate geometric
patterns as well as with representations of people830 (Fig. 220).

829
Huth 2003. – Rebay-Salisbury 2014. – Reichenberger 2000.
830
Dobiat 1982. – Reichenberger 2000.

395
Fig. 219. Early Iron Age In these images, the people are abstracted and drawn very sche-
figurine from Gemein- matically. The representation was reduced to the mere signal-
lebarn in Austria and ling of what was represented; a simple triangle with a dot as
reconstruction of the
conical necked vessel. a head, and perhaps strokes as arms and legs was enough to
represent a human being. Scenes including wagon rides, music
and dancing and hunting are also shown. The clothing remains
mostly reduced to differently designed and decorated triangles.
The images are far from accurate representations of clothing,
but they reveal several interesting details (Fig. 221). There are
‘women’ who were obviously dressed in a skirt and top, while
the garment of others represented with a continuous triangle
from the head to the legs could rather be interpreted as a dress.
The skirt fitted to the waist comes in different shapes, but is usu-
ally depicted as a triangle. The skirt depicted on a vessel from
Sopron-Várhely (Hungary), Tumulus 28831 (after Eibner 1980), is
even a bell-shaped skirt that in its dimensions evokes associa-
tions with the crinoline skirts popular in the 18th and 19th centu-
ries AD. In this case, however, it is more likely that the particu-
lar shape indicates a rotating movement – a dance832.

831
After Eibner 1980.
832
Eibner 1997, 129–145.

396
‘Men’ are usually drawn as stick figures (Fig. 221.9), but there Fig. 220. Conical
are also unique representations of trousers. People with narrow necked vessel with
triangles as dresses are also often interpreted as male. In the fa- incised decoration fea-
turing human figures
mous weaving scene on the conical necked vessel from Sopron, from Sopron-Várhely in
Tumulus 27, the thin triangular person with lyre is interpreted Hungary, Early Iron Age.
as a man (Fig. 221.6), whereas the people spinning, weaving and
dancing are represented with wide triangles and interpreted as
women.

There are a few monumental statues833 dating to the late Hallstatt

and early La Tène periods, for instance the warrior of Hirschlan-
den in Germany. The stone statues are confined to the western
Hallstatt area and can be traced back to Mediterranean models.
In their symbolism they are strongly linked to the representation
of rulership. Amongst the usually naked representations (with
only a pointed hat and a torque) the Glauberg statue stands out
with his ornate composite armour decorated by a ­meander mo-
tif (Fig. 231). Again, the head is an important zone of ornamen-
tation; this time, a leaf crown is represented. Interestingly, the
wire frame of such an unusual headdress has indeed been de-
tected in a burial mound on the Glauberg834; the representation
can thus be classified as quite realistic. Otherwise, the monu-

833
Frey 2000.
834
Bagley 2014, 415, Kat. Nr. 118.

397
 mental statues of the Celtic Iron Age do not add much to the
question of clothing.

5.3 Representations of clothing on situlae

The most detailed representations of clothing can be recognised

in the late Hallstatt/early La Tène period situla art835. The works
of situla art were produced between the 6th and the 4th centuries
BC in the alpine and south-eastern Alpine region between the
Danube and Po rivers, the areas of the eastern Hallstatt as well
as the Este Cultures. The images on the early La Tène scabbard
from Hallstatt, grave 994836 are designed in a different technique.
They also show stylistically similar imagery, especially in the
way people and their clothing are represented, which is why
this particular find is also treated here in this context. As with
the illustrations on ceramics, which are largely derived from
rich graves, situla art is clearly linked to the lives of the elite,
who presented themselves in this medium.

Although both style and content of these early images show

southern influences, it is certain that the artists adhered to local
models in terms of the details of weaponry and tools: the objects
represented have good parallels in graves of the same area. It
is thus assumed that the items made of organic materials, such
as the clothes, equally correspond to the circumstances of time
and place. The clothes represented in situla art also might be
partly inspired by Etruscan templates837, just like other parts of
the image content (e.g. animal representations, various forms of
helmets). As mentioned in the introduction to this chapter, sit-
ula art probably shows symbolic themes as well as the ideas,
lifestyle and festivities of the elites.

The women in these pictures (Fig. 221) usually wear long

dresses reaching to the calves with elbow-length sleeves. These
garments may have a straight or uneven hem and are partially
decorated with borders. The dress may be gathered with a belt

Frey 2005. – Lucke and Frey 1962. – Rebay-Salisbury 2014. – Turk 2005.
835

Barth und Urban 2007. – Egg et al. 2006.

836

Bonfante 2003, e.g. fig. 2–18, 72–75.

837

398
Fig. 221. Human representations on Early Iron Age pottery and situlae. Sites with
pottery: Sopron (1 – 6, 11 – 15), Nové Košariská (7 – 8), Klein Klein (9), Dietldorf (10).
Sites with situla art: Hallstatt (16), Vače (17, 20, 37), Certosa (18 – 19, 21 – 25, 31),
­unknown find spot, situla stored at Providence, USA (26), Welzelach (28, 32 – 33, 35),
­Magdalenska Gora (27, 29), Moritzing (30), Carceri near Este (34).
399
 around the waist. A veil or a headscarf of different lengths is al-
ways combined with the dress. Sometimes the veil is longer and
extends approximately to the knees or calf. These long veils are
also sometimes slashed, so that one part covers the front of the
chest, whilst the other covers the back and the arms can move
freely (Fig. 221.18). The extra-long veils could perhaps also be
cloaks drawn over the head.

Particularly interesting is the representation of a woman on

the belt buckle of Carceri near Este in Italy (Fig. 221.34). In this
scene, a man reclines on a couch and a woman serves him; she
hands him a double-handled cup whist holding a beaked flagon
in the other hand. The woman does not wear the long dress like
other women on objects of situla art, but is dressed in a combina-
tion of skirt and blouse. The short sleeved top is checked, while
the skirt is held by a belt and decorated by radial strips as well
as a border at the hem. It is not necessarily possible to clarify
whether the strips are supposed to represent a hint of ornament
or drapery. A veil extending as far as the buttocks completes the
ensemble as in the usual manner. In addition, however, some-
thing unusual is represented: a thickening on the legs indicates
the lady was wearing leggings or trousers.

Men’s clothing in situla imagery (Fig. 221) largely consists of a tu-

nic or shirt-like garment, either sleeveless or with elbow-length
sleeves. The garment is not belted and falls smoothly down from
the neck, extending to the calf or to the ankle. The garment is on
occasion depicted as checked or striped; the hem is often deco-
rated with a border. The garment covers the body so completely
that any underwear is not detectable. Sometimes a cloak is worn
over it.

Warriors (both infantry and mounted soldiers), such as the ones

depicted on the scabbard of Hallstatt (Fig. 222), wear variously
designed helmets and long-sleeved, shorter garments; they
sometimes also wear sleeveless armour, which is decorated with
stripes or checks. Quite likely, this represents composite armour
made ​​of leather or linen, similar to the one shown on the monu-
mental statue from Glauberg. Men engaged in physical activity,
such as the ‘waiter’ on the Situla from Kuffarn (Fig. 176), who
serves the enthroned person wine, have clothing reaching only

400
Fig. 222. Sword scabbard from Hallstatt, Grave 994, early La Tène period. With water
coloured drawing of the grave.
401
 to the knees – if they are not only wearing a loincloth. Like-
wise, the ‘hunters’ on the Situla from Welzelach (Fig. 221.35)
wear a loincloth and are otherwise shirtless. Sportive fist fights
are fought completely naked.

Representations of legwear, probably trousers, can

be found on the early La Tène scabbard from Hall-
statt and on the belt plate of Molník in Slovenia838,
dating to the 6th or beginning of the 5th centuries BC.
In this image, the striking ‘archer’ wears wide trou-
sers with a barely visible, incised fabric pattern, plus a
long-sleeved shirt and a pointed cap. Another type of trou-
ser is depicted on the ‘wheel bearers’ on the scabbard from
of Hallstatt. There are tight-fitting trousers with rich pattern
(possibly with laces and wraps), reaching to the hip. Since no
genitals are shown, which should actually be visible in this
position, it can be assumed that the trousers were sewn to-
gether at the crotch. These representations are among the old-
est showing trousers in Central Europe; they are dated to the
mid-1st millennium BC. Nowadays this garment and its man-
ner of construction are so common that it is rather difficult to
imagine how humanity could ever have lived without it.

Fig. 223. Dürrnberg- On the scabbard from Hallstatt, the fitted, patterned trousers
Eislfeld in Austria, are combined with a dress coat with folded-back tails. Thus, the
Grave 135. Fibula in outer garment has an extended back, while the front legs remain
human shape, Late
Iron Age. uncovered to the hips. This strange attire can be found on other
representations of the early La Tène period as well. The chariot
drivers on the Situla from Kuffarn (Fig. 221), for example, or
the figurine on the early La Tène fibula from Dürrnberg-Eislfeld,
grave 135839 (Fig. 223), in which this ‘tail suit’ is combined with
wide, heavily pleated trousers.

The famous scene of four men with trousers on the scabbard

from Hallstatt has inspired different interpretations. It was
first interpreted in terms of the local salt mining industry. The
wheel, which two of them hold, was declared a windlass used
for heavy lifting in the mines. Accordingly, the people in the im-

838
Turk 2005, fig. 87.
839
Zeller 1980, 126, fig. 17.

402
age were interpreted as miners and the unusual tails on the up-
per garment would have represented ‘Arschleder’840 (‘arse leath-
ers’) designed to protect the trousers of the miner from fraying.
According to a recent reinterpretation by the Hallstatt special-
ists Fritz-Eckart Barth and Otto H. Urban841, however, the scene
does not depict mining history, but illustrates the three types of
armed forces important to the early Celts: cavalry, infantry and
chariots with drivers. The men holding a wheel between them
thus symbolise the chariots (on the situla from Kuffarn, how-
ever, they are depicted at full speed). According to this inter-
pretation, the garment with tails is the protective gear of a char-
iot driver. If one pictures such a fight scene, the purpose of this
clothing becomes clear. According to Barth and Urban, the back
of the chariot driver was defenceless after breaking through the
battle line, particularly to every type of thrown weapon. With-
out infringing on the legroom – vitally important for chariot
drivers – the extended back cover could have ensured effective
protection, even if it consisted only of relatively thin material.

5.4 Evidence for Late Iron Age clothing in

Central Europe
No uniform costume existed for all Celts. The various Celtic
tribes lived in widely dispersed areas throughout Europe and
had different points of contact with other cultures. Therefore, it
is likely that they adopted different clothing habits. The archae-
ological source material is scattered over Europe, similarly to
that of the Hallstatt period. The written sources are a novelty,
which, for the first time, provide concrete names and concepts
for the archaeological data.

Design of La Tène period textiles

Archaeological discoveries inform us well about the appearance

of textiles in the La Tène period. Over 600 textile remnants from

840
E.g. Egg et al. 2006, 194.
Barth and Urban 2007.
841

403
 the salt mines of Dürrnberg near Hallein842 in Austria offer a co-
lourful picture of what was common in the textile sector during
the early La Tène period. As before, fine fabrics are present, but
now tabby weave is predominant and twill is found in simple
versions. Both wool and linen were detected as raw materials
during analyses; both materials were dyed as already known
from the Hallstatt period. Stripes were preferred, but checks
and spin direction patterns that characterize the textile work in
the Hallstatt period are rare. Exceptional individual pieces were
produced applying checkerboard, diamond and meander mo-
tifs ​​in different techniques with floating thread systems and in
tablet weaving.

A large number of simple tabby weave textiles have also been

obtained from La Tène period graves in Austria, the Czech Re-
public and Slovakia843. The magnificently embroidered fabric
from Nové Zamky stands out particularly. It should be noted
however, that the textiles from La Tène graves in Central Europe
often do not have a direct contextual relationship to the clothes,
but fulfilled other functions. For example, there are many fabric
scraps in secondary use, such as a filling for hollow arm rings
(see Fig. 167) or as wraps of objects. In any case, however, the
textiles reflect the types of fabric quality that were in use at the
time.

Antoinette Rast-Eicher844 ascertained on the basis of textiles from

La Tène period graves in Switzerland that women in the early
and middle La Tène period wore a belted linen garment (dress),
whereas in the late La Tène period a coarse to medium cloth,
held together by a pair of fibulae at the shoulders, was popular;
the garment probably looked similar to the dress of Menimane,
shown on the famous grave stone from Mainz-Weisenau in Ger-
many, dating to the 1st century AD845.

Grömer and Stöllner 2011. – Stöllner 2005. – von Kurzynski 1996.

842

Belanová 2005; 2012, pl. 15.2–15.4. – Grömer 2012, 46–47, pl. 1.1.
843

Rast-Eicher 2008, 177–188, 191; 2012.

844

Cf. Böhme-Schönberger 1997, fig. 18.

845

404
Grave finds

One most directly encounters the clothing of the people of the

La Tène period in their graves. Especially the fibulae are import-
ant metal dress accessories that fasten the clothes worn on the
body; they are found in graves of the early to middle La Tène
period from the 5th to the mid 2nd centuries BC. The style and
décor of fibulae as well as the way they were worn differs from
region to region846. In Baden-Württemberg, for example, male
graves tend to contain an almost 6 cm long iron fibula worn at
the left shoulder. Women are usually found with two fibulae,
one placed symmetrically on each shoulder. In southern Bavaria
and Switzerland, fibulae are so popular that men are usually
buried with two fibulae and women with up to seven, although
two or three pieces are most common. In excavations these are
usually recovered in the shoulder or chest area, distributed ei-
ther on both shoulders, or all on the right shoulder. A single
fibula is 5 cm long or larger. If several fibulae are discovered in
one grave, they are often a combination of one large and several
small fibulae.
Fig. 224. Graves with
fibulae from the Late
La Tène woman from Austria847 wore a similar combination of Iron Age cemetery at
fibulae (Fig. 224). In addition to the pairs of fibulae worn on the Pottenbrunn in Austria.

846
Lorenz 1978. – Maute 1994, 458–467.
847
E.g. Ramsl 2002; 2011; 2014b, fig. 15.

405
 shoulders, there are also cases in which two fibulae were found
close together on one shoulder. Men typically have only one
fibula in the grave, usually worn on the right shoulder. In the
Czech Republic and Slovakia men usually wear a 6 cm long
fibula on the right shoulder, the women normally only one
or two in the shoulder or chest area, rarely more. Two fib-
ulae are predominantly found close together on a shoul-
der.

Additional clothing accessories found in graves show

that the garments were also belted848. Early La Tène
male and female graves contain elaborately de-
signed belt hooks, which probably fastened a
leather belt. Belt chains became popular in the mid-
dle La Tène period for women, and were wrapped
around the body in a decorative way. The chains
were longer than the waist circumference of women
in general, so their length was adjusted by hooking a
hook end into a chain link (Fig. 225). In the middle La
Tène period, men preferred sword chains in addition
to the simple leather belts with metal hooks.

The belt had several functions. On the one hand it

gathered the material of the garments at the waist, but
on the other hand, it was useful for carrying various
items on the belt. Typical for the women's costume
was a bag worn on the right side. Its metallic com-
ponents are sometimes discovered as characteristic
accumulation in the graves.
Fig. 225. Late Iron Age
belt chains worn on the The Celt’s preference for jewellery is well known. Even the an-
body, reconstruction. cient authors report about it in detail and further enlightening
Model: Gloria Lekaj.
evidence comes from graves. The torque became almost a sym-
bol of Celtic identity (Fig. 226); it is a neck ring open at the front,
with often elaborately decorated ends of various shapes. Virtu-
ally no representation of Celts from antiquity849 lacks a torque. It

Müller 1999, 159–166.

848

Thiel 2000, 73–76.

849

406
was mostly worn by warriors, but the torque also appears espe- Fig. 226. Golden torc
cially in middle La Tène period women’s burials850. from Oploty, Czech Re-
public (reconstruction)
and bracelets,
Occasional pins in the chest or head area of women's graves can Late Iron Age.
be linked to the fixing of a head covering such as a veil (Fig.
227). In addition, a variety of decorative elements, especially
necklaces made ​​of glass beads, finger rings, arm, foot and neck
rings851 may be found in the graves. The composition of the ring
jewellery in women‘s graves follows certain regular patterns, in
terms of where on the body specific varying numbers of rings
occurred. The ring jewellery patterns differ from region to re-
gion, but they may also include statements about the social po-
sition of the wearer – just like today a ring on the finger may sig-
nal an engagement or has importance as a wedding ring. Her-
bert Lorenz has suggested that the sets of rings incorporated in
the costume may mark certain stages in women’s lives, such as
married women, those who had children or maybe those who
were widowed. In the late Hallstatt and early La Tène periods,

850
Bujna 2005, e.g. fig. 3, German summary 173–194.
851
Lorenz 1978.

407
 small buttons or club-shaped pendants with eyelets are occa-
Fig. 227. Grave 119 sionally found in the foot area of men’s and women’s graves852.
from Dürrnberg-Eislfeld, They may be associated with shoes (Fig. 227).
Austria: Late Early Iron
Age woman’s grave
with costume compo- That a high value was placed on personal hygiene and a neat
nents (selection). appearance is attested by various toiletry articles. In the graves

852
Schönfelder 1999, 537–552.

408
of the Dürrnberg, for example, tweezers, scrapers, razors, grind-
ing stones for sharpening the razors, and various tools for
the care of fingernails are repeatedly found in male graves.
Grave 44, for example, contained a two-piece toiletry set
made of bronze, consisting of tweezers and a scraper,
which is decorated with the head of a bearded man only a
few millimetres high853. Evidence for late La Tène costume
is sparse, because cremation prevailed at the time.

The observations presented here on La Tène grave inventories

summarise basic tendencies that can be broken down in many
ways – regionally, chronologically and in terms of different so-
cial levels. This, however, is the subject of many archaeological
treatises854 and would go beyond the framework of this book.

