The finds

Despite the adverse climate for the preservation of organic materials, textile remains were repeatedly recovered in the excavations of the Rhenish Office for the Preservation of Archaeological Monuments. In particular, block salvage and the subsequent optimal uncovering of the objects by the restorers of the LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn made it possible to conserve even the smallest organic fragments as well as to make detailed observations on their position.
The recovered textile remains are mainly 1-2 cm small fragments, often attached to metal by corrosion, whose fibres are strongly degraded and more or less mineralised. The original colours are gone. Nevertheless, these inconspicuous fragments hold the potential to open up the hitherto hardly known genre of textiles in the Roman and Merovingian Rhineland.

The project

The object of the project is the comprehensive recording of these textile finds in the holdings of the LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn. The knowledge of a statistically significant number of finds will enable investigations into the production, appearance and use of clothing, furnishings and utilitarian textiles in the Roman and Merovingian Rhineland.
The investigations begin with the analysis of the finds: the examination and documentation of their textile properties (materials, production techniques). Regular combinations of textile-technical features reveal textile types, which are evaluated with regard to their chronology, geographical distribution and sociological context. Finally, each textile find and the individual textile types are subjected to a functional analysis in order to determine their use via the find position (mapping) and microstratigraphy.

Textile finds from Roman times

Among the approximately 590 textiles recorded so far in the project are 70 finds from the Roman period. Most of them are grave finds from the 3rd - 4th century AD. In several graves of the Villa Rustica at Rheinbach-Flerzheim, for example, the use of shrouds made of very fine linen fabric with a checked pattern has been proven. From various sites there is evidence of tunics made of linen in plain weave with a balanced warp and weft ratio and of wool tunics with a rep structure. The clothing also included hairnets in sprang technique.
A special find is the remains of a tunic from a 4th century tomb under Xanten Cathedral, whose decorative pieces have been preserved. A floral pattern was tapestry woven into the clavi with woollen weft threads (Fig.), which is one of the rare tapestries known so far in the Roman western provinces.

Surprisingly often found in graves of the 3rd century are fabrics with gold and purple coloured tapestries that belonged to cloths or tunics. The numerous textile grave finds provide insight into the role of textiles in burial.Textile remains testify that numerous grave goods, but also urns and cremated remains were wrapped in textiles or placed in the grave covered.For example, two baskets in a woman's grave in Dorweiler were each covered with a linen cloth with fringes.

Textile finds from Roman settlements and hoards complete the range of types: a 4th century coin hoard from Bergisch Gladbach was concealed in a bag.Wool fragments of still unknown function in plain weave and twill weave were found in the damp layers of the Roman camp at Xanten-Birten.

Textile finds from the Merovingian period

So far, 520 textile finds from the Merovingian period have been recorded. They come from a total of 53 different cemeteries and are all corroded to metal grave goods. Fabric types can also be identified in the Merovingian finds, which allows us to conclude that textile production was standardised and well developed. 
Fine tabby fabrics with a spun pattern of stripes and checks are found on the underside of belt components and fibulae and can thus be considered as clothing close to the body. These high-quality fabrics were also used to wrap objects in the grave. According to the find situation and microstratigraphy, ribbed twill fabrics were also part of the garments (Fig.); these fine fabrics have so far only been attested from women's graves. Other twill variations such as diamond and diamond twill cannot be functionally determined at present. Three- or four-banded single-warp twill served as coarse fabric, often with opposite spinning directions in both thread systems. This type of fabric appears exclusively on the face of belt components and therefore probably served as upholstery fabric or cloaks. Board weaves have so far been documented as woven selvedges and as separate bands.

Textile production and continuity issues

Overarching questions concern textile production and trade, one of the most important economic sectors of ancient cultures.
The comparison of Roman and Merovingian textiles contributes to the question of the continuity of craft techniques and traditions between Roman times and the early Middle Ages in the Rhineland.

