New Book: Bog Fashion

I don't know how I missed the Kickstarter for this project, but I just learned over the weekend that there is a new book coming out: Nicole DeRushie. Bog Fashion--Recreating Bronze and Iron Age Clothes. (Chronocopia Publishing, 2025). The Kickstarter has ended, but Chronocopia Publishing will soon be selling the book on their website, and eventually other booksellers will have it available for sale as well. The book's page on the Chronocopia site can be viewed here, and a short bio of Ms. DeRushie can be read here.

The Chronocopia site does not indicate what the price of the book will be, but it's a hardcover book (probably in the same general format as An Early Meal, Daniel Serra's book about Viking age Scandinavian food). Still, I'm planning to buy Bog Fashion when I can, because the page about it on Chronocopia's site indicates that it will be well-illustrated as well as well-researched. Its scope is "Bronze and Iron Age fashion from Northern and Western Europe," and it includes detail from all phases of costume construction, from spinning and weaving the thread into cloth to the creation of accessories.

If, like me, you are fascinated by the clothing of Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, you'll want this one for your collection.

Update (5/3/2025): I ordered the book from an independent seller in Missouri, USA this past week. The price I was quoted was $40 USD, plus $7 USD for shipping. Chronocopia has it for $39 USD, but shipping is likely to be more than $7 USD from Sweden. It will probably be about 2 weeks before I receive it.

Fashioning The Viking Age

Happy September!

During the summer I was too busy to think about historic costume, let alone blog about it.  

So it was a delightful experience to learn from the University of Copenhagen's website, that the ongoing Center for Textile Research project on Viking Age clothing (called "Fashioning the Viking Age") has led to the publication of two books so far:  "Fibres, Tools & Textiles," and "From Analysis to Reconstruction." Both are available for free download on this website.  Alternatively, one can order paper copies of the books (though not for free).  

I haven't had time to read either book yet, but they are wonderfully illustrated with full-color photographs of actual finds as well as reconstructions.  Enjoy!

What About NESAT XIII?

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my success at obtaining a PDF copy of NESAT XII, Aspects of the Design, Production and Use of Textiles and Clothing from the Bronze Age to the Early Modern Era (Karina Grömer and Frances Pritchard, eds.) from the publisher, Archaeolingua.  

Today, I thought it might be worthwhile to make an effort to find NESAT XIII, Links Between Past and Present (Milena Bravermanová, Helena Březinová, and Jane Malcolm-Davies, eds.), which was published by Verlag Beier & Beran Archäologische Fachliteratur.

Abebooks appears to still have the book in soft cover for $70.25 USD plus $18.48 USD shipping. I wasn't able to navigate the publisher site, which is written mostly in German.  Perhaps the PDF option will be adopted after they run out of soft cover copies of the book.

As for NESAT XIV, the conference was only recently held (online) this summer; the volume has not been published yet.    But abstracts for the presentations may be found here.  

EDIT:  (10/11/2021)  As the commenter noted, there are a few publicly available videos of NESAT XIV talks.  You can find them here. 

Pssst! Want to buy a copy of NESAT XII?

The North European Symposium on Archaeological Textiles, or "NESAT", is a symposium that is held about every three years.  Each NESAT has produced a symposium volume of papers on archaeological finds relating to textiles and costume that are eagerly sought after by people, like me, who are interested in the history of costume (especially early period European costume).  But the print runs are small, and the volumes remaining after the conference participants have received their copies tend to be expensive.

When I was making a lot more money, the expense was not as much of a problem.  But now I find the typical $70 USD price of the newer NESAT volumes prohibitive.  My collection of NESAT volumes ends with NESAT XI.  I have not been able to purchase NESAT XII and NESAT XIII, which were published after NESAT XI came out in 2013.

Recently, I began looking for the NESAT volumes I lacked at reduced prices.   To my dismay, I could not find a seller of NESAT XII that had the volume in stock for any price.  So I checked the webpage of the publisher of NESAT XII, Archaeolingua. Archaeolingua is based in Budapest, and all transactions in its webshop must be made in either Hungarian forints or Euros, but I figured if anyone would still have the book available, it would be them.

To my surprise, I was able to obtain a copy for 20 Euros (a bit less than $24 USD)!  The copy was an e-book, of course (a PDF, to be exact), but that was an advantage, since I was able to download it immediately as soon as my payment (via credit card) was accepted.  

NOTE:  I was not able to find the book's page via the search function, but if you choose the category "Archaeolingua Series Maior" you can page through the four pages worth of books to find it.  Be aware that the site can be balky.

Returning to Gokstad?

The Gokstad Ship.  Photograph by Karamell, 
found on Wikimedia Commons

In 1880, a 9th century CE Viking ship was discovered in a burial mound on farmland at Sandar, Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway. The ship, the largest Viking age ship found in Norway,  is on display at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway. 

The mound contained more than just the ship.  It contained the grave of a man, aged approximately 40 to 50 years old, powerfully built and between 181 and 183 cm (roughly 6 feet) tall.  The bones of twelve horses, six dogs, and a peacock were laid out around him.  The grave contained other goods, including three small boats, a tent, a sledge, and riding equipment.  Gold, silver, and weapons were surprisingly lacking, suggesting that the grave may have been robbed in antiquity.

Or so the current state of public knowledge goes.  I learned tonight that Aarhus University Press is planning to augment that knowledge with a three-volume series of books, called "Returning to Gokstad," that will review the Gokstad finds: 1) in light of other visits to the site over the last few decades; 2) other ship mound burials from Hedeby, Ladby and Sutton Hoo, and 3) the results of applying new scientific techniques to those finds, such as iron provenancing, aDNA, isotope analysis, osteology, and new dendrochronological results.  