Pictorial sources for clothing

Late Hallstatt and early La Tène images of women’s and men’s

clothing are mainly found on the numerous works of situla
art mentioned above. A scene echoing the situla style that was
incised on a scabbard from grave 994 in Hallstatt also was dis-
cussed before. In this section we will focus on other Iron Age Fig. 228. Statuette of
human representations of the 5th– 1st centuries BC. Idrija pri Bači in Slove-
nia. A man wearing a
tunic, 5th century AD.
Small bronze figurines855 such as those found in Idrija pri Bači,
Slovenia (Fig. 228) or on the Partinspitze near Imst in Tyrol (Fig.
229.1) complement the picture. Both examples date to the 5th
century BC and show men dressed in late Hallstatt style short-
sleeved, knee-length tunics. Early La Tène figurative depic-
tions856 are otherwise found almost exclusively on objects of arts
and crafts, as ornamentation of vessels or integrated into brace-
lets, belt hooks or fibulae. Most of them only show the human
head; the previously described early La Tène fibula from Dür-
rnberg is particularly rich in detail. The gold neck rings from

853
Penninger 1972, 78, pl. 42 A/3.
854
E.g. Bujna 2005. – Maute 1994. – Müller et al. 1994. – Ramsl 2002; 2011.
855
Idrija pri Bači: Gustin 1980. – Imst: Exhibition Catalogue 1997. Cover photo.
856
For general points on La Tène figurative representations, see Bagley 2014, 277–282. – Frey
1993, 153–168.

409
 the treasure of Erstfeld in Switzerland857 depict human figures
alongside human-animal hybrids. As far as clothing can be dis-
cerned, they wear patterned trousers.

Early La Tène representations appear extraordinarily varied. No

piece is like the other, as these are usually individual creations
cast in the lost-wax technique. Celtic craftspeople modelled the
objects in wax first, then covered them with clay and fired the
mould. Upon firing, the liquid wax vanished and left a cavity,
which was then filled with molten metal. Once the metal cooled
and hardened, the mould was broken to remove the object.

At the end of the early La Tène period Celtic craftspeople dis-

covered new forms of expression by fusing faces and ornaments
into expressive symbols. These are usually very abstract and
therefore not readily usable as sources for the reconstruction of
La Tène garments.

The middle La Tène period representation of a man from

Leipzig-Connewitz858 appears on a belt hook; it shows a man
standing with legs apart and leg wraps. The intersecting lines on
the legs to the thighs indicate the way the binding was wrapped.
Although the image was found in Germanic territory, its style
reflects Celtic influences.

Numerous figurative works of bronze were found in the middle

to late La Tène period oppida, town-like settlements north of the
Alps. The pommels of sword handles are frequently designed in
human form; linchpins on chariots and wagons are sometimes
adorned with human heads.

The images of gods on the famous Gundestrup cauldron found

in Denmark859 occupy a special place amongst Iron Age repre-
sentations. The cauldron was most likely manufactured in the
centuries around the birth of Christ, but its origin is still unclear.
The combination of Celtic and Thracian image elements possi-
bly points to the Lower Danube region (present-day Bulgaria

Wyss 1975.
857

Frey 1993.
858

Nielsen 2005. – Taylor 1992.

859

410
 Fig. 229. Selection of
human images from
the 5th century BC to
the 1st century AD: vo-
tive figure from Imst,
Austria, 5th century
BC (1), Early La Tène
fibula from Dürrnberg/
Hallein, Austria (2),
Gallo-Roman votive
offering from the
sources of the Seine,
Saint-Germain-Source-
Seine, France, 1st
century BC (3), Late
Iron Age horseman
from Magdalensberg,
Austria (4), girl in
Noric costume, tomb
stone from Klagenfurt,
Austria, 1st century AD
(5). Different scales.

and Romania). The most striking garments represented are tight

trousers; binding methods such as pointed twill are probably
shown by the patterns.

Images of trousers860 are known from a bronze figurine from

­Neuvy-en-Sullias in France, showing a dancer with checked
trousers, and the representation of a horseman from the Magda-
lensberg in Austria (Fig. 229.4). This Celt with sword and shield
is shown with naked torso, wearing wide trousers and a torque.

860
Cunliffe 1979, 26–27, 100–101.

411
 Both depictions date to the beginning of the Common Era, the
end of the La Tène period and the beginning of Roman times.

During this time, large statues of wood and stone were created,
which can be interpreted as gods. Examples include the stone
reliefs from Entremont, France, the stone relief showing the
goddess Epona from the Rhineland and wooden Gallo-­Roman
votive offerings, especially from France. These representations
were, however, already created under Roman influence. A
hooded cloak can be seen on a wooden figure from the headwa-
ters of the Seine River in France (Fig. 229.3).

Even Roman period grave monuments from the provinces

along the Danube and Rhine rivers sometimes provide insights
into the forms of clothing that clearly have their roots in the
Iron Age. First and second century AD tombstones show old,
pre-Roman elements, particularly the custom of wearing a
pair of fibulae on the shoulders861. Examples include the grave
stones of Blussus and Menimane from Mainz, Germany, and
the ‘Norican girl’ on the famous grave stone from Klagenfurt,
Austria (Fig. 229.5).

Written sources

From the 2nd century BC onwards written sources contribute to

our knowledge of Celtic clothing. This ‘outsider’s’ view on the
clothing of the Celtic and Germanic tribes (the terms are some-
times equated or used interchangeably), given by Greek as well
as Roman authors862, are valuable sources, even if they some-
times just repeat platitudes or deliver ideologically biased state-
ments. As to the appearance, body size and the light skin and
fair hair are often emphasised, for example by the Roman his-
torian Tacitus (Tac., Germ. 4), who writes: ‘…hence their body fea-
tures are all alike… reddish hair eyes cruel and blue, large strong bod-
ies good only to strike...’. The ferocity of the Celts is also expressed

861
Böhme-Schönberger 1997, Blussus and Menimane, fig. 18. – Noric-Pannonian costume:
Garbsch 1965. – Rothe 2012. – Rhine-Mosel area: Rothe 2009.
862
Translations after http://penelope.uchicago.edu and http://www.crtpesaro.it (last accessed
30th Nov. 2014).

412
in the description of Celts as barely clothed. Sallust, the Roman
historian and contemporary of Caesar, thus writes (Sall., Hist. 3,
104-105): ‘… the Germans [= Celts] cover their unclothed bodies with
skins.’

Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian of the 1st century BC, wrote a

universal history in 40 books from various viewpoints, in which
he wanted to both teach and entertain. He also mentioned the
wild nakedness of the Celts, particularly during fighting (Diod.,
Hist. 5, 29.2): ‘Certain of them despise death to such a degree that
they enter the perils of battle without protective armour and with no
more than a girdle about their loins.’ Polybius, however, writes in
his 2nd century BC Histories (2, 28.7-8): ‘The Insubres and Boii wore
their trousers and light cloaks, but the Gaesatae had discarded these
garments owing to their proud confidence in themselves, and stood
naked…’ The Celtic tribes of the Insubres and Boii settled in
the eastern Alps, and from the 2nd century BC onwards also in
northern Italy.

Diodorus Siculus also delivered more precise descriptions of

typical tribal clothes. About the Celts (Gauls), he writes the fol-
lowing (Diod., Hist. 5, 30.1): ‘The clothing they wear is striking –
shirts which have been dyed and embroidered in varied colours, and
trousers, which they call in their tongue bracae [βράκαι]; and they
wear striped cloaks [σάγος, sagum], fastened by a brooch on the
shoulder, heavy for winter wear and light for summer, in which are set
checks, close together and of varied hues…some of them gather up their
shirts with belts plated with gold or silver.’

The historian and geographer Strabo, who worked around the

beginning of the Common Era, in a time of intense contacts be-
tween the Romans, Celtic and Germanic tribes, reports similarly
on the Belgae – the bravest among the Celts, as he emphasises
(Strab., Geog. 4, 4.3): ‘The Gallic people wear cloaks [i.e. the sagum],
let their hair grow long and wear tight trousers; instead of tunics they
wear slit shirts that have sleeves and reach as far as their private parts
and the buttocks. The wool of their sheep, from which they weave the
coarse cloaks they call laenae is not only rough, but also flocky on the
surface.’ On the elite we read later on (Strab., Geog. 4, 4.5): ‘In
addition to their trait of simplicity and high-spiritedness, that of wit-
lessness and boastfulness is much in evidence, and also that of fondness

413
 for ornaments; for they not only wear golden ornaments – both chains
round their necks and bracelets round their arms and wrists – but their
dignitaries wear garments that are dyed in colours and sprinkled with
gold.’

This small selection of ancient texts show a clear picture: they

describe, for the most part, elements of clothing that emphasise
the ‘otherness’ of northern barbarians in contrast to the civilized
(= Roman) world. The most prominent garments for which the
name is thus known are the trousers called ‘bracae’ and the cloak
held by a fibula called a ‘sagum’. Both were later incorporated
into the attire of Romans, especially in the military, as the ex-
pansion of the Roman Empire to the north demanded suitable
clothing for the local climate863.

5.5 Iron Age head coverings and shoes

Head coverings

Anthropomorphic figures on pottery do not add a lot to our

knowledge about head coverings, because they are very sche-
matic. Especially differentiated is the headgear as shown on the
works of situla art864 (Fig. 221 and 230), if people are not shown
bare-headed and/or bald. Women are usually depicted with
veils of different lengths. Warriors – men armed with swords
and shields wear helmets of types known from contemporary
finds in the same area. E.g. it is possible to compare helmets from
Magdalenska Gora or Brezje in Slovenia (type ‘Doppelkammhelm’
and Negau, 6th century BC) with depictions on the belt sheet
from Vače865. Non-armed persons usually have hats of various
kinds. The situla from Kuffarn shows a flat, wide-brimmed hat
for a socially high-ranking person. The majority of the men on
the situla art, however, are depicted with a hemispheric cap or
a beret. Phrygian caps, soft conical caps with the top pulled for-
ward, are also common in the eastern Alpine region.

For men’s clothing, see Croom 2002, 31–59; – Speidel 2012.

863

Lucke and Frey 1962. – Turk 2005.

864

Kern et al. 2009b, 13 and 21.

865

414
It is very interesting that we have contemporary finds from the Fig. 230. Headgear from
salt mines in Austria (Fig. 230), especially of the headgear, which the Iron Age salt mines
are all made ​​of leather or fur866. So far, the flat cap, the beret and of Hallstatt and Dürrn-
berg in comparison with
the Phrygian cap have been found in Hallstatt, the hemispher- depictions on situlae,
ical (globular) cap in Dürrnberg. The Phrygian cap made of fur Iron Age.
was worn with the hair side inwards. The beret-like caps were
made of sheepskin, by gathering a circular piece with a leather
strap. In this case, the hair side was worn towards the outside.
All of those items belonged to the workwear of the miners from
the salt mines as functional and protective head coverings. As
we can compare them with the contemporary depictions, they
were worn by men. There is one example among the berets
found in Hallstatt that belonged to a small child – as can be seen
in the size of the item867. Scarce depictions of children (situla of
Kuffarn) also point to the beret type of head gear for them.

Grave finds of headgear of high-ranked male persons are

known in the princely tombs of the late Hallstatt and early La

866
Popa 2009, 105. – Stöllner 2002, colour pl. 10.
867
Pany-Kucera et al. 2010, fig. 8.

415
 Tène ­Period in Southern Germany868. From Eberdingen-­
Hochdorf a pointed birch hat was found. More atten-
tion has to be drawn to the big leaf-shaped crown or
hat (Fig. 231) depicted on the statue from Glauberg,
dated around 400 BC. Metal wires, wood, leather and
textile remains found in grave 1 could be reconstructed
to belong to such a leaf-shaped crown. So we can imag-
ine this depiction to have had a real counterpart worn
during lifetime as well.

Hallstatt period inhumation graves contain a

lot of bodily adornment. Typical metal objects
around the head of female individuals are
bronze rings and bronze pins869, e.g. at Hallstatt
or Gießübel, Tum. 18, grave 6. The position of
the bronze pins suggests their use as hair-pins,
or as part of some otherwise perishable head-gear
such as a veil or bonnet. Grave 464 from Hallstatt
is remarkable because there are hundreds of amber
beads around the head (Fig. 232), which may have
decorated a bonnet. The Early La Tène period cem-
etery of Dürrnberg is representative concerning in-
humation graves in this region. Metal objects as
remains of headgear are very scarce, sometimes
in women’s graves pins and bronze rings ap-
pear (Fig. 227). In one case a very rich adorned
woman wore a bronze ring around her head,
together with a torques around her neck, beads
of a necklace, fibulae and rings around her arms
and ankles870.

Fig. 231. Glauberg, Like other elements of dress – the most famous being the use of
­Germany, statue with paired fibulae on the shoulders and belts with metal fittings –
leaf-shaped crown, the use of different hats, caps, veils and bonnets were ­developed
c. 400 BC.

Glauberg: Bagley 2014, 415, Kat. Nr. 118. – Bartel 2002, 163–167. – Frölich 2006. – Hochdorf:
868

Biel 1985.
Gießübel: Banck-Burgess 2012b, 41. – Hallstatt: Grömer and Kania 2006; – Kromer 1959.
869

Moosleitner et al. 1974, pl. 189.

870

416
as a habit of the local people of the Alpine region
until the Roman period (province Noricum and
Pannonia)871.

Shoes

Shoes complete the attire. Many different shapes of

shoes are known from the Central European Iron
Age. In the framework of this book, a detailed over-
view of Iron Age shoes872 cannot be provided, so
only the most important observations are included
here.

In addition to the well-known finds of shoes from

the bogs of northern Europe, various shoes have
also been obtained from the salt mines of Hallstatt
and Dürrnberg873. Fritz-Eckart Barth was able to dis-
tinguish three different types (Fig. 233). The shoes
are normally a type of one-piece shoe where the
sole and upper leather are made ​​from a single piece
of leather, one of open-work type. Those shoes are
made of raw leather, barely tanned or not at all, with
cut out opening and perforated edge. The shoes have a seam on Fig. 232. Hallstatt,
the heel and the shape of the shoe is effected by binding straps Grave 464. Watercolour
or cords. This very basic type of shoe was named carbatina874 by painting from Johann
Georg Ramsauer’s
the Romans. In addition, a different type of shoe with a folded documentation of the
leather tongue was found in the Hallstatt Kilbwerk mine (9th to cemetery excavations,
4th centuries BC). These shoes are only sewn on the heel and oth- detail.
erwise consist of flaps, which are just folded over.

The leather shoe with a seam around the sole from the Pletzner-
werk in Hallstatt875 (Fig. 233 right), a salt mine complex dating to
around the beginning of the Common Era, is a singular find. It
is the front part of a right shoe made ​​of cattle leather, the upper

Garbsch 1965. – Rothe 2012.

871

For a general overview, see Groenman-van Waateringe 1974, 111–120.

872

Barth 1992.
873

Cf. Knötzele 2007, 61–64, fig. 58–59.

874

Barth 1992.
875

417
 Fig. 233. Finds of part and sole are interconnected by a seam that can be turned.
Iron Age shoes from Both the cut and the use of the closed seam with grain stitching
­Austrian salt mines. characterise this shoe as a product of a professional shoemaker.

These three shoe types were found in the salt mines, so we may
interpret them as common types of working shoes for the ev-
eryday Iron Age life. Interestingly, some very small shoes have
been found in the salt mines, with today’s European shoe sizes
31 to 35 (UK children’s size 12 to women’s size 2 ½, US chil-
dren’s size 13 to women’s size 4 ½), which likely belonged to
children and women.

Another type of shoe is represented by shoe-shaped pottery.

This is probably a local shoe shape with sloping instep and flat
tapered point. According to research by Ludwig Pauli876, this
type of shoe, a pointed shoe (Schnabelschuh) was especially fash-
ionable in the early La Tène Culture, as evidenced by representa-
tions on shoe fibulae (Fig. 234) or ceramic pots in shoe shape. In
the images of situla art we encounter Schnabelschuhe on the feet

Pauli 1978, shoes: 217, fig. 11. Representations of shoes: list 3, 630–631, fig. 52.
876

418
of a socially superior group of people. The golden
shoe fittings from the princely grave at Hochdorf
also indicate this shape of shoe, just as the vari-
ous shoe fibulae, of which famous examples were
found at the Dürrnberg and Vienna-Leopoldau.
The ‘shoe ­vessel’ from grave 4 from Manners-
dorf877 in Lower Austria (Fig. 235), the grave
of a child, shows the Schnabelschuh of a
child with laces at the instep.

Pointed shoes are generally

considered a product of Etrus-
can influence, which was ab-
sorbed during the late Hallstatt
period in the entire area of the Hall-
statt and La Tène Cultures. The fact that ­local
leather craftspeople possessed the skill to pro-
duce Schnabelschuhe is evidenced by the finds of craft tools. Ce- Fig. 234. Shoe ­fibula
ramic shoe lasts, for example, have been found in Sommerein in from Leopoldau,
Lower Austria878 (Fig. 236). They roughly correspond to today’s Austria, Late Iron Age.
European shoe size 37 (UK size 5, US women’s size 7).

Iron Age graves sometimes also include metal components

from footwear: metal rivets or small rings
in the area of foot bones879. Grave 119 from
Dürrnberg-Eislfeld880 (Fig. 227), for ex-
ample, is the burial of a rich woman
of the late Hallstatt period,
who died at the age of c.
60 years. A rod-shaped
pendant was found close
to her lower right leg; at
each foot, one larger
and one smaller ring
Fig. 235. Shoe vessel from Mannersdorf, were found. The ex-
Austria, Late Iron Age. act appearance of the

877
Ramsl 2011.
878
Neugebauer 1980.
879
Schönfelder 1999, with finds catalogue.
880
Pauli 1978, 532–533.

419
 shoes cannot be reconstructed with
certainty. It can be said, however, that
rivets and little rings near the feet area
of the skeleton were part of shoes that
were closed (buttoned) over the instep.
Especially on shoe fibulae, such as the
one from Vienna-Leopoldau (Fig. 234),
decorative and functional elements in
round shape are shown.

5.6 Interpretation of Iron

Age sources in terms of
costume history
The image we create of costume during the Iron Age, based on
an overview of grave finds, representations, written sources and
Fig. 236. Late Iron Age original finds, clearly does not fully mirror the abundance and
shoe lasts from Som- complexity of Iron Age clothing in Central Europe. In general,
merein in the Museum the clothes were very colourful, as evidenced on the one hand
Mannersdorf, Austria.
by original finds and on the other hand by ancient historians.

Men’s costume

The images of men’s clothing dating to the late Hallstatt and La

Tène periods are sometimes very detailed and can be compared
with original finds of garments. The upper body was covered
by a long or short-sleeved shirt or tunic. These garments some-
times reached the knees and were occasionally belted, as on
the figurines from Idrija pri Bači or Imst and based on finds of
belts in graves. The belts are important accessory items, since
their use optically divides the body clearly into an upper and
lower body and thus strongly influences the silhouette of the
person.

