For the Forum 2022, we returned to the LEA in Mayen. Focus topic was "Simple, Special, Spun or Spliced: Yarns, Threads, and Their Making".
The very first Forum in 2009 had spinning as one of its focus topics, and after more than a decade, it was time to revisit this technique, and all the other possibilities of making yarn. Spinning is the most common procedure to make threads, and the basic principle is always the same: Taking fibres of limited length and twisting them together to form yarns, which can then be used single or plied together. However, there is a multitude of tools and techniques for spinning, depending for example on time, place, and preferred materials. Splicing, for instance, is a technique that has gained more attention in the last years as it became clearer and clearer that it was the method for making a lot of the early plant-fibre textiles. Another area with a lot of unanswered questions is the production of gold threads and membrane gold threads - one of the many things we explored in this year's Forum.
Presentations and activities during the Forum week were:
Janet Levy, Israel: Yarn in the Southern Levant from 92,000 years ago to 4500-3900/3800 BCE: Direct and Indirect Evidence
presentation
Ethnography demonstrates that the use of strips of non-processed flexible bark preceded the use of twisted cordage-yarn.
Perforated sea shells from Qafzeh Cave (92,000 BP) with use-wear friction and red ochre stains, indicative of sustained use in a suspended mode for adornment are the earliest indirect evidence for yarn manufacture in the region. A fragment of twisted plant yarn recovered from the former lakeside site of Ohalo II (21,000 BCE) and bilaterally notched net weights attests to the use of yarn in subsistence. Elaborate items of shell headwear and sashes and fox-tooth hip girdles recovered from Natufian (11,500 BCE) burials demand yarn in their manufacture. A minimally worked female figurine recovered from an under floor cache at the PPNA (9700-8500 BCE) site of Gilgal I features an incised pendant hip girdle. The requisite body and weight suggests coarse plant fibres twisted between the palms. A composite comb, a black market purchase attributed to Wadi Murabba'at, is radiometrically dated to 8200 BCE. Its stick structure is bound with 2-ply linen yarn worked in a weft twining technique and subsequently coated with strengthening bitumen.
The isolated late PPNB (7500-6700 BCE) Nahal Hemar cave features a spectrum of artifacts and human remains that suggest structured magical activities were conducted there. The artifacts include a repertoire of linen fabrics manufactured in a suite of non-loom techniques from 2 ply hand yarn (finger, thigh, calf or cheek) and the oldest extant item of manufactured clothing.
The earliest evidence of spindle whorls appears in the Yarmukian (5800 BCE), the first pottery bearing culture in the southern Levant. Well-made whorls, discoid and biconical of ceramic, sherd and stone, some decorated, appear simultaneously suggesting imported technology.
The skilled essays in hand-manufactured fabrics of the 7th- 6th millennium BCE culminated in the Ghassulian culture (4500-3900-3800 BCE) into end to end spliced rovings, S-plied linen yarn spun in the drop spinning technique and woven on mechanized horizontal ground looms with heddle technology into a single piece wrapping cloth measuring 7 x 2m.
Beatrix Nutz, Austria: To spin a yarn - worldwide
workshop
Would you believe it? Threads have been made since palaeolithic times. And while there are different ways to achieve the goal - a thread - using spindles has become the most wide spread method worldwide. But spindles can look very different, depending on the region and the spun fibre. Most, but by far not all spindles, have whorls whose diameter can range from twenty (e.g. Coast Salish spindles) to one or two centimetres (spindles of the pre-colombian Chancay Culture in Peru). The same size range applies to shaft lengths. In this workshop the participants will have the opportunity to try to spin with various spindles from all continents (except the Antarctic - penguins don´t spin). Spindles will be provided by the workshop supervisor. Participants are however requested to bring their own fibres (cotton, wool, silk, .... whatever you want to work with).
