GUEST POST: Preservation of Leather Artifacts in Archaeology

That's right...a rare guest post on Matsukaze workshops; my Apprentice's partner wrote out this gem, and I offered to host it until (and if) he creates his own webpage, as it's useful and well written information--plus it's far easier to share a webpage than a document.  Factors for preservation for organic materials is something which I have regularly needed to reference when recreating or discussing archaeological finds.
        Maistre Bran

Preservation of Leather Artifacts in Archaeology

Leather artifacts bear crucial information on past civilizations, craftsmanship, the norms of society, and daily life. However, organic materials, mainly leather, are prone to several problems that hinder their preservation at archaeological sites due to their sensitivity to environmental conditions. The scarcity of preserved leather at archaeological sites poses enormous challenges to historians and conservators. This scarcity is not by chance, but by a combination of environmental conditions, including the composition of the soils, moisture levels, and the practices of burying artifacts. This study will explore some of the factors controlling leather preservation at different archaeological sites. It will give insight as to why leather items survive across the timeline versus other perishable materials. This study reinforces these factors as the best-understood contribution of environmental and human influences to archaeological survival by comparing extant examples from the Birka, York, and Vindolanda archaeological sites. Through this research, we aim to shed light on the complexity of ancient leather conservation, which will be the first stage in a journey to acknowledge the selective nature of leather discoveries.

Research Dump 4: Post Winter Coronet Researches

Following my being asked to join the court of Queen Violante (West Kingdom) as an artisan, at Winter Coronet (back in January), I went on a research spree.  I spent several days and nights in a row going through and reading various papers I ran across.
By now, I've forgotten exactly what I was looking for.  Personally, I rather doubt I found whatever it was, but I did find the following links.


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Early Irish Manuscripts
A brief paper on the handwriting used in the earliest of Irish writings (7th century).
http://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/pdfs/21-3/schauman.pdf

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The RUNES of BERGEN VOICES from the MIDDLE AGES
Fascinating article, one you get past the beginning. It discusses pieces of runic notes and letters, often carved on a piece of wood, that show that they weren't too different from us.

 "The belt from Fana makes you still prettier." (p. 6)
Sounds a lot like a text, to me... Brann

http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/40/v40i02p049-058.pdf

 

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Seventh-Century Ireland as a Study Abroad Destination.

A fascinating paper on monastic schooling in Ireland, and the students (often from England) who traveled there to study. In addition to the main subject, there are also hints (or leads) on period descriptions of book satchels. The main sources are Bede, Aldhelm, and the Hisperica Famina.

Research Dump: No. 3

Containing: Medieval Clothing (Including Medieval Garments Reconstructed!), Antler combs, Russian composite bows, 15th Century Italian clothing, and archaeological...stuff.

Lorum Ispsum Brain: Secondus

The second of my series of Research Dumps. This issue includes Medieval Metal accessories, BEADS!, a report on a fascinating find, Irish book satchels, Mongolian clothing, and others.

 

 

TIN AND TINNED DRESS ACCESSORIES FROM MEDIEVAL WROCŁAW (SW POLAND). X-RAY FLUORESCENCE INVESTIGATIONS
Abstract:
This paper presents a non-destructive analytical study of selected archaeological artefacts from the Old Town in Wrocław, SW P...oland, by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The analysed specimens included dress accessories that decorated both womens
and mens clothes in the Middle Ages. Several various metallic artefacts were selected for detailed studies: jewellery (e.g. finger rings) to more utilitarian utensil (functional) items (e.g. knives). All of them were made of tin-lead alloys or were tinned. This research was
focused on determining the chemical composition of the artefacts, the identification of similarities and differences between alloys as well as technological aspects of the production.
The obtained results suggest that there are many objects with the same chemical composition. It helps to distinguish groups of artefacts (e.g. rings made with the same alloys) or find the
parts of one object. The next interesting result is the possibility of determining the presence of tin-plating that was in varied states of preservation (especially for badly damaged artefacts).

Included are some photographs of the pieces being studied.
http://www.kirj.ee/public/Archaeology/2014/issue_1/arch-2014-1-57-79.pdf