PROVENANCE OF ANCIENT TEXTILES—A PILOT STUDY EVALUATING THE STRONTIUM ISOTOPE SYSTEM IN WOOL*

Strontium isotopes are used in archaeology to reconstruct human and animal migration routes. We present results of a pilot study applying strontium isotope analyses to modern sheep hair as a basis for its potential use as a provenance tracer for ancient woollen textiles. Our hydrofluoric acid‐based, lipid soluble analytical protocol, also tested on a number of ancient textile fibres, allows for contamination‐free, low blank strontium isotope analysis of minimal amounts of archaeological material. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of decontaminated sheep hair agree well with the compositions of biologically available (soluble) strontium fractions from the respective feeding ground soils, a translatable requirement for any potentially successful provenance tracing applied to wool textiles.     

SHAPE OF THINGS: UNDERSTANDING A LOOM WEIGHT

Loom weights are common finds in archaeological excavations in Europe and the Near East. They represent the only remains of warp-weighted looms. The function of the warp-weighted loom is well known from ethnographic studies. The function of loom weights, however, has not been investigated and cannot be deduced directly from ethnographical data, since loom weights in antiquity were very different from those used in the twentieth century AD. This paper reviews the functional elements of a loom weight. The weight and thickness of loom weights are established as the defining functional parameters for the operation of the warp-weighted loom. A series of systematic tests demonstrated that the weight of a loom weight defines what yarn to use and the thread density. The thickness of a loom weight, and thus the width of the row of loom weights hanging closely together, defines the width of a fabric and – together with the weight of the loom weight – the thread count and density of the fabric. This new knowledge provides the methodological framework for archaeologists to calculate textile production possibilities from any given loom weight, as long as the weight and thickness are preserved. Furthermore, it allows scholars to assess textile production on sites where no textiles are preserved.