The “Invention” of Needle-lace in East Tyrol? (original) (raw)
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This is an authorized preprint version of the respective chapter appearing in: S. Münger (ed.), Kinneret II,2 – The Early Iron Age. Report on Finds and Findings from Tell el-‘Orēme/Tēl Kinrōt, Excavations 1994–2008, Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, accepted and approved by the editor [Bern 2020].
Based on the 15th century textile finds of braided laces from Lengberg Castle, East-Tyrol, this paper explores the technique of fingerloop braiding and gives instructions on how these laces were made. Fingerloop braiding is an old technique of unknown origin found almost worldwide where threads are used paired as loops. The laces achieved by this technique were often used as purse strings ending in fringes and knots or adorned with metal chapes at each end in order to use them for fastening clothes. As organic matter decays, these lace chapes are often the only parts that survived the centuries and are found frequently during archaeological excavations. Yet fingerloop braids were not only used for fastening but also sewn onto other fabrics as decorative elements. In these cases no metal chapes remain to bear testimony to their former existence. Several textiles decorated in this manner have been found at Lengberg and a closer look at other surviving medieval textiles also reveal these laces.
Cutting edge technology: knitting in the early modern era
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New scientific evidence of trade in raw materials and finished goods for the knitted textile trade is emerging from a study of more than 100 extant knitted caps from the 16 century. These longoverlooked archaeological data are being re-excavated from museum archives for analysis in innovative ways. The caps are recorded in European collections as having been shipwrecked, deliberately concealed, preserved in peat bogs, or discarded as beyond use. Many were unearthed during construction work in cities, during building renovations or discovered on the seabed in far-flung locations across Europe – as far north as Norway and as far south as Croatia. Nevertheless, they show remarkable similarities in the materials used and methods of construction employed. A preliminary study recorded rudimentary measurements and identified some key patterns in the data, including a typology of early modern men’s knitted caps. Initial results from more recent biomolecular investigative techniques includin...
The salt mine at Hallstatt in Austria is known for its rich organic finds from the middle Bronze (1600-1200 BC) and early Iron Age (Hallstatt Period, c. 800-400 BC), including wood, fur, leather, tree bast and textiles. Hallstatt presents a unique situation, and the textiles found there allow us to study in detail the development of textile technology in the period from 1500 to 400 BC. Among the narrow fabrics there are two fragments which were made using braiding techniques. In the present article, we will discuss different braiding techniques and explore the possibility of tracing the fragments back to an early version of loop braiding.
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In this study we present an early history of creating longitudinal three-dimensional textile structures, which might be produced by folding and pressing ready-woven cloth, but also by various spinning and weaving techniques such as spin patterning or barred damasks. They all have ONE thing in common: they result in the visual appearance of a pleated structure, a three-dimensional longitudinal pattern which produces a special effect. In this article we follow the history of pleated structures from 4000 BC to AD 1000. Archaeological textile finds from Central and Western Europe with some glimpse of Egypt are the basis of the different aspects of garments with pleats or a ribbed structure – including some thoughts on body language, visual effects and textile identity. We review well known finds and present new data. Pleated textiles have been known for centuries, even millennia! Such attempts to produce three-dimensional structures started in prehistory, already during the late Neolithic Period. Linen textiles woven in tabby found in lake-dwellings and dated to the 4th millennium BC show diagonal lines woven in twill. These lines in another pattern than the main weave tend to be higher and three-dimensional. Later in Iron-Age pleated garments have been created by experimenting with spin-patterning. Pleated garments are well visible on pictorial sources of that period. During the Early Medieval Period, pleated garments have been made technically in two ways, either by hand-pleating after weaving or creating the pleats in the weave (so-called “Rippenköper”, a twill variant). It seems to have been a fashion worn by rich Germanic women (tunic) and men (mantle); the variant with woven pleats have been made only in Alemannic areas (South Germany/Bavaria and North-East Switzerland).
Nets – Knots – Lace: Early 16th century headdresses from East Tyrol.
Archaeological Textiles Review No. 61
In an excavation carried out in 1968 four headdresses dating from the early to first half of the 16th century were discovered in a crypt in the parish church of Lienz in East Tyrol (Austria). All four headdresses are remarkably well preserved and two of them reveal techniques that are surprising considering the early date. A hairnet with macramé knots and a coif adorned with bobbin lace most likely date before 1509 making them the earliest extant examples of macramé and bobbin lace to date. This paper gives an account of the finds and considers the implications these headdresses might have on the history of lace.
S. Bergerbrant and S. H. Fossøy (Hrsg.), A stitch in Time: Essays in Honour of Lise Bender Jørgensen. Gothenburg Archaeological Studies. Gotarc Series A, Gothenburg University Press, 2014, 2014
Analysing textiles from Hallstatt in Austria always involves studying the whole chaîne opératoire. Due to their excellent preservation in the salt mine it is worth considering how the items were produced as well as the end point of the chaîne opératoire, the use, recycling and discarding. Additionally, the fi ndspot, Hallstatt, off ers insights into an interesting period for the development of textile crafts in prehistoric Europe: in the second and fi rst millennium BC many inventions and innovations fl ourished across Europe and transformed the textile world.
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Gotaric Series A, Gothenburg Archaeological Studies,, 2014
Nähtechnik und Design / Sewing techniques and design
In: Textiles from Hallstatt Weaving Culture in Bronze Age and Iron Age Salt Mines / Textilien aus Hallstatt Gewebte Kultur aus dem bronze- und eisenzeitlichen Salzbergwerk, Edited by K. Grömer, A. Kern, H. Reschreiter and H. Rösel-Mautendorfer, 2013
Publication Name: Bichler, P., Grömer, K., Hofmann-de Keijzer, R., Kern, A. & Reschreiter, H. (2005): "Hallstatt Textiles" Technical Analysis, Scientific Investigation and Experiments on Iron Age Texiles. British Archaeological Reports, International Series 2005, 81-90., 2005