What interested me in the book is the suggestion that there may be new textile information in it also.  Specifically, I found a rumor that there is an article in the first volume of the series about the textiles at Gokstad, written by Marianne Vedeler.  

The first volume is listed on the Oxbow Books website with a projected publication date of this year, but it is not yet available for purchase.  However, it can be preordered through Oxbow (but not through Oxbow's American affiliate Casemate Academic; I could not find any mention of the book at that site).  Likely it may be available for pre-order from bookstores in Scandinavia as well, though I haven't attempted to track such stores down.   

I doubt I will be able to afford the first book, let alone the set, but I am making a note to myself to look for the first book, and try to obtain it by interlibrary loan after it comes out, to see what textile information I can find. 

An Inspiring Needle

Back in April, I reviewed two books by ChronoCopia Publishing:  A Handbook of Men's Clothing and Handbook of the 15th Century and A Handbook of Women's Clothing of the 15th Century.  Daniel Serra of ChronoCopia Publishing also asked me to review the following book about nålbinding:

Pasanen, Mervi.  With One Needle:  How to Nålbind. (ChronoCopia Publishing AB 2019).

Mervi Pasanen originally published this book in Finnish. When it came out, I lamented the fact that I wouldn't be able to read it, even if I could afford it.  With One Needle  makes that content available to English speakers, and I have been sent a free copy in order to write this review.  

I am always on the lookout for new books about nålbinding, because I have struggled for some time to learn the art, and am continuing to struggle to do so.  Though I have learned enough to nålbind an undistinguished cap for myself, I have failed several times now at making mittens or socks, and every time I take the craft up again after a hiatus, I have to re-learn the basics nearly from scratch.  So when I was asked to review With One Needle, I hoped that Mervi's book would finally help me reach the level of understanding I need to succeed at retaining basic nålbinding skills once and for all.

The first thing one notices about this book is that the production level is very high.  The paper is glossy and of good quality, the font is attractive and easily readable, and there are many clear and beautiful color photographs.  The cover photograph shown above gives a good idea of how much artistry was devoted to the photographs in the book.

As I read the book, I tried to look at it in terms of how it would be viewed by a total novice to nålbinding, which was not difficult since I'm not that far from being a novice anyway.  And although Mervi's book includes a tutorial for several different nålbinding starts, it's not really the best source available for teaching people who are new to the art how to begin nålbinding. Why?  Largely because there are not enough photographs of every step of the process.  If, like me, you have trouble telling right from left when looking at an object and also have poor visualization skills, you will find that Mervi's photo essay on nålbinding starts does not give you *quite* enough information to advance your game.

But even though Mervi's book may not be the best way for a total beginner--or even a serial beginner like myself--to learn nålbinding does not mean that the book is of no value to nålbinding enthusiasts.  To the contrary, there are many useful things a discerning reader with an interest in nålbinding can take away from Mervi's book.  Here are some of my takeaways from the book:

1.     Inspiration.  With One Needle is packed with dozens of clear, full color photographs demonstrating techniques and interesting projects.  Just finishing the book made me want to get my needle out and start looking for colorful yarn to attempt one of her projects.

2.     Useful Techniques.  From Mervi's book I gleaned the realization that the same basic technique can be used to put a thumb onto a mitten or a heel on a sock.  Mervi also gives the best photographic description I have seen of how to do a Russian join, which is a technique for incorporating a new piece of yarn onto the working yarn.

3.    Helpful Facts.  When I was first exploring nålbinding, I found a photograph of an archaeological find of a thigh-length, nålbinded stocking, and I wondered how such items could be made since nålbinded works are not very stretchy compared to knits.  It turns out that you have to take a lot of precise measurements of the various parts of ankle and leg that the sock must fit and thus tailor it to the wearer.  The book also says that certain stitches are stretchier than others, and thus may be more appropriate for high socks.  Mervi also provides useful measurement and proportion information for the construction of socks in general.

4.   New Stitches.  Mervi's book contains tutorials for learning a number of different variations on Finnish stitch that I've never seen anywhere else.

5.   Expert Techniques.  Have you ever seen photographs of modern nålbinded garments that appear to have a braided edge?  This book contains directions how to do that technique as well.

In short, I recommend this book most strongly for nålbinders of intermediate level--people who have made enough garments using nålbinding that they are looking for new projects to expand their skill with the technique.  However, even for people like me who are still struggling, the book is a fun and thought-provoking read, and an inspiration to increase my skills so that I can try some of the more challenging projects in the future.

Two Late 15th Century European Clothing Handbooks

At the request of Daniel Serra of ChronoCopia Publishing, I am reviewing the following books.  They are very similar to each other and even contain some of the same content, so it makes sense to review them together:

Malmborg, A. & Schütz, Willhelm, A Handbook for Men's Clothing of the 15th Century: Historical Clothing from the Inside Out. (ChronoCopia Publishing AB 2018).

Malmborg, A. & Schütz, Willhelm, A Handbook for Women's Clothing of the 15th Century: Historical Clothing from the Inside Out. (ChronoCopia Publishing AB 2018).

These books are beautifully produced.  They are printed on thick, glossy paper and are lavishly illustrated with clear diagrams and large, full color photographs showing clothed figures excerpted from period works of art.  But these books are very short (48 pages each).  At $19.90 USD for each on Amazon.com, they are a bit more expensive than the titles in Osprey Publishing's Men-At-Arms series, which are the same length and are of similarly high quality with regard to paper, photographs, and layout.

These books are too brief to be a comprehensive guide to everything there is to know about late 15th century costume.  For example, they are too small to give much information about clothing patterns, or surviving items of period clothing, or to discuss differences in costume from one European country to another.

Are Malmborg and Schütz's  handbooks worth one's money and time?  I think the answer to that question is "yes," but only for people who are just starting to learn about late 15th century costume.

