Textile impressions on Trypillia culture pottery from Ogród and Verteba Cave sites in Bilcze Złote

Abstract

Due to the limited number of materials associated with textile production from the Neolithic and Eneolithic, especially in regard to Eastern Europe, its indirect remains present an important and valuable source of information. One of the materials that testifies to textile production is pottery with textile impressions. The aim of this article is to present and discuss the results of microscopic analyses of textile impressions, identified on selected sherds of ceramic vessels from the Trypillia culture sites in Bilcze Złote, Ukraine. During the research, three basic categories of textile-related products were identified: pottery with intentional cord imprints, impressions of various types of non-woven textiles, as well as woven fabrics of varying thickness and density. This article also highlights the issue of using textiles in the technological process of pottery manufacturing. Microscopic analysis of textile impressions opens up new research possibilities in the recognition and reconstruction of the weaves and twists of particular types of fibres, and provides a solid foundation for comparative studies.

Tracing the micro processes of the production and use of ceramic vessels and textile products from the Cucuteni-Trypillia settlements of Bilyi Kamin and Krynychky-Ferma (Ukraine)

“…For the purpose of this investigation, the processing of the collection was completed in several stages. These were planned based on repeatedly tested methodical steps used for processing such ceramic products with imprinted textiles (Skrzyniecka 2020;Skrzyniecka et al 2022) and on the basis of personal experience.…”

“…This examination encompassed the determination of spinning and twisting directions (Z-twisted -clockwise direction, S-twisted -counterclockwise direction), measurement of twist angle (given in degrees °), which indicates the intensity of the yarn/thread twist, and width measurements (mm) of the imprints (Grömer and Kern 2010, 3136-3145;Gleba 2017Gleba , 1206Gleba , 1207Skrzyniecka et al 2022, 230-231). The possible type of raw material is determined based on the proven formula where plant -with sharp surfaces of fibres, and animal -with soft fibre surfaces (Grömer and Kern 2010: 3140-3144;Skrzyniecka 2020). To determine the yarn/thread size, the metric indicators of 10-15 threads from both directions of the weave were taken into account for each imprint, as is usually done when examining actual fabric (Gleba and Harris 2019).…”

“…Clay is a very plastic material, and as a result, the use of textiles as supports leaves clear "documentation" in the form of impressions on the bottoms of vessels. Such discoveries have been documented since the initial investigations of the CT sites in the late 19 th century (Skrzyniecka 2020). Textile imprints enable us to gain insights into the weave's characteristics, the fabric's density, the quality of the thread, and in some instances, even the direction in which the thread was twisted.…”

“…Although such imprints are the main source for the study of CT textiles -which are not generally preserved in the archaeological record -a comprehensive study remains incomplete. There are some synthetic works on this topic that have described this artefact type at the regional level (Markevich 1981;Kosakivskyi 2006;Marian 2009;Mazăre 2011b) or at the level of some settlements (Novytska 1948;Kordysh 1951;Kosakivskyi 1998;Kosakivskyi et al 1998;Sikorski 2016;Skrzyniecka 2020). These work are based on data that are derived either from the author's own field investigations or have been compiled through the analysis of published works and museum collections.…”

“…Photomicrographs were also used during the investigation of textile imprints in the middle of the 20 th century, for example from the Lomachyntsi-Plyta settlement (Passek 1951, 55-57). Recently, the microscopic method has been actively used to study imprints on CT vessels (Sikorski 2016;Skrzyniecka 2020).…”