Micky V. Schoelzke, France: Counterfeiting luxury dyes in history: Faking Purple
ongoing throughout the week
Shellfish purple was and still is one of the most difficult to obtain and expensive natural dyes. Known from a very early period in human history, shellfish purple has also been faked early on (according to dyestuff analysis of textiles and also some ancient written sources).
Fake purple was dyed by a double dye process with madder roots for red and a blue dye like woad. The purpose of this hands-on ongoing workshop at the forum is to investigate what shades of red and blue have to be dyed to obtain certain shades of purple that could imitate the « real stuff ».
We will dye some wool as combed top, carded fleece and thread samples. Carded wool will be dyed separately and mixed afterwards before spinning to produce purple as it was supposedly done in the Middle-Ages in Europe.
Examples of different two-color-combinations with woad/indigo and madder will be provided as a starting point, as well as some samples of true shellfish purple. We will be using madder roots as well as a woad vat and an indigo fermentation vat. You’ll be able to spin some of the finished samples like the mixed carded wool.
Marie Wallenberg, Sweden: Splicing Nettle Fibres
presentation, workshop
The method of splicing has been found in many places, in Europe, Egypt, Asia and the Near East, spanning thousands of years and using different techniques and fibres.
Being one of my general areas of interest, I recently had the opportunity to produce spliced linen thread resembling the Egyptian material. This then led to further investigations into other splicing techniques and many ways of preparing different fibres as well as potential further processing of the threads after spinning or weaving. I propose to give an oral presentation, of ca 30 minutes, talking about my experiences, reflections and what questions arose, regarding different splicing techniques and choices during fibre processing and potential aftertreatments.
Workshop: Splicing fibres – Try out and discuss different techniques
Tracy Niepold, Germany: How to ‘spin’ gold in Early Medieval times?
Remains of finest gold threads preserved on the upper body part of a male burial were uncovered recently during excavation works in Regensburg, Germany. Grave goods date the burial to around 600 AD. It was found within a huge cemetery, which was continuously used since the foundation of the Roman legionary camp in the area of today’s city in 179 n. Chr. The gold threads were made of thin gold foil strips, wound around a fibre core, which had already entirely decomposed. To preserve the in-situ situation, the whole upper part of the body was taken out as a bloc lift. A subsequent 3D-computertomography allowed for the visualization of the gold threads in the soil layers. Thus, their documented alignment throughout the bloc lift as well as characteristic imprints on the surface of uncovered gold threads led to the conclusion of a gold decorated tablet woven border, likely used to decorate a garment. Microscopical investigation of the gold threads showed traces of the tools used for producing the gold foil strips. They further revealed the extraordinarily fineness of the gold foil strips as well as the high amount of gold, which is only known from very few contemporaneous finds in Bavaria so far. Still unanswered is the question about the techniques that were used to handle these kind of fine gold strips and to wind them around the fibre cores, to which practical archaeotechnical studies may give essential input.
Christina Scibé, Italy: Unveiling the animal-based metal threads making process.
presentation, workshop
Historically and improperly known as “membrane threads”, animal-based metal threads were very popular and widely used in the textile production, from the 10-11th century to the 15th century. The introduction of these threads represented a very important development in metal threads technology as well as in textile weaving. They provided flexibility and lightweight in weaving, and a decrease in price compared to metallic threads made of almost pure gold.
Their first evidence dates back to the 6th century in the Far East, after which they spread with the Levantine trade through the Byzantine Empire into Southern Europe.
These metal threads were made by gilding/silvering animal skins (leather, parchment and vellum) and animal membranes (intestine, stomach, bladder, et.) with an adhesive medium (animal glue, egg white, fish glue or the natural membrane exudate). Presumably, after that they were cut into narrow strips, which have been used either flat (mostly found in Asian production) or wound around a fibrous core (in European and Middle Eastern production).
Over the years, these threads have been the object of many studies by scholars, but often limited to the analysis of the metal layer. The lack of a detailed disclosure of their making process in historical sources, and of a comprehensive investigation method, especially of the organic components that make up the threads, had to this day given only partial understanding of the materials used and manufacturing techniques.