What kinds of information do these books provide?  That can be discerned by scanning through the books chapters and headings.  The book's contents are divided into three chapters:  "The Period;" "A Wardrobe;" and "Accessories."

"The Period" is subdivided into five sections: "Historical context;" "The dress idiom;" "Dyes;" "Fabrics;" and "Sewing Techniques."  "Historical context" briefly describes the political situation in Europe as it existed during the period.  "The dress idiom" describes the physical outline of period costume--what I think of as its "silhouette"--and mentions some of the features of that costume, such as pleats, layers, and the importance of fabric choice in displaying social rank.  "Dyes" describes the substances used to achieve fashionable colors, and images give a sense of how those colors appeared.  "Fabrics" discusses the types of fiber used in most period fabrics and the most popular weaves used, while "Sewing Techniques" illustrates the stitches used for clothing construction.  This chapter appears with substantially the same content in both books.

The "Wardrobe" has a separate section for each item that comprises a typical outfit for a man or woman of the period (depending upon which of the two volumes you are reading), from head to toe and from the skin out.  For each item, the reader is told the fabrics from which each garment is made, the garment's basic shape, and general information about construction, tailoring techniques, and fit.  Though no sewing patterns are provided, good general advice about how to construct each garment is provided.

The "Accessories" section describes non-clothing items that are nonetheless part of a typical outfit, such as pins, jewelry, and belts.  Finally, there is a page listing the sources of the images used in the book, and a separate page listing useful books to consult for further study of 15th century clothing.

The sort of information that these handbooks provide is the information needed to develop an "eye" for when a costume looks "right."  Information that fosters such an "eye" is immensely helpful because it guides the learner in determining which other books to buy or read. Having an "eye" for the costume of a period is essential in learning how to design and construct costumes that make the wearer look as though he or she has just "stepped out" of a period artwork.  It also provides a useful framework for delving into patterns and pattern books and for understanding the clothing of figures shown in period art.  But the would-be 15th century costumer or reenactor will still need to study further in order to learn enough to be able to construct convincingly accurate 15th century clothing.

For that reason, these books would better be described as "primers" rather than "handbooks". The term "handbook" is typically used for a start-to-finish reference guide to all of the essentials of a subject, and as such may be usefully consulted by those with prior experience in the subject.  Malmborg and Schütz's books are not "handbooks" in this sense.  People with experience making or studying 15th century costume will already know most of the information presented in these books and likely will not be interested in consulting them.

On the other hand, a "primer" is a short introduction to a subject, such as the type of short text given to children to teach them how to read.  Malmborg and Schütz's books are more like primers in that they teach the uninitiated how to "read" clothing images in period art and what types of information they will need to seek in order to sew convincing period clothes.

So these handbooks are not for everyone.  However, costumers who are beginning to develop knowledge of 15th century clothing, or historical fiction writers who are looking for enough costuming information to convincingly describe their characters, may find them a pleasant way to learn to visualize how a 15th century man or woman should be dressed.  For people in those circumstances, it would be hard to find an easier and better point of entry into the study of 15th century costume, and I recommend the books for that purpose.

A Pleasant Surprise

Here's a little surprise for my readers--and me as well!

Daniel Serra has asked me to review some books from Chronocopia Publishing.  These are the books in question.  The links go to the page for each book on the Chronocopia website, though the books may be obtained from various booksellers as well.

• The English language, paperback edition of Mervi Pasanen's book on nålbinding:  With One Needle:  How to Nålbind.

• Anna Malmborg & Willhelm Schütz's books:  A Handbook of Men's Clothing in the Late 15th Century and A Handbook of Women's Clothing in the Late 15th Century. 

Daniel is one of the co-authors of another Chronocopia book: An Early Meal: A Viking Age Cookbook and Culinary Odyssey, which discusses the reasons what Viking food was probably like and why, and provides defensible period recipes for modern-day people like us to make.  I reviewed An Early Meal on my food blog, here. That review may be the reason why I've been asked to review the Chronocopia books mentioned above.

Chronocopia is being good enough to send me review copies.  After I have received and read them, I will be writing book reviews of all three for this blog.  Watch this space!

Yet Another New Resource

While exploring a post on Instagram, I found myself looking at the updated Medieval Dress and Textiles Society webpage and found out, from this page, that there is an Association of Dress Historians. This association, under the patronage of Aileen Ribeiro, publishes a scholarly journal called the Journal of Dress History, which contains articles primarily focused on historical clothing topics relating to fashions of the last 250 years.

Each issue of the Journal (except for the first few) is at least 200 pages, and Professor Emeritus Ribeiro herself has been a contributor.  Best of all, part of the Association's mission is that the Journal of Dress History is "circulated solely for educational purposes, completely free of charge and not for sale or profit." The first issue was published in 2017, and the 10 issues that have been published to date may all be downloaded for free on the Association's website, here.

Here are some papers from the Journal that may be of interest.  They are illustrated, some lavishly:

Alexander, Kimberly S. and Alison Fairhurst.  Treasures Afoot:  Shoe Stories from the Georgian Era.  (Volume 3, Issue 2, Summer 2019, page 87).

Gurr, Alice.  The Trench Coat:  Fashioning British Gender Identities in War and Peace, 1851-1930.  (Volume 3, Issue 1, Winter 2019, page 5).

Fairhurst, Alison.  Women's Shoes of the Eighteenth Century: Style, Use and Evolution.(Volume 1, Issue 2, Autumn 2017, page 25).

Middleton, James.  Their Dress Is Very Different:  The Development of the Peruvian Polleta and the Genesis of the Andean Chola.  (Volume 2, Issue 1, Spring 2018).

Each issue also includes a substantial section of detailed reviews of new books on historical clothing; that feature alone is definitely worth the time of costumers and historians interested in the period or periods discussed.

