Textile Finds in Archaeological Sources from the Territory of Slovakia. Research, Conservation, Restoration and Interpretation
Editors: Sylvia Birkušová, Tereza Štolcová
Publisher: VŠVU
Release Year: 2023
ISBN: 978-80-8189-071-0
The publication Textile Finds in Archaeological Sources from the Territory of Slovakia. Research, Conservation, Restoration and Interpretation has been published, edited by doc. Mgr. art. Sylvia Birkušová and Mgr. Tereza Štolcová, PhD. as a result of cooperation between the Department of Restoration of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava and the Archaeological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, v. v. i. in Nitra.
This is a university textbook intended primarily for students of textile restoration, but also for experts in the field of archaeology, art history and conservation practice. The publication was created as one of the main outputs of the KEGA project No. 013VŠVU – 4/2021 Research, Interpretation and Restoration of Archaeological Textile Finds. The content of this publication is based on key topics and questions that were addressed within the KEGA project. Some of them are only outlined, but they still provide a good basis for further study of archaeological and historical textiles.
The first chapter presents basic knowledge about the archaeological research of textiles, their preservation methods and important finds from prehistoric times and the early Middle Ages in the European context. The second chapter examines grave textiles from the perspective of their function in funerary rituals and their significance for the development of clothing and textile fashion. The third chapter presents the main methods of analyzing morphological features of common textile fibers using different types of microscopy. The fourth chapter contains case studies of five grave textile finds from different locations in Slovakia: Oravský Podzámok, Bratislava, Bardejov, Poprad-Matejovce, Žilina. The fifth chapter analyzes in detail the bobbin lace from the Basilica of St. Egidius in Bardejov. The sixth chapter presents the reconstruction of the clothing of a Germanic prince from Poprad-Matejovce. The last chapter focuses on the manipulation of archaeological textiles, their storage and basic care.