With the scientific investigation of around a hundred samples, it has been possible to characterize most of the components that made up the threads and to identify different production technologies, unveiling the secrets of a skillful craftsmanship [1, 2].
An overview of animal-based metal threads materials and manufacturing techniques is provided throughout the discussion of case studies from medieval Spanish, Italian and Middle Eastern textiles.
[1] Scibè, C., Solazzo, C., Tosini, I., Lam, T., Vicenzi, E., González López, M.J. Gilt leather threads in 11th-15th century textiles. Proceedings of the 11th Interim Meeting of the ICOM-CC Leather and Related Materials Working Group, Parigi, 6-7 June 2019. 2020, p. 162-169.
[2] Solazzo, C., Scibè, C., Eng-Wilmot, K. Proteomics characterization of “organic” metal threads - First results and future directions. Research & Technical Studies Specialty Group Postprints. AIC 47th Annual Meeting, New England, 13-18 May 2019. 2019, p. 78-82.
Veerle van Kersen, Belgium: Splicing in Pharaonic Egypt: reinterpreting the iconography
presentation, practical session
Current knowledge of ancient Egyptian textile production is largely based on iconographical representations of textile workshops. Past scholars have looked at these through a strong Western lens, seeking to equate the depictions with known actions from traditional European flax processing. Recently however, it has become increasingly clear that a alternative set of methods may have been used in ancient Egypt. The most important of these is “splicing”, an alternative to spinning for making thread. The extent of the use of this technique is still unknown, though it has been recognised in fabrics dating between ca. 3500-500 BC. When analysing the iconography with the splicing technique in mind, this results in a very different interpretation of the chaîne opératoire. This paper will present the different iconographic depictions of yarn production, in order to compare them and gain a better understanding of the methods used in ancient Egypt. Additionally we will discuss the physical attributes of splicing, and how to recognise them in ancient (Egyptian) textiles.
Ronja Lau, Germany: Spinning with 3D printed spindle whorls
presentation, workshop
3D models of prehistoric original spinning whorls can be printed out with a printer. However, due to the plastic, it is difficult to reconstruct the original weights. I would like to discuss how this process works and what the advantages and disadvantages of this documentation are in a presentation of about 15 minutes. Afterwards, together with the participants, I would like to find ways to weigh down the printed whorls, equip them with a spinning rod and start spinning experiments. Whether and how well this works is still open and also requires experienced spinners.
Katrin Kania, Germany: Reconstructed Spinning Techniques and Tools - Medieval Hand-Spindle and Distaff and the Great Wheel
presentation/workshop, ongoing
The hand-spindle is a very simple tool that has been in use for a very long part of human history. The ways in which it is used, though, is different depending on the time and region. For the Middle European area in the high and late Middle Ages, we have pictorial evidence for the use of the hand-spindle together with a long distaff, and for the later Middle Ages especially the use of the Great Wheel. It is possible to reconstruct the working technique for both these tools, but some questions remain - such as what leads to the choice of a specific spindle whorl, and how the properties of the threads spun on wheel versus spindle really differ.
The different tools and the reconstructed techniques will be presented as an introduction followed by a workshop; spindles and distaffs as well as a reconstruction of a medieval Great Wheel will then be available for use throughout the week.
Judith Goris, Belgium: Loopbraiding: historical applications and hands-on introduction
presentation, workshop
Research has shown that loop braiding was by far the most common method of making fine silk braids in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The ease and speed of braiding with loops is preferable to the more time-consuming and complex method of braiding with loose ends. Moreover, this braiding technique allows one braid to be split into two finer tails by adjusting a single operation. This use of 'split braids' is frequently found in strings for (relic) purses: handle and drawstring for the purses are often made in one continuous piece.
This paper reviews a limited number of studies known about this clever textile technique that is still little known. In a practical introduction, we will get to grips with loop braiding and look at the different possibilities of this technique.