I'm not sure when I'll get the opportunity to read these issues as there is a lot of material here, but I look forward to doing so, and I invite all of you to join me.

Viking Grave-Goods Book

Casemate Academic is having a 20% off sale on certain Viking Age-related titles from now until June 30, 2018.

Of particular interest to me is the following book:

Harrison, Stephen J. & O'Floinn, Raghnall.  Viking Graves and Grave-Goods in Ireland. 
National Museum of Ireland (2015).

Casemate Academic's page describes the book this way:

The volume is the first comprehensive catalogue and detailed discussion of over 400 artifacts from more than a hundred furnished Viking graves in Ireland, many published for the first time. The volume includes the first detailed study of the archives of the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy and of the Irish Antiquities Division of the National Museum of Ireland, key resources for those interested in the history of museums in Ireland and in 19th and 20th century collectors and collecting. The grave-goods (both Insular and Scandinavian) are the subject of detailed examination, with separate sections devoted to weapons, dress ornaments and jewelry, tools, equestrian equipment and miscellaneous artifacts. The volume also contains a discussion of grave distribution, form, orientation, ritual and contents. While much of the text is given over to the Kilmainham-Islandbridge burial complex - now confirmed as by far the largest cemetery of its type in the Viking west - the monograph also includes details of the Viking graves from elsewhere in Dublin, and from the rest of Ireland.

At this point, I cannot afford even the $60 USD sale price for the book, but if it's really good I will try to obtain it through interlibrary loan.  So I ask my readers:  Have any of you had a chance to read/look at this volume?  Is it well illustrated? Does it have interesting things to say about jewelry and clothing/textile related finds, both Irish and Scandinavian?  Please let me know in the comments.

Book Review: Extending Knowledge of Costume Through Art Analysis

From the Casemate Academic website

From the Casemate Academic website

The two books I have obtained for my costume history library most recently involve very different historical periods but a common method; they both seek to increase our knowledge of clothing from their respective periods through a through analysis of period art.

These are the books I mean (links below are to the hardback editions, but e-book versions of both are available, and my copy of Woven Threads is an e-book):

Mannering, Ulla.  Iconic Costumes:  Scandinavian Late Iron Age Costume Iconography.  Oxbow Books--Ancient Textiles Series No. 25 (2017).

Shaw, Maria C. and Chapin, Anne P., eds.  Woven Threads:  Patterned Textiles of the Aegean Bronze Age.  Oxbow Books--Ancient Textiles Series No. 22 (2015).

I have finished reading Iconic Costumes, but am still thinking my way through the material, and I am still reading Woven Threads.  Even so, there are some observations I would like to make about both that, in my opinion, demonstrate that both books are well worth reading.

Iconic Costumes seeks to obtain information about costume from the Migration Period through the Viking Age by examining and analyzing the details of artistic depictions of human beings in of Viking and pre-Viking Age Scandinavian art.  Most of this art is in the form of carvings on artifacts such as the Oseberg cart, guldgubbar (tiny, thin gold-foil plaques found in graves), or jewelry.  In contrast, Woven Textiles primarily analyzes surviving frescoes from buildings erected by the Minoan and Mycenaean Bronze Age cultures in order to learn more about costumes and patterned textiles depicted in those frescoes.  Both books reference non-artwork archaeological finds to support their conclusions.

Professors Shaw and Chapin have an easier time than Professor Mannering, for all that few textile remains survive from either culture, because despite its peculiar lack of perspective to a modern eye, Minoan and Mycenaean art is much more representational than early Scandinavian art, and has the additional benefit of having been originally created in color (and the colors survive to a surprising degree) while early Scandinavian art is mostly sculptural in nature.  Early Scandinavian art is also highly stylized, and the human figures depicted are nearly always too small to show much detail.  The Aegean frescoes often showed human figures life-sized, or close to life size, and many of them survive nearly complete and in good condition.  Even the fragmentary frescoes have much to say about patterns that may well have been used to decorate fabric.

That being said, both books manage to answer a significant question relevant to the history of clothing for their period of study.   It's the same question for both books:  Does period art really reflect what people actually wore as costume?

The authors' answer in both cases is "yes."  Having observed and analyzed most of the human figure representations dating from Iron Age Scandinavia, Professor Mannering observes: 

The vast majority of the iconographical costumes recorded are encountered in the archaeological textile and clothing material.  At the same time, there is information on the depictions [sic] that is not seen in the archaeological textile finds and vice versa. ... 

A typical male outfit in the Late Iron Age consisted of trousers, a tunic with sleeves, a rectangular cloak, belt, and shoes, while a typical female outfit included various dresses, skirts, blouses, cloaks, hairnets, and shoes, demonstrating both continuity from previous periods and new trends. ...

Generally, the investigation shows that the depictions represent clothing items that occur in the archaeological record. ... Thus, the depictions reveal costume items, e.g., kaftans, female jackets, and skirt and blouse ensembles that most likely were present in the archaeological record in the Late Germanic Iron Age, but that have not been positively identified yet.  They also demonstrate that the female dress most likely was long-sleeved, something which has not yet been securely documented via the archaeological record. (pp. 176-177) .

Professors Shaw and Chapin focus more of their efforts on comparing Minoan and Mycenaean styles by means of the surviving pictorial art.  They rely heavily on Elizabeth Wayland Barber's work as support for their conclusion that the patterns observed in clothing shown in fresco art could have achieved on textiles.  Like Professor Mannering, they conclude that certain patterns likely were used on real clothing from the fact that the same patterns turn up in clothing depictions on multiple frescoes.   However, there are enough surviving decorated fragments of cloth in archaeological finds to support Professor Barber's belief that patterned cloth was produced in the Aegean during the Bronze Age.  There is also support in contemporary Egyptian tomb art, which shows foreigners wearing garments, decorated in patterns, that compare closely to the Aegean fresco designs.