Jacket-like garments, i.e. open in front, are worn on early La Tène

representations such as the scabbard of Hallstatt and the fibula
from Dürrnberg. Men with long garments, without belts, can be
found on the works of situla art. Different forms of cloaks worn
over other garments were very popular. The written ­tradition

420
names these garments saga. Roman representations and original
finds from the bogs of northern Europe indicate they were rect-
angular pieces of cloth held together on the shoulders by fibu-
lae. In men’s graves, a single larger fibula on the right shoulder
suggests that it probably served to hold together a coarse man-
tle (maybe a sagum). The sagum was later adopted as a military
cloak by the Romans. Hooded capes (e.g. the ­cucullus or the cara-
calla881), closed at the front, were also in use; one of them is rep-
resented on the late La Tène wooden figure from the headwaters
of the Seine. These hooded capes were worn well into Roman
times and displayed as native costume on grave stones, for in-
stance on the famous relief of the ship’s captain (nauta) Blussus
and his wife Menimane from Mainz-Weisenau in Germany882,
the man is wearing a caracalla.

The earliest evidence of trousers (or leggings) in Central Eu-

rope comes from the early Hallstatt period belt plate of Molník
in Slovenia and the conical necked vessel from Sopron-Várhely,
Tumulus 127 (Fig. 221). Narrow, long and patterned trousers
are shown on the ‘wheel-bearers’ on the scabbard of Hallstatt,
whereas the hunter on the belt plate of Molník wears baggy
trousers. The leg wear of the figure on the Dürrnberg fibula has
generous creases, just like the trousers of the mounted Celt from
Magdalensberg – a much later image around the beginning of
Common Era.

The representations also show that the trousers were often at-
tached to the lower legs with bindings. Bronze pendants as we
know them from the leg area in early La Tène burials may have
hung on these bands. Tight Hallstatt leggings were found to-
gether with socks on the Vedrette di Ries glacier in South Tyrol.
Original finds of trousers and leg wraps come from the Nordic
bogs (Thorsberg, Damendorf, Søgårds Mose). They are usually
dated to the Roman Iron Age, i.e. after the birth of Christ.

881
The cucullus is a hood with only a short extension covering just the shoulders; the caracalla
is the long version of the same hooded cape. Friendly comment by John-Peter Wild,
Manchester, Jan. 2015. See also Cleland, Davies and Llewellyn-Jones 2007, 30, 44.
882
Böhme-Schönberger 1997, fig. 18.

421
 The name of certain types of garments is known through written
sources: to Diodorus Siculus we owe the name bracae. The trou-
sers are so clearly recognized as foreign in the Greek and Roman
written sources that they almost became a symbol of barbaric
northern peoples.

Nevertheless, the origin of this garment is not yet fully un-

derstood. Trousers, composed of two leg warmers stitched to-
gether in the middle, were probably developed at several dif-
ferent locations at the same time883. The earliest trousers known
so far, radiocarbon dated between the 13th and 10th century BC,
have been found in Turfan in China. Their age corresponds to
the spread of mobile pastoralism in eastern Central Asia and
predates the widely known Scythian finds. The trousers were
made of three independently woven pieces of fabric, they were
shaped in the correct size to fit a specific person and then sewn
together884. Ancient horsemen, especially the Cimmerians and
Scythians, already had trousers, as evidenced by trimmings of
precious metals found in kurgans of the 4th century BC. This
garment provides ideal protection of the inside and outside of
the legs, particularly when riding, and can be considered as a
well thought-out functional gear. Herodotus mentions in the 5th
century that Medes, Persians, Scythians and Saci all had trou-
sers (Hdt. 7, 61–64). In Greek art, trousers appear primarily to
­identify Scythians885.

In Roman pictorial sources such as on Marcus Aurelius’ or

Trajan’s Column, barbarians are repeatedly shown in trou-
sers. The toga-wearing Roman gens togata was thus visually
distinguished from the trouser-wearing gens bracata. Although
Romans considered trousers the essence barbarity, they were
eventually adopted as a practical piece of clothing in the mili-
tary. Leather knee-length trousers (feminalia) can be, for exam-
ple, found in the Roman cavalry from the late 1st century AD886.

Von Kurzynski 1996, 131–139, with further sources and references.

883

Beck et al. 2014, fig. 2 and 5.

884

Gleba 2008b, 13–28.

885

Böhme-Schönberger 1997, 26. – Croom 2002, 55–57. – Speidel 2012.

886

422
Women’s costume

The costume of Iron Age women is more elusive on the situla art,
women are always depicted with a long robe, combined with a
veil and sometimes worn belted. The body silhouette of women
is not revealing; straight, austere shapes of the robed figures em-
phasise the vertical. It is definitely not close to the images of the
draped wealth of folds, as they are known from peplos-wearing
women on Greek representations. Representing body shapes
and movement was obviously not a concern with the female
characters of situla art – the figures appear static, despite scenes
with motion sequences. Apart from the images on situlae, there
are very few La Tène period representations of women, except
for the late La Tène representations of the goddess Epona, who
mostly wears a knee-length robe.

We encounter the Iron Age woman in graves as follows: Smaller

fibulae in the chest area probably served to fasten the neck open-
ing of an (under?) garment. The fibulae placed symmetrically
on both shoulders are usually associated with a specific over-
dress, the peplos (see below). The fibulae may, however, just as
well fasten a cloak, similar to the fibulae found individually or
closely adjacent on one shoulder (see Fig. 237).

The custom of wearing upper arm rings is interesting in terms

of costume history, as it may indicate that short-sleeved dresses
were worn and the upper arms were bare. Conversely, they may
also indicate tight, long sleeves over which the rings could have
been worn. The leg rings worn over ankles may also suggest
that clothing was not floor length, so that the jewellery pieces
could be seen.

Skirts, shoulder capes made of fur and various sprang nets for
the hair are known from the Iron Age of northern Europe. Par-
ticularly well known is a tubular garment found from the bog
of Huldremose, which has been interpreted as a peplos by the
Danish textile researcher Margarethe Hald based on the Greek
garment of that name887. This peplos and the way it was worn
will be discussed below, as it has always been considered as a

887
Hald 1980, 358–365.

423
 Fig. 237. Variants of costumes with fibulae and garments of the Iron Age: Free recon-
structions from Grave 119 from Dürrnberg (above) and Grave 1003 from Pottenbrunn
(below). Tube dress peplos made of checked wool fabric, green cloak with decorative
stitching and tablet woven belt: fabrics and patterns according to finds from Hallstatt.
Simple linen dress with embroidery from the finds from Nové Zamky.
Model: Anna Palme.

424
characteristic Iron Age woman’s gar-
ment in the relevant research and pop-
ular literature. It is a piece of clothing
made ​​of textile which was either woven
tubular or square, with the cloth sewn
together. It is draped around the body
and folded horizontally, so that a folded
flap appears. At this line, the garment
is fastened with a fibula or pin at each
shoulder (Fig. 238). A belt, which may,
depending on the length of the flap, be
placed above or below, gives the peplos
additional support. In Greek clothing888
different variants of the peplos are dis-
tinguished, for instance depending on
whether the side is sewn up (Doric pep-
los) or open (Ionic or Laconian peplos).

The textile researcher Inga Hägg has

dealt intensively with the question of
where the peplos comes from and where it spread889. According Fig. 238. Draping a
to ancient tradition, the custom of the peplos was introduced into Doric peplos.
Greece with the arrival of the Dorians around 1,200 – 1,000 BC
from the north. Immigration is indeed traceable through the dis-
semination of the Doric language groups. The peplos is first tan-
gible in the archaeological record from the late Helladic III B – C
(c. 1,200 BC) by large-sized pairs of pins found paired on the
shoulders of the dead for the first time. It can later be seen on
Greek works of art.

In Central Europe, women’s costume with paired metal fas-

teners at the shoulders appears again and again from the Early
Bronze Age (from c. 2,200 BC) to the Hallstatt and La Tène peri-
ods. Merely the types and shapes of the fasteners change, from
variously designed pins in the Bronze Age to various forms of
fibulae in the Iron Age. Metal belt elements are also frequently
present, whether as a belt plates, belt hooks or belt chains. Thus
we can ask whether it is possible that the peplos originated in

Pekridou-Gorecki 1989, 77–82.

888

Hägg 1996, 136–142.

889

425
 Central Europe and spread to Greece in the 2nd millennium BC
and reached northern Europe in the Iron Age.

This question provokes another one: is this garment known

from the graves in Central Europe, closed at the shoulders and
belted, really a long peplos folded at the upper side and pinned
with fibulae through the fold890, or may other forms of clothing
result in the same archaeological pattern891 (Fig. 237)? Interest-
ingly, neither the few Bronze Age nor the slightly more numer-
ous Iron Age representations of female figures show a folded
peplos. This type of garment with its characteristic fold and fas-
tening at the shoulders would result in a rather unique silhou-
ette. In the works of situla art, for example, rather plain dresses,
with or without belt and combined with long and short veils
and cloaks are shown. The draped fabric of a peplos is nowhere
to be seen.

Only the representations of ancient Germans, such as the ones

from Trajan’s or Marcus Aurelius’ Column in Rome dating
to the 2nd century represent Germanic women in a creased,
­peplos-like garment892, but without a fold. The same can be said
for tombstones from the Danubian limes, the Roman provinces
of Noricum and Pannonia. There the tube-dress without fold is
combined with local forms of large, winged fibulae at the shoul-
ders, various hats and veils. In particular, the paired fibulae on
the shoulders are unusual for the Romans and indicate a pre-­
Roman tradition in this costume.

The question of when and where the rectangular pieces of fab-

ric or fabric tubes were turned into garments such as the peplos
is also a matter of textile technology. In Northern Europe the
situation is quite clear due to the good preservation of ­complete

Antoinette Rast-Eicher’s (2008) latest research doubts that the folded Doric peplos with flap
890

was used in the Swiss textile material of the Iron Age. She rejects the idea based on the
detection of weaving edges at the shoulder fibulae. E.g. Bern-Enge, Grave 15 and 39; fig. 41. –
A tube-dress which was pinned directly at the borders to create the neck and arm opening was
found in a woman’s grave at Hamerum, Denmark, 1st century AD. This dress was 95 cm long
and 146 cm in circumference and may have reached the knees of the woman. Mannering and
Ræder Knudsen 2013.
891
For different forms of clothing resulting in the same archaeological pattern see also Grömer,
Rösel-Mautendorfer and Bender Jørgensen 2013.
892
Böhme-Schönberger 1997, 45. – Garbsch 1965. – Rothe 2012.

426
garments893. Garments of the Bronze Age include blouses and
skirts for women and men’s wrap-arounds, all of which are
characterised by the fact that they were tailored. This means
that the woven fabrics were cut and hemmed to prevent fray-
ing of the edges with many different types of stitch and finally
sewn into the desired garment. This approach is clearly derived
from the technique of sewing leather especially for blouses, as
Margarethe Hald has impressively demonstrated. The Iron Age
garments of Northern Europe, in contrast, follow different de-
sign principles. The rectangular cloth derived from weaving on
the warp-weighted loom is now incorporated. This was done
mostly without further cuts; cuts across the fabric surfaces in
particular are now avoided. These rectangles could be seam-
lessly wrapped as square upper garments, scarves, veils, head-
scarves or leg wraps, solely secured by the drapery or with ac-
cessories such as belts, pins or fibulae. Sewn together, the rect-
angular cloth elements result in different coats, tunics or the
sewn peplos. All of these forms are also typical of Greek and
Roman clothing. Only the design of trousers required a more
complicated cutting and tailoring technique.

Comparing the textiles from Central Europe of the Bronze and

Iron Age with these findings, no such clear picture emerges.
Both on the Bronze and Iron Age textile remnants from Hallstatt
many tailored elements894 can be found. Curvy edges were often
cut and seamed with buttonhole stitches; fabrics were cut trans-
versely into trapezoidal shapes and assembled into a garment.
The leggings and socks from the Vedrette di Ries glacier895 were
stitched together from several cut pieces, building the socks in a
three-dimensional structure. There is clear evidence for sophis-
ticated tailoring techniques, which are in the Nordic area inter-
preted as reminiscence of older furriery techniques which are
superseded by the use of rectangular panels in the Iron Age.

In the Iron Age in Central Europe, we are clearly dealing with a

variety of different shapes and designs for clothing, with differ-
ent technological approaches.

893
Hald 1980. – Mannering et al. 2012.
894
Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013.
895
Bazzanella et al. 2005, fig. 9–12.

427
 6 The meaning of clothes and jewellery
Some general thoughts on clothing will first be presented here,
since clothes serve and served different purposes during his-
tory (Fig. 239)896. One basic function is certainly the protection
against environmental elements such as rain, cold or heat. Util-
ity, however, is not the only purpose for clothing. Decoration for
the wearer and the representation of status are also significant
aspects of clothing. Climate, level of craftsmanship, custom and
tradition resulted in different forms of dress. Clothing is also
an important means of communicating statements about iden-
tity, age, gender, group membership (including ethnicity, reli-
gion), and social status (e.g. work clothing, clothing with regard
to marital status)897. The garments including dress accessories
and jewellery further create identity for the individual, but also
the community. Through clothing materialise aspects of a per-
son, whether these are aesthetic, economic, and moral values or
aspects such as charisma and power. Costume also sheds light
on how much public and private space existed in a community
and how gender relations were organised. Visually identical
garments for men and women, for instance, express different
social relations than do a strong emphasis on gender differences
enhanced by various items of clothing.

Clothing may also be used to alter the body and its silhouette
as well as reshape its surface. Likewise, garments influence
body language and options of movement898. To put it boldly: the
­Roman toga allows for more thoughtful and slow movements
because of its wealth of fabric and draping, giving the wearer
a different body feeling to wearing than the late La Tène Celt’s
combination of trousers and cloak, which allowed considerably
more freedom of movement.

Cf. Bender Jørgensen 2007. – Eicher and Evenson 2015. – Lurie 1981. – Schierer 1996, 10–
896

29, 42. – Schneider and Weiner 1989. – Wincott Heckett 2007.

The research project ‘DressID – Clothing and Identity’ under the direction of the Curt-
897

Engelhorn Foundation Mannheim 2007–2012 had examined the function of clothing in terms
of creating identity. Cultural identities and their reflection in textiles and costumes were
explored starting from the Roman Empire with its archaeological, art and literary sources.
http://www.dressid.com, last accessed 30th Sept. 2014. – See also Calefato 2004. – Roach-
Higgins and Eicher 1995. – Sommer 2010; 2012.
Cf. Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and Mückler 2012, 152–153. – See also Koda 2001.
898

428
 Fig. 239. Function
of clothes.

6.1 Attraction and chastity

Early on, people started to ponder about the reasons for dress-
ing. According to early moralists, clothing was invented to
cover intimate parts of the body. The Bible’s Old Testament
story of the Original Sin (Genesis 3.7) will be familiar to many:
‘Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they perceived that
they were naked; and they sewed together fig leaves and made them-
selves loincloths.’ The texts of the Book of Moses were recorded
from different traditions around c. 1,000 BC and give us an in-
sight into the perception of morality in the Near East at that
time. Nevertheless, these moral values ​​shaped the Christian
West until well into the 20th century.

The sense of shame, chastity and modesty899, particularly as rep-

resented by moralists of the 19th and early 20th century, advocates
that clothing developed because people were ashamed of their
nakedness. This applies, however, only to those human commu-
nities for which clothing is common. If nudity is commonplace,

899
Hirning 1973. – Schierer 1996, 10–29.

429
 shame is expressed in a different way. Drawing on colonial
ideas of dress, undress, and nakedness, Adeline Masquelier900
discusses the cultural specifity of appropriate body covering
and its interpretation as moral or immoral. In the eyes of colo-
nialists and ethnographers of the early 20th century, bodies with-
out sufficient clothing were considered naked, hence immoral
and primitive. These Westerners failed to recognise that small
items of clothing such as a waist cord were sufficient dress to
those who knew how to read them.

Chastity, modesty and shame are thus cultural products and de-
pend on relative standards. Which parts of the body may be visi-
ble and which should be covered is constantly changing and not
least inspired by erotic imagination. It is thus clear that during
the course of human evolution, clothing was not invented out of
a feeling of chastity. Chastity and its reversal – erotic appeal –
are, however, essential factors in the expression of certain cloth-
ing customs. Research on this topic is particularly insightful for
the Roman period, as it can include the rich written tradition901.
Moralizing words about how to dress can be read in treatise on
dress codes and satires.

Little is deducible on the question of shame and attraction for

prehistory, even when written sources are available at the end
of the Iron Age. Julius Caesar writes in his commentaries on the
Gallic Wars about the Suevi (Caesar, B.G. 4, 1.10):902 ‘And to such
a habit have they brought themselves, that even in the coldest parts
they wear no clothing whatever except skins, by reason of the scant-
iness of which, a great portion of their body is bare, and besides they
bathe in open rivers.’ Describing people like that was intended to
mark them as primitive. It does not say anything about what the
Suevi might have felt about nakedness and modesty.

Only few examples from modern research on prehistoric cloth-

ing may be considered to elucidate the oppositional pair of
chastity and attraction. The function of the famous string skirt
of the Bronze Age ‘Egtved Girl’, for example, is interpreted by

900
Masquelier 2005, 7–10.
901
E.g. Métraux 2008, 271–293.
902
http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.4.4.html.

430
Elizabeth Wayland Barber903 in terms of symbolising eroticism.
To argue for this interpretation, she draws on a text from an-
cient Greece, a passage from the 14th book of Homer's Iliad, in
which Aphrodite receives ‘a girdle crafted with a hundred tassels’
(Homer, Il. 14.181) from Hera to seduce Zeus. ‘… and there in it
have been crafted all bewitchments – love, and sexual desire, and in-
timate persuasion, which has stolen away the mind of even those who
think carefully.’ (Homer, Il. 14.214–217). According to Barber the
decorative apron of Homer‘s time (8th century BC) represents
an artefact from the ‘legendary Bronze Age’ with symbolic and
ritual, but also erotic significance. An erotic component is inher-
ent when the conspicuously veiled and wrapped references the
hidden and invisible and thus creates a stimulating effect.

6.2 Protection of the body

In his theory of climate the Greek writer Plutarch emphasises

the importance of clothing as protection of the body: ‘The same
garment warms in the winter cold, but cools in the sun... Germanic
peoples thus use clothing only as protection against the cold, the Ethi-
opians [i.e. Africans] as protection from the heat, but we use it as pro-
tection against both.’ (Plut., Mor. 691d). In this context, mention-
ing clothing serves to legitimise the claim to power of the Ro-
mans because they live in the most balanced part of the world.

