Archaeological Textiles Review, Issue No. 54

In this morning's mail, I received my copy of Archaeological Textiles Review (formerly called Archaeological Textiles Newsletter), Issue No. 54. ATR has changed to an annual format instead of a twice-a-year format, which will be published at the end of each year. 

Issue No. 54 had originally been scheduled for publication in November. It was worth the wait. It includes an impressive range of excellent articles on a diverse range of subjects, some of which are of direct reenactor and costuming interest. The most interesting of these (to me, at least) include the following:

• Bergerbrant, Sophie, Fossøy, Sølvi Helen, & Jørgensen, Lise Bender, Ginderup--Textiles and Dress from the Bronze Age Gleaned from an Excavation Photograph. Explains how the authors reconstructed the costume from the Ginderup burial, using only the excavation photographs since the textiles were destroyed during post-excavation processes.


• Caroe, Liv. Textiles and Identity seen through Etruscan Tomb Paintings. Analyzes 6th BCE - 3rd BCE Etruscan tomb paintings looking for differences by time and status. Contains much useful information about clothing styles and textile patterns.


• Larsson, Lars. The Embellished Dress in Hunter-Gatherer Societies: Tooth ornaments from the graves at the cemeteries of Zvenieki, northern Latvia. Examines teeth from Latvian graves dated between 7,500 BCE and 2,600 BCE to learn more about ornamented clothing in the period.


• Dahl, Camilla Luise & Grølsted, Esther. A 17th Century Woman's Cap from Haarby Church, Denmark. As the title states. With good color photographs of the actual find, a pattern sketch, and period art showing women wearing similar caps.


• Knudsen, Lise Ræder & Grümer, Karina. Discovery of a New Tablet Weaving Technique From the Iron Age. Analyzes a tablet-woven find attached to a sleeve fragment from the salt-mine at Dürrnberg near Hallstatt in Austria. The pattern, as described by the authors, "created yellow Greek key or meander motifs on a background of greenish, blue and dark brown." With good color photographs of the find and diagrams that look as though they could be used to recreate the design.


• Nutz, Beatrix. How to Pleat a Shirt in the 15th Century. Article analyzing pleated linen shirt fragments from the Lengberg find, discussing how those shirts must have been made. With many diagrams and photographs.


• Schluck, Nathalie, Rose, Christophe, Le Thiec, Didier et Karine Boulanger. Un Fragment de toile en coton decouvert dans le frigidarium d'une villa gallo-romaine a Damblain (Vosges, France). [A cotton fabric fragment discovered in the frigidarium of a Gallo-Roman Villa at Damblain (Vosges, France)]. French-language article discussing a 2nd century CE fabric fragment, identified by microscopy as being cotton; researchers are grappling with the potential implications of that fact.

ATR annual memberships (which get the member a copy of that year's issue and help support continued publication) are 20 Euros; available back issues may be had for 10 Euros. In addition, Issue Nos. 46 and 47 are available for free download on line, and issues subsequent to No. 47 will be added to the free download page as time progresses, so Issue No. 54 should be available for free download eventually.

So far, I've only skimmed some of these articles. I'm looking forward to reading them, and thinking and blogging about their implications in the coming weeks.