In general, Shaw and Chapin show that the creation of patterned textiles (whether through weaving, embroidery, applique, block printing, or other textile-related arts) came from centralized workshops, centered upon the great palaces of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations, and that such items were worn only by the elite; ordinary folk made do with plain cloth.  It appears that Mycenae produced less elaborate fabrics and costumes, and reserved the more elaborate ones they did produce for unusual occasions.

Artistic evidence for how the Minoans themselves defined the luxury in luxury textiles is not confirmed by recent archaeological discoveries surveyed in Chapter 2.  Artists working in the Neopalatial era depicted their best fabrics as finely woven with colorful and complex patterns and embellished with decorative borders, fringes, and tassels; these pictorial details are consistent with the bits of surviving textiles.

*   *   *   *

The few fragments of cloth--all linen--that survive from Mycenaean contexts support the impression that Mycenaean textiles were plainer and less decorative than textiles of the Minoan era.  Linen fragments found in Grave Circle B at Mycenae and in a tomb at Ayia Kryiaki on the island of Salamis, for example, were tabby-woven (a plain weave) and undecorated.

*   *   *   *

Some Minoan-styple forms of costume, particularly festal attire with flounced skirts, continued to appear in Mycenaean art, particularly in procession frescoes, but the fanciest rapport patterns of earlier generations were replaced by simple striped designs or by fabrics woven with uncomplicated all-over scatter patterns.  Decorative bands that reinforced edges, seams, and hems on bodices, skirts, and tunics were still made by the Mycenaean weavers, but even these were plainer than before.  (Chapter 9, italic emphasis in original).

Both books are well-illustrated with excellent photogtaphs of items of the period artworks that were analyzed.  Understandably, most of the illustrations in Iconic Costumes are black and white or line-drawings, but there are also some color pictures of actual clothing finds and guldgubbar.  Woven Threads includes both color photographs of surviving frescos and portions of frescoes as well as colored illustrations of particular pattern motifs.

There is a large amount of food for thought in both books.  (For example, Professor Mannering concludes that the scale of the female figures in period art makes it impossible to draw conclusions about women's wearing of the two-brooch costume--e.g., the "apron dress" or "smokkr".)  I think people interested in the history of clothing should read them, whether or not they are interested in the clothing of the Bronze Age Aegean or Iron Age Scandinavia, just to observe how the authors analyze and apply the different types of clothing evidence available to them.

Casemate Academic Sale!

Casemate Academic, formerly called the David Brown Book Company, is the American affiliate of Oxbow Books.  They are having two sales promotions on textile and costume-related texts until December 31, 2017.

One promotion offers a Year-End Sale discount of up to 85% on certain books, including, but not limited to, textile-related books.  The discounted books may be seen here; no code is necessary to receive the discount.  Among the textile-related books affected are the following items that I personally have my eye on:

• Shaw, Maria C. & Chapin, Anne P., eds.  Woven Threads:  Patterned Textiles of the Aegean Bronze Age.  (Ancient Textiles Series vol. 22, Oxbow Books 2016).  Original price:  $55.00.  Sale Price: $20.98.
• Harlow, Mary, Michel, Cécile & Nosch, Marie-Louise (eds.)  Prehistoric, Ancient Near Eastern & Aegean Textiles and Dress:  An Interdisciplinary Anthology.  (Ancient Textiles Series vol. 18, Oxbow Books 2015).  Original price:  $55.00.  Sale Price:  $16.98.
• Harlow, Mary & Nosch, Marie-Louise (eds.)  Greek and Roman Textiles and Dress:  An Interdisciplinary Approach.  (Ancient Textiles Series vol. 19, Oxbow Books 2015).  Original Price:  $75.00.  Sale Price:  $19.98.

In addition, a 20% discount will be applied to books in Oxbow's Ancient Textiles Series until December 31.  This discount does NOT apply to books already receiving a discount in the Year End Sale category (such as the books listed above) but does apply to all the other Ancient Textiles volumes.  The books subject to the 20% discount are listed here.  (Note:  The web page with the list says that the discount applies through September 30, 2017, but I just received a second e-mail today saying the discount will apply through the end of this year.)  Again, no code is necessary; the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

Good shopping, and happy Holidays!

Iconic Costumes

The figure from the Oseberg cart
(Photo:  Museum of Cultural History, Oslo)

My wonderful spouse recently gave me this book as a birthday present:

Mannering, Ulla. Iconic Costumes: Scandinavian Late Iron Age Costume Iconography. (Oxbow Books, Dec. 27, 2016).

Iconic Costumes is the English translation of Professor Mannering's dissertation, which had been published in Danish back in 2006.   The basis of the analysis is examination of as many of the clothing images from pre-Viking and Viking age representations of the human figure, including those from jewelry, guldgubbar (tiny stamped pieces of gold foil whose intended purpose is unclear), bracteates, helmet ornamentation, and other places.  What Professor Mannering has done is look for patterns in the representations, to see what information those patterns could provide about clothing in prehistoric Scandinavia.

The Søgård kilt.  (Source--Iconic Costumes)

The first 40 pages (which is all I've read so far) have filled me with questions, and inspiration. But I have learned something already from the book.  It turns out that there are archaeological finds of kilts--short, wraparound skirts--in  male graves.  A wool kilt was found in the young man's grave at Borum Eshøj (dated to about 1345 BCE) and a leather kilt was found in a grave at Søgård (dated to the Roman period), both in Denmark. (I'm not sure why I didn't realize this earlier, since there are other references to this fact in the literature).  That makes me wonder whether the odd figure on the Oseberg cart (see image to the right) really is intended to be male, after all.

