Textiles, Cordage and Raw Fibre from 16–22 Coppergate Penelope Walton
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The Archaeology of York The Small Finds 17/5 Textiles, Cordage and Raw Fibre from 16–22 Coppergate Penelope Walton Published for the York Archaeological Trust 1989 by the Council for British Archaeology Volume 17 Fascicule 5 Textiles, Cordage and Raw Fibre from 16–22 Coppergate By Penelope Walton Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................285 Archaeological Introduction by R.A. Hall........................................................................285 Comparative Material ...................................................................................................298 Preservation of the Finds. ..............................................................................................300 Types of Fibre with a contribution on wool staples by M.L. Ryder. ........................................301 FibrePreparation. ..........................................................................................................315 Anglo-Scandinavian Wool Textiles ..................................................................................318 The sock in nalebinding .................................................................................................341 Anglo-Scandinavian Textiles of Vegetable Fibre ...............................................................345 Anglo-Scandinavian Silks with a comment on the reliquary pouch contributed by D. Tweddle ......................................................................360 A tablet-woven braid ......................................................................................................381 Medieval Textiles ...........................................................................................................383 Yarn and Cordage, Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval with a contribution on hair moss by A.R. Hall ................................................................................................393 Colour with a contribution on the detection and identification of dyes by G.W. Taylor ...................................................................................397 Needlework on the Anglo-Scandinavian Textiles .............................................................404 The Textiles in Context ..................................................................................................411 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................424 The Conservation of the Finds with a contribution by J.M. Glover .....................................424 Catalogue ......................................................................................................................432 Fig. 120 Plan showing position of (1) 16–22 Coppergate, and (2) area of Watching Brief; (3) 5–7 Coppergate; (4) Lloyds Bank, 6–8 Pavement. (Based on the Ordnance Survey map with the consent of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, Crown Copyright reserved) Scale 1:1250 Introduction The finds discussed in this fascicule are textile, cordage and animal fibre retrieved from the excavation at 16-22 Coppergate between 1976 and 1981, together with a small group recovered from the watching brief during development of the site in 1982. They include all the finds of this type, of whatever period. Occasional reference is made to other textile- related finds from the site, such as spinning and weaving equipment, but these are described in greater depth in AY 17/11. Botanical remains such as dye-plants and raw plant fibre will be discussed in A Y 14/7. The textiles are deposited at the Yorkshire Museum (accession numbers 1976-81.7 and 1982.22); some are on display at the Museum and others are on loan to the Jorvik Viking Centre. A total of 211 finds of textile, yarn, rope and raw fibre were recovered. The majority are from the mid 9th to the mid 11th century, a period which saw extensive settlement of Scandinavians in York. From this Viking Age or Anglo-Scandinavian period there are 106 woven textiles, one needle-worked object, 26 pieces of yarn or cordage and 29 examples of raw fibre. There is also a small but useful group of finds dated to the period from the mid 11th to the 14th century: 13 woven, 32 yarn or cordage and two raw fibre. Two textiles are unstratified. All the finds are described in the catalogue on pp.432-43. Those from the 1976-81 Plan showing position of (1) 16–22 Coppergate, and (2) area of Watching Watching and (2) area of position of (1) 16–22 Coppergate, Plan showing (Based on the 6–8 Pavement. Bank, (4) Lloyds (3) 5–7 Coppergate; Brief; Ordnance Survey map with the consent of Controller Her Majesty’s Copyright Crown reserved)Stationery Scale 1:1250 Office, excavation are arranged in order of the site’s phases, the Viking Age finds (Periods 3, 4A, 4B, 5Aand 5B) catalogue numbers, 1254-1411, and the medieval (Period 6), 1412-58. The six finds,1459-64 , from the 1982 post-excavation watching brief (catalogued at end), Fig. 120 Fig. could not be closely dated, but three of the textiles, 1460-2, could be ascribed to the Anglo- Scandinavian period. Unstratified finds from the watching brief are numbers1463-4 . Each textile was examined in detail and a record made of the raw material, yarn type, weave, dyestuff and stitching. In the following pages, each of these features is taken in turn and discussed with reference to the comparative material, first from Britain and then from the rest of north-west Europe. This discussion is preceded by an archaeological description of the site and a review of the comparative material. A final chapter attempts to place the textile finds within the broader framework of social organisation and trade in Viking and medieval times. Archaeological Introduction By R.A. Hall The important collection of Anglo-Scandinavian and medieval textiles, cordage and raw fibre catalogued and discussed here includes the first large group of cloth fragments to be discovered in York. The survival of these environmentally sensitive items in such numbers in and around 16-22 Coppergate is due to the high level of moisture and correspondingly low oxygen content in the organic-rich soil which typifies the Anglo-Scandinavian and, to 286 The Small Finds Table 11 Summary of archaeological development at 16-22 Coppergate Period Date Characteristics 1 late 1st-late 4th Roman timber and stone buildings; late Roman cemetery. Limited survival of century or later organic materials* 2 5th-mid 9th Apparent desertion. Homogeneous loamy deposits which did not preserve organic century century materials 3 mid 9th-late 9th/ Rubbish disposal, suggesting occupation close by. Post/stake and wattle early 10th century alignments, possibly boundaries. Organic materials preserved only in pit cuts 4A late 9th/early l0th Realignment of boundaries, suggesting that Coppergate was laid out by this century- c.930/5 period. Possible buildings at Coppergate frontage. Organic materials preserved mainly in pit cuts 4B c.930/5-c.975 Four tenements distinguishable, with post and wattle buildings at Coppergate frontage. Evidence for iron-working and other trades on a commercial scale. Organic-rich deposits nearer to Coppergate; organic content thinning to zero towards R. Foss 5A c.975 Near Coppergate frontage only. Layers between structures of Periods 4B and 5B; probably mixture of dump deposits and soil from 5B semi-basements 5B c.975–early/mid Perpetuation of boundaries. Introduction of ‘sunken featured’ structures in double 11th century row at street frontage. Organic-rich deposits as in Period 4B 5Cf mid-later 11th Organic-rich deposits at street frontage, associated with buildings which survive century century only in Tenement D 5Cr mid–later 11th Post-built structure sealed by succession of dump deposits. Little organic material century surviving 6 later 11th-16th No remains surviving at street frontage, but area to rear increasingly built up. New century methods of building and rubbish disposal, leading to reduction in organic content of deposits *Bone and antler generally survived well in all periods even where preservation of other organic materials was poor a lesser extent, the subsequent medieval deposits in this part of the city. In spite of these favourable conditions, however, textiles were apparently not noticed or recovered during large-scale redevelopment projects nearby at 25-7 High Ousegate and 2-6 Coppergate in the first decade of the 20th century when other archaeological items, including some of perishable materials, such as wood, were recorded (Benson 1902; 1906). Even in more recent controlled archaeological excavations at Hungate in 1949-50, where broadly similar Textiles, Cordage and Raw Fibre from 16–22 Coppergate 287 conditions were encountered and small objects of both wood and leather were found, no traces of textiles, yarns or fibres were reported, with the exception of some wool fibres, found in the caulking of fragmentary medieval ships’ timbers (Richardson 1959, 67). A plain weave fragment was recovered from what was interpreted as a pre-Conquest level in excavations at the south comer tower of the Roman fortress, Feasegate (Stead 1958,525); but L.P. Wenham’s excavations at 65 Petergate in 1957-8 were the first in York to bring to light a range of textile remains. Wools from the site are reported by Ryder (1970, 426), and the textiles have been briefly mentioned (Wenham 1972, passim) and are to be reconsidered by Walton (in prep. a). In the excavation and