weaving

A Discussion on the Position of Weaving in the Society of Prehistoric Britain

Helen Poulter (UK)
EXARC Journal Issue 2021/2
Ancient Technology
There have been several recent experiments on using warp-weighted looms in Demark, Italy and Greece, some in Roman houses (Andersson Strand, 2015; Dimova, 2016). The experiments, in particular those in Denmark and Netherlands, took place in the typical rectangular longhouses used in their respective prehistories, unlike 'Britain's predominant roundhouses...

Just how practical is it to Move a Warp-weighted Loom from between the Interior and Exterior of a Roundhouse?

Helen Poulter (UK)
EXARC Journal Issue 2021/1
Ancient Technology
An experimental programme at Butser Ancient Farm run between 2015 and 2017 was to investigate weaving within a roundhouse on a warp-weighted loom. Part of these investigations was an examination into the feasibility of moving the loom in and out of the house, to take advantage of the longer daylight available in summer...

Weaving Production in Butser Ancient Farm Roundhouses in the South of England

Helen Poulter (UK)
EXARC Journal Issue 2021/1
Ancient Technology
From 2015 to 2017 a series of weaving experiments using warp-weighted looms were conducted in the roundhouses at Butser Ancient Farm. The aim was to focus on the working environment within the roundhouse and to assess any potential issues that may occur whilst weaving, including benefits. The results of the research would also assist in evaluating any seasonal patterns which cause productivity to...

A Shared Warp: The Woven Belts of the Lao Han People, China

The set-up of the warp showing the threaded tablets and the positioning of the warp threads to give two open sheds for the top and bottom layers of the tabby tube. (Image: Dominique Brocard)
Celia Elliott-Minty (UK)
EXARC Journal Issue 2021/1
Ancient Technology

The renowned weaver Peter Collingwood briefly mentioned such belts in his book The Techniques of Tablet Weaving (Collingwood, 1982, pp.219-220). Not long before he died in 2008, he contributed a couple of pages on these belts to the book Minority Textile Techniques: Costumes from South-West China (Collingwood, 2007, pp.28-29). 

An Experiment with the Warp-weighted Loom and Heavy Loom Weights. The Case of the Giant Refractory Ceramic “Doughnuts” from North Piedmont, Italy

Lorena Ariis (AT)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/4
Experimental Archaeology
Heavy, doughnut-shaped, loom weights made of refractory clay are often found in excavations of Roman and Late Roman settlements in North Piedmont. Unfortunately, they are not found in situ with a weaving loom. We have interpreted them as having been specifically designed for use on a warp weighted loom with a lower mobile beam which is weighed down by a few heavy loom weights...

The Shroud of Turin and the Extra Sheds of Warping Threads. How Hard can it be to Set up a 3/1 Chevron Twill, Herringbone on a Warp-weighted Loom?

Antoinette Merete Olsen (NO)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/4
Ancient Technology
On the 10 May 2020, Mr. Hugh Farey sent me an email. He introduced himself as “a researcher into the weaving of the linen cloth known as the Shroud of Turin”. Then he described the size of the Shroud and how it looked. His question to me was this: “If you had a piece of cloth as described and looked at it closely, could you tell if it was made by a warp-weighted or treadle loom, or would there be no difference?”...

Groundstone Indications from the Southern Levant for a 7th Millennium BCE Upright Mat Loom

Janet Levy (IL)
EXARC Journal Issue 2020/4
Experimental Archaeology
The southern Levant features a long-established matting tradition: soumak (weft wrapping) and also weft twined matting from the 10th millennium BC, and coiled matting from the 8th millennium BCE. The Chalcolithic period, 5th millennium BCE, attests to the introduction of plain plait, twill, sewn through techniques and also the use of the horizontal ground mat loom...

Working with Artisans; The ‘It Depends’ Dilemma

Christina Petty (CA)
EXARC Journal Issue 2019/4
Ancient Technology
We live in a world where scientific method is both the expected and accepted path to knowledge. With any scientific method, experiments based on detailed, well-documented, well-considered theories, and precise set-ups must be replicated exactly by others who come to the same conclusion to consider the information gleaned from them to be valid. This has become the accepted practice for most...

Replication of a Maori Ethnographic Textile Hem Border Pattern

Lisa McKendry (NZ)
EXARC Journal Issue 2019/4
Ancient Technology
11th EAC Trento 2019
***Replication of archaeological and ethnographic Māori textiles, under the direction of customary knowledge and previous practical experience, can provide a more nuanced understanding of the manufacture of taonga (treasures) made from fibre materials. A case study is presented here from the unique perspective of a weaver who...