Different Tension, same Cloth?

Jennifer Beamer - University of Leicester (UK)

...Investigating the Impact of different Loom Weight Masses on Warp-weighted Loom produced Cloth

Experimental archaeology can sometimes turn up unexpected results. On occasion, the result of an experiment calls into question long-held beliefs about craft technology. As an experimenter, this type of result can cause discord since the assumptions we operate with are usually qualified, either through previous experimental work or through ethnographic study. Nevertheless, when a good assumption is questioned, it can be disarming. In textile studies relating to warp-weighted loom technology, there has been a repeated basic mantra: loomweights of approximately equal mass and thickness would be suitable as a ‘set’. The experimental program conducted at the Center for Textile Research in Copenhagen has demonstrated the importance of consistent mass and thickness among loomweights and have made a substantial, evidential case for upholding this assumption. However, in a recent experiment I conducted exploring the differences of similarly made British Iron Age loomweights from two different regions that had different masses, I was surprised by my results. For this experiment, archaeological loomweight samples were used to create testable proxies from two different geographical regions in the UK, Danebury hillfort, Hampshire, and Burrough Hill hillfort, Leicester. Linen and wool yarns were used in weaving experiments to understand the technical differences in similarly-shaped loomweights, with masses differing by 600g. Contrary to what was hypothesized, they produced strikingly similar fabrics, prompting the question of whether a large disparity in warp tension visibly impacts the cloth as has been assumed. The results of this experiment are presented and contextualized for the regions in the study to offer a new perspective on the utility of typologies, and to offer a new direction in archaeological textile experimentation. Experimenting with textiles has encouraged a reprisal of an important assumption.
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