I intend to write about my thoughts concerning Iconic Costumes after I have read and digested it.  If any of my readers obtain and finish the book before I do, please feel free to discuss it in the comments.

In Praise of EXARC.net

Today's post will be in praise of EXARC.net, EXARC's official website.

EXARC is the short name for the International Organisation of Archaeological Open Air Museums and Experimental Archaeology.  It is an affiliate of the International Council of Museums. According to its website, EXARC's special function is to "represent archaeological open-air museums and experimental archaeology in the international museum circles." Its home page may be found here.

Why am I writing about EXARC?  Because there turns out to be a surprising amount of excellent, inexpensive information on historic costume (as well as other areas of material culture) on the EXARC website.

For example, as I was exploring EXARC's site a few weeks ago, I found book reviews of these two recently-published works of archaeological clothing research:

Gordino, Yuri. Menswear of the Lombards. Reflections in the light of archeology, iconography and written sources. (Bookstone, Dec. 25, 2016).

Grömer, Karina. The Art of Prehistoric Textile Making: The Development of Craft Traditions and Clothing in Central Europe. (Naturhistorisches Museum, 1st ed., Feb. 1, 2016). 

Although this is not the case for all books reviewed on EXARC.net, the reviews of these two books include a link to a page where a digital copy can be obtained.   A Kindle or EPub copy of the Gordino book may be purchased for $5.99 U.S. here, and a free PDF of the Grömer book, in either English or German, may be downloaded here.  I am currently reading both of these books, and likely will review both of them on this blog. 

EXARC also publishes excellent articles about experimental archaeology projects, and scholarly articles about other areas of culture than clothing, on EXARC.net as an on-line, peer-reviewed journal. Some of the journal articles may be viewed only by EXARC members, which are limited to museums, persons affiliated with museums, and persons actively involved in experimental archaeology, but many of the articles are freely available to the public. There is a Paypal donation button on the EXARC site, and I urge everyone who can afford to do so to consider donating to EXARC's support.  

Textile Book Sale!

Oxbow Books (Casemate Academic in the U.S.) is having an end-of-year sale, including some great deals on textile-related books.  This one is even better than the end of October sale, and requires no discount codes:  just some great prices.  This link will take you directly to the sale page.  I've listed all prices in USD, but the Oxbow page should have them in British pounds, and you can get a good estimate of the equivalent price in your currency from xe.com.

Not all of the 200+ books on sale are about textiles; some involve other kinds of archaeological studies. But the textile books may be worth your time, especially if you're interested in ancient times and the early Middle Ages.   Some of the more interesting ones (in my opinion) include:

• Cardon, Dominique.  The Dyer's Handbook:  Memoirs of an 18th Century Master Colorist. Regular Price:  $75.00.  Sale Price $42.00.
• Spantidaki, Stella.  Textile Production in Classical Athens.  Regular Price:  $55.00.  Sale Price:  $33.00.
• Shaw, Maria C. and Chapin, Anne P. (eds.)  Woven Threads:  Patterned Textiles of the Aegean Bronze Age.  Regular Price:  $55.00.  Sale Price:  $33.00.
• Harich-Schwarzbauer, Henriette.  Weben und Gewebe in der Antike: Materiality-Representation-Metapoetics.  (Weben und Gewebe in der Antike:   Materialität – Repräsentation – Episteme)   Note:  Most of the essays in this volume are in German.  Regular Price:  $49.99.  Sale Price:  $12.98.
• Boudot, Eric and Buckley, Chris.  The Roots of Asian Weaving:  The He Haiyan collection of textiles and looms from Southwest China.  Regular Price:  $80.00.  Sale Price:  $53.00.
• Harlow, Mary, Michel, Cécile, and Nosch, Marie-Louise (eds.)  Prehistoric, Ancient Near Eastern & Aegean Textiles and Dress:  An Interdisciplinary Anthology.  Regular Price:  $55.00. Sale Price:  $33.00.

Most of the above prices are for hardback books.  These titles are all available as E-books also, though the prices may be different. Depending on where you live, shipping costs may make the E-book version a more economical choice.

Happy hunting!

October Treat

Today, I received an e-mail notice from Casemate Academic (Oxbow Books's American affiliate, which used to be called David Brown Book Company), advising that a number of Casemate's books on textiles and weaving are being discounted 20% from now until October 31, via this code: 781-16. 

I have not checked the Oxbow Books site, but I suspect similar discounts would apply.

Affected titles (with their USD prices) include:

Stella Spantidaki.  Textile Production in Classical Athens.  Was $55.00, now (i.e., with the discount) $44.00.

Henrietta Harich-Schwarzbauer.  Weben und Gewebe in der Antike/Texts and Textiles in the Ancient World.  Was $49.99, now $39.99.

Marie-Louise Nosch & C. Gillis. Ancient Textiles.  Was $48.00, now $38.40.

Karina Gromer & Frances Pritchard.  Aspects of the Design, Production and Use of Textiles and Clothing from the Bronze Age to the Early Modern Era (NESAT XII).  Was $78.00, now $62.40.

Marie-Louise Nosch & Zhao Feng.  Global Textile Encounters.  Was $12.00, now $9.60.

Mary Harlow, Cécile Michel & Marie-Louise Nosch (eds.). Prehistoric, Ancient Near Eastern and Aegean Textiles and Dress.  Was $55.00, now $44.00.

If you've wanted any of these books and the price drop brings them within your budget, here's your chance for a Halloween treat.

Historical Tidbits

A while ago now, I found an interesting book on the Casemate Academic (formerly David Brown Book Company) website.  Casemate is the American affiliate of Oxbow Books, which sells many wonderful books relating to archaeological research, including archaeological research involving clothing and textiles.  Because the price was low (only $12.00 USD).  I purchased it. Here's the bibliographical information:

Nosch, Marie-Louise, Feng, Zhao, & Varadarajan, Lotika, eds. Global Textile Encounters (Ancient Textiles Series vol. 20) (Oxbow Books 2014).

