Analysis and conservation of a Bronze Age linen textile from Suffolk, UK
Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Date published
2023
Abstract
A rare Bronze Age linen textile was found inside a socketed axe, part of a bronze age hoard dating to circa 800 BCE, discovered in Somerleyton, Suffolk, in the 1920s. The recent loan of the objects from the hoard provided the opportunity for a
collaborative study of the fragmentary textile and its original context and significance. Scanning electron microscopy and
energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were undertaken to update and inform interpretations of its condition, character and
function. The remounting of the textile was necessary for display. The conservation challenges this raised, and the solutions
found, are detailed here. The wider study of the metalwork associated with the hoard and of the current state of knowledge regarding Bronze Age textiles in Britain allowed for several hypotheses to be put forward about the textile’s functional
significance in efficient hafting techniques and its potential votive symbolism. The Somerleyton textile serves as a reminder
of the need to contextualise Bronze Age metalwork within wider networks of (organic) materials and the potential of older
collections to provide new insights.
Journal title
Archaeological Textiles Review
Volume
65
Publisher
Friends of ATN
Place of publication
Copenhagen
ISSN
2245 7135
Keywords