The function of clothing as a protective cover against the weather

is still a topic of concern904, whether one protects the body against
heat loss in colder regions or from overheating in extremely hot
regions. There are, however, extreme cases where people only
wear little clothing despite inhospitable climate. The well-known
British naturalist Charles Darwin, the founder of evolutionary
theory, for instance reports that the residents of the southern tip
of South America wear only body paint and a few scraps of fur in
the tundra-steppe of the southern Polar Regions905. Humans can
become acclimatized to cold, but only down to a critical level,

Barber 1991, 256–257.

903

Compare Eicher and Evenson 2015, 158–162. – Gilligan 2007. – Parsons 2003.
904

Darwin 1839.
905

431
 below which hypothermia begins within hours and can lead rap-
idly to death, literally overnight.

Clothing is essential as thermal insulation by trapping air close

to the skin surface, reducing the thermal gradient between the
body and external environment. After Ian Gilligan906, two as-
pects largely determine the thermal effectiveness of clothing:
first, whether a garment is properly fitted, i.e. shaped to fit closely
to the body, including the limbs, as opposed to being loosely
draped over the body. The second aspect is the number of lay-
ers, with multiple layers requiring that at least the inner layer(s)
are fitted. Draped, single-layer clothing can provide only lim-
ited thermal protection, whereas fitted, multi-layered clothing
assemblages are even sufficient in very cold environments. Also
specific properties of raw material can be exploited for that rea-
son. Wool, for example, when spun into loose yarns and woven
into thick weave structures, can keep the body warmer than can
flax fibres, because wool fibres are scaled and somewhat curly
and can be made into a cloth that holds insulating pockets of air
around the body. In contrast, flax will absorb body moisture and
then release it at the touch of a breeze, so it can be woven into
thin, light fabrics that cool the body.

In Central Europe, the change of seasons exposes the body to

rapid temperature changes, which could be compensated for
with appropriate clothing in prehistoric times907. It is, ­however,
difficult to pinpoint specific summer and winter clothes in
the archaeological record. Particularly striking examples are
the Iron Age leggings from the Vedrette di Ries glacier, but
­especially the Stone Age ‘alpine mountaineering equipment’
of the Iceman, a fitted, multi-layered clothing assemblage as
­described above. These may well be interpreted as warm func-
tional clothing. An ancient text of the late Iron Age by Diodorus
refers to the fact that the Gauls used seasonally different gar-
ments: ‘… they wear striped heavy cloaks, fastened with a brooch at
the shoulder, heavy for winter wear and light for summer …’ (Diod.,
Hist. 5.30.1).

Gilligan 2007, 501–503.

906

Cf. Harris 2012, 82–84. – Wininger 1995, 121–131.

907

432
Another aspect of clothing components is their function to pro-
tect certain body parts during manual activities – work clothes
in the broadest sense. These would include, for instance, aprons
worn by a blacksmith (faber ferrarius) as shown in Roman repre-
sentations908.

Head coverings and shoes discovered in the Iron Age salt mines
of Hallstatt and Dürrnberg in Austria clearly belong to the
work clothes of underground miners due to the context of their
­discovery. Did these items differ from everyday garments at all?
Was there a distinction between everyday and specialized work
clothes in the Iron Age? We just do not know. It seems plau-
sible that there was a special festive costume, particularly for
the wealthy strata of the population. Studies conducted by the
physical anthropologist Doris Pany909 on skeletal remains from
the cemetery of Hallstatt revealed interesting details: The bur-
ied community in the salt valley appears very rich, as they are
equipped with numerous bronze vessels, ­exotic imports and
a wealth of jewellery. The general population spent their life
there and worked in the mines; the skeletons of the dead show
that even this wealth was earned by hard physical labour. The
Iron Age people of Hallstatt were generally built very strong,
and traces of heavy workload can be seen on the bones. ­Muscle
marks suggest that children, young people, women and men
were all involved in the salt mining process. A specific division
of labour could even be determined, which could be demon-
strated by the fact that men and women primarily used ­different
muscle groups. Men were responsible for the salt mining (strik-
ing movement with bronze picks), women for transport (lift-
ing, pulling and carrying movements). Even people buried with
very rich grave goods have such changes in the skeleton.

Back to the clothes: It seems unlikely that the pins, spectacle fib-
ulae, sheet bronze rattling pendants and sheet metal belts found
in the graves were worn while working in the mine. This is un-
derlined by the fact that (except one pin) no such items were
found in the salt mines themselves. They would not only be a
hindrance, but could also be easily soiled or be damaged. Was

Zimmer 1982, e.g. no. 117, grave monument from Ostia, blacksmith with tunic and apron.
908

Pany 2009, 136–141.

909

433
 there a difference ­between functional, hard-wearing clothing for
work in the mountain (possibly with a different cut?) and clothes
from fine fabrics complimented by rich jewellery? Or was the
jewellery simply attached to the (cleaned) everyday clothes on
festive days? In the absence of appropriate pictorial and written
sources, these questions must remain open.

6.3 Psychological effects of clothing

Every object that human beings produce or select for their per-
sonal sphere can be considered as objectification and expression
of their identity. Joanna Sofaer910 writes: ‘… as archaeologists we
are familiar with the idea that objects are created by people…. we are
perhaps less routinely aware of the ways that people are literally cre-
ated by objects and the material world, although the implications of this
are profound.’ Clothing takes on special significance, since of all
personal items it is literally and figuratively the thing closest to
us. After the mother’s skin, fabric is the first substance a person
comes into contact with after birth. The first sensory experiences
take place and the senses awaken. Among all materials, textiles
are obviously those with which people have the most intensive
direct contact and which are most intensively used911. They are
the ones in which we immerse ourselves at night and in which
we walk around during the day; we will be even buried in tex-
tiles. Textiles are so elementary, because they are the first and
last material with which one comes in contact. ­Clothing can be
understood as a second skin and as kind of personal space912.
With dress we transform our biological body into a socially
meaningful manifestation. People are three-dimensional beings,
all of whose utterances – the acoustic, tactile, olfactory and even
optical – are spatially defined; clothing provides a protective
shell and supports the personal space. The shell of the clothing,
however, does not create the space alone – without the person,
the shell collapses, it is hollow. People and clothing together are
a system of mutual interdependence.

Sofaer 2006b, 84.

910

See also Bender Jørgensen 2007. – Sommer 2012, 257.

911

Antons 1999, 74–78. – Lurie 1981.

912

434
Clothing is an important means of body production and per-
sonal expression. Key priorities are the structural properties
such as texture, colour and other material properties (e.g. trans-
parent, rough, smooth, soft, hard, shiny, dull), but also the
weight distribution on the body as well as the division of indi-
vidual clothing items and clothing accessories (straight, round,
square, closed, symmetric, etc.). Through these properties, the
expressivity of clothing is defined, which is encoded in the value
and symbolic system of a particular society (e.g. as solemnly,
friendly, proud, dark, peaceful, hostile)913.

The expressivity inherent in the clothing was most likely also

perceived by prehistoric people and attached with values. As
Susanna Harris914 emphasised by taking the 14th century BC
Bronze Age as a case study, different parts of Europe had dif-
ferent prehistoric ‘cloth cultures’, which probably also influ-
enced the self-understanding of human psychology. According
to Harris, all societies use cloth-type materials, i.e. flexible, thin
sheets of skin, various types of plant fibres, bark or textiles that
can be wrapped, folded, shaped and used for clothing and other
purposes. For the Bronze Age, Harris distinguishes between
cloth cultures of Scandinavia, Central Europe, the Aegean and
Pharaonic Egypt. Materials are specific to each culture and thus
contribute to express cultural identity.

6.4 Gendered design

Well into the 20th century in Europe it was considered as ‘self-ev-

ident’ that men and women could be identified on the basis of
their different clothing915. The style of clothes alone determined
gender so much that women dressed as men could live as men
unrecognised for many years. In the 18th century, for example, it
is reported about a woman in South Holland: ‘… on February 23,
1769, the court of Gouda sentenced a woman because of “very gross
and serious misconduct” and “ridiculing divine and human laws”.

913
Antons 1999, 78–79. – Eicher and Evenson 2015.
914
Harris 2012.
915
Cf. Barnes and Eicher 1991. – Calefato 2004. – Lurie 1981. – Reich 2005, 42–43. – Roach-
Higgins and Eicher 1995, 7–18.

435
 The crime had occurred eight years earlier, when she started to wear
men’s clothes, accepted a man’s name and became a soldier …’916

The theme of changing gender to the opposite sex by dressing

in men’s and women’s clothes is taken up again and again in
fiction and film. The film Yentl with Barbra Streisand, for exam-
ple, tells the story of a Jewish girl in 1904, who only succeeds in
studying at a yeshiva in an Eastern European village by dress-
ing as a man917. Since the Second World War, in Europe the strict
visual gender assignment by clothing has been softened more
and more in the Western world918. Nevertheless, even enlight-
ened people of the 21st century stereotypically assign attributes
like skirts and dresses to women and suits and ties to man.

Did a system like this also apply to prehistoric times? Was gen-
der visible and articulated through clothes in the times of the
early farmers or the pre-Roman Celts? For the Neolithic, the
sources are few and far between. The complete garments of the
Nordic Bronze Age clearly have different shapes, designs and
cuts for men and women919. The silhouettes of men differ from
those of women. The legs of men wearing wrap-arounds and
loincloth are visible, whilst women normally wear long skirts.
Their upper bodies and waists are accentuated with close fitting
blouses and girdles, while on the other hand the cloak worn by
men covers the upper body, making it shapeless and more mas-
sive.

Even in the Bronze Age in Central Europe, jewellery and cloth-

ing accessories for men and women are usually different in form
and shape or in their number and the way they are placed in the

After Dekker and van de Pol 1990, 11. ‘… am 23. Februar 1769 verurteilte das Gericht von
916

Gouda eine Frau wegen „sehr grober und schwerwiegender Verfehlungen” und „Verspottens
der göttlichen und menschlichen Gesetze”. Ihr Verbrechen bestand darin, dass sie acht Jahre
zuvor Männerkleidung angezogen hatte, einen Männernamen angenommen hatte und Soldat
geworden war …‘
Yentl, movie USA 1983. Directed and produced by Barbra Streisand.
917

In America, this process began in the 1930s, when women at universities such as Vassar,
918

Bryn Mawr, Barnard and other ‘preppy’ schools began wearing the same clothes as young
men were wearing at Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Rebecca C. Tuite 2014, Seven Sisters
Style.
Bergerbrant 2007, 50–59. – Broholm and Hald 1940, 146–156.
919

436
graves. Most likely, these metal objects in the graves point to
different forms of garments.

Images of narrative scenes on works of Iron Age situla art can

be best used to contrast the differences in the representation of
women’s and men’s clothes, as both genders are shown ­together
on one medium and very clearly. Primarily people shown in
these images are of the elite classes, engaged in festive and pos-
sibly ritual or symbolic activities. At first glance the two gen-
ders are quite similar in the silhouette and basic form of the
garments, except perhaps for the warriors. The most common
piece of clothing is the long tunic or dress, worn with or with-
out a belt. A cloak is often combined with this garment. The
most obvious difference between man and woman is articulated
through the headdress and not – as might be expected – through
an ­emphasis on secondary sexual characteristics such as wom-
en’s breasts or men’s beards.

Women cover their heads with a headscarf or veil, which can

extend over the shoulders and buttocks to the ankles. Men
are always beardless and wear various shapes of hats – if they
are not represented totally bald. Some carry different helmets,
(leather?) armour and weapons, which characterise the warrior.
In addition to the garments of civilians that conceal the body
shape, there are also those that remodel the body. If men wear
the combination of trousers and tunic, e.g. on the Hallstatt scab-
bard or the Dürrnberg fibula, then the body is clearly divided
into head, upper and lower body. This creates a completely dif-
ferent body silhouette than the one we encounter with the long,
flowing robes shown on situla art.

Garments for women and men are also distinguishable in the

finds from Iron Age bogs of northern Europe, although they
were not always found with a body: there are trousers, tunics
and cloaks for men; skirts, capes or peploi for women. The differ-
ence between men and women can clearly be recognized – the
visibility of legs versus their almost complete concealment. It
cannot be determined whether this has something to do with
enabling and restricting movement, or with a taboo associated
with certain body regions for women.

437
 It can be generally assumed that different clothing for men and
women existed in prehistoric times, in particular in the Bronze
and Iron Ages. Did these gendered ways of dressing and their
visual effect define gender roles so much that they created a
boundary that could not be transgressed? For times without
written history, this can ultimately not be decided. Dress codes
were in use in the Roman period, as appropriate clothing was
seen as an important key to social order920. For example, wearing
a toga, the sign of citizenship and honour, was unthinkable for
a respectable woman. She wears a stola in public, without which
she did not leave the house.

6.5 Social function – vestimentary codes

Social categories such as ethnicity, religion, gender, character

need to be manifested in visible expressions. Dress as identity
medium plays an important role here. Costume helps people to
express and represent themselves; it shows a person’s dignity
to others. This is necessary to orient and position themselves in
the social world. Costume history is thus always a reflection of
social history921. From the Roman period at the latest, even more
so in the Middle Ages and in modern times, the social status and
rank of the wearers can be read with reference to the cut, mate-
rial, embellishment and colour of their clothing. Together with
language, gestures and facial expressions, clothing is a power-
ful means of identity formation and self-expression. In Roman
times and the Middle Ages, the social order is also reflected by
clothes. Not least this is reflected by the various dress codes and
laws922.

Until the 19th century, public communication was choreo-

graphed and determined by information from clothes. Gar-
ments protected wearers from inappropriate communication
through its function as marker of social class. The visual appear-
ance of the textiles is most obvious to the human eye – their pat-
terns, colouring, texture and draping – and acted as a medium

920
Cf. Böhme-Schönberger 1997. – Edmontson 2008.
921
Entwistle 2000. – Roach-Higgins and Eicher 1995. – Sørensen 1997; 2010.
922
Middle Ages: Reich 2005. – Late Antiquity to early Middle Ages: Schierer 1996.

438
of communication923. There are vestimentary codes924, which
are regularly used and interpreted in a largely consensual way.
The signal range of this code is comprised of variations of ma-
terial, colour (hue, intensity, and value), and cut. The respective
meanings of such combinations are the result of a socio-cultural
agreement. Due to a lack of literary sources in European pre-
history, we do not have direct access to the symbolic meaning
of jewellery, ­individual garments, materials, colours, etc. A look
into history, for instance in the Middle Ages925, tells us that cer-
tain colours were reserved for certain sectors of society. Expen-
sive colours, such as purple red, for example, was the colour of
aristocratic people.

Models from ethnology926 are also helpful. An important indi-

cator for the differentiation of social ranks can be different fab-
ric types and qualities as well as the amount of material used,
even if the cut of the garments within a culture remains the same
in broad terms. In India for instance, only the high castes and
the nobles were allowed silk fabrics, whilst the lower classes
were only allowed cotton and wool. Even the colour of cloth-
ing is usually not random in pre-industrial societies, but can be
used to distinguish between age groups, genders, social ­status
or ­professions. Similarly, emotions and feelings – for example,
mourning or joy – are expressed by the colour of clothing and
certain accessories and thus communicated. In ethnology, jewel-
lery is integral to the clothing and used as a sign of group mem-
bership, status and prestige. Jewellery also serves as a sign of po-
litical and economic relations. The different stages of life (birth,
adulthood, marriage, marital status, mourning etc.) are accom-
panied by special clothes and special jewellery that thus acquires
a high degree of magical and symbolic meaning. In ­addition to
the norms of a society, clothing and jewellery is always also an
expression of individual preferences and creativity.

See Sommer 2012, 257–259.

923

Eicher and Evenson 2015, 270–286.

924

See Reich 2005.

925

Cf. Cordwell and Schwartz 1979. – Feest and Janata 1989, 161–163, 225–226. – See also
926

Leventon 2008, 184–223; 256–275.

439
 Can we – with due caution – apply such considerations on cos-
tumes from historic periods and ethnology to prehistoric times?
To what extent did garments refer to the social position of a per-
son in prehistoric times?

Using the ethnological analogies above, we can assume that

elaborate textiles were reserved for the richer sectors of society
in the Iron Age. In addition to dyed textiles, these are labour
intensive and time consuming textiles with high thread counts
and complex weaves with special decorative patterns. Tex-
tiles made with ‘expensive’ materials such as imported dyes or
gold threads in particular are probably attributable to the elite.
­Examples were found in the Iron Age princely tombs of Hoch-
dorf and Hohmichele927.

Assigning certain colour shades to social functions is more than

difficult for prehistory. Most Iron Age illustrations do not con-
tain any colour information. Even if textiles are available from
graves, they are only preserved by metal mineralization and
usually do not retain the original colour. In rare cases such as
the elite graves from Hochdorf and Verucchio it could be as-
certained that the textiles used as grave goods were primarily
dyed in blue and red. Especially the red dye is very expensive in
some cases, particularly if it is derived from insect dyes and had
to be obtained through expensive imports. It does, however, fit
the luxury good atmosphere of elite funerals. Was the use of
this red colour or its imitation with the more easily ­available
native plants such as madder a prerogative of the upper classes
or available to the general population? Without written sources
such as legal texts or decrees these questions ultimately cannot
be answered. Information of this kind is only available from the
Roman period, when purple is clearly reserved for the rulers928.

Jewellery and dress accessories were used to visualise wealth

and prosperity from the beginning of the Bronze Age at the
­latest. The archaeological investigation of grave good patterns
in cemeteries using inhumation or cremation is one of the basic
and frequently applied methods to gain insights into the hierar-

Banck-Burgess 1999, with reference to further finds. – Hundt 1962.

927

Edmontson 2008, 26–29, 32–36.

928

440
chy and structure of prehistoric societies. Dress accessories and
jewellery not only communicate information about the financial
situation and the social position of the owner by their number,
but also by their material value (bronze, iron, silver or gold)929.

Wearing jewellery, the shine of metal contrasting with the

­naturally ­coloured or dyed fabrics, is a matter of social
­representation and self-representation. Even the sounds that
people make when moving and the way clothing feels varies
according to the number of metal elements used930, e.g. when the
soft, warm, resilient wool fabric is contrasted with hard, shiny,
cold metal. In the Bronze and Iron Ages in Central ­Europe,
women generally have more metal objects (jewellery and cloth-
ing accessories) in their graves than do men, and wealthier peo-
ple have more than poor people. The individual wealth thus has
direct repercussions for the physical experience of touch – at
least when one appears in full costume like in the graves.

