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Creature Comforts at Vindolanda: Two Unique Wool Mats with Knotted Pile

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2018

John Peter Wild  and
Penelope Walton Rogers
John Peter Wild
Affiliation:
University of ManchesterJ.P.Wild.58@cantab.net
Penelope Walton Rogers
Affiliation:
The Anglo-Saxon Laboratory, Yorkpwr@aslab.co.uk
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Abstract

Fragments of two robust wool textiles with an unusual knotted blue pile were recovered from a Period I (late Flavian) fort ditch at Vindolanda. Their knotted structure — unknown hitherto in the western Roman provinces and only partially paralleled in the eastern — is discussed, together with questions about their possible production centre and actual function. The Supplementary Material available online (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X18000259) contains technical details of the textiles, an investigation of the raw materials and a comparison of the wools used.

Keywords

Roman textileVindolandasleeping matGhiordes knotfleece-typewoolwoad
Type
Shorter Contributions
Information
Britannia , Volume 49 , November 2018 , pp. 323 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018. Published by The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies 

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References

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