As the title implies, the theme of all the essays in the book is how clothing and textile designs are inspired by contacts with foreign regions.  Most of the essays are short and informal--perhaps a bit too informal for publication in most academic journals.   However, they still have interesting snippets of information for students of historical textiles and costume.  The amount of photographs in this volume are limited, but the ones that appear are in color and of excellent quality. 

For the convenience of my readers, I have replicated below the list of the essays in the book, to make it possible to judge whether the book is worth $12.00 USD to you.  I found most of them--including those relating to clothing and textiles outside of my primary period of interest--to be fascinating.  

1.   Textiles and Elite Tastes between the Mediterranean, Iran and Asia at the end of Antiquity: Matthew P. Canepa.

2.   Palla, Pallu, Chador: Draped clothing in ancient and modern cultures: Mary Harlow.

3.   From Draupadi to Dido: The duties of dress in paintings inspired by the Mahabarata and the Aeneid: Linda Matheson.

4.   The Kaftan: An unusual textile encounter in the Scandinavian Late Iron Age: Ulla Mannering.

5.   Ancient Running Animals: Tablet-woven borders from China and Norway: Lise Ræder Knudsen.

6.   The Development of Pattern Weaving Technology through Textile Exchange along the Silk Road: Zhao Feng.

7.   The Earliest Cotton Ikat textiles from Nahal ‘Omer Israel 650-810 CE: Orit Shamir and Alisa Baginski.

8.   Northerners – Global Travellers in the Viking Age: Eva Andersson Strand.

9.   Unravelling Textile Mysteries with DNA analysis: Luise Ørsted Brandt.

10. The Traceable Origin of Textiles: Karin Margarita Frei.

11. The World of Textiles in Three Spheres: European Woollens, Indian Cottons and Chinese Silks, 1300-1700: Giorgio Riello.

12. Chinese Silks in Mamluk Egypt: Helen Persson.

13. Woven Mythology: The Textile Encounter of makara, senmurw and phoenix: Mariachiara Gasparini.

14. Textile in Art: The influence of textile patterns on ornaments in the architecture of medieval Zirikhgeran: Zvezdana Dode.

15. Coromandel Textiles: The Changing Face of Consumer Demand and Weavers’ Responses 16th to 18th Century CE: Vijaya Ramaswamy.

16. The Jesuit Dilemma in Asia: Being a naked ascetic or a court literate?: Selusi Ambrogio.

17. “The Colourful Qualities of Desire”: Fashion, colours and industrial espionage: Vibe Maria Martens.

18. Fashion Encounters: The “Siamoise” or the Impact of the Great Embassy on textile design in Paris in 1687: Corinne Thépaut-Cabasset.

19. The Chinoiserie of the 17th to 18th-century Soho Tapestry Makers: Mette Bruun.

20. Exoticism in Fashion: From British North America to the United States: Madelyn Shaw.

21. Textile symbolism and social mobility during the Colonial Period in Sydney Cove: Judith Cameron.

22. The Impact of British Rule on the Dressing Sensibilities of Indian Aristocrats: A case study of the Maharaja of Baroda’s dress: Toolika Gupta

23. Re-imagining the Dragon Robe: China Chic in Early Twentieth-Century European Fashion: Sarah Cheang.

24. Sari and the Narrative of Nation in Twentieth-Century India: Aarti Kawlra.

25. From Cool to Un-cool to Re-cool: Nehru and Mao tunics in the sixties and post-sixties West: Michael Langkjær.

26. Too Old: Clothes and value in Norwegian and Indian wardrobes: Ingun Grimstad Klepp, Lill Vramo and Kirsi Laitala.

27. A ‘stinging’ textile: Cultivation of nettle fibre in Denmark and Asia: Ellen Bangsbo.

28. Fist-braided Slings from Peru and Tibet: Lena Bjerregaard.

29. Parsi Embroidery: An Intercultural Amalgam: Shernaz Cama.

30. The Navjote Ceremony and the Sudreh Kushti: Lotika Varadarajan.

31. Globalization, Identity and T-shirt Communication: Karl-Heinz Pogner.

32. India to Africa: Indian Madras and Kalabari Creativity: Joanne B. Eicher.

33. Textile: The non-verbal language: Jasleen Dhamija.

Another Book for the Viking Lovers

I just learned from a closed group on Facebook that The University of Copenhagen is selling the following print-on-demand book in the museum store on its website:

Lyngstrøm, Henriette Syrach, ed.    Refashioning Viking Age Garments:  Archaeology at the Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen.  (2016).

It is available in English here.

The University has a freely-downloadable PDF on the book's sales page which contains a list of all the papers that appear in the book  I have reproduced that list below.  (Note that there's a paper by Hilde Thunem in the book.)

