FASCICULI ARCHAEOLOGIAE HISTORICAE FASC. XXIII, PL ISSN 0860-0007 ANNA RYBARCZYK FABRICS IN MEDIEVAL DRESS IN POMERANIA Dress is frequently perceived as one of the distinguish- considerably. For this reason wool and even silk products ing features of the human species. Since the Biblical fig are a dominant group among archaeological textiles, while leaf, clothing has always accompanied man, being an indis- linen goods, undoubtedly very popular in the Middle Ages, pensable element of his everyday life regardless of time and are scarce1. place. Little wonder the history of attire has long been a field Another significant factor that determines the type of of study for humanists. surviving archaeological find is the medieval economy. Reconstruction of historical clothing is based on sur- At that time, the majority of clothes were reused or remade; viving originals, iconography, written records and, last but new garments were sewn using old pieces of material. not least, archaeological finds. Particularly, the latter, being Before becoming part of archaeological deposits, medieval a direct source of knowledge, provide invaluable informa- textiles had performed a number of functions and were tion for costume researchers. Their main advantage over finally thrown into the latrine as rags used for hygienic pur- other types of historical material lies in the fact that they poses. Surprisingly, textiles were handled with such care not reach the researcher untouched. Their original form has not only by the poorer classes of contemporary society. In rul- been spoilt by any changes or subject to conservation treat- ing elite circles, textiles were also considered as valuable ment, which may have affected the appearance of specimens and not carelessly disposed of. Władysław Jagiello's gar- kept in various collections for centuries. Archaeological ments were often mended and darned by tailors and darners finds, crucial to the study of dress of basically any histori- (,sartores)2. Another example, found at the Bohemian court, cal epoch, are especially important for scholars dealing with are the funeral clothes of Ladislas the Posthumous, whose clothing of the most remote historical periods, including the dalmatica was a remade court garment3. Middle Ages. Despite the above complications, fragments of cloth Discussing archaeological textiles, the variety of uses which must have been parts of outfits are discovered among and applications of textile goods in the medieval world archaeological finds. Fragments with stitched buttonholes or should not be underestimated. There existed many kinds of sewn on buttons, pieces of cloth with gussets, cut out woolen technical textiles; fabrics were used to pack goods, make cloth ornaments, or finally fabrics too delicate to be used for sails, tents and wagon covers. Also, archaeological finds any household purposes are a useful source of information may be the remains of household textiles, for example, table- about ancient dress. Consequently, finds from the territory cloths, towels, bedclothes, bed covers, large and small sacks of Poland ought to be examined from this perspective. for storing spices and powder foods, blankets, tapestries and In Pomerania, there is a large number of archaeologi- carpets. Judging from iconographie material, such utensils cal sites of medieval provenance where textiles were found used to be made from decorative, frequently patterned fab- among other kinds of manmade objects. The material has been rics. Using exclusively such criteria as the quality and price identified and thoroughly examined from the technological of a piece of cloth, finds of this type may easily be misclas- point of view and the finds have been presented in numer- sified as a fragment of attire. ous publications. The boundaries of the region referred to as The remains of ancient dress are just a part of archaeo- Pomerania need to be precisely established here. Because of logical textiles. Regrettably, the discoveries of complete or the relatively broad chronological range of the present paper, nearly complete outfits are extremely rare. Two main causes including the entire medieval period, the territory marked of this situation can be identified. Firstly, generally speak- ing, organic materials textiles do not always survive in a good state of preservation. The fact whether soil deposits 1 J. Kamińska, A. Nahlik, Włókiennictwo gdańskie wX-XIII will preserve a textile depends not only on their proper- wieku, Łódź 1958, p. 53. 2 H. Kręt, Dwór królewski Jadwigi i Jagiełły, Kraków 1987, ties but also on the type of fibre from which the cloth was p. 181. made. The soil conditions favourable to the preservation of 3 M. Bravermanovâ, M. Lutovsky, Hroby a hrobky naśich animal fibres (e.g. wool) and plant fibres (e.g. flax) differ kniźat, krâlû a prezydent, Praha 2007, pp. 167-168. 