Sounds also play a role in encounters between people, and the

effect is partly dependent on the metal objects a person carries.
A particularly striking example is the fibula with sheet metal
rattling pendants (Fig. 240) found in rich women’s graves of
the Hallstatt period. Examples include the two crescent bronze
fibulae with ornate rattling plates and representations of ani-
mals from Grave 551931 from the cemetery of Hallstatt in Upper
Austria. It is certain that the appearance of the person should be
striking not only visually, but also acoustically.

Behind some artefacts lies another interesting message, which

was understood within the community jointly with the body
language. Rich women of the Austrian and Bavarian Middle
Bronze Age932 for example sometimes have very long pins and
spiked disk pendants placed on their chest (Fig. 241), whereas
‘poorer’ women only adorn their upper bodies with shorter pins
and simple bronze spirals. Wearing spiked disk pendants does
not only symbolise prosperity due to the ornamentation and

929
Sørensen 2010, 54–58.
930
Bergerbrant 2007, 62–65, 139–140.
931
Kromer 1959, 124, pl. 105/5. – Kern, Lammerhuber and Schwab 2010.
932
Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and Bender Jørgensen 2013. – Wels-Weyrauch 1978.

441
 Fig. 240. Sheet metal amount of metal used, but can clearly be understood as an ob-
rattling pendants on an stacle to physical contact – a demarcation to a member of the
Early Iron Age ­fibula elite.
from the cemetery of
Hallstatt in Austria,
Grave 551. Model: In how far the garments themselves indicated membership in
Angelika Rudelics. a particular social group in addition to the tangible evidence of
jewellery and dress accessories from graves is not easily ascer-
tained due to the low numbers of available textile material. In
the Early and Middle Bronze Age933, for example, people were
regularly buried with dress pins. If we assume that at least the
wealthy women, those who were buried with a garment that was
fastened with two pins in the shoulder region, had at least one
set of clothing, what did the women wear that were not buried
with metal items? Were the metal clothing accessories merely
replaced by organic materials such as two wooden thorns or by
cords which could fasten the clothes in a similar fashion? Or was
the clothing of the ‘poorer’ sectors of society cut differently, for
example as a simple dress, which required no further fixing by
the help of metal accessories?

933
E.g. Wiegel 1994, 173–177. – Sørensen 1997, 95–102; 2010.

442
Only from the Iron Age on-
wards we find more answers to
these specific questions about
memberships to particular so-
cial groups. In the works of sit-
ula art it can be noted that dif-
ferent groups of males wear dif-
ferent clothes. The warriors on
the situla from Certosa in Italy,
for example, or on the scabbard
of Hallstatt all wear short tunics,
the ‘civilians’ on the situla from
Certosa, however, wear a long
garment reaching the calves
concealing the body silhouette.
People engaged in ‘serving’
activities, such as the ‘waiter’
on the situla from Kuffarn in
Austria, are dressed in shorter
tunics or just wear a loincloth.
Even the hunter on the situla
from Welzelach in Austria is
dressed in such a way. One can
therefore see a social differenti-
ation in the clothing. Fist fight-
ers only wear a narrow belt, but even this may be missing – they Fig. 241. Middle Bronze
fight naked. On the situla housed in the Museum of Art in Provi- Age Grave 2 from the
dence, Rhode Island, USA, the folded clothes can be seen placed cemetery of Pitten in
Austria: spiked disks
next to the naked fighters934. It is unclear, however, whether the positioned on the chest
stories shown in the pictures reflect the reality of the general and two long pins on
population in the Hallstatt period (in the Eastern Alps). the arms.

6.6 The value of clothing

Colour, texture, pattern, decoration and qualities such as fine-

ness and coarseness demonstrate the visual judgements and
cultural choices inherent in technological styles935. The manufac-

934
Rebay-Salisbury 2012a, 189–201.
935
See Harris 2012, 84–86.

443
 ture of textiles is very labour intensive and time consuming936.
The more complex the textile and the technique used, and the
finer the quality of the fabric, the more time that is needed for its
production. The question of the value of the clothes brings us to
consider the value of work hours and human labour – dependent
on the people who actually manufactured the textiles. For the
Iron Age it is likely that mostly women were engaged in house-
hold production or responsible for spinning and weaving as spe-
cialists or in workshop production (see pages 247 – 261). Without
written sources, the value of their work is simply not obtainable.
From the Roman period, however, prices and wages become
available through price edicts, ordinances or labels such as lead
tags937. For the Central European Iron Age it can only be noted
that some very valuable materials were used, be it imported dyes
(Hallstatt, Hochdorf) or even gold threads (Hohmichele).

Furthermore it can be emphasised that garments, and textiles in

general, were handled with care. We know of fabrics from the
salt mines of Hallstatt that were carefully darned and mended
with patches938. In addition, clothing was reworked and used for
secondary purposes, for instance ripped into strips as binding
material. All this proves that the ‘resource textile’, which necce-
sated so much labour and time, was valuable.

The value of clothing is well known from the ancient cultures

of Greece and Rome, which have left many written sources939.
In the Homeric epics, the Iliad and Odyssey, textiles represent
a significant part of the total household assets. Gowns for wed-
ding and death, family clothes and linen were part of the domes-
tic wealth that women had to manage. Garments served both for
representation in the wealthy households and as valuable gifts
or votive offerings to the gods. The possession of clothes is – like
jewellery – an investment, not an expendable item that was re-
placed after a short time. In Roman period, clothing forms an

Andersson Strand 2010a and b.

936

Lead tags: Martijnse 1993. Radman-Livaja 2013. – Papyri: Droß-Krüpe 2011. – Diocletian’s
937

Edict on Maximum Prices: Lauffer 1971.

Rösel-Mautendorfer 2013, 113–115. – Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and Reschreiter 2013,
938

130–134.
Droß-Krüpe and Wager 2014. – Wagner-Hasel 2000; 2006. – Yiftach-Firanko 2003.
939

444
important part of dowries. Even in the Middle Ages940 garments
are mentioned in wills and inventories as durable valuables,
which were often handed down through generations.

Is there any evidence how many pieces of clothing people would

have possessed in prehistoric times? Answering this question
is difficult, because we do not even know if there were special
summer or winter clothes941, although this is likely. Likewise,
the question arises of in how far garments could be selected at
will. Indirect evidence for the number of garments owned by
an individual person comes again from graves, especially of the
rich strata of the population. Women’s graves of the Iron Age,
particularly from the La Tène period, often contain very large
numbers of fibulae. Many more pieces than would be necessary
for fasting under and over garments in the shoulder and chest
area were placed in the grave. Some burials were found with
ten to sixteen fibulae in the chest area942. In some cases, they are
placed so close to one another that a deposition in a pouch or
purse seems likely.

The ‘record holder’ for most fibulae in one burial is a woman

from the cemetery of Münsingen in Switzerland, who had 26
fibulae in her grave (Fig. 242), along with a bronze belt chain
and gold and silver finger rings. Whether one can deduct from
the number of fibulae how many pieces of clothing the woman
‘owned’ is questionable but not impossible. Assuming that two
fibulae are needed to close a garment like a peplos, the women
in grave 184 from Münsingen might have possessed at least 13
peploi. Such a wealth of clothes was certainly dedicated to her
representational function.
Fig. 242. Late Iron Age
woman’s Grave 184
from Münsingen in
Switzerland with
7 Pre-Roman clothing history: conclusions 26 fibulae.

Wild, shaggy hair, primitive garments of coarsely materials, a

fur coat slung over the shoulder – these are often the first im-

940
Reich 2005, 51–55, 182.
941
For general thoughts on Bronze Age cloth cultures see Harris 2012, 82–84.
942
Müller and Lüscher 2004, 108–109. – Münsingen: Wiedmer-Stern 1908 and Hodson 1968, 63.

445
 ages that come to mind when one raises the question of how
prehistoric people were clothed. This contrasts with the image
of the noble, white-robed figures of Greek and Roman antiquity,
wrapped in finely draped garments. The clothing of European
prehistory, however, was colourful and varied, which this book
aimed to demonstrate. A large number of different items of
clothing can be identified. Some of these differences are due to
the climates in which they have been used and found millennia
later by archaeologists. Other changes in clothing are tied to the
technical possibilities of the individual prehistoric periods. Par-
ticularly striking are the jewellery and the (metal) clothing ac-
cessories, which testify various fashions and fads. Clothing and
costume are further the material expression of the social status
of a person and their place in society.

It should be noted that there is not a continuous development

from simple to complicate in the over 5,500 years spanning Cen-
tral European clothing history from the Neolithic to the end of
the Iron Age. It can be expected that clothing in prehistory was
adapted to the situation – for summer and winter as well as for
different climatic environments. A variety of materials played
a role in the clothing of the people – leather, fur, various plant
materials and finally woven textiles. Josef Wininger correctly
states that ‘textile garments could only replace those made of animal
skins due to a more efficient textile production and such could only
be achieved mechanically through the invention of weaving on a loom
during the Neolithic.’ 943

Developments in the textile crafts play a major role for woven

clothes in particular. Changes, influences and innovations such
as weaving and patterning technologies directly influence the
design of clothing and are easy to trace and observe from the
Neolithic to the Roman period. Furriery techniques, however,
remain significant for the design of textile clothing to at least the
Bronze Age, as evidenced by the cuts of Bronze Age blouses.
Tailored garments also seemed to have been popular in the Cen-
tral European Iron Age, as many scraps of sewn fabrics from
Hallstatt demonstrate. In contemporary artistic representations,
such as the ones on situlae, no draped garments like those worn

Wininger 1995, 121.

943

446
in contemporaneous ancient Greece can be found. Clothes tai-
lored and fitted to the body shape protected better from the
cold than the draped and wrapped robes of the Mediterra-
nean south. Cutting and sewing played an important role in
Central and Northern Europe. The colder climate also makes
a greater number and variety of clothing necessary.
Fig. 243. Figurine of a
Nevertheless, beside fitted garments like trousers, more and togatus from Carnun-
more the principles of clothing design based on the rectan- tum in Austria, Roman
gular panel seem to prevail from the Iron Age onwards. This period.
shapes the way they were put on and worn and has repercus-
sions for the appearance and shape of individual pieces of
clothing as well as the overall appearance of the person,
including the body silhouette. Cloaks, scarves, throws
or leg wraps consisted only of rectangular pieces of
fabric, taken directly from the loom without further
cutting or sewing.

Clothing draped around the body was taken to the

extreme by the people of Mediterranean civiliza-
tions. The most striking example is the toga (Fig.
243), the robe of state and honour of the Ro-
man citizen. In his book De Pallio, Tertul-
lian describes the toga and its drapery
around 200 AD:

‘First, as to the simple putting on of the

pallium, it is absolutely not bothersome.
Indeed, there is no need of a specialist, who,
the day before use, forms the plies at the beginning and
leads them in pleats, assigning the whole formation of
the contracted umbo to the custody of the pincers; who,
at daybreak, having first shortened the tunic (which had bet-
ter been woven at a moderate length!) with a belt, checks the
umbo again and if anything has gone out of line, rearranges
it, lets a part of the garment hang down on the left, draws
back from the shoulders the surrounding part (from which
stem the folds), with its folds now ending, and leaving free
the right shoulder piles it on the left shoulder yet again,
with another mass of folds destined for the back, thereby
imposing a burden upon the man. Now I will interrogate

447
 your conscience: how do you feel in a toga: dressed or oppressed? Is it
like wearing clothes or bearing them? If you deny, I will follow you
home, and I will see what you hasten to do right after the threshold. No
other garment is taken off with such relief as the toga!’ (Tert. De Pallio
5.1.3, 5.2.1).

448
 F Summary

The roots of our history, as well as the history of

the textile craft, reach back to the ‘dark ages’, the
millennia before the Ancient Civilisations and before
writing. Textiles, textile production and clothing were
essentials of living in prehistory, locked into the
system of society at every level – social, economic
and even religious.

449
 The cultural and historical importance of textile technology,
especially of spinning and weaving, can hardly be overstated.
Textile crafts not only produced essential goods for everyday
use, most notably clothing, but also utilitarian objects as well as
representative and luxury items.

This book is dedicated to historians, costume designers, archae-

ologists and anyone interested in handcraft and artisanship. The
temporal and geographical scope of this investigation is the pre-
history of Central Europe, the period before the introduction of
writing, which coincides with the Roman occupation in Central
Europe. Austrian finds and sites as well as those of neighbour-
ing countries are the primary focus.

The essential textile craft techniques that we still largely employ

today date back to inventions in the Stone and Bronze Ages. A
major concern of this book is to draw a differentiated picture of
prehistoric textile crafts. The numerous individual production
steps – not just spinning and weaving – are presented here in
their entirety. The historical depth is illustrated by a variety of
archaeological sources – from tools and textile finds to written
sources of the Late Iron Age. From the first early agricultural
societies of the Neolithic period, people developed many inge-
nious weaving and sewing techniques, as well as types of bind-
ings and patterns that accompany us for the most part until to-
day. From the Bronze Age in the 2nd millennium BC, a ‘wave of
innovation’ can be noted in which the first twill weaves, dyes,
colour patterns and spin patterns emerge.

The refinement of textile technologies achieved a first climax in

the Hallstatt period, visible in the finer and more diverse wool
fabrics of the Iron Age in comparison to the Bronze Age. The
Hallstatt fabrics are of high quality, and very decoratively de-
signed by weave structures, colours, patterns and elaborately
made borders. This development was perhaps fostered by the
emergence of differentiated social structures at the beginning of
the Iron Age. The title of the book – ‘The Art of Prehistoric Tex-
tile Making’ – reflects the diversity of decorative techniques of
textiles, since it challenges the common perception of primitive
simplicity in prehistoric textile technologies.

450
The weave types constitute an essential design element. By their
textured appearance, complex twill variants stand out against
simpler plain weaves from the Bronze Age and earlier periods.
Using different colours for warp and weft, the patterned effect
of twill weaves is even more remarkable with its typical ridges.

In the prehistory of Central Europe, most patterns were designed

to emerge during weaving. The design of the pattern goes hand
in hand with their production technology. The system of warp
and weft threads emphasises the vertical and horizontal direc-
tions. Stripes and checks of various kinds arise organically by
using different colours for the warp threads and repeating co-
lourful weft threads. Spin patterns are also created during the
weaving process, which were very popular in the Central Euro-
pean Iron Age.

Creating curvy, non-linear shapes required resorting to other

techniques. To achieve those, various pattern-forming entries
in the weft as well as floating elements on a base fabric could
be applied. The incorporation of different elements provided a
wide sphere of activity for creative prehistoric people. Embroi-
dery, sewing technology’s little sister, has so far only rarely been
detected in Central Europe, and yet it can be traced through the
ages from the Bronze Age onwards. Tablet weaving is a special
weaving technique utilising four-holed tablets that allow com-
plicated and figurative designs. Tablet weaving had its heyday
in the Central European Iron Age, and provided a rich field for
creative work in pattern design: there is almost no limit for this
technique, as archaeological and historical textile finds impres-
sively testify.

In this book, every effort is made to correct the common mis-

conceptions of prehistoric textile crafts being primitive. Ques-
tions of the organisation of production, labour division and the
people involved in textile production are considered. Textiles
and textile tools can give us a first indication of the level of pro-
duction – starting from the level of household production in the
Stone and Bronze Ages and culminating in more industrial level
workshop production in Roman times. The evidence for Central
Europe, albeit scanty, suggests that most textiles were produced
in the domestic sphere during the Neolithic, but that specialist

451
 weavers and mass production emerge during the Iron Age. It is
also a delightful challenge, to create a hypothesis about ‘the peo-
ple behind’, about textile producers and consumers. We can find
traces in every settlement of where they lived and worked. Spin-
dle whorls, loom-weights and needles in graves may indicate
that their owners were textile workers, but also may demon-
strate their special status.

Textiles were not only produced for clothing. Like today, they
fulfilled a number of different functions in everyday life. We have
presented evidence of wall hangings, pillows and ­mattresses
dating back to prehistoric times. Textiles were used as transport
bags in salt mines and as padding for scabbards. Even after wear
and tear, the ‘resource textile’ – produced with so much time
and effort – was handled thoughtfully. More than once, veri-
table ‘recycling’ has been observed. Discarded materials were
used as makeshift binding material, as packaging material and
even for dressing wounds.

The book concludes with a comprehensive chapter about cloth-

ing in prehistory. Different archaeological sources such as tex-
tile objects, rare finds of complete garments, jewellery in graves
and iconographic evidence were compiled; Greek and Roman
written sources enlighten some aspects of textile art at the end
of prehistory. Neolithic depictions of clothed people on figu-
rines, stelae and carvings show some representations of clothing
which can be technically interpreted. But were the loincloths and
aprons shown on the (cult) statuettes of the Early and Middle
Neolithic reserved for ritual purposes, or were they also used in
everyday life? Whether the garment of the Neolithic period may
be reduced to a simple belted dress silhouette is questionable.
An upper garment, open at the front, is definitely part of the
repertoire; it is a basic type that is also known from the clothes of
the Iceman. The way the garment was built can clearly be traced
to working leather. Various hats and forms of shoes made of
plant materials as well as all the equipment of the Iceman with
his leggings, loincloth, bearskin hat and multi-component shoes
show us the diversity of clothing in the Neolithic period. A cer-
tain optimisation and tweaking of the clothes for particular pur-
poses may already be seen at this time.

452
In the Bronze Age, the lack of human representations in Cen-
tral Europe drastically affects our knowledge about the forms of
clothing. From Northern Europe, however, complete garments
are known: women wear a combination of blouse and skirt or
string skirt; men a loincloth or wrap-around and an oval cloak.
The Central European dress elements recovered from graves,
such as pins and metal trimmings, do not exist in this form in
Northern Europe. We thus do not know with certainty which
kinds of clothing they belonged to and how the garments were
designed.

The Iron Age, however, delights us with numerous sources.

Both the archaeological finds, the finds from graves, as well
as pictorial representations in Central Europe indicate a vari-
ety of different garments. All this is complemented by original
finds of garments from the centuries around the beginning of
Common Era from Northern Europe: tunics, rectangular cloaks,
skirts and dresses. For the first time in the history of Europe,
trousers emerged – a form of garment that, like the shirt-like
tunic, remained essential to the development of European fash-
ion ever since944. Particularly interesting are the written sources
by ancient authors, to whom we owe descriptions and even the
names of various pieces of clothing for the first time in Central
European clothing history: bracae for trousers and sagum for the
rectangular cloak held together by fibulae.

