Is It Hop? Identifying Hop Fibres in a European Historical Context

Lukešová, Hana; Andersen, Heidi Lie; Kolinova, M; Holst, Bodil

doi:10.1111/arcm.12437

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, microchemical tests using cuoxam-tetraamminediaquacopper dihydroxide [Cu(NH 3 ) 4 (H 2 O) 2 ](OH) 2 were performed at the end of investigation, in order to investigate the swelling behaviour (Luniak 1953, 80;Wülfert 1999, 281-282, 320;Stratmann 1973, 58-62). The investigations were performed following the recently developed identification method for hop fibres (Lukešová et al 2019). See also Fig.…”

Section: Methods Including Sample Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

First experimental evidence of hop fibres in historical textiles

Skoglund

Holst

Lukešová

2020

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hop (Humulus lupulus) has been used in Scandinavia since at least the ninth century AD, as documented through archaeological findings and written, historical records. The written records are mainly focused on the use of cone-shaped flowers for beer brewing and medical purposes, but there are also records, for example, from the famous Swedish botanist Carl von Linne, who mentions the use of hop fibres for textile production. However, until now no experimental investigations have been published on the use of hop fibres in cultural heritage objects. A major reason for this has been the lack of a suitable characterization method. Hop is a bast fibre, just as flax and hemp and bast fibres cannot be distinguished from each other by simple optical inspection. Recently a new identification method for hop fibres was published by the authors of this article. Here we apply the new method in an investigation of two Swedish cultural heritage objects: (i) a woman’s garment from the nineteenth century, which was labelled as having an upper section made from coarse linen and a bottom section made of hemp and hop and (ii) a textile fragment from an eighteenth-century textile sample book, which was labelled as being made from hop. We show that the woman’s garment is made with hop and hemp fibres and the textile fragment from the textile sample book is made with hop. Our work provides the first direct proof that hop fibres were used for textiles in the past.

show abstract

Section: Methods Including Sample Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this article, we present the first investigation on cultural heritage objects performed with the specific aim of finding out if they are made of hop; we use a very recently developed identification method (Lukešová et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First experimental evidence of hop fibres in historical textiles

Skoglund

Holst

Lukešová

2020

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A recent paper demonstrated that reliable identification of the unusual textile fibre hop can be achieved with a combination of several of the techniques listed above (Lukešová et al . 2019). An earlier publication shows how nettle can, in some cases, be distinguished from hemp and flax using polarisation microscopy (Bergfjord and Holst 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Cross‐Section Shape a Distinct Feature in Plant Fibre Identification?

Lukešová

Holst

2020

Archaeometry

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Correct identification of textile fibres is an important issue in archaeology because the use of different materials can yield crucial information about the society that produced the textiles. Textiles made of plant and animal fibres can normally be easily distinguished, but to distinguish between different types of plant fibres, in particular different types of bast fibres, is difficult. Some years back it was shown that the features fibre diameter, lumen diameter, dislocation (nodes), and cross markings cannot be used on their own to distinguish between the typical bast fibres used for textiles in ancient Europe: flax, hemp, and nettle. Particularly not when only a few fibres are available for an examination so that statistical analysis is not possible, as is often the case in archaeology. The last two characterization features typically used to distinguish between bast fibres are cross‐section shape and lumen shape. In this paper, we present a study of retted and unretted fibres (in the stem) of flax, nettle, and hemp, and show that also cross‐section shape and lumen shape cannot be used as distinguishing features on their own.

show abstract

“…Fibre cell characterization commonly uses light microscopy, which allows observations of internal and external morphological features such as overall dimensions (length, width), shape (e.g., round, flat, twisted), fibre end shape (e.g., pointed, forked, rounded), surface features (e.g., pitting, cross‐markings, dislocations) and wall irregularities (e.g., unevenness, scalloping) (Preston 1974; Ilvessalo‐Pfäffli 1995; Petraco and Kubic 2003b; Lukešová et al . 2019). However, reliance on morphological data alone can result in inaccurate identification because of non‐unique characteristics as well as high inter‐individual variation (e.g., Carr et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2017; Lukešová et al . 2019), including highlighting the anisotropic and birefringent (doubly diffracting) behaviour of materials such as fibre cells and crystal inclusions (Prychid and Rudall 1999; Petraco and Kubic 2003b). Fibre cell birefringence is due to helical polycrystalline layers within the fibre cell wall (Meylan and Butterfield 1978a; Bergfjord and Holst 2010; Haugan and Holst 2013), giving rise to diagnostic optical characteristics when viewed with cross‐polarized light (CPL) and a rotating stage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polarized light microscopy casts new light on plants used to make tapa

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Information about plant materials of construction in artefacts advances knowledge about human history, agriculture, trade, migration and adaptation to new environments. Typically, materials identification in artefacts made from plants is problematic, since processing, age, dirt and surface treatments can mask identifying features, while ethical considerations relating to sampling limit the use of some analytical techniques. The study tests the usefulness of polarized light microscopy for identifying the New Zealand and Pacific plant species used to make tapa, indicating birefringent and morphological characteristics that can be used to differentiate fibres at the level Moraceae (Pacific; from genera Artocarpus, Broussonetia and Ficus) and Malvaceae (New Zealand; from genera Hoheria and Plangianthus).

show abstract

Is It Hop? Identifying Hop Fibres in a European Historical Context

Cited by 15 publications

References 20 publications

First experimental evidence of hop fibres in historical textiles

First experimental evidence of hop fibres in historical textiles

Is Cross‐Section Shape a Distinct Feature in Plant Fibre Identification?

Polarized light microscopy casts new light on plants used to make tapa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About