53 http://rcin.org.pl ANNA RYBARCZYK by natural boundaries seems to be the most adequate point for assessment of the archaeological textiles discovered in of reference. Thus the region lies on the south shore of the respect of their suitability for broadly understood costume Baltic Sea and stretches out as far as the line of swamps and studies. marshes of the Warta and Noteć rivers. The eastern limits of Fortunately, among the numerous archaeological tex- the region are marked by the Vistula River and it borders on tiles coming from Pomerania, there are finds providing at the Oder River in the west4. least sparse pieces of information on ancient dress. Gdańsk The examined and published textile finds come from 1 is one of the sites abound with finds supplying information the following Pomeranian archaeological sites: Gdańsk on the issue of medieval attire12. The study of early medi- (site 1-5, site 9, Gdańsk-Osiek, Gdańsk Oliwa, the Isle of eval textiles found on this place made by Janina Kamińska Granaries)5, Wolin6, Santok, Gniew, Kamień Pomorski (site and Adam Nahlik13 can be considered the foundation stone 1 and 2), Nakło, Tuchola, Puck Bay7, Dębczyno8, Kołobrzeg9, for the development of Polish research into archaeological Junkrowy,10 Gruczno11. Because of the relatively advanced textiles. Site 1 was originally broadly dated to the period research into medieval textiles, this region has been selected between the beginnings of the town, that is, around the year 980, the 10th century, and the year 1308, the beginning of the 14th century. This dating has recently been revised. Dendro- 4 Cf.: J. Maik, Wyroby włókiennicze na Pomorzu z okresu chronological analysis has led scholars to believe that the rzymskiego i ze średniowiecza, Wrocław - Warszawa - Kraków material unearthed on the site should be dated to the years 1988. th 5 J. Kamińska, A. Nahlik, op. cit.; J. Maik, Wyroby between the last decade of the 11 century and the turn of th 14 włókiennicze...; Idem, Medieval English and Flemish Textiles the 12 century . While discussing finds from site 1,1 will Fund in Gdańsk, [in:] Textiles in Northern Archaeology: NESATIII refer to the latest chronological assumptions. Textile Symposium in York 6-9 May 1987, ed. P. Walton, J. P. Wild, In the first place, one of the most interesting archeo- London 1990, pp. 119-130; J. Jabłońska, Tkaniny z badań arche- ologicznych na Wyspie Spichrzów w Gdańsku w latach 2004-2006, logical textiles not only in Pomerania but in the whole of [in:] Stan badań archeologicznych miast w Polsce, ed. H. Paner, Poland is a mitten (Fig. 1; inv. no. 1950/2386) discovered M. Fudziński, Z. Borcowski, Gdańsk 2009, pp. 201-214. in settlement layer 7. This woolen mitten was made using 6 A. Nahlik, Tkaniny wykopaliskowe z wczesnośrednio- the nâlebinding technique, which uses a single-eyed needle wiecznego Wolina, „Materiały Zachodnio-Pomorskie", Vol. and thread to create a series of loops and knots, which makes V: 1959, pp. 257-276; A. Kaube, Włókiennictwo wczesnośrednio- wiecznego Wolina (stanowisko wykopaliskowe nr 4), „Materia- every stitch secure and produces a stretchy material, resem- ły Zachodnio-Pomorskie", Vol. XIII: 1967, pp. 91-142; J. Maik, bling a knitted fabric15. The find seems to be the only Polish Wczesnośredniowieczne wyroby włókiennicze w Wolinie, „Ma- find produced in this way discovered so far. Finds of mit- teriały Zachodniopomorskie", Vol. XXXII: 1986, pp. 155-180; tens made using this technique usually come from northern Idem, Frümittelalterlichen Textilwaren in Wolin, [in:] Archaeolo- 16 gical textiles: Report from the 2nd NES AT Sympodium 1-4.V.1984, Europe, particularly Iceland, Sweden and Finland. Other Arkaeologiske Skrifter 2, eds L. Bender Jorgensen, В. Magnus, parts of outfits worked in nâlebinding technique have also E. Munksgaard, Kobenhavn 1988, pp. 162-186; Idem, Wyroby been found. For example, a sock dated to the 10th century włókiennicze... was found in York, UK17. I Ibidem. Another specimen undoubtedly being the remains 8 A. Sikorski, Tkaniny z wczesnośredniowiecznego cmenta- rzyska „szkieletowego" w Dębczynie, gm. Białogard, wojewódz- of a garment is find inv. no. 1950/6779 (Fig. 2). The find two koszalińskie, „Materiały Zachodniopomorskie", Vol. XXXV/ is a piece of woolen cloth, woven in 2/1 twill and sewn in VI: 1989/90, pp. 159-172. the shape of a tube. It is about 35 cm long, from 33 to 42 cm 9 J. Maik, Słowiańskie tkaniny w lokacyjnym Kołobrzegu, in circumference. The narrower edge is evenly cut along [in:] Archeologia średniowiecznego Kołobrzegu, Vol. I, ed. Ręb- kowski M., Kołobrzeg 1996, pp. 229-330; Idem, Tekstylia, [in:] Archeologia średniowiecznego Kołobrzegu, Vol. II, ed. Ręb- kowski M., Kołobrzeg 1997, pp. 221-228; Idem, Wyroby tkackie 12 My thanks are due to the Archaeological Museum in i powroźnicze, [in:] Archeologia średniowiecznego Kołobrzegu, Gdańsk for permission to use the textile material from his site. Vol. III, ed. M. Rębkowski, Kołobrzeg 1998, pp. 271-276; Idem; 13 J. Kamińska, A. Nahlik, op. cit. Wyroby tekstylne, [in:] Archeologia średniowiecznego Kołobrze- 14 В. Kościński, H. Paner, Nowe wyniki datowania grodu gu, Vol. IV, ed. M. Rębkowski, Kołobrzeg 1999, pp.