Textiles archaeological

Drooker, P. and L. D. Webster (2000), Beyond Cloth and Cordage - Archaeological Textiles Research in the Americas, Univ. Utah Press, Salt Lake City. 

Jaro, M. (2003), Metal threads in historical textiles, NATO Science Series, II Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, Vol. 117 (Molecular and Structural Archaeology Cosmetic and Therapeutic Chemicals), pp. 163-178. 

Kirby J. (1988), The preparation of early lake pigments A survey in Dyes on Historical and Archaeological Textiles, 6th Mtg. (1987), National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. 

Koren, Z. (1996), Historico-chemical analysis of plant dyestuffs used in textiles from ancient Israel, in Orna, M. V. (ed.), Archaeological Chemistry, Vol. 5, Organic, Inorganic and Biochemical Analysis, Advances in Chemistry Series, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, pp. 269-310. 

Kouznetsov, D. A., A. A. Ivanov, and P. R. Veletsky (1996), Analysis of cellulose chemical modification A potentially promising technique for characterizing cellulose archaeological textiles, /. Archaeol. Sci. 23, 23-34,109-121. 

Walton, P. and G. W. Taylor (1991), The characterization of dyes in textiles from archaeological excavations, Chromatogr. Anal. 17, 6-7. 

Men have always used the natural materials around us to produce functional objects and works of art. Paintings and other objects that are part of our cultural heritage, including textiles, books, sculptures, archaeological objects, furniture and the organic residues found in association with them (e.g. cosmetics, medicines, perfumes, food), contain a wide variety of organic materials from natural to synthetic. 

E.S.B. Ferreira, A. Quye, H. McNab, A.N. Hulme, Photo oxidation products of quercetin and morin as markers for the characterisation of natural flavonoid yellow dyes in ancient textiles, Dyes in History and Archaeology 18, 63 72 (2002). 

Toward the Classification of Colorants in Archaeological Textiles of Eastern North America... 

North American archaeological sites reflect the use of colorants, exemplified by the abundance of die inorganic mineral pigment red ochre in domestic and mortuary contexts in sites from the Clovis through the Mississippian periods (10000 B.P.-1400 A.D.). Typically the presence of these accumulations of pigment minerals is interpreted as material used in ceramics, or for body painting. Color on textiles is not usually considered. 

However, some of the colors found in archaeological remains such as textiles cannot totally be explained by the use of the inotganic pigments alone. If pigments were used, elemental analyses should disclose the presence of metal ions. 

Techniques of optical microscopy (OM) are well known and often used for the examination of fibers and yams from archaeological textiles. Many texts provide the fundamentals of the technique (e.g. 40-43). Some manuscripts describe the methods that may be employed in the study of archaeological materials in particular (44, 45), while others report the results of optical microscopic examination in identification and characterization of archaeological fibers (e.g., 12, 46). 

SEM is particularly useful when integrated with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), thereby allowing the determination of elemental composition of the materials that are also being observed and micrographed. Elemental composition of fibers and deposits has been studied in textiles from Etowah (51). The elemental composition reflects their burial environment in association with copper as well as their constituent plant fibers. Rowe (52) applied this technique successfully to pigments used in rock art, and it has been used in the study of archaeological fibers (11, 53-55). 

The results of this research encompasses two broad areas (1) the development of a protocol for the examination of archaeological textiles, and (2) the application of the protocol to selected textiles of Seip Mound, Ohio. Detailed descriptions of the data gained from the Seip textiles and its implications will be published elsewhere. 

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