Iron Age women’s clothing in Central Europe certainly consisted

of shirt-like (sewn) dresses, veils and cloaks; combinations of
skirts and tops are also possible. The peplos with flap, however,
is not attested in pre-Roman times. The location of paired fibu-
lae at the shoulders, which are frequently seen as evidence of the
peplos, can also be interpreted in various other ways. The mul-
tiple colours of Iron Age garments are noteworthy, as demon-
strated both in the written sources and by the Central European
textile finds – especially those from the Austrian salt mines. Var-
ious forms of headgear and footwear complete our picture of
Iron Age clothing. Not all questions have been answered and
we are far from being able to paint a full picture of the clothing
for the whole population of each prehistoric period. First indica-

Cf. Bönsch 2001.

944

453
 tions of individual garment shapes, footwear and headgear are,
however, already possible. In the spirit of the research project
‘DressID – Clothing and Identities. New Perspectives on Textiles in
the Roman Empire (2007 – 2012)’, the book is further concerned
with illuminating the importance of clothing and jewellery in
the prehistoric period. Clothing not only protects against wet,
heat and cold; the psychological effects of clothing as well as the
social meaning, as an important medium to communicate iden-
tity and as indicator of power and status, cannot be underesti-
mated. Like today, clothing was an important non-verbal means
of communication, expressing details about its wearer such their
social status, age, gender and group membership.

Today, as then, clothes had a role in identity creation for the

individual and for the group. Textiles and the skill of crafts-
manship with which they were created contribute much to this
visual effect. This monograph interweaves the topics of prehis-
toric textile art, the history of the textile craft and the history of
clothing.

454
G Appendix

Glossary
Sources
Literature
Register

455
 Glossary of archaeological and
textile terms

Back-strap loom: Weaving device, in which the warp is held in tension between round wooden
bars. The device is fastened to a post or similar at one end, whilst the other end is
attached to the body of the weaver (e.g. using a strap across the weaver’s back).

Band loom: Device for the production of narrow bands, on which the → sheds are opened
by means of heddle rods or a rigid heddle. The warp threads are held in tension
between wooden bars.

Basket weave: A binding system similar to → tabby, but in which threads interlace two at a
time in each direction for a cube-like effect.

Brocade: Pattern with extra ornamental weft, which occupies some or all of the width of
the pattern.

Bronze Age: Prehistoric period, named after the prevalent production and use of bronze; in
Central Europe c. 2300 – 800 BC

Chevron twill with Variant of → twill, in which the direction of the weave changes at intervals to form
point repeat: zigzag lines. Adjacent zigzag stripes start and end on the same thread (‘point’).

Cloth: Cloth may be used synonymously with ‘textile’, but sometimes refers to a fini-
shed piece of fabric used for a specific purpose (e.g. table cloth).

Clothing: A garment constructed from cloth.

Comb beater: A toothed device to beat in (compress) the weft.

Combed (worsted) yarn: Yarn made from combed wool.

Copper Age: Prehistoric period, late phase of the Neolithic; exact definition and dating varies
according to regional research traditions.

Costume: Costume includes clothing together with dress fittings (e.g. belts, pins or fibulae),
footwear and headgear.

Dendrochronology: Dating method for wood based on the measurement and analysis of annual tree
rings, which vary in thickness according to season, climate and year.

Dividing rod (shed rod): A stick used in tabby weaving on the lower part of a → warp-weighted loom to
divide the front and back warp threads.

456
 Dyer’s woad An important indigo plant for dyeing textiles. It contains precursors of the blue
(Isatis tinctoria): pigment indigotin in its green parts.

Dyes: Soluble and insoluble colouring agents used in dyeing especially in textile
dyeing. Few dyes are direct dyes that bind directly to the fibres. Most of the red
and yellow dyes are mordant dyes such as alizarin from madder (Rubia tinc-
torum) or luteolin and apigenin from weld (Reseda luteola), which have to be fixed
to the fibres by mordants. Insoluble organic pigments (vat dyes) like indigotin
from woad demand a special dyeing method (vat dyeing).

Dyestuff (dyeing In this book the term ‘dyestuffs’ means dyeing material such as madder, woad or
material): weld.

Fabric: Fabric is a generic term, referring to any material made by weaving, netting, mat-
ting, plying, twining etc.

Fleece: The woollen coat of a sheep without the skin after plucking or shearing and
before processing.

Floating threads: Lengths of warp-threads or weft-threads that pass over (or under) several
threads without being held down at binding points. Used to produce
patterned effects.

Fulling: Deliberate scouring, shrinking and felting of woven wool fabrics. The surface
scales of fibres catch each other under the influence of heat, moisture, mechanical
strain and milling agents.

Hallstatt period: Early phase of the → Iron Age; in Central Europe c. 800 – 450 BC; named after the
famous finds from the cemetery of Hallstatt, Austria.

Heddle rod (= shaft): In → warp-weighted looms the heddle rod is the rod to which the warp-threads
are attached by auxiliary loops of thread (leashes). A → tabby weave requires
one heddle rod, a → twill weave at least three. On treadle looms linked shafts are
used for raising and lowering warp-threads in order to create a (mechanical) →
shed opening.

Heidengebirge: Traces of prehistoric mining in Austrian salt mining terminology; literally ‘hea-
then rocks’.

Iron Age: Prehistoric period, named after the prevalent production and use of the metal
iron; in Central Europe c. 800 – 15 BC.

La Tène period: Later phase of the → Iron Age; in Central Europe c. 450 – 15 BC (Roman con-
quest); named after the famous finds from La Tène on Lake Neuchâtel in Swit-
zerland.

457
 Loom weights: Clay or rarely stone weights used to hold the warp threads in tension; used on →
warp-weighted looms.

Lozenge twill: Weave, variant of → twill, in which the oblique direction of the weave changes
in both warp and weft direction, giving rows of lozenge-shaped patterns.

Mordant dyeing: Soluble dyes are chemically bound to the textile fibres using herbal mordants
(tannins) or aluminium, iron or copper containing mordants. The polyvalent
metal ions of these mordants bind both to the dye and fibre molecules forming
insoluble dye lakes that are very stable and have a very good wash fastness.

Peplos: Greek women’s garment made of a tubular cloth, with the top folded down half
way and held in place at the shoulders with brooches or dress pins.

Plait: A minimum of three threads are crossed over each other diagonally to form a
fabric.

Plied yarn: Two or more yarns twisted together in S- or Z-direction

Prehistory: Period before recorded history or the invention of writing systems; in Europe
roughly divided into Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, ending with the Roman
conquest.

Radiocarbon dating Scientific method for dating organic materials containing carbon, based on the
(14C dating): rate of decay of carbon-14 isotopes over time.

Repeat: A basic pattern unit which is repeated (sometimes in mirror image) on a loom
equipped for mechanical pattern-making (e.g. damask).

Repp: Weave, variant of → tabby, in which in one thread system contains at least twice
as many threads per cm as are used in the other. The fabric appears ribbed. Repp
is often made on band looms and used for → starting borders.

Rigid heddle: Hand-held device to open a → shed; can also be used to weave ribbons.

Sectional warping: A specific number of warp threads are prepared with a specific width and thread
count.

Selvedge: Side border of a woven item.

Shed, weaving: The space between the warp threads into which the weft threads are inserted.
Various devices are used to separate and lift a proportion of the threads.

Situla art: Figurative representations on sheet bronze dating between c. 600 and 300 BC; pro-
duced by repoussé and chasing (hammering from the reverse side to create a de-
sign in low relief, refining the motif from the front by punching with fine chisels).

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 Spindle: Device for producing threads, consisting of a stick (spindle shaft) with a spindle
whorl mounted on it.

Spin pattern: Pattern created by alternating use of differently twisted (s, z) → yarns.

Starting border: Start of a woven work on a → warp-weighted loom. The border is made using a
band weaving technique or tablet weaving, with the weft loops pulled out much
further on one side. These then become the warp threads of the main weave.

Sword beater: Wooden, bone or iron blade-shaped implement to beat in the weft.

Tabby weave: The simplest binding system or weave in which threads cross over each other in
an unchanging rhythm. Each warp thread passes over and under one weft th-
read.

Tablet weaving: A weaving technique that uses (mostly square) tablets with holes at each corner
through which the warp ends are threaded. Rotating the tablets creates the →
sheds. A characteristic of this method is that weft threads are only visible at the
edges and at the ‘reverse points’. Tablet weaving is used to produce ribbons and
starting and selvedge borders.

Textile: In a broad sense, textile is a collective term for material made of interconnecting
basic components; in a narrow sense, textile refers to woven fabrics.

Thread count The number of threads per centimetre in a weave. Both thread systems are
(weave density): counted (warp and weft).

Twill: The binding system of a weave in which the number of threads in one system
is passed over and under two or more threads of the other, and the successive
passages of the threads are staggered to left or right. Twills are produced on a →
warp-weighted loom with several → heddle rods. Prehistoric variations of twill
include warp- and weft-chevron twill and diamond (lozenge) twill.

Twist angle: Indicates how tight or lose a thread is twisted.

Twist direction: For both → yarns and → plied yarns the direction of the twist is described by
the letters ‘S’ and ‘Z’, indicating the direction of the fibres when held vertically
according to the diagonal bar of the letter ‘S’ or ‘Z’. To better differentiate single
yarns from plied yarns, the former are described by lower case letters, the latter
by capital letters.

Vat dyeing: Dyeing technique developed for insoluble organic pigments (vat dyes) from
indigo plants (blue indigotin) and from purple (dibromoindigo and related com-
pounds). In the indigo vat, the insoluble pigment indigotin is reduced to the so-
luble greenish yellow leuco-indigotin. The fabric is dipped into the vat for a cer-

459
 tain time and then taken out. The oxygen in the air oxidises the leuco-indigotin
to the blue pigment indigotin, which is then fixed to the fibres.

Warp: The set of threads (warp threads) that run longitudinally through the weave. In a
→ warp-weighted loom, the warp threads are attached to the → warp beam and
held in tension by the loom weights.

Warp beam (beam): The top beam of a vertical → warp-weighted loom. The beam may also be mo-
vable to allow cloth to be rolled up as the work proceeds.

Warping device: Device for counting, measuring and arranging the warp threads before they are
attached to the loom.

Warp-weighted loom: A vertical device for weaving large textiles, in which the warp threads are held
in tension by weights. The loom may have one shaft or several shafts, depending
on the desired type of weave (→ tabby or → twill). In a single-shafted loom for
tabby weaving, all even numbered threads run over a dividing rod (shed rod)
and all uneven-numbered threads are tied to a heddle rod. In the natural → shed
the warp threads are held in a specific position by gravity when the loom is at
rest; the counter shed is created by pulling the heddle rod to lift the attached
threads forwards.

Weave: Textile produced by interlacing at least two thread systems (→ warp and →
weft) at right angles to one another.

Weave type: The specific structural system by which weft and warp threads are interlinked.
The principal prehistoric binding systems are → tabby, → basket weave and →
twill, plus their variations.

Weaving: Interlacing two → thread systems at right angles to produce a textile. Charac-
teristic for a developed weaving process is the mechanical creation of a → shed
using → heddle rods (shafts). Also refers to woven cloth, specifically the binding
system.

Weaving draft: Technical diagram for the production of a weave (pattern).

Weft: The transverse threads of a textile that are passed through the → sheds from one
selvedge to the other.

Weft wraps (‘flying Type of pattern with threads inserted into the cloth surface during weaving.
shuttle’ technique):
Wool (fibre) fineness The diameters of 100 fibres in a yarn are measured to characterise the wool used
measurements: for its spinning.

Yarn: Fibres that have been spun. Two twist directions, s-twist and z-twist are possible.

460
 Figure captions

Fig. 1. Image by Karina Grömer and Andreas Kroh.

Fig. 2. © Natural History Museum Vienna, image by Dominic Groebner.
Fig. 3. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 4. © Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum.
Fig. 5. © University Vienna, photo by Olivia Chrstos.
Fig. 6. © Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum.
Fig. 7. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 8. © Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum, photo by J. Leskovar.
Fig. 9. © ASINOE, photo by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 10. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Andreas Rausch.
Fig. 11. © Amt für Archäologie Thurgau, http://www.archaeologie.tg.ch.
Fig. 12. © South Tyrol Museum Bozen, http://www.iceman.at.
Fig. 13. From Boye 1896, tab. XVIII.
Fig. 14. Photo by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 15. Image by Karina and Peter Grömer.
Fig. 16. Photos by Sylvia Mitschke, rem Mannheim and R. Schwab, CEZA
Mannheim.
Fig. 17. © Natural History Museum Vienna, Dept. Mineralogy and Petrography.
Fig. 18. © Natural History Museum Vienna, Botanical Department.
Fig. 19. © Natural History Museum Vienna, Botanical Library.
Fig. 20. SEM images by Sylvia Mitschke, rem Mannheim.
Fig. 21. Photo by Anne Reichert.
Fig. 22. Photo by Sylvia Mitschke, rem Mannheim.
Fig. 23. SEM image by Sylvia Mitschke, rem Mannheim.
Fig. 24. © Natural History Museum Vienna, image by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 25. © Heimathaus Gallneukirchen.
Fig. 26. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photos and SEM-images by Carine
Gengler.
Fig. 27. Photos by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 28. Photo by Andreas Rausch.
Fig. 29. © Natural History Museum Vienna, image by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 30. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 31. © Natural History Museum Vienna, from Belavoná and Grömer 2009.
Fig. 32. Photo by Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer.
Fig. 33. Image by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 34. Photos by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 35. 1: photo by Karina Grömer; 2: © Österreichisches Museum für Volks-
kunde Wien, photo by B. and P. Kainz, faksimile digital, ÖMV/3658.
Fig. 36. 1: photo by Karina Grömer; 2: © Österreichisches Museum für Volks-
kunde Wien, photo by B. and P. Kainz, faksimile digital, ÖMV/52.747.
Fig. 37. © Verein ASINOE and Cultural Heritage Department Austria (BDA).
Fig. 38. © Amt für Archäologie Thurgau, http://www.archaeologie.tg.ch.

461
 Fig. 39. Image by Karina and Peter Grömer.
Fig. 40. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 41. Image by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 42. Image by Karina and Peter Grömer.
Fig. 43. © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 44. From Wieser 1999.
Fig. 45. Photos by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 46. © Ingrid Schierer.
Fig. 47. Photos by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 48. From Bazzanella and Mayr 2009, fig. 15–16; photo by G. Šebesta.
Fig. 49. © Natural History Museum Vienna, composite image by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 50. © Ingrid Schierer.
Fig. 51. Photos by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 52. 1: from Grote 1994, tab. 101; 2: from Hundt 1968, fig. 5; 3–4: Land
Niederösterreich – Archäologischer Park Carnuntum, Bad Deutsch-
Altenburg.
Fig. 53. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Andreas Rausch.
Fig. 54. Photos by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 55. Image by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 56. From Ræder Knudsen 2012.
Fig. 57. 1: photo by Franz Pieler, ASINOE; 2: photo by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 58. Charcoal tracing of the engravings by Albrecht Jockenhövel.
Fig. 59. © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 60. © Susanne Stegmann-Rajtár.
Fig. 61. Image by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 62. Image by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 63. From Čambal and Gregor 2005, 37, used by permission from the
Archaeological Museum Bratislava.
Fig. 64. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 65. © Amt für Archäologie Thurgau, http://www.archaeologie.tg.ch.
Fig. 66. Photos by Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer and Karina Grömer.
Fig. 67. Composite image by Karina and Peter Grömer, incorporating material
from Hundt 1959, 1960.
Fig. 68. Composite image by Karina and Peter Grömer, incorporating material
from Medard 2010, Bazzanella et al. 2003, p. 192.
Fig. 69. © Bergbaumuseum Bochum, from Stöllner 2002, taf. 309.
Fig. 70. © Natural History Museum Vienna, image by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 71. From Ræder Knudsen 2012.
Fig. 72. © Natural History Museum Vienna, composite image by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 73. Photo and image by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 74. From Schierer 1987.
Fig. 75. From Schierer 1987.
Fig. 76. © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 77. © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 78. From Franz 1927, fig. 1.
Fig. 79. Image by J. Kraglund, Skalk.

462
 Fig. 80. Photo by Regina Hofmann-de Keijzer.
Fig. 81. Photos by Regina Hofmann-de Keijzer.
Fig. 82. © RCE Amsterdam, photo by Regina Hofmann-de Keijzer.
Fig. 83. © RCE Amsterdam, photo by Anna Hartl, chromatogram and spectrum
by Maarten R. van Bommel.
Fig. 84. Image by Regina Hofmann-de Keijzer and Peter Grömer.
Fig. 85. Photo by Regina Hofmann-de Keijzer.
Fig. 86. Composite image by Regina Hofmann-de Keijzer and Karina Grömer;
1, 3: photos by Art Ness Proaño Gaibor; 2: photo by Andreas G. Heiss. .
The reference collection consisting of dye plants and dyed wool samples
was built up by Anna Hartl, University of Natural Resources and Life
Science Vienna (BOKU), Institute of Organic Farming, Working Group
Knowledge Systems and Innovations.
Fig. 87. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Andreas Rausch.
Fig. 88. Composite image by Regina Hofmann-de Keijzer and Karina Grömer; 1,
3: photos by Art Ness Proaño Gaibor; 2: photo by Andreas G. Heiss. The
reference collection consisting of dye plants and dyed wool samples was
built up by Anna Hartl, University of Natural Resources and Life Science
Vienna (BOKU), Institute of Organic Farming, Working Group Know-
ledge Systems and Innovations.
Fig. 89. Photo by http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rubia_tinc-
torum_001.JPG.
Fig. 90. Photo by Manuel Alvarado, http://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org.
Fig. 91. Photos by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 92. Photo by Regina Hofmann-de Keijzer.
Fig. 93. Photos by Regina Hofmann-de Keijzer.
Fig. 94. Photos by Carine Gengler.
Fig. 95. Photo © Natural History Museum Vienna; spectrum © RCE Amsterdam
(by Ineke Joosten).
Fig. 96. © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 97. © Natural History Museum Vienna, images from Hundt 1959.
Fig. 98. © Cultural Heritage Department Austria (BDA), photo by
Andreas Kroh.
Fig. 99. © Natural History Museum Vienna and Bergbaumuseum Bochum.
Fig. 100. © Natural History Museum Vienna, composite imgae by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 101. Drawing by Lise Ræder Knudsen.
Fig. 102. © Natural History Museum Vienna and Bergbaumuseum Bochum,
photos by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 103. Photos by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 104. Drawing by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 105. From Banck-Burgess 1999.
Fig. 106. From Vogt 1937, fig. 84.
Fig. 107. Composite image by Karina Grömer; 1: from Klose 1926; 2: drawing
based on Hundt 1959.
Fig. 108. Photos by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 109. From Banck-Burgess 1999.

