The Textile Collection of the State Historical Museum: Textile Fiber Identification by Scanning Electron Microscopy

Abstract

Textiles are an extremely rare find because organic matter is poorly preserved in the cultural layers of archaeological sites. Fragments of textile accessories, clothing parts, and cords are often extremely small, degraded, and mineralized due to prolonged exposure to soil. These factors make the analysis of fiber identification, determination of fiber type (plant versus animal) and technological characteristics of threads and fabric more difficult. Traditional methods used in the analysis of fibers and threads include optical (light) microscopy and macro photography; however, these methods are not always sufficient to analyze samples thoroughly. This study is devoted to the identification of the type of textile fibers from archaeological textile fragments using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Its first results will be used in further textile analysis. Determining the type of textile fibers is also important in the context of discussions of the issues relating to resource areas and trajectories of trade routes in ancient and medieval times.