Tag: archeology

TBT: Iron Age Tunic, TBT to the Future

~ madgeface ~ 2 Comments

In 2014, an iron age tunic was discovered along with a cache of artifacts that were previously frozen in a Norwegian glacier. The tunic was woven, had been patched several times, and had sleeves added after the original garment was made. More details about the textile and its construction are in this article, while the full archeological details are here, including the significance and interpretation of the find. Easier to digest is this video made about the reconstruction of the tunic, which shows both the original and the reconstruction.

It’s interesting to imagine what will survive the present age and how it will be interpreted in the future. We currently produce massive amounts of clothing to the point where, especially in Western culture, it is considered by some to be wasteful. The slow fashion movement is a reaction to clothing as an extension of consumerism, but I would also argue that knitters, crocheters, and weavers have long been rebelling against industrialized, consumer fashion. Handmade clothing (knit, crocheted, woven, hand stitched, handmade in any step of the process) is so much more than a utilitarian body covering or a fashion statement with all its cultural baggage – handmade clothing is all of that and more; a signifier of care and love from one person to another, a signifier of uncommon skills, and probably more that I’m not thinking of at the moment. Handmade clothing just means more than mass produced items, and not just because handmade clothing is unique.

I suspect I could continue along these lines for quite some time, so I’ll spare you by asking you to imagine future throw back Thursdays featuring garments you’ve made, handmade garments given to you, or your current personal wardrobe favorites that you would want to survive.

TBT: Roman Dodecahedron

~ madgeface ~ 6 Comments

I’m reading Mary C Beaudry’s Findings – The Material Culture of Needlework and Sewing, which is a resource for archeologists to identify and contextualize findings of sewing and needlework. It’s a fascinating book, it’s everything I wished Big Cotton was (don’t waste your money on Big Cotton – it’s sensationalized & full of innaccuracy; I’ll send you my unfinished copy if you really want it). Beaudry does discuss knitting needles (unfortunately not many survive because the materials they were made from, like wood, tend to decay) so I went looking for images of ancient knitting needles using keywords for the finds they’ve been found in and instead discovered a mystery: the Roman dodecahedron.

One example of a Roman dodecahedron – others have different dimensions and smaller holes. A Google image search reveals a lot of differences among these objects.

Over 100 of these objects have been found, most made of bronze and in varying sizes, all over Europe. They are not mentioned in contemporary literature, so no one is really sure of their use – are they candle holders? Some kind of measuring device? Gaming dice? All of the above? In 2014, Martin Hallett (an amateur I can’t find much information about) 3D printed a Roman dodecahedron and … well, I’ll let him tell you the rest, which is knitting related, I promise!

That same year, another youtuber and knitter, ChertineP, ordered a 3D printed dodecahedron to try knitting glove fingers herself; her results:

Caveat for all of this: there is no archeological confirmation that some Roman dodecahedrons were used as spool knitters, at least not yet. It’s interesting to think that they could have been used this way, but without expert archeological analysis, which my cursory googling did not find, this is just speculation.