463
 Fig. 110. From Medard 2010, pp. 203 and 214.
Fig. 111. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Andreas Rausch.
Fig. 112. © Wienmuseum, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 113. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 114. From Hrubý 1959, taf. 7.
Fig. 115. © Swiss National Museum, photo Nr. DIG-8880 and 8881.
Fig. 116. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 117. © Swiss National Museum, photo Nr. DIG-7222.
Fig. 118. Drawing by Christina Peek; from Balzer, Peek and Vanden Berghe 2014,
fig. 6.
Fig. 119. © Bergbaumuseum Bochum.
Fig. 120. © Slovak Academy of Sciences, from Tereza Belanová-Štolcová 2005.
Fig. 121. © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 122. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 123. © Natural History Museum Vienna and Museum Stillfried;
Inv. Nr. 804 and 14958, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 124. From Ruttkay 1993/1994, fig. 3–4.
Fig. 125. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photos by Hans Reschreiter.
Fig. 126. From Gostenčnik 2014, fig. 55.
Fig. 127. © Heimathaus Gallneukirchen.
Fig. 128. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 129. © Natural History Museum Vienna, drawings by Helga Rösel-Mauten-
dorfer.
Fig. 130. © Natural History Museum Vienna and from Stöllner 2002,
drawings by Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer.
Fig. 131. © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 132. Composite image by Karina Grömer, photos 1–4: by Alice Schumacher,
5: by 7reasons.
Fig. 133. Photos by Katrin Kania.
Fig. 134. Drawing by Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer and Georg Rösel.
Fig. 135. Composite image by Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer, based on Schlabow
1976, fig. 157 and 158.
Fig. 136. Composite image by Karina Grömer, incorporating material from 1:
photo by A. Rausch, 2: from Birkhan 1999.
Fig. 137. 1–2: from Frey 1962, taf. 65; 3: © Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum.
Fig. 138. 1: from Dobiat 1982; 2: © Natural History Museum Vienna, drawing
from Hundt 1960.
Fig. 139. © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 140. Image by Karina and Peter Grömer.
Fig. 141. Image by Karina and Peter Grömer, based on Andersson 2003, fig. 1.
Fig. 142. © Cultural Heritage Department Austria (BDA), photo by Alexandra
Krenn-Leeb, University Vienna.
Fig. 143. © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 144. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photos by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 145. From open source http://www.asnc.cam.ac.uk/spokenword/g_autun_
sens.php (last accessed 15 January 2015).

464
Fig. 146. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 147. Image by Karina and Peter Grömer, based on Eibner 1986.
Fig. 148. Image by Karina Grömer, based on Rebay 2006, pl. 62.
Fig. 149. Image by Karina Grömer, based on Rebay 2006, pl. 14.
Fig. 150. © Cultural Heritage Department Austria (BDA).
Fig. 151. Image by Karina Grömer, based on Martijnse 1993.
Fig. 152. Photos by Wolfgang Lobisser.
Fig. 153. Image by Karina Grömer, based on Griebl 2004, fig. 74.
Fig. 154. © Western Slovak Museum Trnava , photo by Tereza Belanová-Štolcová.
Fig. 155. Image by 7reasons.
Fig. 156. Modified from Bietti Sestieri 1992, fig. 3a.391.
Fig. 157. © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 158. © Archäologie Service, composite image by Karina Grömer, incorpora-
ting material from Fritz Preinfalk (photo grave); Andreas Kroh (photo
organic remains).
Fig. 159. From Banck-Burgess 1999, fig. 4.
Fig. 160. Image by Karina Grömer, based on Lucke and Frey 1962.
Fig. 161. From Müller-Karpe 1974, pl. 499.
Fig. 162. Natural History Museum Vienna, image by Dominic Groebner.
Fig. 163. © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 164. © Keltenmuseum Hallein, from Kyrle 1918, fig. 60.
Fig. 165. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photos by Hans Reschreiter.
Fig. 166. From Stöllner 2002, pl. 200.
Fig. 167. From Müllauer and Ramsl 2007, fig. 4 and 7, drawing by Maria Imam.
Fig. 168. Photos and drawing by Karina Grömer and Angelika Rudelics.
Fig. 169. Image by Karina Grömer, based on Haffner 1976, fig. 62.
Fig. 170. 1: microphoto by Andreas Kroh; 2–4: © Sebastian Ipach.
Fig. 171. Image by Karina and Peter Grömer.
Fig. 172. From Wels-Weyrauch 1994, fig. 55.
Fig. 173. © Natural History Museum Vienna.© Natural History Museum Vienna,
photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 175. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alois Lammerhuber.
Fig. 176. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher,
drawing by Helga Rösel-Mautendorfer.
Fig. 177. From Umgeher-Mayer et al. 2011; photos by J. Krumpel,
AS-BDA and G. Gattinger, University Vienna.
Fig. 178. Composite image by Karina Grömer, incorporating material from
Nieszery 1995 and Kloiber et al. 1971.
Fig. 179. © Cultural Heritage Department Austria (BDA), photo by L. Neustifter.
Fig. 180. Image by Michaela Maurer and Karina Grömer.
Fig. 181. 1: from Seidel 1995; 2: from Müller-Karpe 1974.
Fig. 182. © South Tyrol Museum Bozen, http://www.iceman.at, photo by
A. Ochsenreiter.
Fig. 183. © Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz, from Egg and
Goedecker-Ciolek 2009, fig. 44–46.
Fig. 184. © Anne Reichert.

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 Fig. 185. © South Tyrol Museum Bozen, http://www.iceman.at.
Fig. 186. © South Tyrol Museum Bozen, http://www.iceman.at.
Fig. 187. © Anne Reichert.
Fig. 188. © Anne Reichert.
Fig. 189. © Cultural Heritage Department Austria (BDA), drawing by Maria
Imam, photo by Daniela Kern.
Fig. 190. From Boye 1896, tab. XI.
Fig. 191. Image by Michaela Maurer, from La Baume 1955, fig. 89.
Fig. 192. © National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, photo by Roberto Fortuna.
Fig. 193. From Boye 1896, tab. IX.
Fig. 194. Image by Michaela Maurer, from Schlabow 1937.
Fig. 195. © Museum Livno in Bosnia Hercegovina, from Benac 1986.
Fig. 196. Composite image by Karina Grömer, incorporating material from
Müller-Karpe 1980 and Tibor 1977.
Fig. 197. From Bocksberger 1978, fig. 24.
Fig. 198. Image by Karina Grömer, incorporating material from Neugebauer and
Neugebauer 1997, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 199. Image by Karina Grömer, incorporating material from Neugebauer and
Neugebauer 1997, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 200. © Cultural Heritage Department Austria (BDA) and Christine
Neugebauer-Maresch.
Fig. 201. Image by Karina and Peter Grömer, incorporating material from Wels-
Weyrauch 1978.
Fig. 202. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 203. © Museum Hallstatt, photo by Andreas Rausch.
Fig. 204. From Bazzanella et al. 2003.
Fig. 205. © Niederösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Museum für Urgeschichte
Asparn an der Zaya.
Fig. 206. Composite image by Karina Grömer, incorporating material from
Grömer and Höglinger 2010, fig. 20, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 207. Image by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 208. 1: from Tibor 1977; 2: © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 209. From Grömer, Rösel-Mautendorfer and Bender Jørgensen 2013, fig. 6,
photos by Hischam Momen.
Fig. 210. From Engelhardt 1863, pl. 1 and 2.
Fig. 211. © National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, photo by Lennart
Larsen.
Fig. 212. © National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, photo by Lennart
Larsen.
Fig. 213. Photo by R. Fortuna, drawing by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 214. © South Tyrol Museum Bozen, http://www.iceman.at.
Fig. 215. © South Tyrol Museum Bozen, http://www.iceman.at.
Fig. 216. © Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum, drawing by Manfred Pertlwieser.
Fig. 217. Drawings by Karina Grömer.
Fig. 219. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photos by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 220. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photos by Alice Schumacher.

466
Fig. 221. Composite image by Karina and Peter Grömer, incorporating material
from: 1–15: from Dobiat 1982; 16–37: from Lucke and Frey 1962,
Situla Kuffarn © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 222. © Natural History Museum Vienna, drawing by J. Ribbeck, Römisch-
Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz; watercolour © Cultural Heritage
Department Austria (BDA).
Fig. 223. © Keltenmuseum Hallein.
Fig. 224. Image by Karina Grömer, based on Ramsl 2002.
Fig. 225. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 226. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 227. Image by Karina Grömer, based on Pauli 1978, pl. 223 and 230.
Fig. 228. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher
Fig. 229. Image by Michaela Maurer.
Fig. 230. Composite image by Karina and Peter Grömer, incorporating material
from: © Natural History Museum Vienna and Bergbaumuseum Bochum,
drawings from Lucke and Frey 1962.
Fig. 231. © Keltenwelt am Glauberg, photo by U. Seitz-Gray.
Fig. 232. © Natural History Museum Vienna.
Fig. 232. Image by Peter Grömer, based on Barth 1992.
Fig. 234. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photo by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 235. © Museum Mannersdorf, photo by Andreas Rausch.
Fig. 236. © Museum Mannersdorf, photo by Peter Ramsl.
Fig. 237. Image by Karina Grömer, photos by Richard Thoma.
Fig. 238. Image by Michaela Almstätter.
Fig. 239. Image by Karina and Peter Grömer.
Fig. 240. © Natural History Museum Vienna, photos by Alice Schumacher.
Fig. 241. © Niederösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Museum für Urgeschichte
Asparn an der Zaya.
Fig. 242. From Wiedner-Stern 1908.
Fig. 243. © Land Niederösterreich – Archäologischer Park Carnuntum, Bad
Deutsch-Altenburg, photo by N. Gail.

467
 Sources for dyestuff analyses
(Explanations to Fig. 84)

Performance of dye analysis

A: HPLC-PDA analysis by Maarten R. van Bommel, Cultural Heritage
Agency of the Netherlands (RCE), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
B: TLC analysis by Penelope Walton Rogers, The Anglo-Saxon Laboratory,
York, England. – HPLC-PDA analysis by Maarten R. van Bommel,
RCE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
C: HPLC-PDA analysis by Jan Wouters and Ina Vanden Berghe, KIK/
IRPA, Brussels, Belgium.
D: HPLC-PDA analysis by Ina Vanden Berghe, KIK/IRPA, Brussels, Bel-
gium.
E: TLC analysis by Penelope Walton Rogers, The Anglo-Saxon Laboratory,
York, England.
F: HPLC-PDA analysis by Jan Wouters, KIK/IRPA, Brussels, Belgium.
G: HPLC analysis by Witold Nowik, Laboratoire de Recherche des Monu-
ments Historiques, Champs-sur-Marne, France.
H: TLC analysis by Penelope Walton Rogers, The Anglo-Saxon Laboratory,
York, England. – HPLC-PDA analysis by Ina VandenBerghe, KIK/
IRPA, Brussels, Belgium.

References
1) Pustopolje: Bender Jørgensen and Grömer 2012, 58. – Van Bommel, Joosten and
Hofmann-de Keijzer 2013a.

2) Mitterberg: Grömer 2012, 31, fig. 1.2. – Van Bommel, Joosten and Hofmann-de Keij-
zer 2013b.

3) Hallstatt: Walton Rogers 2001 – Hofmann-de Keijzer, Van Bommel and Joosten
2005. – Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2013.

4) Radfeld: Walton Rogers 1998. – Van Bommel, Joosten and Hofmann-de Keijzer
2013c.

5) Verucchio: Gleba 2012, 224. – Stauffer 2002b, 216–219. – Wouters, Vanden Berghe
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14) Strozzacapponi: Gleba 2014a, 152. – Personal communication, Ina Vanden Berghe,
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15) Peat bog textiles Vanden Berghe, Gleba and Mannering 2009.
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 Index
Historical persons and ethnicities

Allobroges 243 Keltoi 18, 412

Andromache . 274 Livy 243
Angles 323 Man in Salt Hallstatt. 385, 386
Aristophanes . 92 Marcomanni . 18
Belgae 413 Marcus Aurelius. 422, 426
Blussus 412, 421 Medes 422
Boii 303, 413 Menimane 404, 412, 421
Casar 18, 332, 413, 430 Mycenaeans 252, 256, 369
Celts 18, 403, 406, 413 Penelope 274, 278
Charles Darwin . 431 Persians 422
Cimmerians. 422 Pliny the Elder 65, 151, 215, 310
Columella 58, 65 Plutarch 431
Diodorus Siculus 175, 413, 422, 432 Polybios 303
Diocletian 260, 444 Poseidonius . 332
Dorians 13, 425 Quadi 18
Egyptians 160 Reti 332
Emperor Augustus. 18 Romans 260, 333, 413, 417
Etruscans 14, 303, 318 Saci 422
Galatians 18 Sallust 413
Galen 310 Seneca 140
Gallii (Gauls) 18, 332, 432 Scythians 14, 422
Gottfried Semper . 170 Strabo 275, 303, 413
Greeks 41, 160, 303, 332 Suevi 430
Hannibal 243 Tacitus 412
Hector 297 Tertullian 447, 448
Hera 431 Thracians . 14
Herodotus 18, 40, 49, 422 Tiberius 17
Homer 196, 265, 288, 431 Trajan 422, 426
Iceman, “Ötzi” 27, 219, 341-347 Tutankhamun . 222
Illyrians 14 Varro 65
Insubres 413 Venetians 332

524
Archaeological sites

Abri Altmühltal, D. 101 Dürrnberg, A

Aiterhofen-Ödmühle, D. 336, 337, 338  context 20, 283, 284
Allensbach, D. 348  textile production . 256, 257, 283
Altrier, L 149, 162, 166, 169  textile use 307, 310, 315
Apremont, F. 182  graves 209, 325, 408, 416
Arbon Bleiche, CH 26, 52, 74, 81  figurative fibula . 402, 411
Arco, I 340, 349 Dürrnberg salt mine 92, 226, 229, 309
Arma dell’Aquila, I. 207  textiles 124, 129, 404
Asparn, A 6, 377  tablet weaves 103, 181, 229
Athribis, ET. 215  patterned textiles. 177, 187, 202
Attersee, A 72, 250  shoes 418
Autun, F 263  dyes 160, 162, 167
Avenches, CH. 74  stitches, seams. 225, 226
Babska, H 377  head covers 415, 433
Bad Fischau, A. 84 Egolzwil, CH. 72
Barcelona, E. 215 Egtved, DK 230, 356, 358, 430
Berg im Attergau, A. 313, 314 Egypt 102, 150, 208, 212, 218
Bernuthsfeld, D 240, 380 Eilsleben, D 335, 340
Bescheid, D. 119 El Cigarralejo, E 101, 102
Bicske, H 335, 340 Elling, DK 380
Bologna, I 84, 253, 264, 269 Enns, A 94
Borum Eshøj, DK 230, 354, 358 Erdeborn, D. 316
Brno-Židenice, CZ. 196 Eschenz-Insel Werd, CH. 247
Burton Fleming, GB. 205 Falkenstein, A 206, 339, 340
Carceri near Este, I. 399, 400 Falkirk, GB 175
Carnuntum, A 18, 102, 447 Fårdal, DK 357
Castelvetro di Modena, I. 302 Feldmeilen-Vorderfeld, CH. 96, 216
Castione dei Marchesi, I . 210 Fiavè, I 81, 371, 372
Çatal Höyük, TR 5, 43, 129, 218 Flavia Solva, A. 280
Caverna delle Pollera, I. 207 Franzhausen, A 31, 174, 351, 364, 366
Certosa, I 399, 443 Freundorf, A 114, 117
Chavéria, F. 49 Frög, A 80, 272
Cîrna, RO 361, 362 Gachnang, CH 119, 122
Clairvaux-les-Lacs, CH. 57 Gagarino, RUS. 357
Cromaghs, IR. 61 Gars-Thunau, A 132, 133, 134
Damendorf, D 46, 60, 225, 382 Gemeinlebarn, A 11, 298, 395, 396
Dätgen, D 240, 296, 381 Getzersdorf, A. 19
Dejbjerg, DK 101, 102 Giengen, D 341, 342
Dietenberg, A. 207 Ginderup, DK. 151
Dietldorf, D 237, 399 Glauberg, D 162, 202, 397, 416
Dragonby, GB 151, 155 Gomadingen-Steingebronn, D 315
Drama, BG 206, 207 Göttlesbrunn, D 58, 283, 284
Dupljaja, SRB. 362 Grabenstetten, D. 149

525
 Grafenbühl, D. 195 Hohmichele, D 54, 190, 195, 266
Greifensee-Böschen, CH. 247 Horath, D 314, 315
Grevensvænge, DK. 357 Horn, A 395
Großgmain, A. 375 Hornstaad, D 304, 348
Grub-Kranawetberg, A. 217 Housesteads, GB. 236
Gründberg, A. 15 Huldremose, DK 52, 58, 384, 423
Gundestrup, DK. 410 Idrija pri Baci, SLO. 409, 420
Hadersdorf, A. 206 Imst, A 409, 411, 420
Hafnerbach, A 114, 278, 279 Irgenhausen, CH 201, 221, 363
Haid, A 337, 338 Itzehoe, D 357
Hainburg-Teichtal,A. 335, 336 Jetzelsdorf, A. 83
Hallstatt, A context. 13, 16 Kalsdorf, A 215
 textile production . 250, 254 Kamegg, A. 50
 textile use 298, 304 Kirchenreinbach, D. 237
Hallstatt cemetery 199, 267, 328, 392 Klagenfurt, A 411, 412
 jewellery 199, 328, 393, 442 Kleinklein, A 111, 114, 237
 scabbard 330, 400, 401 Koropi, GR 200
Hallstatt salt mine 16, 250, 304 Kreienkopp, D. 30
 head covers . 372, 415 Krems-Hundssteig, A. 111
 Man in salt . 385 Kuffarn, A 331, 400, 414, 443
 shoes 417, 418 Kundl, A 217, 218
Hallstatt textiles Laa a. d. Thaya, A. 9
 band weaving . 93, 98, 178 Lago di Ledro, I 46, 101, 135, 363
 checks and stripes . 176, 177 Lake Zurich, CH. 348
 dyeing 148, 165, 168 Latdorf, D. 30
 sewing 20, 225, 227 Lattes, F 59
 spin pattern. 172 Lattringen, CH. 72
 tablet weaving 102, 181, 184 Leipzig-Connewitz, D. 410
 textile qualities 70, 89, 91, 115 Leonding, A. 83
 weave types 128, 135, 136 Leopoldau, A 419, 420
Hallstatt-Dammwiese . 72, 73, 118 Leopoldsberg, A. 395
Hamerum, DK 384, 386 Leuna-Göhlitzsch, D. 303, 304
Herzogenburg, A. 205 Liptovska Mara, CZ. 72, 73, 74
Hessenrode, D. 129 Ljubljana bog, SLO. 341, 342
Heuneburg, D 16, 151, 190 Lucone di Polpenazze, I. 125, 192
Hirschlanden, D. 397 Lüscherz, CH 125, 216
Hochdorf an der Enz, D Luleč, CZ 129
 fibres: silk, hemp, badger. 49, 54, 61 Lusehøj, DK 50, 51
 tablet weaving 102, 103, 185 Magdalensberg, A 213, 260, 280, 411
 dyestuffs 149, 151, 162 Magdalenska Gora, SLO. 399, 414
 function textiles . 300, 301 Maiersch, A. 196
 weft wrap technique. 189, 190 Malanser, FL. 136
Högom, S 160 Manching, D 217, 218

