Work Package 6 - Textile remains and imprints

Work Package team

Portrait photograph of Maureen Carroll
Maureen Carroll
Principal Investigator
University of York
Portrait image of Sarah Hitchens
Sarah Hitchens
Post-Doctoral Research Associate
University of York

Studying organics when none remain - textiles

Often the only evidence for textiles at a site comes from tools used in the production of cloth, such as spindle whorls and loom weights, which are often made of ceramic, bone, or stone and thus survive in the archaeological record. However, no evidence for the inclusion of textile processing tools in the gypsum burials of Yorkshire so far has been found. Organic materials such as textiles only survive in rare cases and in specific environments, such as arid or waterlogged contexts. But textiles can be studied even if they no longer exist in their original form. They can be preserved in mineralised form on metals, when organic matter breaks down into inorganic minerals, or as carbonised fragments. The gypsum used in the burials of Yorkshire also provides us with evidence for textiles that no longer exist in their original form.

Mineralised textiles visible in a Roman gypsum burial fragment.
Mineralised textile fragments in gypsum.

How do we study textiles in the gypsum burials?

The surfaces of the gypsum casings - both complete and fragmentary - are being examined for traces of textile remains. Some of the evidence comes in the form of well-preserved textile fragments which became mineralised after the body had been covered in gypsum. However, most of the evidence consists of textile impressions left behind on the surfaces of the casings before the gypsum hardened.

A microscope image of tiny fibres embedded in gypsum.
Textile impression on a gypsum fragment from the lower pelvis area. The weave and spin direction are easily visible. The fragment is from the Sherburn in Elmet burial and the microscope image was taken at 80x magnification.
A microscope image of woven threads in ancient preserved textile.
Mineralised textile from the thorax area of the Sherburn in Elmet gypsum burial. The image was taken using the shadow effect mode on the Keyence microscope which helps make the textile more visible, at 20x magnification.

The imprints are being examined for any information on the textiles used in the burials of individuals. The imprints reveal structures such as a textile’s weave and the size of the yarns used in the production of the cloth, while the mineralised fragments may provide additional evidence for the types of fibres - animal or plant - used to make the textile. The analysis of the remains may help us discern the type of cloth used in the burials - shrouds or clothing - and may also tell us about the status of the individuals encased in gypsum. All this information will add to our general knowledge and understanding of the wider Roman funerary assemblage.

Methodology

An archaeologist uses a hand-held mobile microscope to examine a Roman burial in a museum.
Using a DinoLite hand-held microscope to examine textile imprints on a gypsum burial in the Yorkshire Museum. The magnified image of textile can be seen on the computer screen.

Due to the dual nature of the textiles, as mineralised fragments and impressions, a variety of different approaches are needed in order to analyse the remains. The project is analysing the casing details using a DinoLite hand-held microscope, a camera with macro lens, a Keyence microscope, and a Scanning Electron Microscope.

Any remains of embedded textiles are selected and sampled for microscopy and spectroscopy for better visualisation and analysis. This approach will enable us to differentiate between clothing and shrouds and to gain new information on potentially preferred or common suites of burial textiles.