Further literature

• Textile Bodenfunde der römischen Kaiserzeit und der Merowingerzeit im Bestand des LVR-LandesMuseums Bonn, in: Landschaftsverband Rheinland – Rheinisches Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege (Hrsg.), Textilien in der Archäologie (Bonn 2011), S. 69–79.  
  Unscheinbare Fragmente. Römische und merowingerzeitliche Textilien im LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn, in: J. Kunow (Hrsg.), 25 Jahre Archäologie im Rheinland 1987–2011 (Stuttgart 2012), S. 23–25. 
• P. Linscheid, Textilfunde aus der Merowingerzeit im LVR-Landesmuseum Bonn, in: U. Koch (Hrsg.), Reihengräber des frühen Mittelalters - nutzen wir doch die Quellenfülle!, Forschungen zu Spätantike und Mittelalter 3, = Mannheimer Geschichtsblätter Sonderveröffentlichungen 8, Remshalden 2016, S. 123-136.
• P. Linscheid und E. Nieveler, Das Schwert - Symbol und Waffe, in: E. Nieveler, M. Schmauder, Th. Valk (Hrsg.), Das Leben des Bodi – Eine Forschungsreiese ins frühe Mittelalter. Begleitband zur Ausstellung im LVR_LandesMuseum Bonn, Darmstadt 2023, S. 102-107
• P. Linscheid, Textile Finds from the Rhineland, First to Fourth Centuries AD: Roman Customs and Fashion in the North of the Empire, in: Textile Art in the Graeco-Roman World, Classical Art Research Centre, University of Oxford, 26.-27.9.2019, https://www.carc.ox.ac.uk/PublicFiles/media/NEWPosterLinscheid.pdf
• P. Linscheid, Textile Bodenfunde - ein neuer Blick in römische und merowingerzeitliche Gräber, in: Landschaftsverband Rheinland - Rheinisches Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege (Hrsg.), Archäologie im Rheinland 2018, Oppenheim 2019, 154-156.

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Implementation and contact person

Dr. Petra Linscheid, University of Bonn, Department of Christian Archaeology, linschei@uni-bonn.de

Who was Hans-Jürgen Hundt?

Hans-Jürgen Hundt was a pioneer of textile archaeology. For many years director of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum (RGZM) in Mainz, he examined a total of around 2700 textile finds in the years 1954-1990. His analyses were incorporated into his "Textile Archive", which is now in the possession of the RGZM and, in addition to the textile analyses, also includes drawings, photos and reweavings. The textile finds examined by Hundt, which are usually fragmentary, come from 368 sites mostly in Germany, and they cover the period from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages, with a focus on the Early Middle Ages and the Iron Age. The Hundt Textile Archive is probably a unique data pool on archaeological textiles in Germany.

The project

Hundt produced about 100 publications on the textile finds he investigated, among others from the early historical Haitabu and Elisenhof, as well as from numerous early medieval cemeteries. These publications by Hundt are indispensable sources of material for today's research. Despite his prolific publication activity, Hundt's publications cover only a small fraction of the material he recorded. In cooperation with the RGZM, the Department of Christian Archaeology is carrying out a project in which the data from Hundt's textile archive will be recorded in a database and made available to researchers. In the process, they will be contextualised and placed in the context of current archaeological textile research. An international conference will be held in 2020 to publish the database and to mark the 30th anniversary of H. J. Hundt's death.

Further literature

• P. Linscheid, The textile archive of Hans-Jürgen Hundt, in: S. Lipkin, E. Ruhl, K. Wright (eds.), Interdisciplinary approaches to research of North and Central European archaeological textiles: The Proceedings of the North European Symposium for Archaeological textiles (23rd-26th August 2021 in Oulu), p. 333-347; open source

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Implementation and contact person

Dr Petra Linscheid, University of Bonn, Department of Christian Archaeology, linschei@uni-bonn.de