526
Mannersdorf, A 68, 312, 420 Pylos, GR 252
Marx-Etzel, D 233, 382 Rabensburg, A 112, 138
Matran, CH. 297 Radfeld, A 149, 163
Mautern, A 23, 79, 80 Reepsholt, D. 233
Meidling, A. 86 Reichersdorf, D. 237
Michelstetten, A 114, 130 Rieserferner, I 232, 387
Mitterberg, A 93, 98, 173, 311 Roseldorf, A. 46
Mitterkirchen, A 200, 237, 390 Ruchmoor, D 383, 384
Mold, A 50 Saint-Colombe, F. 49
Mohenjo-daro, IND . 150 Saint-Révérien, F. 263
Molina di Ledro, I 97, 186, 198, 222 Salanovo, BG 206, 207
Molnik, SLO. 402 Sasso di Furbara, I. 149, 176
Molpír, SK 111, 253, 285 Schaffis, CH 124, 221
Moritzing, A. 399 Schnidejoch, CH. 27, 346
Muldbjerg, DK 216, 230, 358 Schwarza, D 102, 119, 377
Münsingen, CH 327, 445 Sé, H 338, 339, 340
Murr, D 337, 340 Seekirch, D 349
Murten, CH 197, 198 Sens, F 211
Naquane, I 110, 134 Sion (Sitten), CH 340, 364, 365
Nebingen, D. 296 Sipbachzell, A. 10
Nerkewitz, D. 340 Sipplingen, D. 348
Neubau bei Traun, A . 82 Skærso, DK. 160
Nové Košariská, SK 114, 116, 399 Skrydstrup, DK 60, 231, 356
Nové Zamky, SK 203, 221, 312 Smolenice Molpír, SK. 85, 112
Nybøl, DK 226 Søgårds Mose, DK. 383, 421
Óbuda, H 194, 195, 196 Sommerein, A 419, 420
Öhningen-Wangen, D. 171 Sondershausen, D. 337, 340
Ølby, DK 357 Sopron, H 110, 268, 397, 399
Ømark, DK. 208 Staré Město, CZ. 171
Oploty, CZ 407 Statzendorf, A 270, 277, 283
Oseberg, N 103 Stehelčeves, CZ . 49
Osteria dell’Osa, I. 297 Stillfried an der March, A. 13, 206
Ostheim, D 335, 340 Storehøj, DK. 216
Padova, I 149 Strozzocapponi, I. 149
Perschling, A. 249 Sublaines, F. 315
Petersfels im Hegau, D . 217 Sungir, RUS. 198
Pettenhofen, D. 237 Tarkhan, ET 212, 218
Pitten, A 369, 443 Tegle, N 119
Pompeii, I 209, 212, 215 Thorsberg, D 225, 231, 381, 382
Pottenbrunn, A 218, 273, 405 Tollund, DK 322, 380
Prague-Záběhlice, CZ. 49 Trier, D 236
Pulgarn bei Steyregg, A . 82 Trindhøj, DK 29, 192, 358
Pustopolje, BiH 30, 126, 163, 361 Turfan, China. 422

527
 Twann, CH 81, 124, 191, 216 Vinča, Serbia. 340
Unterhautzenthal, A. 372, 373 Vindolanda,GB. 173
Unterparschenbrunn, A. 395 Vinelz, CH 99, 216
Unterradlberg, A. 79, 80 Vösendorf, A 130, 194, 196
Unterteutschenthal, D. 46, 97, 210 Waldalgesheim, D. 196
Upflamör, D. 324 Wangen, D 348, 349
Uri, CH 41 Welzelach, A 399, 402, 443
Uttendorf, A 17, 60, 130, 272, 274, 276 Wetzikon-Robenhausen, CH 118, 125, 126,
Vače, SLO 126, 229, 295, 399 169, 186, 216, 227
Val Carmonica, I. 109, 282 Wiepenkathen, D. 57
Valle delle Paiole, I. 53 Willendorf, A 5, 329
Várvölgy, H 194, 195, 196 Windeby, D. 323
Vedrette di Ries, I 58, 232, 294, 387, Winklarn, A 370, 376, 378
388, 421, 427, 432 Yde, NL 323
Vehnemoor, D 119, 123, 381 Zug-Sumpf, CH. 247
Vergina, GR. 208 Zurich, CH 191
Verucchio, I 126, 180, 212, 388 Zwerndorf, A. 207
Vienna-Leopoldau, A. 419, 420

Country Codes: A Austria, CH Switzerland, CZ Czech Republic, D Germany, DK Denmark, E

Spain, ET Egypt, F France, GB Great Britain, GR Greece, H Hungary, I Italy, FL Liechtenstein, IND
India, L Luxemburg, N Norway, NL The Netherlands, RO Romania, RUS Russia, SK Slowakia, SLO
Slovenia, TR Turkey.

528
Subject register

Alpine clothing 322, 353, 432 carding 67, 70, 72

amphipoloi. 252 carrying bags. 305
animal fibres 26, 30, 142 chain stitch 220, 222
anthropomorphic images. 329, 350 charis 254
appliqués 196, 198, 200 charred textiles. 30
Archaeobotany. 42 caulking material. 307, 311
asbestos 40, 41 chequered pattern 176, 177, 389, 413
back stitch 221, 224 chevron twill 176, 458
badger hair 59, 61, 301 cloak
band weaving 93, 96, 244  Iceman 345, 347
barter trade. 248  Bronze Age (Nordic) 358, 360
basket weave 128, 136, 171  situla art 499, 420, 437
baskets 26, 170, 348  Iron Age Central Europe. 391
belt  Iron Age Northern Europe. 381
 Neolithic 337, 341, 350  hooded cape 235, 412, 421
 Iceman . 343  written sources 413, 141, 432
 Bronze Age 364, 368, 370  Verucchio 325, 388
 Bronze Age (Nordic) . 355, 357, 359 clothing gender 350, 428, 435
 Hallstatt period . 392, 400  social function . 438, 440
 Latène period 406, 409, 413  status 254, 446, 452
 Iron Age Northern Europe 381, 383  ethnology . 439
belt sheet 414  value 435, 443
beret 414, 415 cochineal 161
Bible 18, 219, 320, 429 colour patterns. 173
bleaching linen 213, 214 combed top. 70
blouse Nordic Bronze Age 230, 334, 355, 357 complete garments 321
body language 428, 441  Bronze Age 355, 436
bog 28, 120, 164, 321,  Iron Age Central Europe. 382, 387
380  Iron Age Northern Europe. 379, 437
bog body 46, 296, 323 consumers 262, 267, 452
boot 372, 373 corded skirt 236, 356, 357
bracae 175, 413, 422 costume history
braided border 125, 126  Neolithic 334, 352
brocade 97, 107, 458  Bronze Age 360, 373
broken twill 132, 135  Bronze Age (Nordic). 355
bronze cast 264  situla art 298
button  Iron Age Central Europe 385, 403, 420
 Neolithic 341, 352  Iron Age Northern Europe. 379
 Hallstatt period . 390, 394 counter-hem seam. 224, 225
 shoes 408, 420 cucullus 421
buttonhole stitch 220, 22, 378 definition „textile“ . 32
Cannabis sativa. 47, 48 dendrochronology. 305
carbonisation. 30 diamond twill 131, 137, 176, 254, 382, 389

529
 Dipsacus sativus. 72 garment design 373, 387, 427, 435
direct dyeing 141, 142 gathering 225, 226
distaff 78, 87, 270 gens bracata 333, 422
dress accessoires . 428, 440 gens togata 333, 422
 Neolithic . 352 goat skin 342, 345
 Bronze Age 364, 367, 373 goat hair 58, 59, 293
 Hallstatt period . 392 gold threads 194, 195, 440
 Latène period . 405 grass mantle Iceman 344, 345, 347
dyeing 140, 163, 214, 273 grave finds
Dyer's broom. 156  Neolithic 336, 338, 351
Dyer's woodruff. 158  Bronze Age 364, 367, 370
dyestuffs 140, 214, 254  Hallstatt period . 390, 415
embroidery 32, 189, 200, 221  Latène period . 405, 419
epinetron 71 hand spindle 75, 134, 275
ethnography 67, 320, 327 head coverings
ethnology 439, 440  Neolithic, Iceman 344, 349
excisor 280  Bronze Age Central Europe . 367, 371
experimental archaeology. 86, 88, 132, 163  Bronze Age (Nordic) 356, 359
felt 70, 211, 292  Iron Age 414, 416
feminalia 422 heckling tools 64, 73
fibre preparation 62, 72, 91 heddle rod 93, 95, 127, 132
fibula (brooch). helmets 392, 400, 414
 Bronze Age 357, 371 hem 223, 227
 Hallstatt period . 392, 394 hemp 47, 48, 389
 Latène period 404, 405, 420 hem stitch 223, 227
figurines 329 herbarium. 44
 Neolithic 334, 340, 349 hooded cape. 421
 Bronze Age 357, 361, 375 horse hair 59, 60, 61
 Hallstatt period . 385, 409 houndstooth pattern. 176
 Latène period . 409, 420 household industry 247, 248, 288
finishing 125, 208, 212 household production 247, 275, 280, 444
finishing borders 124, 139, 385 human body louse. 295, 326
flat fell seam. 224 ice (preservation) . 27
flavonoids 142, 153, 166 Iceman 27, 230, 322, 341
flax 43, 244, 292 iconography. 378
flax preparation. 63, 64 identity 267, 406, 428, 438
fleece 56, 62, 66, 70 imprints on ceramics. 30, 316
floating threads 174, 189, 202 Indigotin 165, 166, 167
floor cover 301, 303 insect dyes 254, 261, 440
fringes 97, 125, 191, 234 jewellery 326, 428, 439, 444
fulling 210, 234, 292  Neolithic. 338
fullo 210, 215, 280  Bronze Age 364, 366, 370
function of textiles. 318

530
  Hallstatt period. 390, 392 oikos 252, 274
 Latène period . 406, 408 openwork seam. 225
Kermes 161, 162, 389 organisation textile craft . 275
knife 68, 276 overcast stitch 219, 220
labour division. 275 painting textiles . 142, 205
lead tags 215, 260, 280 Pannonia 130, 215, 426
leg covers pattern sewing. 200
 Iceman 344 pattern techniques. 169
 Iron Age Central Europe . 387, 388, 421 pattern warp. 188
 situla art 400 peplos 377, 383, 423, 453
 Iron Age Northern Europe . 382, 383 pictorial sources . 236, 329
lime 52, 81, 306, 344  Neolithic 340, 342
Linear B 252, 256  Bronze Age . 361, 362
linen 43, 212, 292  Hallstatt period . 395
Linum bienne. 43  Latène period . 409
Linum usitatissimum. 43, 45 pigment 140, 142, 150
loincloth pile 191
 Iceman 230, 343 pillow 61, 301
 Bronze Age (Nordic) . 358, 436 pintadera 206, 207
 Hallstatt period . 402, 443 plaiting 92, 198, 349
loom 92, 107, 120, 132 plant fibre 42, 79, 87, 435
loom in situ 108, 114, 116, 133 pleating 37, 209, 212
loom weights 108, 112, 113 plied yarn 76, 80, 88
loom with tubular warp. 138 pointed shoes 419, 420
lozenge twill. 381 pouch 343, 445
madder 159, 160, 164 preparatory work. 131
mass production 243, 247, 258 producers 262, 452
mat 31, 130, 348 production sequence. 38, 39
mattress 61, 301, 302 production steps 273, 276, 280
mending 216, 239, 260, 296 protection against weather. 294
men's clothing 378, 435 purple 140, 150, 439
 Nordic Bronze Age 358, 360 raw materials 37, 42, 54
 situla art 400 recycling 307, 317
 Iron Age Central Europe. 420, 422 repairing 248, 281
 Iron Age Northern Europe . 381 repp 93, 127, 178
metal threads. 42 repp bands 95, 98, 178
microscope 37, 40, 47 representation 254, 428, 441
mordant dyeing 143, 154, 165 rigid heddle 94, 119, 189
mordants 142, 148, 153 Rubiaceae 157, 159
needle 198, 216, 260 running stitch 219, 220
net 6, 336, 344, 348 sagum 413, 421, 453
Noricum 130, 260, 426 salt mine 24, 250, 304, 309
oak coffin 28, 355, 358 salt (preservation). 24

531
 scanning electron microscope. 40, 51, 59  whorl with inscription. 263
scarf 52, 384  weight 83, 85
scissors 218  experimental archaeology. 76, 86, 134
seam 223, 225, 387, 388 spinning 74, 76, 78, 269
Secondary products revolution. 56 spinning wheel. 76, 77
selvedges 121, 122 splicing 74
sewing 32, 39, 216, 275 spools 84, 106, 272
shears 68, 209, 218, 273 sprang 356, 423
shed 94, 106, 132 starting borders 118, 121, 123
sheep 54, 59, 65 status 80, 262, 274, 438
sheep shearing 274, 289 stem stitch 220, 221
shoe last 419, 420 stinging nettle. 42, 50
shoes stitch types 218, 220
 Neolithic 348 stone stelae 329, 349
 Iceman 342, 345 stripes 173, 175, 180
 Bronze Age Central Europe . 371, 372 structure pattern. 171, 186
 Bronze Age (Nordic). 356, 359 sutor 260, 280
 Iron Age Central Europe 300, 387, 417 tabby 127, 128, 171
 Iron Age Northern Europe . 383 tablet weaving 101, 180, 182
shroud 296, 297, 324 tailoring 216, 232, 236
side borders 121, 123 tannins 141, 148, 153
silhouette 420, 423, 428, 437 teamwork 278, 279
silk 54, 439 technical use. 318
situla art 16, 330, 398 tesserae plumbae 215, 260, 280
skirt 436 textile production 243, 265, 270, 280
 Neolithic 341 textile work 246, 268, 280
 Bronze Age Central Europe . 361, 374 Thorsberg seam 225, 226
 Bronze Age (Nordic) 231, 355, 356 thread count 114, 128
 Iron Age Central Europe 395, 423, 427 thread size 87, 89
 Iron Age Northern Europe . 383, 385 tintinnabulum 253, 264, 269
smoothing stone 212, 213 toga 333, 389, 438, 447
soapwort 215 top seam 223, 225
Soay sheep. 55 torques 416
social function. 440 trade 54, 248, 256
social index 271, 277 tree bast 52, 53
sociology 262, 285, 288 trousers
sound effect . 441  situla art 399, 402
specialist production. 246, 252  Hallstatt period 397, 400
spiked pendants 377, 378  Latène period 402, 410, 411
spin pattern 70, 171, 389  Iron Age Northern Europe . 231, 380, 382
spindle 76, 81, 269  written sources. 413, 422
 spindle whorl 82, 84, 87, 271 tunic

532
  Iron Age Central Europe 400, 409, 420 weaving tablet 101, 213
 Iron Age Northern Europe . 233, 240, 381 weaving techniques. 91, 96, 169
twill 130, 131, 135 weft wrap technique. 89, 190, 462
twining techniques 42, 191, 348 weld 154, 155, 168
twist angle. 91 woad 140, 150, 165
twist direction. 106 women's clothing 435
two beam loom 138, 139  Bronze Age Central Europe 366, 374, 378
Urtica dioica. 50  Nordic Bronze Age 355,358
use of textiles 292, 317  Iron Age Central Europe . 398, 423
value 428, 435, 443  Iron Age Northern Europe . 383, 386
vat dyeing 141, 152, 163 wool 54, 59
veil wool comb. 74
 Neolithic . 349 wool measurement. 56
 Bronze Age 367, 369 wool preparation 65, 66, 69
 Iron Age Central Europe . 400, 407, 414, 423 work clothes 308, 387, 433
vestimentary codes. 438 workflow 38, 39
Villanovan Culture. 388 workshop production. 256
wall cover 304 worsted yarn. 70
warp 94, 99, 462 wrap around. 230
warp weighted loom 107, 120, 132 wrapping 308, 312, 317
warping 95, 105, 121 written sources.
warping device. 95, 121  about celts 18
washing 67, 214, 215  about fibres 58, 41, 57
waterlogged context. 26, 347  about clothing 332, 412, 430, 447
weave types 96, 389  about textile production. 252, 274
weaving 91, 171 yarn qualities 85, 90, 246
weaving device 92, 96, 104, 117 yarrow 156, 157
weaving sword 117, 118

533
 Traditional textile crafts, such as spinning, weaving, and sew-
ing, have accompanied humanity since the Stone Age. Until a
few hundred years ago, textile crafts occupied a huge portion
of the daily workload in addition to the acquisition of food.

Textile crafts, and weaving in particular, have contributed

much to the overall development of technology. Looms were
invented in the Neolithic and represent the first ‘machines’ of
human history; even the first automated machine with punch
cards was designed for weaving. Essential goods for daily use,
especially clothing, as well as utilitarian textiles, ostentatious
objects for display, and luxury items were
produced with this craft.

Textiles were valuable, as can be inferred from the recycling of

fabrics. Worn-out garments were used as binders, packaging
and even as a dressing material in prehistoric times.

Clothing, however, not only offered protection against the

elements. Even in prehistoric times textiles and jewellery
were more than just simply means to dress – they are an
essential feature of every culture.

In the past as well as today, clothing represents an important

non-verbal means of communication and conveys aspects of
identity about the wearer such as age, gender, social status,
and group memberships.

Veröffentlichungen der Prähistorischen Abteilung (VPA) 5

ISBN 978-3-902421-94-4, ISSN 2077-3943
© Natural History Museum Vienna, 2016