HNAM inv. no Π 8591

Still adhering to the bronze dagger it used to cover, this is a well-preserved balanced tabby, only superficially mineralised. It is conserved on one side of the dagger and covers almost all its surface, from the nails to the tip. It is damaged and torn in many places, folded in others and lays on the dagger without indication about whether it was originally wrapped around it. 

 

The fabric is a balanced tabby with a thread count of 20-22 threads/cm in both directions. Under magnification, the threads appear very clean and shiny. They belong to the Bronze Age tradition of spliced threads and present the S2*z structure found in most of the textiles of the Grave Circles corpus. The diameter of the warp thread varies between 0.28 and 0.36 mm and of the weft between 0.28 and 0.44 mm.

 

In three different areas of the fabric there is an additional S2*z thread that is inserted in the fabric and comes out again and floats freely in one case forming a loop at its end and in the two others ending in two strands. The mean diameter of this thread is 0.33 mm, which corresponds to the threads of the fabric. This thread was possibly used to sew a decorative object to the fabric.

 

The good condition of the fabric has allowed its examination in the optical microscope in order to perform the fibre identification. The examination has been carried out using ARTEX’ optical microscope NIKON Eclipse 50i with reflected light. This study combines the examination of fibres both in longitudinal view and cross sections. In the cross section, single fibres or small fibre bundles of 3-4 fibres show a central lumen and characteristic dislocations, as well as elements of diagonal layout. These characteristics indicate plant fibre materials from the stem of the plant (flax, hemp, nettle) and the mean diameter of 14.3 μm points to flax fibres.

 

A sample of threads has also been examined in the Scanning Electron Microscope (C2RMF, Paris). The fibres present the characteristic dislocations, the polygonal lumen, as well as the diagonal elements that are typical features of flax fibres.

 

Grave Circle : 
B
Tomb: 
N
Textile ID: 
HNAM inv. no Π 8591
Relation to other textiles : 
Bronze dagger HNAM inv. no Π 8591
Group : 
HNAM inv. no Π 8589
HNAM inv. no Π 8592
ΗΝΑΜ inv. no Π 9566_a
HNAM inv. no Π 9651_a
Funerary context: 
Inhumation
Date: 
17th-16th c. BCE
Date of Discovery: 
1953
Museum: 
Hellenic National Archaeological Museum
Excavator: 
Ioannis Papadimitriou
State of conservation: 
Mineralised
Weave: 
Balanced tabby
Threads Structure System I: 
S2*z
Threads Structure System II: 
S2*z
Threads diameter System I: 
0.28-0.36
Threads diameter System II: 
0.32-0.48
Thread count System I: 
20-22
Thread count System II: 
20-22
Material System I: 
Flax
Material System II: 
Flax
Decorative elements: 
Three additional threads are inserted in the fabric and float on its surface - maybe traces of a sewing thread.
Analyses: 
Macroscopic observation, optical microscope, SEM
Publication: 
Μυλωνάς Γ. 1973 Ο ταφικός κύκλος Β των Μυκηνών, Αθήνα, 171, 172, Πιν. 148β,γ, 149β, 150α,β. Spantidaki Y. and Moulherat C. 2012 Greece. In M. Gleba and U. Mannering (eds.) Textile Production in Europe from Prehistory to AD 400. Oxford, Ancient Textile Series 11, 185-202.
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