• Tim Flohr Sørensen, University of Copenhagen: Archaeological Reconstructions: Between Fact and Effect.
• Ole Thirup Kastholm, Roskilde Museum: Tribal Communities and Archaeological Reconstructions.
• Eva Andersson Strand, CTR University of Copenhagen:  Viking Age Textile Production, a brief introduction.
• Irene Skals, National Museum of Denmark:  The Use of Wool Fibre Analysis as a Tool when Reconstructing Textiles.
• Ulla Mannering, National Museum of Denmark: Skin and Fur in the Viking Age.
• Lise Ræder Knudsen, Conservation Centre Vejle: Tablet Weaving on Reconstructed Viking Age Garments – and a Method to Optimise the Realism of Reconstructed Garments.
• Louise Schelde Jensen, Bork Viking Harbour: Garment Colours.
• Gvido Libmanis, Copenhagen:  Rus Garments –Who Wore What and Where? What did it Look Like Then and How to Convey That Knowledge Now?
• Ida Demant and Anne Batzer, Land of Legends, Lejre:  The Good Garment Reconstruction.
• Charlotte Rimstad, CTR University of Copenhagen: The Hedeby Textiles: New Inspiration for Reconstruction. 
• Hilde Thunem, Trondheim Vikinglag: With a Pleated Front–a Possible Reconstruction of the Hangerock (Selekjole) in Grave ACQ from Køstrup.
• Elizabeth R. Palm, HistoriskeDragter.dk: Commercial Reconstruction –A Balancing Act.
• Maria Ojantakanen, The Viking Village in Albertslund: The Use of Garments in Reconstruction Environments.
• Bodil Holm Sørensen, Viking Museum Ladby: Viking Garments on show at Viking Museum Ladby – First and Second Edition Garments. 
• Maiken Munch Bjørnholt, Ribe Vikinge Center: A Garment Project at Ribe Vikinge Center.
• Stine Nordahn Frederiksen, The Tycho Brahe Museum: Garments of the Past–Museums of the Future–About how Reconstructed Garments (perhaps) can be used in a Museum Political Strategy. 

The cost of this volume is about $36.00 USD, but the postage appears to be about the same amount, so I won't be buying this book immediately.  But I'm glad that it exists, since I am eager to learn the authors' perspectives of Viking clothing reconstruction.  Even more importantly, I want to see what light they shed on the original clothing, and about what I can do to reconstruct Viking clothing today.

EDIT:  (2/6/2016)  Apparently I read the shipping terms section of the University's site wrongly; several American correspondents report having paid approximately $5 USD for shipping.  Also, my wonderful spouse read this post and noted that I have a birthday coming up.  I may end up getting a copy of this book after all!  Stay tuned.

A Peek at NESAT XII

The twelfth North European Symposium of Archaeological Textiles ("NESAT") took place last year in Hallstatt, Austria.  Though to my knowledge the book containing the papers presented at that conference has yet to be published, the table of contents from that volume and several of the papers from it have turned up on Academia.edu.  Membership in Academia.edu is free, and is not confined to professional scholars.   

What I'd like to do here is point out some of the currently available material for my readers, so that they can save up for the NESAT XII book if they wish or simply use the material itself if it meets their needs.

The conference program for NESAT XII (68 pages long, with article abstracts) is here, and the table of contents for NESAT XII may be downloaded here.

The papers I have seen from that NESAT volume that are available for free download so far are:

Cybulska, Maria and Mianowska-Orlińska, Ewa.  Analysis, Reconstruction and Interpretation of Two Early Medieval Embroideries from Kruszwica, pp. 311-320.  (This one is posted in Scribd format.  I was able to download it, but I can't recall if I have a Scribd account; if you don't, you may be unable to download/read it.)

Gleba, Margarita.  Production and Consumption: Textile Economy and Urbanization in Mediterranean Europe 1000-500 BCE (PROCON).  pp.  261-270.

Nutz, Beatrix. Mining for Textiles -- Textiles for Mining,  Preliminary Report on Textiles from Gold Mining Sites in Austria, pp. 25-42.

The paper that excites me the most, however, is not available for free download.   Predictably, it is about Viking era clothing:  Hana Lukešová.  Old Fragments of Women’s Costumes from the Viking Age – New Method for Identification.  pp. 145-154.  Professor Lukešová's abstract states: 

"The first step in the working method involved a detailed study of the textile fragments. A computer programme for vector drawing was used to assist in the synthesis of complicated finds. The second step was to compare the stains and imprints on the textile fragments with the shape of the metal objects that possible to find a correlation between the textile and the metal. In the third step, a portable XRFspectrometer was used to check the elements present in the stains on the textiles. These were then compared to the element spectrums of the metals that were found close to the textiles."

The abstract states that all of this elaborate pattern-matching has allowed her to create "distinct reconstructions of many of the finds, and to expand the knowledge of the details of women's costumes from the Viking Age in the western Norway region."  I can hardly wait to see what Professor Lukešová has come up with in the way of reconstructions.  (The abstract admits that most of the textile finds come from the chest area, so "the features of complete women's costumes have intentionally been left open").

There are other interesting topics being addressed in this NESAT, including:  Bronze Age tailoring; Chinese silks found in the Merovingian graves in the Saint-Denis Basilica in France; the Dätgen trousers (roughly contemporaneous with the Thorsberg trousers); a reconstruction of a Renaissance era coif found in a Copenhagen moat; and a study of embroidery on Bronze Age costumes from Scandinavia.  Clearly we historical costumers have some excellent research to look forward to and to support our own work.

Ancient Greek Textile Book

From an Internet friend I learned about the existence of the following book:

Iris Tzachili and Eleni Zimi, eds.  Textiles and Dress in Greece and the Roman East:  A Technological and Social Approach.  Ta Pragmata Publications, 2012.  ISBN 978-960-98261-2-9.

Surviving textiles from ancient Greece and Rome are rare, and written material about survivals is rarer still, which is another reason why this book, a collection of articles prepared for a textiles conference, is of interest to students of ancient period costume.  I understand that one of the articles is about 4th century a purple silk textile with Roman-style tapestry inserts, woven in gold thread.

A quick Internet search revealed that an online bookstore based in Greece, Andromeda Books, sells this book for 19.17 € on this page.  They have one copy left.

Much as I'd like to (especially at this price) I'm not grabbing Andromeda's last copy, since I have little personal income and my husband and I are about to leave on a (mostly) prepaid two-week vacation. But if any of my readers are willing and able to jump on the opportunity, feel free! Alternatively, the ISBN and bibliographical information should enable interested costumers with limited funds to locate a copy by interlibrary loan.  Enjoy!