Recent analyses of the excavated textile find from Grave 35 HTR73, Kerameikos cemetery, Athens, Greece

Margariti, Christina; Protopapas, S.; Orphanou, Vassiliki

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.10.005

Cited by 41 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The spectra were consistent, both along the warps and the wefts, of all the different textiles analysed. As far as fibre identification was concerned, none of the spectra showed any bands assigned to characteristic components of proteins, not giving thus any evidence for the presence of either silk or wool fibres in the find [46]. In addition, there were samples that showed all the bands assigned to the characteristic components of cellulose, as mentioned above and in Table 1 (reflectance mode column), indicating organic matter had been preserved in the fibres analysed.…”

Section: The Kerameikos Textilesmentioning

confidence: 90%

The application of FTIR microspectroscopy in a non-invasive and non-destructive way to the study and conservation of mineralised excavated textiles

Margariti

2019

Herit Sci

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The potential of Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy, to inform the study and conservation of mineralised excavated textiles is discussed, highlighted by two case studies of 5th c. BCE finds. In both cases the textiles were funerary from pyre burials, used to wrap the remains of the incinerated bones of the deceased, and placed inside copper alloy urns, to be buried. FTIR spectra of the textile fibres were acquired by an FTIR microscope in reflectance mode. In regard to the two case studies, this was a non-invasive and non-destructive method, since it did not involve removal of material for sampling, as both finds were in a fragmentary condition, it did not apply any pressure, nor did it require pressing of the minute fragments used as samples. Past fibre analyses in case study A reported cultivated and wild silk, which had been used as evidence of the presence of silk in Classical Greece, while more recent studies, controversially pointed to either cellulosic or wool fibres. The unlimited application of FTIR microspectroscopy in reflectance mode due to its non-invasive/destructive nature, enhanced fibre identification but most importantly led to further analyses of specific fragments that revealed the find was suffering from active biodeterioration, subsequently treated. Case study B, where the textiles had been preserved folded, was a particularly unique find from its period, since one of the textiles present was bearing evidence of embroidery. Similarly, the extended application of FTIR microspectroscopy indicated good preservation of the organic matter within the fibres, informing thus the conservation decision-making process, which involved partial unfolding of the textiles, an action that revealed an additional decoration pattern, and minute fragments of the embroidery thread preserved.

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Section: The Kerameikos Textilesmentioning

confidence: 90%

The application of FTIR microspectroscopy in a non-invasive and non-destructive way to the study and conservation of mineralised excavated textiles

Margariti

2019

Herit Sci

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“…The possibility of the presence of wild silk in one of the textiles of a pyre burial from Argos in the Peloponnese has also been suggested (Margariti and Papadimitriou 2014: 14-23). However, recent analyses of the Kerameikos fifth-century BC textile, that had been previously reported as silk, have not confirmed the earlier analytical results (Hundt 1969: 66-70;Margariti et al 2011;Spantidaki 2016…”

Section: Animal Fibresmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…For one of the Archaic textiles from Argos, a combination of wild silk (weft) and cellulosic bast (warp) fibres has been suggested, while another seems to have been made of wool (weft) and cellulosic bast (warp) fibres (Margariti and Papadimitriou 2014). Combinations of fibres in the same textile have also been reported for the Kerameikos textiles, despite the fact that definitive fibre identification is still awaited (Margariti et al 2011;Spantidaki 2016).…”

Section: Plant Fibresmentioning

confidence: 88%

Archaeological textiles excavated in Greece

Spantidaki¹,

Margariti²

2017

Arch. Rep.

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This paper offers an account of the archaeological textiles excavated in Greece, consideration of the challenges one has to deal with when studying such materials and a discussion of ways to overcome them. A complete list of archaeological textiles excavated in Greece is not within the scope of this paper, since such comprehensive studies have been published previously (Spantidaki and Moulhérat 2012; Moulhérat and Spantidaki 2016) and, of course, the corpus of such textiles is continuously expanding.The study of textiles is an emerging and fast-growing field of Greek archaeology (Gleba 2011). The number of archaeologists and conservators working with and studying archaeological textiles is steadily increasing, thus raising the general awareness of textiles and expanding the corpus of known ancient fabrics. In recent years, several research projects have investigated ancient Greek textiles, such as those conducted by the Centre for Textile Research at the University of Copenhagen (for example Textile Economies in the Mediterranean Area), several funded by Marie Skłodowska Curie Action grants and some by European Research Council grants (for example Production and Consumption: Textile Economy and Urbanisation in Mediterranean Europe 1000–500 BCE hosted by Cambridge University).

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“…Good performed protein and amino acid compositional analysis as well as morphological fibre identification on three threads from this grave, establishing that it was wild silk from the Pachypasa otus moth, native to the Mediterranean (Good 1995: 965;2010: 37;2011: 219). While Good's results seem to confirm Hundt's identification of the Kerameikos textiles as silk, merely adjusting them from Chinese to Mediterranean silk, recent re-examination of four of the textiles by Margariti et al (2011) has arrived at very different results, namely that they were cellulosic bast and some of them possibly cotton fibres. Methods applied were Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Microscopy (FTIR).…”

Section: Kerameikosmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…This was accompanied by a map of Eurasia, mapping and listing possible silks outside China before the Han period (Good 1995). As attention has been called to the fact that the first of Good's silks had never been identified as such (Bender Jørgensen 1992: 105) and three more have been refuted by other scholars (Banck 1994: 51;Banck-Burgess 1999: 234-40;Margariti et al 2011), it is surprising to find them all firmly in place as early instances of silk in Good's contribution to the recent Andrew Sherratt memorial volume, now without question marks or references to the contrasting identifications published by other researchers (Good 2011: 221). Moreover, Good's identification of two of the pieces as silk was based upon the same method, amino acid compositional analysis (Good 2011: 219), that Banck-Burgess and her team had used to establish that no silk was present in one of these (Banck-Burgess 1999: 234-40).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The question of prehistoric silks in Europe

Jørgensen¹

2013

Antiquity

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Textiles and clothing are among the most visible aspects of human social and symbolic behaviour and yet they have left all too few traces in the archaeological record and it is easy to overlook their importance. Luxury textiles such as silk can additionally provide evidence of long-distance contact, notably between Europe and China during the Han dynasty and the Roman empire. But can these connections be projected back in time to the prehistoric period? The late Irene Good proposed a number of identifications of silk in Iron Age Europe and was instrumental in bringing the issue to wider attention. Closer examination reported here, however, calls those identifications into question. Instead, the case is put that none of the claimed Iron Age silks can be confirmed, and that early traffic in silk textiles to Europe before the Roman period cannot be substantiated.

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Recent analyses of the excavated textile find from Grave 35 HTR73, Kerameikos cemetery, Athens, Greece

Cited by 41 publications

References 18 publications

The application of FTIR microspectroscopy in a non-invasive and non-destructive way to the study and conservation of mineralised excavated textiles

The application of FTIR microspectroscopy in a non-invasive and non-destructive way to the study and conservation of mineralised excavated textiles

Archaeological textiles excavated in Greece

The question of prehistoric silks in Europe

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